La legge 153/1971: miti di ieri, oggi

The aim of the present contribution is an analysis of Law 153 of 1971, the normative instrument that allowed the maintenance and promotion of the Italian language through "scholastic initiatives, scholastic assistance and vocational training to be implemented abroad in favour of Italian workers and their relatives", in order to investigate its impact in terms of the diffusion of the Italian language in the world. We will try to answer the questions of whether it was adequate to the educational needs of Italians in the world and whether it managed to grasp the changes in the characteristics of ancient settlement emigration and neo-emigration. We will dwell on some qualifying aspects and on some critical points that have animated the debate on the need to reform this law over the years. We will then analyse legislative decree 64/2017, in order to understand whether it has responded to the need for change in order to meet the new linguistic-cultural needs of Italians living in the world and whether it is really a language policy instrument that is also capable of attracting a wider potential audience to the Italian language and culture.