THE ACQUISITION OF SOCIOLINGUISTIC SKILLS OF CROATIAN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF ITALIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Sa？etak In foreign language teaching, the main objective is often a semistandard variety of the language. However, learners should be put in contact with all possible variations, from the diaphasic dimension to the diastratic, from the diametric to the diatopic (Udier & Gule？i？ Machata, 2011). Among all variations, the diaphasic dimension is very difficult to acquire and is the one which mainly concerns the use of language in relation to different interactional situations. In fact, it is easier to absorb diaphasic varieties in the spontaneous acquisition process than in guided learning (for the difference between these two see Medved Krajnovi？, 2010). Indeed, although many foreign learners have already assimilated the rules of a certain standard language, it is still difficult for them to acquire a more informal spoken language or to use different linguistic registers (Pallotti, 2000). This study presents an analysis of the ability of Croatian students to use the Italian language in different interactional registers, in particular the most colloquial and everyday spoken variety. For the purposes of this study, written works and oral productions of Croatian undergraduate students of Italian between the third and fifth year of study have been examined by observing their productive capacities in the stylistic field, especially at the lexical level, but also from a structural and morphosyntactic point of view. The aim was to establish if these linguistic productions are suitable for real communicative situations in the Italian diaphasic range. Although different registers are not entities with clearly delimitable boundaries (Rovere, 2011), sociolinguistic competence, both productive and receptive, must be one of the main objectives of language teaching. A good sociolinguistic awareness is in fact synonymous with linguistic mastery. In addition to giving a general overview of the competence of Croatian students, our goal was also to examine which means appear to be the most effective for the needs of the mentioned students