Abstract
The present paper discusses a set of data on the learning outcomes of Italian and German as a
second language (L2) in South Tyrol. Data were collected as part of the Kolipsi project with
the aim of investigating the L2 skills of a statistically significant sample of South Tyrolean
upper secondary school students and the psychosocial factors that influence their approach
and attitudes to the L2. The discussion of the results clearly shows how crucial intergroup
contact is in acquiring the ability to actively participate in community life through an L2.
This calls into question the role of the school which, in the current social separatist system,
is almost the only context for L2 learning and practice in the Province, as well as the personal
responsibilities of both students and parents in reaching an adequate, but still far from
achieved, level of widespread bilingualism