Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "IT 101-18"
COURSE NAME: "Introductory Italian I"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2024

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Bruno Montefusco
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 3:00 PM 4:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: This course carries 3 semester hours of credit.
OFFICE HOURS: on appointment

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:

During the course the basic grammar structures will be introduced by means of phrasal and textual written exercises.

Students practice written and spoken language through drills, exercises, linguistic games, and reconstruction of dialogues.

The oral communication skills, both in comprehension and production, will be developed with exercises of listening comprehensions, and with conversations on subjects introduced and monitored by the teacher

Participation and team working ability are encouraged from the beginning. The instructor not only provides information, rules and correction of mistakes, but also and mainly encourages students towards a challenging linguistic experience.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Upon completing this course, students will possess the ability to:

satisfy a very 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.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments	Format	Local Bookstore	Online Purchase
New Italian Espresso Updated Edition	GRUPPO ITALIA IDEA	ALMA Edizioni	978886127240

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Homework	Practicing written and oral skills related to grammar and conversational topics covered during the course	10%
Quizzes	The 2 Quizzes will test the topics covered during the course. 5% each one	10
Class Participation	Students are expected to come prepared to class and participate in all activities. Active participation is crucial, since the learning process requires considerable practice.	10%
Midterm Exam	The Mid-Term Exam will test your knowledge of Italian language listening, writing and reading skills and your Italian grammar competence.	20
Final Exam	The Final Exam will follow the same format as the Mid-Term Exam.	30
Oral Presentation	Oral Presentation will be divided in two parts.In the first part students will be tested about their ability to communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters and to describe in simple terms aspects of their background.(Students will be examined singularly) The second part will be a presentation about one of the following areas of Italian Culture: Art ,Music,Sport,Fashion,Food.	20%

-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 cou
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:
Regular attendance is an essential component of class participation. Students are allowed 3 unjustified absences. The final grade will be lowered by 1 points for each additional absence. Make sure your travel plans do not interfere with the class schedule. Arriving in class with more than 10 minutes late will be considered half absence.
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 ____________

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

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

Week 1 September 2nd /4th

Introducing yourself . Present tense of the verbs Essere (to be), Chiamarsi (my name is....), Avere ( to have), Abitare (to live), and Studiare (to study). The Italian Alphabet. Pronunciation of soft and hard sounds. Numbers from 0 to 20. Idiomatic expressions with Avere or Essere.

UNIT 1

Greetings. Introducing a person (formal and informal)

Present tense of the verb Presentare (to introduce).

Asking and telling a phone number.

Week 2 September 9th\11th

Lab Class

The Lab Class1 will be a team work group class on consolidation of week 1

UNIT 2

Asking nationality. Nationalities. Ordering in a caffè.

Present tense of regular verbs and verbs in _ISC. Undefinite aticles. Nouns ending in –o and –a. Nouns ending in –e.

Prepositions a, di, da.

Numbers from 20 to 10

Week 3 September 16th\18th

UNIT 3

Talking about work. Jobs. Asking for address. Talking about family. Telling age and asking for age. Family nouns.

Present tense of Avere (toh ave) and Fare (to do). Definite articles.

Week 4 September 23rd\25th

UNIT 4

Talking about a typical day.Talking about how often you do something. Asking and tellina time. Days of the week.

Present tense of reflexive verbs. Adverbs of frequency. Present tense of irregular verbs andare (to go), uscire (to go out) and stare (to stay/to be)

Week 5 September 30th\ October 2nd

UNIT 5

Enrolling in a class. Seasons and months. Asking and giving timetable informations.

Writing a letter.

Week 6 October 7th\9th

UNIT 5

There is and there are. Simple prepositions. Compound prepositions. Present tens of Volere (

WEEK 7 October 14th\16th

UNIT 6 (FIRST PART)

Talking about leisure time. Expressing likes and preferences. Inviting someone. Best wishes and congratulations.

Present tens of modal verbs. Mi piace/mi piacciono (I like). In direct pronouns. Present continuous.

WEEK 8

October 21st\23rd

UNIT 6 ( SECOND PART)

Talking about leisure time. Expressing likes and preferences. Inviting someone. Best wishes and congratulations.

Present tens of modal verbs. Mi piace/mi piacciono (I like). In direct pronouns. Present continuou

Week 9 October 28th\30th

UNIT 6 ( THIRD PART

Week 10 November 4th\6th

UNIT 7( FIRST PART )

Talking about a trip.

Past tense. Past tense time adverbs.

ART week

Week 11 November 11th\13th

UNIT 7 ( SECOND PART )

Grocery shopping. Describing food and eating habits.

Direct pronom ne. Ci vuole/ci vogliono (you need)

Week 12 November18th\20th

UNIT 7 ( THIRD PART )

Week 13 November 25th\27th

WEEK 14 December 2nd\4th

Final Examination TBD