Proto-ausiliari e verbi supporto nella costruzione dell’interlingua di migranti adulti con alfabetismo limitato
| Title in English | Proto-auxiliaries and light verbs in the construction of the interlanguage of adult migrants with limited literacy |
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
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| Description | This paper analyses the emergence and persistence of non-target verb analytical constructuions in L2 Italian of adult migrants with limited literacy, focusing in particular on protoauxiliaries ('be', 'have') and light verbs ('do'). data derive from a longitudinal study involving 20 male learners, with different linguisti background thorughout 13 months in the context of their migration experience in Sicily. Against the background of the Basic Variety theory, the qualitative analys shows that such constructions systematically emerge during the transition phase between basic and initial post-basic variety. Although they are not exclusive to low-literate learners, these forms are significantly more frequent and stable in their interlanguages than in those of literate learners. The article argues that this asymmetry can be explained in terms of access to input: the absence or severe limitation of literacy reduces exposure to written language and promotes the reuse of phonologically salient functional forms present in oral input. Analytic constructions are interpreted as alternative, discursively motivated grammatical solutions that may stabilise under conditions of limited input, thereby contributing to a broader reflection on the role of literacy in the development of interlanguages in migratory contexts. |
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