This course will cover basic grammatical structures of the Italian language and vocabulary building based on everyday situations. It will focus on intensive oral communications and conversational skills.
Attendance policy:
Attendance is mandatory. After the first two absences, each additional unexcused absence will lower the final grade. There are no make-ups for missed exams/tests.
Method of presentation:
The activities of the class are based on highly communicative method designed to activate students’ resources, foster their confidence and develop the fundamental linguistic abilities: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Required work and form of assessment:
Class participation and engagement (30%); in-class tests (15%); outside activities and vocabulary test (15%); oral competency (15%); final (25%).
Final exam: The final exam consists of a series of written exercises based on grammar and most relevant vocabulary covered in class and a reading comprehension, according to the course level.
Oral competency: Oral production and comprehension is crucial to a language course which has the goal to enable students to communicate in a new language. If the midterm and the final exams only include a written part, the students’ oral competency is assessed constantly throughout the course by the course instructor. Students’ oral competence is a result of different components: correctness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Homework: Homework is given to reinforce topics studied in class. Students are expected to memorize, use and build his/her own vocabulary, according to their level. The correct answers are not necessarily written on the board or checked one by one; it’s the students’ responsibility to ask questions in case of doubts or confusion.
content:
Grammar: articles, nouns gender, adjectives, prepositions, pronouns (subject, direct and object, reflexive and possessive), adverbs of frequency, numbers, formal and informal communication.
Verb tenses: present simple of “essere” and “avere,” present of regular and irregular verbs; present of reflexive verbs, present progressive, present perfect (form and auxiliary usage; past participle of regular and some irregular verbs), informal imperative.
Elements of every-day communication (how to greet, to introduce himself/herself, to talk about family, to ask for permission, to order in a bar, to buy things, to describe objects, places and people, to ask and give information, to talk about past and future events).
Vocabulary: words related to the aforementioned situations.
Oral Activities
Conversation based on subjects provided by the instructor (work in pairs, among students and with the instructor). Topics will focus on particular grammatical rules or structures of the Italian language.
Listening: students will be asked to listen to recordings of authentic conversations and invited to talk about it, either in pair or small groups.
Listening to contemporary songs: analysis of texts (vocabulary, new words, and grammatical structures).
Oral drills: the aim is to build a better understanding of grammar rules.
Games: role-plays, word games, competitions.
Written Activites
Text analysis: research of specific grammar structures and classification of linguistic elements, in order to formulate rules and criterion.
Cloze: students are asked to fill in a text, in which certain words are omitted to develop their linguistic awareness.
Composition: an exercise in which a theme is provided by the instructor and students strive to communicate through writing;
Editing: after producing their texts students try to improve them in pairs.
Changes and exceptions to these topics may be possible depending on the actual didactic situation.
Required readings:
Italian Expresso. Gruppo Italiaidea, Firenze: Alma Edizioni, 2006 (textbook and workbook).
Italian in Context. IES ROMA.
Handouts provided by the instructor.
Beginning Italian I
This course will cover basic grammatical structures of the Italian language and vocabulary building based on everyday situations. It will focus on intensive oral communications and conversational skills.
Attendance is mandatory. After the first two absences, each additional unexcused absence will lower the final grade. There are no make-ups for missed exams/tests.
The activities of the class are based on highly communicative method designed to activate students’ resources, foster their confidence and develop the fundamental linguistic abilities: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Class participation and engagement (30%); in-class tests (15%); outside activities and vocabulary test (15%); oral competency (15%); final (25%).
Final exam: The final exam consists of a series of written exercises based on grammar and most relevant vocabulary covered in class and a reading comprehension, according to the course level.
Oral competency: Oral production and comprehension is crucial to a language course which has the goal to enable students to communicate in a new language. If the midterm and the final exams only include a written part, the students’ oral competency is assessed constantly throughout the course by the course instructor. Students’ oral competence is a result of different components: correctness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Homework: Homework is given to reinforce topics studied in class. Students are expected to memorize, use and build his/her own vocabulary, according to their level. The correct answers are not necessarily written on the board or checked one by one; it’s the students’ responsibility to ask questions in case of doubts or confusion.
Oral Activities
Written Activites
Changes and exceptions to these topics may be possible depending on the actual didactic situation.
Italian Expresso. Gruppo Italiaidea, Firenze: Alma Edizioni, 2006 (textbook and workbook).
Italian in Context. IES ROMA.
Handouts provided by the instructor.