Innovation in Language Learning

This article offers a reflective exploration of the pedagogical value of a short-term educational visit to Italy, undertaken within the framework of an Erasmus+ Mobility program. From the instructor’s perspective, the article reflects on how the experience was designed to support the development of linguistic and intercultural competencies among fifteen undergraduate students, who had completed two semesters of Italian as a foreign language university course prior to the visit. The program was designed to offer opportunities for enhancing these competencies through a structured immersion experience, combining formal instruction at an Italian university with real-life communicative tasks. The program aimed to enhance students’ linguistic and intercultural competencies through a structured immersion experience, combining formal instruction at an Italian university with real-life communicative tasks. These tasks—including ordering at restaurants and cafés, purchasing transportation tickets, and managing everyday interactions—were conducted entirely in Italian and designed to encourage authentic language use in context. Adopting the instructor’s perspective, the article offers reflections on the pedagogical value of the initiative, considering its potential to foster communicative competence, learner autonomy, and intercultural awareness. These reflections align with ideas discussed in the literature on experiential learning and immersion-based approaches in foreign language education (Kinginger, 2009; Jackson, 2018). The paper also discusses practical considerations and challenges, offering suggestions for the effective design of short-term mobility experiences in language learning.