Functions of the discourse marker insomma in teaching L2 Italian

Abstract

This work is intended to study the Italian discourse marker insomma at different levels of linguistic analysis, and to show a clear presentation of the functions of this marker as a speech particle in the framework of teaching Italian/L2 to Spanish speakers. Our motivation is primarily didactic, as teaching experience has shown that learning certain markers, such as insomma, occurs in the advanced stages of interlanguage, and that Italian/L2 students use them very little or ascribe their use to certain values, given that the native population use them extensively. The possible reasons for this situation are discussed, the grammatical and lexical status of insomma are analysed, as well as the lexicographic treatment in monolingual and bilingual dictionaries (Italian-Spanish). This is followed by the presentation of pragmatic and speech functions of this marker, distinguishing between metatextual and metacommunicative values, and illustrating them with examples from different genres: journalism, literature, music, movies, colloquial language both spoken and written or taken from chat rooms, blogs and internet forums with their translations into Spanish.