Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "IT 101-12"
COURSE NAME: "Introductory Italian I"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2015

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Sarah Franceschi
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MTWTH 10:00 AM 10:50 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 60
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.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
By presenting the language in a variety of authentic contexts, the course seeks to provide an introduction to Italian culture and society. Students work on all four language skills: speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing.

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
Percorso Italia A1-A2	Patota-Romanelli	Garzanti linguistica	9788848040419
Gramm.it	Iacovoni-Persiano-Fiorentino	Bonacci	9788875734305

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
4 quizzes	The four quizzes are designed to evaluate the student's knowledge of the grammar, vocabolary 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 vocabolary covered up to this point, their reading and listening comprehension and written ability.	20%
Final exam	The final exam is designed to evaluate the student's knowledge of the grammar and the vocabolary covered, their reading and listening comprehension and written ability.	20%
Oral proficiency	In-class oral activities and 2 oral presentations. Students are examined singularly, in pairs and in a 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 instructor.	20%
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%

-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:
Regular attendance is an essential component of class participation. Students are allowed 8 unjustified absences. The final grade will be lowered by 2 points for each additional absence. Make sure your travel plans do not interfere with the class schedule. Arriving in class with more than 5 minutes late will be considered half absence.

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

Week 1

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

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 100.

Week 3

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.

QUIZ 1

Week 4

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

UNIT 5

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

Writing a letter.

Week 6

UNIT 5

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

QUIZ 2

Week 7

Oral presentation

Midterm Review

MIDTERM

Week 8

UNIT 6

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 9

UNIT 11

Talking about a trip.

Past tense. Past tense time adverbs.

Week 10

UNIT 11

Past tense of irregular and reflexive verbs.

QUIZ 3

Week 11

UNIT 7

Grocery shopping. Describing food and eating habits.

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

UNIT 8

Asking and giving directions. Talking about the weather.

Present tense of sapere and conoscere (to know).

Week 12

UNITA’ 8 CONT.

Week 13

UNIT 9

Ordering in a restaurant. Asking for the check. Talking about food. Numbers 100-1.000.000.000

Direst pronouns. Adjectives.

QUIZ 4

Week 14

Oral presentation

Final Review

Final Examination TBD