School Inclusion and Language Development in Students of Foreign Origin

Giovanna Scala; Emma Saraiello; Alessandro Persico; Maria Giovanna Tafuri

School Inclusion and Language Development in Students of Foreign Origin

Giovanna Scala, Emma Saraiello, Alessandro Persico, Maria Giovanna Tafuri

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an inclusive extracurricular educational intervention based on peer tutoring and gamification (both digital and analog) in promoting Italian L2 language learning, motivation, and school well-being within a multicultural context. The research was conducted in a lower secondary school in the Naples metropolitan area and involved approximately 80 second-year students (aged 11–12), distributed across four classes: two assigned to the experimental condition and two to the control condition, following a quasi- experimental design. The intervention lasted eight months and was implemented in an extracurricular setting (two afternoon sessions per week, two hours each; approximately 128 hours in total). The experimental group participated in structured cooperative activities (shared reading, language peer tutoring, and authentic communicative tasks) integrated with gamified learning experiences, whereas the control group followed a traditional instructional approach based on frontal teaching and structured exercises. Quantitative data (Italian L2 proficiency tests at A1–A2 levels, the Academic Motivation Scale, and a school well-being scale) and qualitative data (semi-structured interviews with students and teachers) were analyzed using an integrated mixed-methods approach. The results indicate a systematic advantage for the experimental group, with a greater overall increase in L2 competence (+24% vs. +11%) and a higher proportion of students reaching the A2 level (from 32% to 61% vs. from 30% to 43%). Moreover, the experimental group showed larger improvements in intrinsic motivation (+18% vs. +7%), a stronger reduction in amotivation (−21% vs. −8%), and greater gains in school well-being (+15% vs. +6%). Qualitative findings further confirmed higher levels of participation, communicative confidence, and relational quality among students in the experimental group. Overall, the integration of peer tutoring and gamification emerges as a promising educational strategy to support inclusion and academic success in multicultural school settings.

Keywords

School inclusion; students of foreign origin; Italian as a second language (L2); peer tutoring; gamification; mixed-methods approach. www.ijee.io

References

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School Inclusion and Language Development in Students of Foreign Origin

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