Teacher(s)
Maeder Costantino ;
Giusto Carmela ;
Prerequisites
Having learned any language at secondary school level
Main themes
Beginner students, thanks to teaching methods derived from research into intercomprehension, will in just a few weeks learn to read scientific or journalistic texts written in modern Italian. They will independently discover the rules and conventions which enable communication between French and Italian. During practical sessions, they will be encouraged to speak, debate and write in Italian. Practical tasks will be undertaken in small groups.
Aims
- To know how to read, summarise and translate a newspaper or scientific article written in modern Italian without using a grammar or dictionary.
- To master standard communication situations.
- To know how to use basic grammar and vocabulary.
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and
command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be
accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled
“Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Evaluation methods
Continuous assessmentwithtests during the courseand one oral exam during the examination session of January.
The grammar section must be passed with an average mark of 10/20 in order to pass this course.
In the event of a fail in the grammar section, the final course mark will be the grammar mark alone.
In the event of a pass in the grammar section, the final mark will be calculated as follows:
-
9 written grammar tests during the course (1/3)
-
2 written intercomprehension tests (1/3)
-
1 oral exam during the examination session (1/3)
Should a student fail one of the three sections, he is only required to resit the part failed. Should he fail two sections, he is only required to resit the two sections failed. If he fails three sections he must resit all of the assessments.
Teaching methods
The course encourages students to learn independently. Intercomprehension allows the students to take an active part in their discovery of the Italian language thanks to the close similarities between the romance languages, including French, but also to develop their knowledge of metalinguistics.
Students will acquire knowledge of grammar through focussed noticing activities. Online exercises enable them to develop the automatic reflexes necessary to compose texts or maintain a conversation.
Tutorial sessions will assist the students in developing the independent learning skills required by this course.
Content
The aim of this course (along with course LROM1751 in the second semester) is to attain a basic knowledge of the Italian language (normative grammar, essential vocabulary, introduction to the culture). Comprehension and written and oral compositions will be developed.
Thanks to intercomprehension, the student will be able, from the beginning, to read texts at B1 level (Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
The course also aims to develop students' ability to understand texts dealing with Italian culture.
Bibliography
Manuel Capire (available from the Centre for Italian Studies)
