14 f ou r teen

Oral Presentation 7

’Birds of passage’’Birds of passage’What do singer Lady Gaga, film director Sofia Coppola, actor Danny de Vito and wrestler Hulk Hogan have in common? It may be hard to believe, but they all are of Italian origin.

The United States of America have always been a multicultural country. Italian mass migration to America started in the 1880s from the regions of Campania, Basilicata, Apulia, Calabria and Sicily. From 1876 to 1924, more than 4.5 million Italians were registered at Ellis Island, the American immigration inspection station in the harbour of New York City. At the beginning, immigrants were mainly men of 15-35 years old who wanted to work for some time and make money. They didn’t learn much of the language, they weren’t interested in acquiring citizenship they didn’t want to buy a house in the States because all they wanted was to return to their paese. This is why they were called ‘birds of passage’ but only until 1910, when women and families started to arrive from Italy.

New Italian immigrants settled in cities where they formed their neighbourhoods. They created a new ethnic culture with newspapers, theatres, churches and recreational clubs often featuring traditional puppet and marionette shows. They also started to celebrate their national festivities such as the epiphany on the 6th of January, their local patron saints such as San Gennaro, or Columbus Day on the 12th of October.

But life in North America wasn’t easy. As a minority, Italians suffered discrimination in housing and employment. Poverty and illiteracy helped strengthen the belief that southern

Italians belonged to an ‘inferior race’ and with the Immigration Act of 1924 most Italians weren’t allowed to the United States anymore.

Nevertheless, Italian Americans have played an important part in building the country not only in the arts and entertainment field, but also in sport, science and politics. Today they represent the fourth largest European ethnic group counting more than 17,000,000 people.

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15f i f teen

Oral Presentation 7

Before you read1 Pairwork Look at the first image. Can you

say from which part of the world the people come from? Tell your partner.

2 Read the text and answer the questions.

1 Which regions did the Italian immigrants come from?

2 What was on Ellis Island?

3 Who were the first Italians to arrive in the USA?

4 Why were they called ‘birds of passage’?

5 Where did they settle?

6 When did Italian women and families start to arrive in the USA?

7 What event is celebrated on 12th October?

8 Why was life difficult for the Italians?

9 When was the Immigration Act issued?

10 Have you got relatives, or do you and your family know anyone who moved to the USA? Why did they move? Where do they live now?

3 Read the text again and report the main facts in the fact file.

’Birds of passage’ 4 Use your notes in the fact file to retell the story of mass migration. The following words can help you link the facts together.

at the beginning • then • but nevertheless • because of

Quando ti alleni a fare una presentazione orale, è importante tenere il tempo in modo da essere sicuro di non eccedere con il tempo dato, o di dire abbastanza per una presentazione soddisfacente. Usa un cronometro e assicurati di rispettare i tempi previsti. Se non raggiungi il tempo stabilito, cerca di arricchire la tua presentazione con qualche altro fatto, se invece il tempo non è sufficiente dovrai togliere qualche dettaglio.

Exam Competences

5 Research Use the Internet to find out about Italian mass migration to South America. Find the answers to the questions below and take notes.

• When did it start?

• How many people left Italy, and from which regions?

• Why did they leave?

• Where did they settle?

6 Use your notes to prepare your oral presentation. Speak for about 3 minutes.

Italian mass migration to North America

when it started 1880s _________________________people came from Campania, _________________________they registered at _________________________________________________________________

between 1876 and 1924 ____________________________________________________________

Italians created ___________________________________________________________________

main celebrations: ________________________________________________________________

in 1924 _________________________________________________________________________

today there are ___________________________________________________________________

LinksGeografia: Il continente Americano

Storia: Le grandi migrazioni

Francese: La Francia multiculturale

Spagnolo: Italiani d’Argentina

Letteratura: Onde, di Giorgio Di Vita

Arte: Le sculture di Jason deCaires Taylor al Museo Atlántico sottomarino di Lanzarote

Musica: ‘Clandestino’ di Manu Chau, ‘Italiani d’Argentina’ di Ivano Fossati

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