Italian Level 2

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

• respond to and produce a range of spoken language in familiar contexts;
• respond to and produce a range of spoken and written texts and express your own opinions;
• demonstrate intercultural competence and intercultural awareness in the handling of routine social interactions in Italian;
• engage with a basic range of digital language-learning tools to support your use of Italian.

This module will provide you with a thorough revision of all the basic structures of the language you have learned so far, as well as a wide range of new vocabulary and grammar. You will have the opportunity to develop further the fundamental language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) in Italian and be equipped with the necessary tools for independent language learning. It will also prepare you to progress to higher language levels.

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

• present tense of regular and irregular verbs;
• imperative;
• future;
• past tenses (passato prossimo- imperfetto);
• conditional;
• personal pronouns;
• negatives;
• possessive adjectives;
• modal verbs;
• past of reflexive verbs;
• combined prepositions;
• nouns with irregular plurals;
• demonstrative adjectives and pronouns.

These linguistic structures will be applied to the following topics:

• describe personal routine in the present and past;
• describe cultures and places;
• talk about Italian products;
• apply for a job;
• to search for a house/flat in Italy;
• talk about Italian traditions and religious festivals.

In line with current communicative and active learning approaches in modern foreign languages, the classroom activities you will take part in will focus on all four key skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. These will involve working in pairs and groups - such as practising dialogues, completing information gap tasks, and participating in discussions - as well as individual exercises, exploring and understanding grammar rules, and engaging with a variety of texts.
 
You will also be given weekly preparation tasks via the Virtual Learning Environment, along with coursework activities, allowing you to review and strengthen your knowledge and skills at your own pace. These tasks will also help you become more confident in using language-learning tools independently. 
 
Using a flipped-classroom model, you will receive materials to study on your own before class. During in-person sessions, you will then apply what you have learned, through interactive and communicative tasks. This method not only allows you to engage in a wide variety of learning activities, but also caters to different learning styles and preferences.

Your coursework will be marked and returned within two weeks. Revision guidance (how-to guides) will be included, as needed, with each coursework. You will receive detailed feedback alongside suggestions for improvement and an overall percentage showing your provisional grade for that assessment.

• Coursework (25%): Mid-autumn term. Integrated skills set of tasks, covering: listening, speaking, reading and writing (c. 120 words).
• Coursework (25%): Mid-spring term. Integrated skills set of tasks, covering: listening, speaking, reading and writing (c. 150 words).
• Examination (25%): 1-hour in-class test, on the Virtual Learning Environment at the end of spring term, testing lexical/ grammatical awareness and reading/ writing skills (writing c. 150 words).
• Practical (25%): Summer term. 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. 10 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.
• 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 2
Publisher: Alma Edizioni, 2014. ISBN: 9788861823211.

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

Other materials

Reading lists and relevant materials will be published in the VLE.