To develop awareness and knowledge of the different linguistic leves of the Italian languahe: phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon and textuality. To reflect on the variability of Italian in relation to extralinguistic factors such as: the context of situation, the relationship among interlocutors, topic, medium (spoken or written language), speakers' level of education
Basic notion of sociolinguistics; goals, scope, key concepts such as communicative situation, communicative competence, linguistic repertoire, language and dialect. Analysis of the Italian sociolinguistic repertoire, the main varieties of Italian: standard and neostandard, formal and informal, spoken and written Italian.
1) Gaetano Berruto, Prima lezione di sociolinguistica. 2) Gaetano Berruto, Sociolinguisrica dell'italiano contemporaneo, Carocci 2012.