Italian Level 3

On successful completion of this module, you will be better

prepared to:

• Participate in unprepared oral interactions, producing connected and comprehensible spoken language to deal with a range of familiar topics and personal interest matters within the scope of your level of grammar and vocabulary
• Respond to and reproduce written texts of moderate complexity applying your knowledge and competence in grammar and vocabulary
• Demonstrate intercultural awareness in the handling of routine social interactions in Italian and in your use of language
• Use a basic range of language learning tools accurately and independently to support the production and development of your knowledge

In this module, you will cover the following linguistic structures:

• Revision of structures taught at Level 2
• Personal direct and indirect
• Present perfect, imperfect, past perfect tenses
• Conditional present and past
• Pronominal verbs
• Comparative
• Present subjunctive
• Passive and impersonal form
• Relative pronouns
• Introduction to past historical

These linguistic structures will be applied to the following topics:

• Talking about your interests
• Describing personal routine in the present and past
• Describing cultures and places
• Talking about past events
• Learning about contemporary Italian writers
• Learning about social, scientific and environmental issues
• Exploring different Italian regions

In line with MFL communicative and active learning methodology, in-class activities cover all four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and include: pair work (dialogue practice, information gap exercises, discussion and collection of key terms/ideas); group work (discussion, creation of posters); individual tasks as well as video uploaded to Blackboard; discovery and formulation of rules; critical evaluation of texts, audio and video material. Weekly homework tasks give you the opportunity to revise and consolidate knowledge and skills using self-help platforms proposed by the teacher. This approach not only ensures you engage with a wide range of tasks, but also supports different learning styles.

The module includes formative as well as summative assessment. Homework tasks (theory revision, reading, writing, listening, etc) are set every week on the virtual learning environment, following a flipped classroom approach to ensure face-to-face time is devoted to interactional learning and communicative skills acquisition. This means that you will be provided with materials to study independently beforehand, and then apply these during classroom time. Your lecturer will provide you with support materials and guidance to reinforce topics covered at your own pace.

You will be expected to complete 2 pieces of summative coursework (set toward the end of term 1 and mid-term 2) which will include revision guidance to ensure you are supported when completing your work and so that you are aware of the assessment expectations. There will also be a 1-hour in-class examination (scheduled at the end of term 2), and one practical in the form of an oral examination (at the end of term 2 or during the summer term). All summative assessments contribute to the final module grade/mark. 

• Coursework (20%): Mid-term 1. Integrated skills set of tasks covering listening, speaking, reading and writing (min. 200 words) 
• Coursework (20%): Mid-term 2. Integrated skills project (min word count 210), including video production (3-5 mins)
• Examination (30%): 1-hour in-class test on the virtual learning environment at the end of term 2, testing lexical/grammatical awareness & reading/writing skills (writing c. 220 words) 
• Practical (30%): Oral examination including an unprepared discussion on a range of topics covered in class, as well as general questions to assess overall understanding and the correct use of grammatical structures. (approx. 12 minutes in total).  

Assessment information for students on a course with a year abroad

• 7.5 ECTS points awarded on successful completion of the module.
• Available to take for credit towards your degree, where your department allows. Also available for extra credit. The Module options by department page has a full list of the credit options.
• You must be prepared to attend all classes and undertake approximately 3 hours of private study each week in addition to the assessment.

Coursebook

Nuovo Espresso : Libro studente 3
Publisher: Alma Edizioni, 2015. ISBN: 9788861823396.

Please note: the Italian Bookshop offers a 10% discount to Imperial Horizons students.