The sociolinguistic portrait of Italy is quite complex as a consequence of the strong influence of dialects which in some areas and social groups are more dominant than standard Italian language. This is understandable in rural communities; however, many urban centres still retain dialectal characteristics. Italy is divided into twenty regions and every region, as well as every city or smaller settlement, has certain special dialectal characteristics. This research was conducted in the regions of Abruzzo and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, precisely in the cities of Pescara and Trieste. The main aim was to examine the representation of standard Italian language and dialect in the speech of young persons in Pescara and Trieste with a special emphasis on their dialects. The results of the research show how many young people in Pescara and Trieste use dialect and in which situations, how well they know it, as well as their opinions on the survival and future of that dialect. Dialect is most often used in informal situations, but there exists a tendency to use standard Italian language in all analyzed situations, even the informal ones. Our results indicate that dialect is not under threat of extinction and its use certainly contributes to the preservation of the linguistic identity of the populations of Pescara and Trieste as a whole. Sociolingvistička slika Italije jako je složena što je posljedica velikog utjecaja dijalekata koji u nekim krajevima i društvenim grupama dominiraju nad standardnim talijanskim jezikom. To je i razumljivo za seoske sredine, međutim mnogi urbani centri još i danas čuvaju dijalektalne značajke. Italija je podijeljena na dvadeset regija i svaka regija, kao i svaki grad ili manje mjesto, imaju neke posebne dijalektalne značajke. Ovo istraživanje je provedeno u regijama Abruzzo i regiji Friuli-Venezia Giulia, odnosno u gradovima Pescari i Trstu. Glavni cilj bio je utvrditi koliko je zastupljen standardni talijanski jezik, a koliko dijalekt u govoru mladih u Pescari, a koliko kod mladih u Trstu s posebnim naglaskom na njihov dijalekt. Rezultati istraživanja koje je provedeno pokazuju koliko se mladi u Pescari i Trstu služe dijalektom i u kojim situacijama, koliko ga dobro poznaju i što oni misle o opstanku i budućnosti tog dijalekta. Dijalekt se najčešće koristi u neformalnim situacijama, ali postoji tendencija za korištenjem talijanskog standardnog jezika u svim analiziranim situacijama, pa tako i u onim neformalnim. Naši rezultati ukazuju na činjenicu da dijalektu ne prijeti izumiranje i njegovo korištenje svakako pridonosi i očuvanju jezičnog identitet stanovništva Pescare i Trsta u cjelini.