Da L1 a L2: apprendere per comunicare

This article addresses the relation between language acquisition, specifically L2 learning, and the communication process. We dwell on the nature and the role of the linguistic productions available to the learners in the communicative situations, insofar as sentences, semantic background and contextual factors are able to provide the input for the acquisition of linguistic and pragmatic knowledge by the speaker. The crucial question that we consider, is if and how the pragmatic devices regulating the linguistic use interact with language, understood as an innate power of human brain. More precisely, the core linguistic properties interface with sensory-motor and thought systems in producing and understanding the expressions of a particular language.