The conditional tense in the interlingua of Italian speakers when learning Spanish

Abstract

This article analyzes the most common learning difficulties in the written production of Italian ELE (B2/C1) students in relation to the use of the simple conditional in a corpus of 184 pedagogical translation exercises created based on the principles of Contrastive Analysis. (AC). The use of the conjectural conditional, and the conditional as a future in the past are the most widespread errors detected in the interlanguage of Italian ELE students. These faults are explained in relation to the different values of the simple conditional in Italian and Spanish due to their different diachronic evolution. The analysis results highlight the importance of a didactic approach that encourages metalinguistic and contrastive reflection in the ELE classroom with particular attention to students of languages that are related who want to improve their linguistic skills (both oral and written expression) and achieve a high level of Spanish.