An article by Giovanna Amatruda, Language Program Liaison Officer of The Italian Language Centre (ILC) in Brisbane.

BRISBANE - During the first semester of 2024, the Year 6 girls at St Columba’s Primary School worked with their teacher Isabella Soto on a unit called We Feel Color.

Soto, collaborating with native speakers from the Italian Language Centre – including myself, Ornella Roveda and Francesca Cerniglia – adopted strategies used in the methodology known as CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning).

The method involves teaching a subject using a foreign language.

The integration of language and content requires that the latter serves as a vehicle for teaching and learning the former: for example, a non-linguistic subject like art would be taught in Italian.

The approach is linguistic, meaning that the priority is to achieve language-oriented goals, with the content serving this purpose.

The girls at St Columba’s Primary School studied abstract art and the works of Wassily Kandinsky, paying particular attention to his theory of colour.

They experimented with his multisensory technique, expressing in Italian the emotions evoked by the use of lines, shapes and colour, all the while listening to music to further nourish their vocabulary.

Their dedication and effort are evidenced by the impactful works the young artists created.

Additionally, the ILC and students created a choreography for the song Supereroi by Italian singer Mr Rain, in an experience that added another dimension to the exploration of abstract art and the Italian language.

The song and choreographed movements stimulated reflection on what it means to be superheroes in their specific context.

“Superheroes are the wonderful friends who support us throughout our school journey and stay with us for the rest of our lives,” the girls agreed.

On Saturday, July 27, during the school fete, the incredible commitment of this group of students and their passionate teacher was publicly recognised.

Throughout the day, their art pieces were displayed along with descriptions in Italian of the creative process undertaken.

As part of an already-rich program of activities, the choreography for Supereroi was also performed as the entire school community enthusiastically participated in the day.

“It’s been an immense joy in my career to work with this group of students, and I look forward to continuing the collaboration with the entire team at the Italian Language Centre,” said teacher Isabella Soto.

“[We want] to ensure that the Italian program at St Columba’s becomes a source of inspiration for other colleagues who, like me, wish to teach with enthusiasm.

“[We hope to inspire them to create] innovative programs that excite an ever-growing number of young students about the beautiful language!”