|
Italian teachers
Michele Alonzo, Director
|
|
Description of Italian Courses:
Basic Beginning (Italian 101) Syllabus
This course is designed for whoever is approaching the Italian language for the first time. The student will acquire the basics of vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure that are important for communication: introducing, asking and giving information, describing, expressing needs and simple thoughts.
Advanced Beginning (Italian 102) Syllabus
This course is appropriate for those who have basic knowledge of the language and wish to extend their vocabulary and grammatical skills for a broader range of every-day situations. The student will learn how to use the most common expressions and more complex grammatical structures in order to take a more active part in social life.
Intermediate (Italian 103) Syllabus
This course is designed for those who already have a fair to good knowledge of the Italian grammar. The goal is the improvement of comprehension, pronunciation and vocabulary skills. The ability of communicating will be mostly developed through dialogues and group discussions in class using mostly advanced grammar.
Advanced/Fluent (Italian 104)
This course entails a higher level of specialization and it is strongly recommended for those who already have a good command of the Italian language or have successfully completed all previous levels. Idiomatic expressions, specific vocabulary and revisions of grammatical points are used to improve speaking skills and fluency. There is a widened use of various topics for group conversation, after reading from Italian books and newspapers.
Some advice from the Director
1. Attend class regularly and pay attention during the lesson.
2. Study consistently a little bit every day.
3. Complete your assigned homework.
4. Review the previous lesson the day before class.
5. If possible, study with a friend or a classmate.
6. Read out loud and write your exercise on a notebook.
7. Don’t be shy, and ask questions if you don’t understand.
8. Try to speak only Italian when you are in class.
9. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
10. Remember that Italian is not English: accept the language as it is.
|
|
|
Our Textbook |
| Avanti! (Student Edition) |
 |
Janice Aski, Ohio State University
Diane Musumeci, University of Illinois-Champaign
Hardcover, 490 pages
©2007, ISBN-13: 978-0073252209
|
| Description |
This uniquely effective new introductory Italian language program meets the needs of instructors as well as learners. Three significant characteristics set Avanti! apart from other beginning Italian texts currently available: First, in response to instructors’ concern that most textbooks attempt to cover too much material in the first year, Avanti! reflects reasonable expectations for the amount of material that most beginning learners can acquire in one year of classroom instruction. Second, Avanti! strives to satisfy students’ desire to communicate in everyday situations right from the start. The activities guide students to communicate in truly meaningful contexts that encourage explorations of the rich Italian culture. Third, the methodology of Avanti! is firmly grounded in the latest findings from research in second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy. The materials provide support for instructors, whose goals are to teach mainly, if not exclusively, in Italian, and to create the student-centered, communicative classroom environment that is promoted by this research.
|
| About the authors |
Janice M. Aski is assistant professor and director of the Italian language program at The Ohio State University. She specializes in foreign language pedagogy and historical Italian/Romance linguistics. Her research in foreign language pedagogy explores a variety of topics, such as testing, teaching reading at the elementary level, and how first-year Italian textbooks and grammar practice activities reflect the most current research in second language acquisition. Her publications in historical Italian/Romance linguistics focus on the social, pragmatic and cognitive aspects of phonological and morphological change.
Diane Musumeci is Associate Professor of Italian and SLATE (Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she is Head of the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. She received her Ph.D. in Italian linguistics with a Certificate of Advanced Study in SLATE from the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign in 1989. For sixteen years she was the Director of the Italian language program. She conducts research in content-based instruction and classroom language acquisition. She teaches a wide range of courses from Italian language and linguistics to doctoral seminars on the history of second language teaching. She has published numerous articles and chapters in books.
|
| New Features |
Clear and user-friendly chapter organization, framed by sections below:
Strategie di comunicazione: Each chapter opens with a video clip of native Italians filmed on location in Italy, using high frequency expressions in real-life contexts that students can use immediately to meet their own communicative needs. Through the video, students see and hear Italians of all ages and backgrounds from all different parts of Italy. In addition to "what" Italians are saying, the video lets students see "how" Italians say it, including gestures, posture, and intonation.
Lessico: This section presents thematically grouped vocabulary in meaningful contexts using visually appealing illustrations, photographs, dialogues, and mini-readings with an abundance of activities for vocabulary development.
Strutture: Each grammatical structure is introduced by an inductive activity that encourages students to analyze the grammatical point in question and formulate the rules themselves. Each inductive activity is followed by a concise explanation of the structure point, in English, with examples in Italian. Communicative activities that provide meaningful interaction follow.
Cultura: The culminating cultural section in each chapter is divided into five parts: Ascoltiamo!, Leggiamo!, Scriviamo!, Parliamo!, and Guardiamo! This section allows students to fully integrate what they learned earlier in the chapter by engaging them in listening, reading, writing, and speaking activities.
In Italia: Written in English, this feature appears in every chapter and provides students with in-depth information about Italian life, music, history, and society today.
In italiano: These feature boxes contain additional information on the nuances of the Italian language and grammar, additional vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and useful structures.
Ripasso: Every fourth chapter (Chapters 4, 8, 12, and 16) is a review chapter with four review sections. Each section begins with contextualized practice of a previous grammar point, which is followed by the introduction of a new, related structure.
Tanti saluti da: This postcard feature, which appears in Chapters 4, 8, 12, and 16, provides students with a short reading with additional information about four cities in the locations where the Avanti! video was filmed--Bologna, Rome, Naples, and Siena. A related cultural segment on the video highlights each of these cities.
Per saperne di più: This section at the end of the book provides additional information (in English) about grammar points and other structures, for students and instructors who would like more in-depth coverage of the points taught in each chapter.
|
|
