Conta e calcolo in immigranti bilingui romeno-italiano: autodichiarazioni e comportamento osservato

The relationship between self-reported language use and observed linguistic behavior in counting and calculation tasks lies at the core of this pilot study conducted with first-generation Romanian immigrants in Italy, and aims to assess the extent to which the language participants declare using corresponds to the one actually employed during controlled numerical tasks. The findings indicate that level of education does not significantly affect the language participants declare using, but it does influence the coherence between metalinguistic self-representation and actual task performance. Less-educated participants display unstable code alternation and procedural difficulties under increased cognitive load, whereas university graduates show a more strategic and controlled use of their bilingual repertoire. The Language of Arithmetic Learning (LA+) tends to remain anchored to the original language of schooling, while still allowing for forms of functional reorganization in the second language.