Language awareness e la Linguistica nell’insegnamento universitario delle lingue

The purpose of this article is to discuss the concept of language awareness and its relation to language learning in the study of languages at the Italian universities after the so called Bologna process and the introduction of a new university reform. These new conditions evoked a complete restructuring of the foreign language learning and teaching, strictly speaking it meant a separation from literature and an intense connection to linguistics. In this context the questions “Can language awareness influence foreign language learning/ acquisition?” and “How should linguistics (the meta-linguistic knowledge) be taught in order to support the process of foreign language learning?” became more and more important. The article starts by providing some historical and theoretical background considerations of language awareness, especially in the area of German as a foreign language. Then I will describe my own didactic experiences with the concept of language awareness, including a questionnaire in which university students were asked about their opinion regarding the role of linguistics in foreign language learning. The results showed that the students tend to believe that language awareness plays a positive and useful role in foreign language learning. And finally I will recommend four important functions and aims for the teaching of linguistics in the area of foreign languages at the Italian university.