Volume 18, Issue 1-2 -

The comic poet Lucilius proposed several orthographic prescriptions in the ninth book of his Satirae , written in the period 115–110 BC. In dealing with this topic, Lucilius severely criticized Accius’ statements on orthography, refusing his proposals of doubling vowels (“ geminatio vocalium ”) and overgeneralization of <ei> for /i:/. Lucilius’ prescriptions, which were borrowed by the philosopher Nigidius Figulus a century later, clearly follow the iconical principles of the pseudo-Stoic συμπάσχειν -theory. In this paper a new interpretation of the orthographic iconicity in Lucilius’ and Nigidius’ doctrine is proposed, with reference to the case morphemes of *- ŏ - and *- ā - stems. As a matter of fact, “thickening” and “thinning” of the letter-forms ( addĕre vs tenuāre , pinguis vs tenuis ) can be satisfactorily explained only by taking account of <EI> and<I>spellings in a cursive script (namely <III> vs <I>). Finally, the key to explain the technical terms tenuis ‘thin’ vs pinguis ‘thick’ is traced back to an ancient metaphor of the wool-spinning practices.

Empirical research on the learning and instruction of Latin is still scarce. In this article, relevant research is surveyed, along with publications that report experiences of classics teachers or provide teaching suggestions. An overview is presented of where to find publications on the learning and instruction of Latin, as well as a brief introduction to several relevant research methods. The article is organized by reference to various research fields relevant to the learning and instruction of Latin. These fields are classics and Latin linguistics, second language acquisition, vocabulary acquisition and dictionary use, reading and text comprehension, translation research and pedagogy, child development and psychology.

Reading Latin. Easy as it sounds, Latin teachers know it is not. Students are able to analyze words or recognize constructions, yet this knowledge does not enable them to read and let the Latin words form images in their minds. In order to develop a reading method focusing on the visualization of the story following the Latin word order, an applied research project was set up. The research approach was that of educational design research. Based upon knowledge of word order and colometry, a reading method was developed focusing on the way the story is directed by the Roman author.

This paper aims at renewing the teaching of Latin applying the advances of the contemporary comparative linguistic research to the production and experimentation of materials for the teaching of (classical) languages. In addition, it addresses a particular aspect to which the Italian school is currently more and more sensitive, namely the inclusion of students with dyslexia (Italian law 170/2010). The method encourages students to formulate expectations on the contents of the Latin texts they read, by brainstorming activities, spotting keywords, and proposing collaborative hypotheses to the peer group. Furthermore, it proposes an inductive approach to the morphological analysis of the texts. Finally, it is very important to recognize the positive role of the cross-linguistic comparative approach to the texts, mostly (but not only) based on the reflection on the thematic structure of the verbs which is universal and only varies in its syntactic realization; on the recognition of phrases; on the graphic representation (first guided, then independent) of the syntactic structure of phrases and sentences.

Between 2000 and 2013, over 8,000 students studied the module Reading Classical Latin at the Open University, the United Kingdom’s largest distance education provider. But while many learners attained high grades, a significant proportion withdrew from study or failed the module. In 2015, the original module was replaced with a completely new course, Classical Latin: The Language of Ancient Rome . This article details the innovative ways in which new technology and pedagogical theory from Modern Foreign Language (MFL) learning were drawn on by the team designing this new module, resulting in a learning experience which gives greater emphasis to elements such as spoken Latin, the intrinsic pleasure of reading, and cultural context. The (largely positive) effects of these pedagogical changes on student success and satisfaction are subsequently analysed using a rich mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Finally, the authors reflect on lessons learned and the possibilities for future research and enhancement.