“The new pilot project in Lombardy for adult migrant newcomers: “Certify your Italian. A language for knowing and making

1. Strasbourg, 26-27 June 2008 THE LINGUISTIC INTEGRATION OF ADULT MIGRANTS INTERGOVERNMENTAL SEMINAR Ministero della Solidarietà Sociale Direzione generale sull’immigrazione “The new pilot project in Lombardy for adult migrant newcomers: “Certify your Italian. A language for knowing and making yourself known” Certifica il tuo Italiano. La lingua per conoscere e farsi conoscere” Direzione Generale Famiglia e Solidarietà Sociale Regione Lombardia - ITALY

2. Linguistic learning and migrants’ integration • Basing on these assumptions, the Lombardy Region, through decree n° VIII/001519 of December 22, 2005, adhered to a programme enacted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies meant to promote Italian language learning actions through the experimentation project called…

3. …“CERTIFY YOUR ITALIAN. A language for knowing and making yourself known” • Free Italian courses for foreigners • Aimed at preparing them to get the “Italian Certification as a second Language” (Certificazione Italiano L2) “Certifica il tuo italiano. La lingua per conoscere e farsi conoscere”

4. The project • The project is a set of integrated actions among different institutions, which deal with immigration and foreign citizens’social and cultural integration. • To carry out this project, and in order to regulate implementing the foreseen activities by specifying their purposes, the Lombardy Region (Family and Social Solidarity Department) signed a preliminary protocol with: • Osservatorio Regionale della Lombardia per l’integrazione e la multiethincità • Fondazione Ismu • Ufficio Scolastico per la Lombardia

5. Main objectives • 1) Improvement of Italian language skills for lately immigrated young and adults (in view of their full social and professional integration); • 2) Spreading of the Italian Certification practice, according to the reference standards provided by the Common European Language Framework (in view of an improvement and enhancement of acquired skills); • 3) increasing the number of issued certifications on a regional scale, and strengthening partnership and mutual cooperation among the institutions dealing with immigration.

6. The project’s main actions • Project promotion among migrants • Teachers’ training courses (general and specific training on certification procedures) • Implementation of free courses of Italian language for adult beginners with flexible and modular • Implementation of the international certification (treshold levels) • quantitative and qualitative monitoring 20 interviews (students, 4 focus groups (teachers), 169 questionaries (teachers), 664 questionnaires (students)

7. Progetto “Certifica il tuo Italiano” La lingua per conoscere e farsi conoscere Ministero della Solidarietà Sociale Direzione generale sull’immigrazione INTEGRATED ACTIONS 350 school teachers and volonteers 117 teachers of the project courses Regional network • Albanian • Arab • Brasilian • Chinese • French • Hindi • English • Romanian • Russian • Spanish • Tagalog • 125 schools, associations • 270 courses • 3.100 new migrant • adults involved • 1800 CILS, IT, PLIDA • certificates issued • Interviews • focus groups • questinoaries for teachers • and students • Database migrant students and teachers Dati del monitoraggio quantitativo ISMU 2007

8. The project network: different organizations • network includes 122 members (local authorities, schools, territorial training centres, and other associations) • The high number of different organizations that have adhered to network agreements is an evidence of the • high visibility of this project • Fulfilment of the objective to enlarging the territorial cooperation network among local authorities, school and private social organizations

9. Collected data • Preliminary analyses on collected data underline that the project reached 3.100 new migrants: • Women 69% • Men 31% Women employed in the elderly’ assistance, young unemployed, emarginated adult migrants involved: • a network of 120 schools and institutions • 350 teachers in special training

10. Progetto “Certifica il tuo Italiano” La lingua per conoscere e farsi conoscere Positive action for adult new migrants Ministero della Solidarietà Sociale Direzione generale sull’immigrazione 3 choices Dati del monitoraggio quantitativo ISMU 2007

11. Positive feedback from students’ questionaries “I have appreciated a lot Italian conversation at school, because outside I do not speak Italian. I do not have Italian friends” Their best motivations on attending these courses are the following: 1° For my job 2° To feel myself more confident 3° To go on my studies 4° To live better in Italy

12. Conclusion: some students’ final comment “Just yesterday night, I dreamt in Italian. This morning I told my husband: «Do you know that I have dreamt in Italian for the first time in my life? » “Writing a letter in Italian to express my gratefulness to those who helped me gave me a great satisfaction” Regione Lombardia - Direzione Generale Famiglia e Solidarietà Sociale For more info write at clara_demarchi@regione.lombardia.it

13. For information about projcet “Certifica il tuo italiano “ For more info on this project write at : clara_demarchi@regione.lombardia.it e.rinaldi@ismu.org nella.papa@alice.it Regione Lombardia Direzione Generale Famiglia e Solidarietà Sociale www.famiglia.regione.lombardia.it Ministero del Lavoro, della Salute e delle Politiche Sociali Direzione Generale dell’Immigrazione www.solidarietasociale.gov.it