Impoliteness and Italian L2 Teaching

From Textbook to (T)rap Lyrics

Abstract

This paper explores the educational potential of contemporary Italian (t)rap as a resource for developing pragmatic competence among learners of Italian as a second language (L2), with particular attention to impoliteness and its communicative and identity-related functions. Starting from the observation that most Italian L2 textbooks tend to present linguistic models cleansed of conflict and deviations from politeness norms, the study comparatively examines how impoliteness is represented and treated in two widely used textbook series (Nuovissimo Progetto Italiano and Nuovo Espresso) and in a selected corpus of (t)rap lyrics. While noting that one of the textbooks includes, albeit to a limited extent, rap excerpts and metapragmatic notes, the analysis highlights a general lack of contextualization and reflection on the situated use of impoliteness – contrasted with the expressive and functional richness found in musical texts. Trap language, often marginalized for its transgressive nature, emerges as a space for the expressive elaboration of impoliteness, allowing for the questioning of boundaries between legitimate and living language and for the promotion of metapragmatic reflection and negotiation of appropriateness. The analysis leads to a critical consideration of the limited attention given in textbooks to taboo language and on the role of reference frameworks such as the CEFR. In this perspective, (t)rap can be seen as a potential linguistic and cultural laboratory – not only for learners but also for teachers – inviting a reconsideration of the boundaries between norm and deviation, between dominant teaching practices and real language use.