Information
Data Set Title:
Dataset del progetto Univers-ITA
Data Set Authors:
Nicola Grandi, Dipartimento di Filologia classica e Italianistica, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5243-7050
Matteo Pascoli, Dipartimento di Filologia classica e Italianistica

Contact Persons:
Nicola Grandi, nicola.grandi@unibo.it
Matteo Pascoli, matteo.pascoli2@unibo.it

License:
This Data Set is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en

Publication Year:
2025

Project Information:
Univers-ITA (Univers-ITA. L’italiano scritto degli studenti universitari: quadro sociolinguistico, tendenze tipologiche, implicazioni didattiche, con finanziamento MUR, bando Prin 2017, Prot 2017LAP429, https://site.unibo.it/univers-ita/en
Data Set Contents
Files in the Data Set:
univers-ita_dataset_LEGGIMI.rtf
univers-ita_dataset_README.rtf
univers-ita_dataset.xlsx
Documentation
Abstract
The dataset contains the overall metadata framework of the texts collected within the PRIN 2017 Project Univers-ITA. The written Italian of University students: sociolinguistic background, typological tendencies, educational implications. The aim of the project was to map the formal writing skills of the Italian university population, through a sample of 2,137 students from 44 universities, representative for geographical and disciplinary areas. The participants wrote a text (of 250-500 words) on a common outline and filled in a sociobiographical questionnaire of 58 questions (not all of them appear in the dataset, as some did not obtain a statistically significant number of responses). The texts produced were then analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. In this way, systematic correlations between the characteristics of the texts and the profiles of the writers could be identified.
Content of the Files
univers-ita_dataset.xlsx
The file contains data on the 2,137 texts collected in the Univers-ITA project. Each text corresponds to one line in the file.
The first column shows the text identifying number. There are gaps in the numbering of the texts (e.g. from text 184 to text 186) because 2,160 texts were actually collected in the project, but 23 contained invalid data, so they were deleted: the missing numbers are precisely those of the invalid and deleted texts.
Columns B to E contain information about the course of study.
The following columns contain three types of information:
    • columns F to GE contain the sociobiographical data of the writers, taken from the questionnaire completed after the text was written and related to the following areas: personal and family profile; linguistic and educational biography; cultural habits; attitudes and experiences related to writing;
    • columns GF to GR contain the quantitative data of the texts, obtained with the READ-IT software (see section Methodologies for details and section List of variables for the meaning of the parameters);
    • columns GS to HA contain the qualitative data of the texts, obtained by manual annotation (see section Methodologies for details and section List of variables for the meaning of the parameters).
univers-ita_dataset_LEGGIMI.rtf
Italian version of this file.
univers-ita_dataset_README.rtf
This file.
Methodologies
Quantitative annotation (columns HR-ID)
The 2,137 texts collected were first of all lemmatised and PoS-tagged using the software tools of Dylan Lab (CNR, Pisa); they were then automatically examined using the functionalities of the READ-IT software, which assesses the readability of a text according to a set of parameters aimed at measuring its level of complexity: its subdivision into sentences, the number of words, the length of the sentences, the length of the words, the parts of speech, certain morpho-syntactic traits, etc. Of these parameters, a few were selected as most reliable for the analysis conducted in the project and the nature of the texts: the number of sentences in the text, the number of different words, the number of verbal tokens, etc. The purpose of this first investigation was to assess, with a rather coarse grain, the complexity of the texts and their homogeneity.
Qualitative annotation
However, in order to obtain a more reliable picture, having ascertained the limits of a purely quantitative and automatic survey, all texts were subsequently reread and manually and qualitatively annotated by two readers with a solid linguistic and metalinguistic competence acquired during a master's degree course focusing on linguistic sciences and with specific training on the Italian language. The manual annotation was preceded by a training phase and alignment of the two annotators to the criteria previously defined by the research group. A programmatic choice was made to annotate all the traits that would configure some form of ‘deviance’ or departure from the expected result, i.e. a formal, supervised text, fully compliant with what is prescribed by normative or scholastic grammar. For this reason, the annotated phenomena are heterogeneous in terms of their sociolinguistic characterisation. There are, that is, highly stigmatised traits that typically occur in texts that are decidedly characterised downwards in diaphasia and diastratia (e.g. substandard orthographic realisations such as o comprato without h), but also others that are found with a certain frequency in the average controlled productions of the educated (such as, for example, marked constructions such as dislocations or the generalised pronoun gli), although not infrequently condemned by normative grammars as being outside the old, more rigidly codified standard.
For more details, cfr. Ballarè, S., Grandi, N. and Pascoli, M. (2025), La raccolta dei dati e la costruzione dei corpora, in N. Grandi (a cura di), L’italiano scritto degli studenti universitari. Quadro sociolinguistico, tendenze tipologiche, implicazioni didattiche, Milano, Franco Angeli, pp. 75-90
Link: https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/1329 

List of variables
Below we provide the meaning of each column in the dataset.
A	docN	progressive identifier of the text	
Sociobiographical data
B	sede	town of University	
C	areaSede	geographical area of the University	
D	corso	course of study	
E	areaCorso	disciplinary area of the degree course	

F	Did you attend any other university courses before enrolling in your current one?	
G	If yes, which degree course?	
H	Are you an out-of-town student?	
I	Are you a working student?	
J	Type of employment contract	
K	Gender	
L	How old are you?	
M	Your country of birth (Italy vs. other country)	
N	Region of birth	
O	Country of birth if different from Italy	
P	Family origin	
Q	Country of birth of your mother (Italy vs. other country)	
R	Region of birth	
S	Country of birth if different from Italy	
T	Country of birth of your father (Italy vs. other country)	
U	Region of birth	
V	Country of birth if different from Italy	
W	How would you define the socio-economic class of your family?	
X	Parents' educational qualifications	
Y	Parental reading habit	
Z	What is your mother's educational qualification?	
AA	What is your father's educational qualification?	
AB	Does your mother habitually read?	
AC	Does your father habitually read?	
AD	How does your mother usually speak to her parents? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AE	Which language(s)?	
AF	How does your mother usually speak to her partner? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AG	Which language(s)?	
AH	How does your mother habitually talk to you and your brothers/sisters now? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AI	Which language(s)?	
AJ	How did your mother habitually speak to you and your brothers / sisters when you were children? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AK	Which language(s)?	
AL	How does your mother usually speak to other relatives? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AM	Which language(s)?	
AN	How does your mother usually speak at the work? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AO	Which language(s)?	
AP	How does your mother usually speak to her friends? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AQ	Which language(s)?	
AR	How does your mother habitually speak to strangers? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AS	Which language(s)?	
AT	How does your father usually speak to his parents? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AU	Which language(s)?	
AV	How does your father usually speak to his partner? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AW	Which language(s)?	
AX	How does your father habitually talk to you and your BROTHERS/SISTERS NOW? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
AY	Which language(s)?	
AZ	How did your father habitually speak to you and your brothers / sisters when you were children? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
BA	Which language(s)?	
BB	How does your father usually speak to other relatives? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
BC	Which language(s)?	
BD	How does your father usually speak at work? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
BE	Which language(s)?	
BF	How does your father usually speak to his friends? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
BG	Which language(s)?	
BH	How does your father habitually speak to strangers? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
BI	Which language(s)?	
BJ	If you have brothers / sisters, how do you talk and talk when you were children? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
BK	Which language(s)?	
BL	Where did you attend primary school? (Italy vs. other country)	
BM	Region	
BN	Country	
BO	What kind of school was it?	
BP	Where did you attend secondary school? (Italy vs. other country)	
BQ	Region	
BR	Country	
BS	What kind of school was it?	
BT	Where did you attend high school?	
BU	Region	
BV	Country	
BW	What kind of school was it?	
BX	How did you speak in the family in the primary and secondary school period? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
BY	Which language(s)?	
BZ	How did you talk to your schoolmates at school in the primary and secondary school period? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
CA	Which language(s)?	
CB	How did you talk to your friends out of school in the primary and secondary school period? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
CC	Which language(s)?	
CD	How did you talk to the strangers in the primary and secondary school period? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)?	
CE	Which language(s)?	
CF	How did you speak in the family during your high school period (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)?	
CG	Which language(s)?	
CH	How did you talk to your schoolmates at school in the high school period? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
CI	Which language(s)?	
CJ	How did you talk to your friends out of school in the high school period? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
CK	Which language(s)?	
CL	How did you talk to the strangers  during your high school period? (Italian, dialect, minority language of Italy, other language)	
CM	Which language(s)?	
CN	During high school, did you spend any time studying abroad?	
CO	How much time?	
CP	Where?	
CQ	In which language did you mainly study?	
CR	What type of diploma did you obtain?	
CS	Which focus?	
CT	What grade level did you graduate with?	
CU	Among the teachers you have and have had in Italy, are there any who use/use languages other than Italian to explain non-linguistic subjects (e.g. mathematics, history, science, ...)?	
CV	In which school have you or have you had teachers who use/use languages other than Italian to explain non-linguistic subjects?	
CW	Which language(s)?	
CX	Which languages do you know?	
CY	Where did you learn them?	
CZ	Do you know ancient languages?	
DA	Which ancient languages do you know?	
DB	How did you learn it/them?	
DC	Can you read a text in this language without using a dictionary?	
DD	In which languages can you converse on everyday topics?	
DE	In which languages can you follow radio and television programmes such as films and news programmes (without subtitles)?	
DF	In which languages can you follow lectures and debates on specialised topics with which you are familiar?	
DG	In which languages can you read university-level essays or specialised articles?	
DH	In which languages can you write short texts (e.g. a message for a friend or acquaintance, a request for information)?	
DI	In which languages can you write large and articulate texts with a formal register and specialised character?	
DJ	In which languages can you interact in writing on social networks?	
DK	In which languages can you speak fluently at any level of complexity and in any context, both orally and in writing?	
DL	Since you graduated from high school to date, do you have or have had work experience for which it is essential to have excellent oral interaction skills in Italian and/or other languages?	
DM	From when you graduated to the present day, do you have or have had work experience for which it is essential to read extensively in Italian and/or other languages (e.g. books, newspapers, websites and platforms)?	
DN	Since you graduated from high school, have you or have had work experience for which it is essential to have excellent writing skills in Italian and/or other languages (e.g. documents, articles and texts for the Web)?	
DO	Since you have been at university, which languages/dialects have you used/used most often with the people living with you?	
DP	Which language(s)?	
DQ	Since you've been at university, which languages/dialects have you used/used most often with the friends you spend time with?	
DR	Which language(s)?	
DS	Do you use languages other than Italian to read newspapers and magazines?	
DT	Which language(s)?	
DU	Do you use languages other than Italian to read books?	
DV	Which language(s)?	
DW	Do you use languages other than Italian to study on university texts?	
DX	Which language(s)?	
DY	Do you use languages other than Italian to read comics?	
DZ	Which language(s)?	
EA	Do you use languages other than Italian to watch films and TV series (and plays)?	
EB	Which language(s)?	
EC	Do you use languages other than Italian to follow youtubers?	
ED	Which language(s)?	
EE	Do you use languages other than Italian to follow foreign celebrities on social media?	
EF	Which language(s)?	
EG	Do you use languages other than Italian to write comments on blogs or social networks?	
EH	Which language(s)?	
EI	You inform yourself through:	
EJ	How many books, excluding university books, do you read in a year?	
EK	In your spare time, you prefer reading	
EL	How often do you watch films?	
EM	How often do you watch TV series?	
EN	How often do you watch the news or news broadcasts?	
EO	How often do you watch talk shows on politics, current affairs, news?	
EP	How often do you watch entertainment talk shows?	
EQ	How often do you watch videos of singers and bands?	
ER	How often do you watch videos by influencers (YouTubers, TikToker)?	
ES	How often do you watch football matches or other sports?	
ET	What hobbies do you have in your spare time?	
EU	In your spare time, how many hours a day do you spend on the Internet?	
EV	You use the Internet mainly for	
EW	Do you have or have you had difficulties in the past that made reading or writing difficult for you?	
EX	What reading or writing difficulties did you have?	
EY	How comfortable are you with writing?	
EZ	Do you enjoy writing in your spare time, outside the university?	
FA	What do you write in your spare time?	
FB	Did you take writing courses?	
FC	Excluding exams, how often were you asked to write a text at university?	
FD	Do you consider the time the university devotes to teaching writing to be adequate?	
FE	During university lectures, do you take notes?	
FF	How do you take notes in class?	
FG	When preparing for an exam, do you take notes?	
FH	Do the courses you take involve a written examination?	
FI	What does the written examination of courses that provide for it consist of?	
FJ	Excluding exams, in your university experience, how often have you been asked to write papers or reports?	
FK	Excluding exams, in your university experience, how often have you been asked to answer open-ended questions in writing?	
FL	Excluding exams, in your university experience, how often have you been asked to write critical comments?	
FM	Excluding exams, in your university experience, how often have you been asked to develop the outline of an essay?	
FN	Excluding exams, in your university experience, how often have you been asked to prepare a written outline for an oral presentation?	
FO	Excluding exams, in your university experience, how often have you been asked to translate into Italian from other languages, or vice versa?	
FP	If you have to write a text for university (exams, reports, ...) do you make an outline of the topics before you start writing?	
FQ	If you have to write a text for university (exams, reports, ...) how do you write it?	
FR	If you use computers, tablets or smartphones to write texts for university, do you use spell-checkers?+	
FS	If you have to write a text for university (exams, reports, ...) if you proofread your text, you mainly focus on	
FT	When you write a text for university, does it happen that the lecturer corrects the language of your text?	
FU	What language-related comments do lecturers most frequently make on your written texts?	
FV	Did the teacher's corrections help you to write better?	
FW	Do you e-mail lecturers to ask for explanations or information on courses and exams?	
FX	When you write e-mails to teachers, do you reread to check the text?	
FY	On average, during the period in which you take courses, how many hours do you write per day (notes, summaries, diagrams, exercises, ...)?	
FZ	Do you think reading essays, articles, novels, short stories, comics helps you write better?	
GA	What device do you use most often to write on the Internet (posts, comments, tweets, ...)?	
GB	Excluding Whatsapp, Messenger, Instagram DMs and the like, do you write posts or comments on the sites you frequent?	
GC	When you write messages online in your spare time, do you pay attention to how you write?	
GD	When you write posts on Facebook or Instagram, do you use the ‘edit’ function?	
GE	When you use the ‘edit’ function, why do you do it?	
Quantitative data
GF	sentences	number of sentences (separated by full stop)	
GG	tokens	number of tokens in the text (words, punctuation marks, numbers, etc.)	
GH	tokensW	total number of words in the text	
GI	tokensA	total number of adjectives in the text	
GJ	tokensB	total number of adverbs in the text	
GK	tokensS	total number of nouns in the text	
GL	tokensV	total number of verbs in the text	
GM	lemmas	number of unique lemmas in the text	
GN	words	number of unique words in the text	
GO	readAll	total readability index	
GP	readBase	readability index based on sentence length, calculated as the average number of words per sentence, and word length, calculated as the average number of characters per word	
GQ	readLex	readability index based on the lexical characteristics of the text, consisting of the composition of the vocabulary as well as its lexical richness	
GR	readSyn	readability index based on the combination of morpho-syntactic and syntactic traits	
NB: in readability indices, the value corresponds to the percentage of the level of difficulty, i.e. it refers to the probability that the text under examination belongs to the class of difficult-to-read texts.
Qualitative tags
PAR	Text organization	This category of tags includes: lack of/incorrect division of the text into paragraphs; schematic presentation of content	
nCOE	Textual coherence	This category of tags includes: Illogical use of connectives, Absence of an explicit logical relationship between the expressed content (juxtaposition), Contradictoriness, Fragmentation of information, “Semantic short circuits,” as in expressions such as possibile/impossibile + potere, etc.	
nLES	Lexicon	This category of tags includes: Lexical poverty/excessive lexical generality, Improper vocabulary, Repetition, Plastisms, Violation of collocations, Malapropisms, etc.	
nMFS	Morphosyntax	This category of tags includes: No agreement for gender and number, Failure to respect the consecutio temporum, Inadequate handling of reference (e.g., pronouns distant from their antecedents, pronouns referring to referents endowed with conceptual rather than textual reality), erroneous prepositional regencies, Polyvalent che, etc.	
nMRC	Marked sentences	This category of tags includes: right/left dislocated sentences, cleft and pseudo-cleft sentences, suspended topic sentences, etc.	
nORT	Spelling	This category of TAGS includes: absence/incorrect use of the apostrophe, use of accent with monosyllabic verb forms (fa, sa, so) and with the apocopated form of the adverb poco, ecc.	
nPUN	Punctuation	This category of TAGS includes: omission of punctuation marks, substitution of one punctuation mark for another, insertion of punctuation marks in incongruous contexts, etc.	
nREG	Register	This category of TAGS includes: unappropriate lexicon for written and formal register, over-extension of gli for loro and le, use of the impersonal tu, etc.	
nSIN	Syntax and cohesion	This category of TAGS includes: Omission of preposition in coordinated phrases, Missed or incorrect parallelisms, Absolute gerunds, Omission of arguments, Disruption of syntagmatic continuity