Italian for Beginners 1030 (former 030)
Section 008
Tuesday and Thursday, 3:30-5:30 pm, SSC 3006

Course Coordinator: Luca Pocci (lpocci@uwo.ca)
Professor: Pietro Pirani
Office: University College 358
Office Hours: TBA
E-mail: ppirani2@uwo.ca

Course Aims
An ideal introduction for students starting from scratch, this course is structured to link language instruction to a general understanding of modern and contemporary Italian culture. Without attempting to cover the complete language system, "Italian for Beginners" concentrates on high-frequency vocabulary and basic grammar. Students will be progressively introduced to the rich character of Italian culture through films, short prose texts, and songs. The course aims to do the following:

oTo develop the ability to comprehend Italian in a variety of social situations
oTo enable students to express themselves in Italian in different cultural contexts
oTo develop insights into the culture and history of Italy
oTo encourage positive attitudes to language learning in general and a deeper understanding of other societies and cultures
oThrough a sound overview of basic syntax to offer a basic understanding of Italian.
oTo further intellectual and personal development by promoting the student's general communicative capacity
oTo provide a starting point and linguistic foundation for progression to Italian 2250 (second-year Italian), as well as the Italian modules offered by UWO

Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

oPronounce Italian accurately
oCommunicate using Basic Italian expressions
oExpress basic ideas and emotions in simple sentences and dialogues, e.g., introducing people, inquiring about their health, asking them about their interests etc.
oWrite and read simple sentences and paragraphs in Italian
oAsk and answer questions on a variety of practical topics, e.g., university programs, the weather, hobbies, jobs, everyday life in Italy, food, entertainment, family life etc.
oDescribe surroundings and common objects, e.g., clothing, furniture, means of transportation etc.
oUnderstand certain differences and similarities between Italy and North America

Contact Hours
2 two-hour class meetings per week.

Texts (available at the UWO Book Store):

Required: Ciao! (sixth edition), by Carla Riga & C.M. Dal Martello (this textbook comes with cds and a workbook)
*You will need to bring the textbook to every class.

Recommended: Sergio Adorni, English Grammar for Students of Italian
*You are strongly encouraged to purchase this book.

Mark Breakdown
3 tests 30%
7 quizzes 30%
2 in-class compositions 10%
attendance & participation 10%
final exam 20%

*The Course Calendar will be handed out on the first day of classes.

Prerequisites: none

Antirequisites: none

Please Note: You are responsible for ensuring that you have successfully completed all course prerequisites (or have special permission from your Dean to waive the prerequisite) and that you have not taken an antirequisite course. If you are not eligible for the course, you may be removed from it at any time, and it will be deleted from your record. In addition, you will receive no adjustment to your fees. These decisions cannot be appealed.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a major academic offense (see Scholastic Offense Policy in the Western Academic Calendar). Plagiarism is the inclusion of someone else's verbatim or paraphrased text in one's own written work without immediate reference. Verbatim text must be surrounded by quotation marks or indented if it is longer than four lines. A reference must follow right after borrowed material (usually the author's name and page number). Without immediate reference to borrowed material, a list of sources at the end of a written assignment does not protect a writer against the possible charge of plagiarism. The University of Western Ontario uses a plagiarism-checking site called Turnitin.com.

Absenteeism
Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams, participation components and/or assignments must apply to the Academic Counselling office of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic accommodation cannot be granted by the instructor or department.
UWO's Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness (https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfm)
Downloadable Student Medical Certificate (SMC): https://studentservices.uwo.ca under the Medical Documentation heading

Schedule

Students are expected to do all assignments on their own and before coming to class.

Please note: Students must provide medical documentation in order to write make-up quizzes or make-up tests.

2008

Sept. 4 General Introduction

Week 1
Sept. 9 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo preliminare
Primo incontro

Sept. 11 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 1

Week 2
Sept. 16 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 1

Sept. 18 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 1
Capitolo 2

Week 3
Sept. 23 Quiz #1 [on weeks 1-2]
Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 2

Sept. 25 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 2

Week 4
Sept. 30 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 2
Capitolo 3

Oct. 2 Quiz #2 [on weeks 1-4]
Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 3

Week 5
Oct. 7 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 3

Oct. 9 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 3
Capitolo 4

Week 6
Oct. 14 Capitolo 4

Oct. 16 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 4

Week 7
Oct. 21 Quiz #3 [on weeks 1-6]
Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 5

Oct. 23 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 5

Week 8
Oct. 28 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 5

Oct. 30 Quiz #4 [on weeks 1-7]
Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 6

Week 9
Nov. 4 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 6

Nov. 6 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 6

Week 10
Nov. 11 Quiz #5 [on weeks 1-9]
Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 7

Nov. 13 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 7

Week 11
Nov. 18 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 7

Nov. 20 Review

Week 12
Nov. 25 Test #1 [Weeks 1-11]

Nov. 27 Ciao! & Workbook
Composition #1
Capitolo 8

Week 13
Dec. 2 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 8

2009

Week 14
Jan. 6 General Review

Jan. 8 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 8
Capitolo 9

Week 15
Jan. 13 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 9

Jan. 15 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 9

Week 16
Jan. 20 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 9

Jan. 22 Seminar

Week 17
Jan. 27 Quiz # 6 [weeks 1-13; 14-16 ]
Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 10

Jan. 29 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 10
Review

Week 18
Feb. 3 Test # 2 [weeks 1-17]

Feb. 5 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 11

Week 19
Feb. 10 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 11

Feb. 12 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 11

February 16-20
Reading Week

Week 20
Feb. 24 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 11
Review

Feb. 26 Quiz # 7 [weeks 1-20]
Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 12

Week 21
Mar. 3 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 12

Mar. 5 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 12

Week 22
Mar. 10 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 13

Mar. 12 Ciao! & Workbook
Composition #2
Capitolo 13

Week 23
Mar. 17 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 13
Review

Mar. 19 Test #3 [weeks 1-23]

Week 24
Mar. 24 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 14

Mar. 26 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 14

Week 25
Mar. 31 Ciao! & Workbook
Capitolo 14
Review

Apr. 2 Seminar & Review

Week 26
Apr. 7 Seminar & Review