Learning languages through intercomprehension: some hints on cultural and intercultural competences

Abstract. In this paper we are trying to explore the impact of a brief Intercomprehension course in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish on 24 Management Engineering students enrolled at the University of Bologna (Italy), University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and the National University of Rosario (Argentina), who are willing to take part in international mobility exchanges. After introducing the main features of intercomprehension and interproduction methodologies, we are going to describe in detail the contents and the tasks proposed in an online Intercomprehension pilot course divided into three modules. Module 1 is aimed at enhancing the plurilingual biography of the learners and deconditioning them from classical approaches to language teaching; Module 2 aims to reinforce written and oral comprehension skills in intercomprehension, also through a contrastive metalinguistic reflection on the three related languages, whereas Module 3 is focused on specialized texts and terminology, concerning the area of engineering and more precisely the subject of ‘process innovation'. In this last module, students were also trained in the use of the software Antconc through inductive observations of specialized corpora. We are also going to mention students’ expectations towards the Intercomprehension course and international mobility, and we will try to sketch some perspectives and wishes for the near future.