ETHNODIDACTICS: APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY TO THE TEACHING OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN MIGRATORY CONTEXTS

Abstract: The article presents an experimental didactic approach, termed ethnodidactic, applied to teaching a foreign language in multicultural school contexts. This approach integrates the principles of communicative didactics with those of anthropology, making use of the ethnographic method as a tool for both research and the conduct of the lesson. The experiment took place in 2024/2025 at a CPIA in Lombardy, involving adult migrant students with different levels of schooling, including illiterate students. The core of the model consists of the autonomous production of materials (images, videos, objects, gestures), through which students communicate personal experiences, which are then translated and re-elaborated into the target language. This reversal of the classic model, where it is usually the teacher who provides the content, enables active participation and enhances prior knowledge, creating an inclusive and motivating environment. In an ethnodidactic perspective, the learner is not merely a recipient but becomes an active resource and a source of linguistic material. Language teaching is thus grounded in the activation of an authentic communicative need, intentionally elicited by the teacher through the introduction of meaningful topics capable of generating biographical and emotional engagement. This need triggers a narrative process of autobiographical sharing, building bridges between proposed content and personal experience. The result is the creation of authentic linguistic materials—oral and visual texts—that reflect the cultural and linguistic complexity of the classroom. The teacher assumes a maieutic role, fostering relational spaces and offering tools for metalinguistic reflection, while the learner becomes the central figure in the language acquisition process through their own narrative. In this way, the classroom transforms into an intercultural and dialogic laboratory where language is constructed starting from the self and in relation to others, within a continuous dynamic of identity, alterity, and learning. This strategy was observed to transform the class into a relational community, akin to a family environment, where language comprehension arises from the desire to tell one’s story, share, and be understood. Aligned with the communicative approach to language teaching, the proposed model goes beyond even the most advanced instructional recommendations, favoring a learning environment where language serves as a vehicle for communication and a tool for expressing one’s self and worldview. In this framework, the teacher’s role overlaps with that of the ethnographer, who, adopting an anthropological posture—centered on active listening, decentering, and valuing the other’s perspective—observes classroom dynamics and participates as a facilitator (Mussi, 2022). The experimentation showed that this approach not only achieves the aforementioned objectives but also fosters a learning environment guided by an intercultural logic.