Spring 2013

  Italian 101

 

 

 

Office Hour: By appointment (Room 114)

Meeting Days: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays

Meeting Place: Room 124

 

 

 

course description

 

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the Italian language. Emphasis will be placed on developing speaking, listening, reading and writing skills and grammar sufficient to support these. Through in-class activities and homework assignments, students can also expect to learn about modern Italy, including geography, culture, history, and society. Given the unique cultural context in which this course is placed, students will be particularly encouraged to begin speaking Italian outside the classroom as soon as possible.

 

learning outcomes

 

Class meetings will center on developing communicative ability, and will be supplemented with in-class activities as well as reading, listening, and visual material.

 

Upon completion of Italian 1, students should attain a level of competency sufficient to:

 

1. Utilize basic essentials of Italian grammar in speaking and writing with a high level of precision. Specifically, students should be able to:

1. Provide and obtain information on a range of practical topics (e.g., preferences, needs, interests, descriptions) and in a variety of situations (e.g., transportation, greetings, introductions, obtaining and discussing food and lodging, carrying out simple transactions);
2. Convey emotions and express feelings;
3. Provide and obtain information on such topics as personal/family background, preferences, interests, and daily routine.

2. Read, with basic understanding simple stories, brochures, signs, songs.

 

 

 

course requirements

 

In order to attain the learning outcomes outlined above and to ensure that the course proceeds efficiently, students are encouraged and expected to:

 

1. Attend class.
2. Participate actively and constructively in class both with the instructor and other students;
3. Take all quizzes and exams, and complete assignments on their scheduled dates and at their scheduled times. (Make-up quizzes and exams will be provided only in accordance with Rome Center policy regarding excused absences (see absence policy);
4. Complete homework assignments on their due date;
5. Comport themselves in a manner conducive to learning and with respect for other students;
6. Speak Italian as requested during class meetings.

 

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY

 

Daily attendance is required. Not attending class will lower a student’s grade for several reasons (e.g. lack of participation, missed clarifications and explanations, etc).

Please note that only two unexcused absences are allowed; any supplementary unexcused absence will affect your participation and, thus, each unexcused absence that a student accumulates after the second one will reduce her or his final grade by 3% (e.g., if a student’s pre-absence grade calculation is 92%, with 5 absences the grade reduces 9 percentage points to 83%, resulting in a drop in the final grade from A- to B-).

Punctuality is strictly required- every two delays is marked absence. The lack of punctuality affects also the class participation (see below).

Travel plans, missing a plane or having one’s flight canceled, visiting relatives, friends, etc., cannot be accepted as valid reasons for absences; only notes authorized by the Dean of Faculty, the Associate Director of Students and the Director of Residence Life will be acceptable to allow a student to be excused from class.

 

It is the student’s responsibility to inform herself or himself of homework assignments, class notes, etc. in the event of absence.

 

                text – 1 copy is required for each student:

 

 

quiitalia.it. 2011. Mazzetti, Falcinelli, Servadio, Santeusanio. Mondadori Education: Milano. (available for purchase in JFRC bookstore)

 

** Students are also strongly urged to purchase an Italian-English dictionary (pocket/travel dictionaries are unsuitable).

 

 

 

 

 

Means of assessment

 

The final grade will be determined on the basis of the following criteria, and grades will be assigned according to the following scale:

 

                                                           % of final grade                                  Grading Scale

 

A              100-93 % A-            92-89 B+           88-86 B             85-81 B-            80-78 C+           77-75 C             74.5-71 C-            70.5-68 D+           67.5-63 D             62.5-60 F              59 and below	Class participation       10% Homework                   15% Compositions (4-6)      10% Oral Presentations (2) 10%                                                                              Quizzes (4)                   20%                 Midterm Exam               15%                 Final Exam                    20%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                          

 

 

 

 

 

Those students who cannot attend the final exam session will receive a grade of 0 (zero) on the final exam (except those students with a valid excuse; see absence policy), and the final grade will be calculated accordingly.

 

 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

 

Knowledge of the University’s academic integrity guidelines will be taken for granted (also refer to Loyola University of Chicago Undergraduate Studies Catalogue). In addition to the Loyola University policy on academic honesty, the following rules apply:

- students may not ask friends, relative or native speakers to complete their assignments;

- students may not distribute or communicate materials prior to an exam.

Every student must familiarize herself or himself with the rules referring to academic integrity as outlined in the Loyola University Chicago Undergraduate Studies Catalogue. Knowledge of the University’s academic integrity guidelines will be taken for granted.

 

 

Please remember that while study groups are acceptable, students should not use on-line instant translators to write compositions, ask friends or native speakers to complete their assignments and recycle their own or other people’s materials. Dishonest examination behavior will result minimally in the instructor assigning the grade of “F” for the assignment or examination. For a complete account of what constitutes academic dishonesty as well as the penalties, see the Undergraduate Catalogue.

 

 

 

 

         CLASS SCHEDULE (the following schedule is subject to modification)

 

 

Date	Quiitalia.it	Linguistic function	Cultural aspects/activities	Grammar / Structure	Means of Assessment
Jan 14/15/17	per cominciare	Introducing yourself / spelling/ greetings		introduction to course, overview of sound system, alphabet, basic communicative expressions
Jan 21/22/24	per cominciare/unità 1		Italian cities	nouns genders introduction to articles, introduction to c’è, ci sono
Jan 28/29/ 31	unità 1	greetings, introductions, eliciting/providing personal info, phone numbers, email, personal interests	Italy (seas, mountains, rivers, regions, etc.)	present indicative, adjectives, agreement, non, intro to mi piace	Quiz1
Feb 4/5/7	unità 1/unità 2
Feb 11/12/14	unità 2	asking questions in order to find out info, describing family and friends	the Italian family	present indicative, possessive adjectives, demonstratives, agreement	Quiz2
Feb 18/19/21	unità 3	eliciting/providing info on the home, describing a home	typical Italian dwellings	agreement, c’è, ci sono, articles, verbs spelled with -care, -gare, prepositions
Feb 25/26/ 28					Oral Presentation 1
			March 1-10 Spring semester break
Mar 11/12 14	unità 4	telling time, discussing schedules and appointments, speaking about personal habits	caffè culture, historic caffès	andare, stare, uscire in present indicative, reflexive verbs, prepositions, frequency adverbs	Midterm
Mar 18/19/21	unità 5	discussing free time, invitations, uncertainty, doubt, desires, necessities, what you know and don’t know, past events	Italian restaurants, w ine	more irregular verbs in present indicative, prepositions, ci, quantity adverbs, frequency adverbs
Mar 25/26	unità5		musical activity	irregular verbs ending  in –ere and ire  in the present tense / modal verbs introduction to passato prossimo	Quiz 3
			March 28-April 1 Easter recess
Apr 2/4	unità 6			passato prossimo and, choice of auxiliary verb, adverbs of time, past time expressions	Quiz 4
Apr 8/9/11	unità 6		biographies of famous Italians	passato prossimo with reflexive verbs	Oral Presentation 2
Apr 15/16/18				Review
Apr 20, 22-25					Final Exams