Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "IT 101-6"
COURSE NAME: "Introductory Italian I"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2022

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Sarah Franceschi
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 6:00 PM 7:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: This course carries 3 semester hours of credit.
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is designed to give students basic communicative ability in Italian. By presenting the language in a variety of authentic contexts, the course also seeks to provide an introduction to Italian culture and society. Students work on all four language skills: speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

This course presents the first principles of Italian language, geography and culture in a student-centered learning environment.
Upon completing this course, students will possess the ability to:

Satisfy a limited number of immediate needs.
Understand and convey some spoken Italian through the knowledge and usage of familiar and memorized structures, on the most common features of daily life that require the interchange of simple and direct information.
Understand the general meaning of oral announcements and brief texts on familiar subjects with simple morphology and lexicon.
Produce one-paragraph texts with limited formulaic information by using elementary functions

Students will study in depth the following grammar points:

Definite and indefinite articles; agreement nouns / adjectives;

Present tense of regular and irregular verbs: past tense Passato prossimo

Possessive adjectives; present of reflexive verbs.

This course is solely conducted in Italian.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Comprehension

- Listening: students will be able to understand familiar words and basic sentences concerning themselves and familiar topics when people speak slowly and clearly.

- Reading: students will be able to read short, simple texts, such as advertisements, menus, brief articles from magazines. They will be able to develop reading strategies to find specific, predictable information in texts and brief personal communications.

Production

- Speaking: students will be able to use the target language with a basic level of conversational fluency on familiar topics. They will be able to ask and answer simple questions in areas of immediate need or on familiar topics.

- Writing: students will be able to write short, simple messages dealing with everyday issues and to describe, in basic sentences, themselves, their friends and families, their immediate surroundings and their daily routines.

Cultural awareness

Students will be able to identify some characteristics of the target language culture(s) and distinguish between patterns and stereotypes. They will be able to note similarities and differences between target cultures and their own. They will be able to give examples of the relationship between language and culture.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments	Format	Local Bookstore	Online Purchase
New Italian Espresso Workbook beginner ebook	Gruppo Italiaidea	Alma Edizioni	9788861827301			Ebook
New Italian Espresso Textbook beginner	Gruppo Italiaidea	Alma Edizioni	9788861827240			Hard Copy

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
2 Tests	The two tests are designed to evaluate the student's knowledge of the grammar, vocabulary covered, their reading and listening comprehension, and written ability.	20%
Midterm exam	The midterm exam is designed to evaluate the student's knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary covered up to this point, their reading and listening comprehension, and written ability.	15%
Final exam	The final exam is designed to evaluate the student's knowledge of the grammar and the vocabulary covered, their reading and listening comprehension, and written ability.	20%
Oral proficiency	Oral proficiency In-class oral activities and an oral presentation. Students are examined singularly, in pairs and, in small groups. The types of tests are: conversations between the two students or the small groups, monologues, role-playing. Conversations, monologues, and role-playing are elicited by visual stimuli or questions from the instructor.	15%
Class participation and Homework	Students are expected to come prepared to class and participate in all activities. Active participation is crucial since the learning process requires considerable practice	20%
Activities	Moodle activities (forum, assignments, wiki) , outside activities, cultural activities.	10%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until May 6.

Non-remote students are expected to attend all class meetings in person, and students who are absent from class will be marked absent, even if they connect remotely.

Students seeking an exemption from your attendance policy must submit an online petition to the Academic Dean’s Office, which grants such exemptions only in cases of documented necessity.

I should not ask for, receive, or consider students’ medical documentation.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT THE PROFESSOR’S DISCRETION

Week 1

January 17, 19

First Class

Competencies: Introducing yourself and a friend.

Grammar: Present tense. Alphabet. Pronunciation. Numbers from 0 to 20.

Vocabulary: Idiomatic expressions with Avere or Essere.

UNIT 1 Primi contatti

Competencies: Introducing a person (formal and informal). Greeting people. Asking about pronunciation and spelling. Asking and giving phone number.

Grammar: First conjugation verbs. Preposition di, in.

Vocabulary: Greetings. Classroom objects. Adjectives of nationalities.

Culture: Saluti.

Week 2

January 24, 26

UNIT 1 cont.

UNIT 2 Buon appetito!

Competencies: Ordering in a café and in a restaurant. Asking in a polite way. Asking for the bill. Asking for price.

Grammar: Plural and singular nouns. Interrogatives che cosa?,quanto?. Definite articles. Indefinite articles. Numbers from 20 to 100.

Vocabulary: Food and beverage. Meals.

Culture: Gelato che passione

Week 3

January 31, February 2

UNIT 2 cont.

Week 4

February 7, 9, 11

UNIT 3 Io e gli altri

Competencies: Introducing someone. Describing people’s activities. Asking for age and profession. Telling dates.

Grammar: Singular forms of present tense. Prepositions in, a, per. Formal.

Vocabulary: Professions. Days of the week. Workplaces.

Culture: Donne e lavoro in Italia

FEBRUARY 9 QUIZ 1

FEBRUARY 11 MAKE UP DAY FOR MONDAY, APRIL 18

Week 5

February 14, 16, 18

UNIT 4 Tempo libero

Competencies: Talking about free time. Talking about how often one does something. Talking about people’s interests. Expressing preferences.

Grammar: Plural persons of present tense. Adverbs of frequency. Interrogatives. Present tense of irregular verbs.

Vocabulary: Leisure activities. Parts of the day. Expressions with the verb avere.

Culture: Ristorante, trattoria o…?

Attività 1

FEBRUARY 18 MAKE UP DAY FOR MONDAY, APRIL 25

Week 6

February 21, 23

UNIT 5 In giro per l’Italia

Competencies: Describing a city. Following and giving directions. Asking and telling time.

Grammar: Present tense of irregular verbs. Prepositions a, in. C’è, ci sono. Adjectives. Noun-adjective agreement.

Vocabulary: Street directions. Shops and stores.

Culture: Quanta Italia c’è in te?

Week 7

February 28, March 2

FEBRUARY 28 REVIEW MIDTERM

MARCH 2 MIDTERM

Week 8

March 7, 9

MARCH 9 ORAL PRESENTATION

UNIT 6 In albergo

Competencies: Describing one’s favorite hotel. Describing a room. Asking for information on accommodation. Talking about one’s holiday activities. Describing a perfect vacation.

Grammar: Present tense of modal verbs. Preposition a + time. Compound prepositions.

Vocabulary: Time expressions. Home furniture and features. Months and seasons. Holiday activities.

Culture: Mancia e scontrino, che cosa sono?

Week 9

March 14, 16

UNIT 6 cont.

MARCH 21-25 SPRING BREAK

Week 10

March 28, 30

UNIT 7 Un finesettimana

Competencies: Describing a perfect weekend. Talking about past actions. Understanding descriptions of past events. Specifying when a past event took place.

Grammar: Past tense passato prossimo .Forms and agreement of past participle. Irregular past participle. Ci vuole, ci vogliono.

Vocabulary: Weather conditions. Time expressions.

Culture: Dove Andiamo in vacanza?

Week 11

April 4, 6

APRIL 4 QUIZ 2

UNIT 7 cont.

Week 12

April 11, 13

UNIT 8 Vita quotidiana

Competencies: Describing one’s work habits. Describing and asking about someone’s daily routine. Congratulating someone on special occasions and holidays. Saying the date.

Grammar: Prepositions da, a. Present tense of reflexive verbs. Possessive adjectives mio, tuo.

Vocabulary: Everyday actions. Congratulations and wishes.

Culture: Cosa regalano gli italiani.

Attività 2

Week 13

April 20

APRIL 20 ORAL PRESENTATION

Week 14

April 27

APRIL 27 Final Review

Final Examination May 2-6