From Italian to Russian with the Superpower of Intercomprehension

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_9691
dc.title	From Italian to Russian with the Superpower of Intercomprehension. Inference in Graphical Decoding Across Different Alphabets
dc.contributor.author	Ilina Anna
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Venice University Press, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/elle/2023/1/from-italian-to-russian-with-the-superpower-of-int/
dc.description.abstract	Intercomprehension is the ability to understand a language that is related to an already familiar one. It is based on the activation of previous knowledge and cognitive strategies, such as inference. In this article, we claim that intercomprehensive reasoning can also be applied across European linguistic families. We argue that by creating didactic materials based on the fundamentals of the intercomprehensive approach, it is possible to leverage the students’ natural ability for intercomprehension when approaching a completely unfamiliar language of Europe. In particular, we study if inference can be applied to graphical decoding of familiar and authentic words in an unfamiliar European language with a different alphabet. A small-scale empirical study conducted in Rome with Italian speakers shows that they were able to autonomously decipher the Russian alphabet through a specifically created task.
dc.relation.ispartof	EL.LE
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 12 \| Issue 1 \| March 2023
dc.issued	2023-05-22
dc.dateAccepted	2023-03-01
dc.dateSubmitted	2022-05-24
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2280-6792
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/ELLE/2280-6792/2023/01/003
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Graphical decoding
dc.subject	Inference
dc.subject	Intercomprehension
dc.subject	Multilingualism
dc.subject	Plurilingualism

Research Article
open access peer reviewed

Inference in Graphical Decoding Across Different Alphabets

Anna Ilina Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España

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abstract

Intercomprehension is the ability to understand a language that is related to an already familiar one. It is based on the activation of previous knowledge and cognitive strategies, such as inference. In this article, we claim that intercomprehensive reasoning can also be applied across European linguistic families. We argue that by creating didactic materials based on the fundamentals of the intercomprehensive approach, it is possible to leverage the students’ natural ability for intercomprehension when approaching a completely unfamiliar language of Europe. In particular, we study if inference can be applied to graphical decoding of familiar and authentic words in an unfamiliar European language with a different alphabet. A small-scale empirical study conducted in Rome with Italian speakers shows that they were able to autonomously decipher the Russian alphabet through a specifically created task.

Published

May 22, 2023

Accepted

March 1, 2023

Submitted

May 24, 2022

Language

Keywords: Intercomprehension • Graphical decoding • Inference • Multilingualism • Plurilingualism

permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/ELLE/2280-6792/2023/01/003

Copyright: © 2023 Anna Ilina. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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