Il ruolo dei cartoni animati nell’acquisizione dell’italiano come L2: il caso degli studenti L1 sloveno dell’Università del Litorale

The first part of the article deals with cartoons as a possible source of authentic language input and the effect that exposure to them can have on incidental language learning in childhood. The second part presents a research work on the impact that watching cartoons in Italian can have in childhood on a group of Slovenian L1 students studying Italian at the Univerza na Primorskem / University of Primorska in Koper (Slovenia). The research work showed no correlation between the linguistic input of cartoons and the linguistic production of students. However, watching cartoons stimulated their motivation to learn Italian and produced a long-term loyalty to the network that broadcast the animated series. Key words: incidental L2 acquisition, childhood, cartoons, Italian language as L2, students of Italian as L2