Introductory description

This foundation module in Italian Language for beginners (or near beginners) covers the main linguistic (oral, aural, written, spoken) skills. It looks for the acquisition of grammatical awareness and essential communicative competences.

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.

Classes integrate the four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – with an emphasis on form by
targeting some essential structures for intensive practice within a communicative context.
Students will also practice some elementary translation. All these activities will entail students´ self-study
to broaden vocabulary and aural understanding.
Every week, students will learn grammar, vocabulary and functional aspects of Italian. They will have
several activities in the classroom and through VLE, to improve their understanding of the language and
their performance through practice of oral, listening and writing exercises. Below it is the description of
grammar, vocabulary and functional aspects of the language, which will be covered in this module:

1. Pronunciation, alphabet, introducing oneself, regular conjugations.
2. Subject pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, numbers, conjunctions, colours and adjectives.
3. Gender and number of nouns, demonstrative and possessive adjectives, uses of ser and estar.
4. Reflexive verbs and pronouns, adjectives of origin and numerals.
5. Adverbs of location, verbs of motion and prepositions, irregular present tenses.
6. Irregular verbs in present tense.
7. Possessive adjectives and pronouns, demonstrative pronouns Interrogative pronouns
8. Direct and indirect object pronouns.
9. Verb piacere and other verbs with similar conjugation pattern (servire; mancare, etc).
10. Modal verbs.
11. days of week/seasons/months, temporal markers and perfect tense.
12. Past tenses with temporal expressions
13. Contrast between imperfetto and passato prossimo Exclamations, comparatives and conjunctions.
14. Comparatives and superlatives
15. Introduction to imperatives and instructions
16. Adverbs of time.
17. Future tense, temporal expressions in the future.
18. Accentuation and punctuation.

Learning outcomes

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

• demonstrate individual skills in writing and reading in Italian, and initial cross-lingual awareness through translation.
• demonstrate familiarity with different language variations and register
• demonstrate a strong command of basic structures of Italian grammar and their use in various contexts
• demonstrate competence in different registers
• demonstrate skills of aural comprehension and oral communication over a wide range of topics
• identify and discuss intercultural awareness in the Italian context and Italian-English-speaking contexts

Indicative reading list

Textbooks:
T. Marin, Nuovissimo Progetto italiano 1, (Libro dello Studente + DVD Video), Edilingua, 2019 (ISBN 978-88-99358-50-1)
L. Ruggieri, T. Marin, S. Magnelli, Nuovissimo Progetto italiano 1, (new edition of the Workbook) (Quaderno degli esercizi+ CD audio), Edilingua, 2019 (ISBN 978-88-99358-52-5)

Grammar book: Nocchi, Susanna, New Italian Grammar in Practice: Exercises, Tests, Games, Alma Edizioni 2015 (ISBN 9788861824287)

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 develop students’ linguistic skills through engaging with primary materials in the target language. It will build students’ capacity to engage with aspects of Italian culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of Italian will be enhanced through lectures and seminars which engage in scholarship in the field.

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.