'Fagiolini', 'ghette', 'spagnolette' but also 'classeur', 'zibac' and 'schlafsack'. Who has never heard these terms or even pronounced them? Italian in Italian-speaking Switzerland is a regional language, but also a non-dominant national variety with a strong identity and cultural character. In the school context, how should the teacher deal with words or expressions of this kind? Is it right to accept them, or would it be better to correct them?
The answer to this interesting question is the subject of a research project born out of the collaboration between the Laboratory for Research on History of Education, Documentation, Preservation and Digitalisation of the Department of Education and Learning / University of Teacher Education of SUPSI and the Osservatorio linguistico della Svizzera italiana of the Dipartimento dell'educazione, della cultura e dello sport and which will lead to the publication of a "Repertory of Italian in Italian-speaking Switzerland in the school context". The publication, which will include a reasoned and commented list of characteristic entries and expressions, will make it possible to abandon an excessively rigid vision of the linguistic norm in favour instead of an approach based on the valorisation of local and regional differences, thus proceeding no longer by exclusion but rather by composition.
The different varieties of Italian, and among them also that of Italian-speaking Switzerland, must not in fact be considered obstacles to learning, but rather useful resources to promote classroom reflection on the language, its uses and functions.