Young dog accompanying the Italian student (5)
I believe the answer is:
pupil
'student' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'young dog accompanying the italian' is the wordplay.
'young dog' becomes 'pup' (short for puppy).
'accompanying' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the italian' becomes 'il' (the in Italian).
'pup'+'il'='PUPIL'
(Other definitions for pupil that I've seen before include "One in the eye or in place of learning" , "Scholar" , "Eye opening" , "Learner in the eye?" , "Learner at educational institution" .)