Explaining in Italian as a Foreign Language (IL2). Analysis of Online Lessons in Belgium

This presentation examines how teachers of Italian as a second/foreign language (IL2) construct explanations in heterogeneous online classes in Belgium. Using a CA-SLA approach, it analyses 15 hours of recorded lessons across two educational contexts. Results show a strong focus on meaning, with repetitions and reformulations as the dominant transparency strategies. To account for how these strategies are organised in interaction, the presentation introduces the STRA.D.A. model, which conceptualises explanatory work along a transparency continuum between distancing and approaching strategies. Implications are discussed for interactional research and teacher education.