Teaching Italian Using Podcasting: Best Practices, Issues and Challenges
Elementary Italian
Course Summary, Objectives & Competencies
Once the learning goals for an elementary language course are determined, it is important to clearly state them in the syllabus, i.e., what the students are going to actually learn, (for example: how to talk about habitual actions, introduce yourself, describe origin, greetings, etc.) as well as identify the methodology that is going to be implemented.
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The main objective of an elementary course, which is the first part of a sequence that ends with Italian 12, is to help students develop a basic language proficiency in Italian.
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During this semester, students will make progress in four target areas: listening, speaking, writing and reading.
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The emphasis is on oral proficiency and knowledge of Italian culture. Students will be able to produce limited conversations on a variety of topics and to compose simple writings: letters, postcards, short compositions, etc.
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Students will learn greetings, ask for directions, order food, describe people, communicate basic personal information, and ask questions on a variety of different topics.
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All available resources will be used, including: films, music, cultural videos. For extra help students will be able to log on to the textbook website at www.college.hmco.com/students.
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The course will introduce students to Italian culture and to art, contemporary culture, songs and history.
Methodology:
Since the main goal is to speak Italian, stress is placed on speaking the target language at all times. It is expected that students come to class with knowledge of the points being addressed, since the grammatical structures will be explained in Italian. Students should not expect the class to be a traditional grammar lesson, but will be able to read the grammatical explanations in English in the textbook. Therefore, it is important to study grammar before it has been covered in class and to constantly review all the material covered in each chapter.
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Provide constant feedback, reinforcement, stimulation
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Introduce audio-visual material
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Create a student-centered instruction
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Implement the Direct Method
Issues and Challenges: How do we create podcasts using only the target language?, Will students be able to create podcasts for the oral final?
Outside Resources
Italian Dictionary (Italian-English/English-Italian): www.wordreference.com
Verb Conjugator: www.verbix.com
My Podcasts:
Video: Italian Colors
Video: Italian Numbers
The Living Room, il salotto