Introductory description

This module will consolidate linguistic skills acquired in the intermediate year and extend them through translation, writing, reading, speaking and listening activities.

A range of assessments will be offered for students to track and reflect on their progress through the provision of regular feedback. Students will also be provided with complementary autonomous learning activities and directed to appropriate activities for self-study in order to develop independent learning strategies.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The course is divided into writing, translation, and oral work. The writing part of the course aims to consolidate and refine students’ comprehension of contemporary Italian text types encompassing fiction and non-fiction. In particular students will be encouraged to learn how to write argumentative pieces using a variety of registers. This class will also foster language awareness through translation from English into Italian and Italian into English. Translation workshops will enable students to translate from and into a range of registers, e.g. contemporary fiction, journalism, critical writing. Students will engage in conversation and learn how to sustain an oral presentation and sustain an argument.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• The acquisition of sophisticated skills in grammar, translation, writing and reading in Italian and the ability to apply complex syntax in various contexts.
• The acquisition of sophisticated skills of aural comprehension and oral communication over a wide range of topics, showing familiarity with different registers and styles
• Sophisticated ability to understand and critically engage with aspects of contemporary Italian society and culture and intercultural issues associated with them
• A systematic approach to proof reading with due attention to accuracy
• Highly proficient independent language-learning and research skills

Indicative reading list

Martin Maiden and Cecilia Robustelli, A reference grammar of modern Italian, Routledge, 2013 (second edition).

Il Ragazzini 2008-Dizionario inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese, Zanichelli.
Collins-Sansoni: Italian Dictionary: complete and unabridged, Collins.

View reading list on Talis Aspire

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will build students’ linguistic skills through activities that stimulate authentic target language production and develop sensitivity to the transference of meaning across languages. Students will work towards the production of nuanced, accurate and contextually sensitive materials through a range of language classes and guided independent learning.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.