Browse

The aim of this study is to offer some psychological reflections on the work of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, physician and renowned writer, one of the leading figures in European theatre at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Our work will, which draws on the Fusco method, focus in particular on the short story Fat and Thin, first published in 1883 and followed by a second version published in 1886, analysing how the themes of loneliness and alienation, recurrent throughout Chekhov’s work, reflect the human and...

Our study analyses the representation of childhood in the works of art by Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet and Gian Carlo Riccardi, highlighting how, despite their different styles and approaches, all three artists used this theme for a profound iconographic and psychological exploration. This theme is present in the expressive research of numerous artists who have captured the immediacy, nostalgia and carefreeness of the world of childhood. The methodology is based on the principles of Art and Literature Psychology, w...

The aim of this paper is to conduct a psychological analysis on Franz Kafka (1883-1924), an eminent figure of the 20th century, known for his disturbing and dreamlike works. This study takes its place in the current landscape of Kafka studies, which often focus on philosophical or sociological interpretations, by proposing a novel psychological perspective on his creativity. The Bohemian writer’s creative and literary thinking will be analysed and the short story Absent-minded Window-gazing from Contemplation (1...

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether educational apps that utilize Artificial Intelligence can help students with specific learning difficulties to facilitate English language learning. The interest for this research stems from our experiences in teaching English as foreign language in learning environments where students, particularly those with learning impairments, manifested several difficulties during the acquisition process, therefore we conducted this investigation in order to explore whether AI ...

The purpose of this article is to research to what extent teachers of English as role models could exert influence on the process through which Italian undergraduate students tend to attribute their success in learning English as a foreign language. The trigger for this investigation comes from articles of TESOL that we read when we were studying for the MA in Applied Linguistics in the UK. This study was conducted at the University of Malta and the data gathering process consists of a quantitative approach throug...

This paper aims to investigate borrowings among Latin-based L1 learners of English as a foreign language analyzing the interference of L1 and positive transfer of Italian and Spanish so as to provide significant empirical evidence which could contribute to SLA research and identify potential implications for L2 pedagogy. The focus of this investigation is to help move opinions on borrowings or L1 transfer from superficial to detailed and analytical insight into a specific group of EFL learners. The stimulus for th...

The aim of this study is to conduct a psychological analysis of three of the most controversial and interesting historical figures of the second half of the Nineteenth century, forerunners of their time, linked not only by their parental point of view, but by the same ideals aimed at the pursuit of dreams, tenderness and the impossible freedom they never managed to find in life: Empress Elisabeth of Austria, King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Crown Prince Rudolf of Habsburg. The work aims to relate these three personal...

The aim of this study is to analyse some paintings by the Italian, multimedia and avantgarde artist Gian Carlo Riccardi (1933-2015), in which the concept of creation and destruction, or rather, as Freud would say, Eros and the destructive drive, predominate at the same time. Our study will focus in particular on the execution of these works, leading to a kind of ‘creative destruction’. This work intends to show how Gian Carlo Riccardi uses heterogeneous and salvaged materials to create pictorial works in which...

The aim of this study is to show how painting, in Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), is an active expression of the Dutch painter’s madness, inner anxieties and social unease through the vigour of the sign and the brutal incandescence of colour. The pictorial material is a direct manifestation of the inner datum and becomes a means of exorcising the ‘evil of living’ that consumed the artist. Within this work, we will consider how in the works of Van Gogh, forerunner of the expressionist language, creativity and m...

This work aims to present one of the most original and complex characters of the 20th century, the writer James Joyce (1882-1941). The study consists of a careful research and psychological investigation of the Irish writer’s thought through the analysis of one of his best-known works, Dubliners. In particular, the last story of Joyce’s extensive work, The Dead, will be examined. In the course of the work, particular emphasis will be placed on the themes and concepts present and recurring in Joyce’s works an...

The purpose of this paper is to discover whether Dogme ELT can efficiently lead Italian high school EFL students to develop oral fluency within the classroom, in particular if this approach is valid for General English (GE) adult intermediate classes in Italian private and state institutions. The stimulus for this research comes from the reading of academic articles on effective strategies in order to develop speaking skills and fluency in EFL learning which have been analyzed before undertaking this study in orde...

The purpose of this paper is to discover whether digital video games can be effective EFL learning tools for Italian high school students, in particular if they can facilitate their retention of vocabulary and the development of listening comprehension skill. The stimulus for this research comes from the reading of academic articles on the usefulness of using commercial games for EFL learning which we analyzed before undertaking this study in order to have a broader view of this topic. The literature review descri...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the bimodal input (videos in theEnglish language with English captions) can lead Italian high school students toimprove their listening comprehension skills. The trigger for this research comes frommy EFL teaching experiences at Italian schools where the syllabi employed tend toneglect the training of the listening comprehension skills and focus mainly on grammartranslation and English literature instructions. The literature review describes in detailtheoretical ...

This research aims to study the sculptures and installations of the Italian multimedia and avant-garde artist Gian Carlo Riccardi (1933-2015). Our psychological study will particularly consider the ‘rooms’, installations created by the artist with simple objects and recycled materials such as paper, cardboard, plexiglass and predominantly iron and wood using the logic of the ready-made. The artist's sculptures and installations are constructed and represented through painted and coloured walls depicting abstra...

The purpose of this study is to conduct a careful psychological investigation into the thought of one of the most important 20th century Irish writers, James Joyce (1882- 1941). The main focus of the analysis consists of some of the short stories contained in one of Joyce’s most famous works, Dubliners, with particular reference to Evelyne and at the same time examining some of the themes present and recurring in the Irish writer’s books. This work aims to demonstrate how in Joyce there is a strong interest in...

The main purpose of this study is to analyse and examine some of the paintings of the Italian avant-garde artist Gian Carlo Riccardi. Our work will focus in particular on a psychological study of the paintings and drawings realised by the artist. Our study basically focuses on the compositions created between the 1980s and 1990s and the graphic works executed in the 2000s. The first category examines certain works characterised by intense abstractionism. The pictorial material used by Gian Carlo Riccardi is manipu...