One way to refresh Italian language curricula, particularly in the second year of college study, is to consider a content-based instruction. Opera may appear to be unsuited to the early years of college language study. The librettos, with the exception of a few phrases, are not a linguistic model for someone trying to communicate in modern Italian. However, opera can indeed be effective and enjoyable when approached thematically. The appeal and the emotional intensity of opera arise from the music in combination with drama, words, costume, and scenery, not necessarily through reading the libretto word for word, which would present difficulties. Having considered the impossibility of teaching a libretto as a text to learn Italian, as well as the difficulty to stage a real performance to immerse the students in the Italian culture, but still wanting to use opera as a theme, my class and I decided to shoot a fictitious promotional opera preview that combines drama, music, script, and visuals with the learning of the language. The project required ensemble work, with close collaboration of the students. The interaction created comfort that encouraged shy students to participate. Often, original ideas, imaginative approaches and innovative techniques can be more effective in motivating the class than the traditional material. Also, from time to time, by transforming the classroom to a stage we, teachers, give license for students to play with words, pronunciation, body language, and identity, all processes that are instrumental to acquiring a foreign language. 

Francesca Muccini, Belmont University, Nashville, TN - francesca.muccini@belmont.edu

Presented at the Teaching Italian Culture Conference Georgetown University, Washington D.C. Saturday, October 19, 2013