85639 - Italian Language Pass/Fail Test B1

Learning outcomes

Students who will attend B1 (intermediate) language will improve the 4 skills – listening, reading, writing, speaking. Therefore, they will: acquire new vocabulary; strengthen already known grammar rules and acquire new ones develop reading and discourse strategies to gain and/or improve their confidence in speaking; understand and categorize accounts of events in texts related to personal life (such as e-mail messages, letters, job resumes, phone texts, etc.) and put in practice the main points of usual speech about topics of everyday use, such as those about work, school, politics, leisure, etc.; focus on comprehension of oral and written texts, in order to understand radio, TV programs, films, videos, and other media materials of professional importance; decodify texts (readings, newspaper articles, instructions, directions, etc.) that are frequent in every day or job-related language; explore themes dealing with Italy and its culture, within the wider context of the EU and the rest of the world, so to be able to manage most circumstances that are likely to arise while travelling in those areas where Italian is spoken.

Course contents

The course is intended for students who already have knowledge of Italian at level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
In accordance with the general programme of the Degree Course and with the competences to be acquired according to the descriptors of level B1 of the CEFR, the Italian L2 course aims to:
- develop the linguistic skills needed to understand and produce oral and written texts;
- encourage the acquisition of technical and sectorial vocabulary related to economics and tourism;
- enable students to interact in Italian academic and professional contexts, actively participating in discussions, presentations and group work;
- prepare students to use Italian for research and study in the field of economics and tourism.

In particular, the course contents are designed with respect to 4 macro-areas:

1. Italian and basic communication with reference to:

- interactions in everyday and academic life situations;

- making requests, expressing opinions and participating in informal and formal conversations;

- basic vocabulary related to everyday life, university and business;

- review of grammatical content related to level A2.

 

2. Italian for economics with reference to:

- understanding newspaper articles and short economic reports;

- participating in simple and short discussions on economic topics;

- simple expressions to describe economic processes and market trends;

- vocabulary relating to essential economic terminology.

 

3. Italian for tourism with reference to:

- simulating work scenarios in the tourism sector, such as reception and customer service;

- drafting and presenting short projects or tourist itineraries in Italian;

- expressions to handle professional communication with customers;

- terminology to describe tourist attractions, itineraries and events;

- vocabulary related to tourist services (bookings, tourist packages, etc.).

 

4. Academic and professional Italian with reference to:

- writing short and simple reports and essays on topics specific to economics and tourism;

- actively participating in simple academic and professional discussions;

- simple terminology for presenting data and making analyses in economic and tourism contexts;

- academic vocabulary for writing short and simple essays, emails and reports.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Material provided directly by the teacher or extrapolated from the following texts will be used:

- Pellizza G., Mezzadri M. ‘Un vero affare! Corso di italiano per gli affari’, Bonacci Editore

- De Savorgnani G., Carrara E., Piotti D. ‘UniversItalia 2.0’, Alma Edizioni.

Online resources with free access:

the site of the Centro Linguistico d'Ateneo (CLA) at the following link http://https//e-cla.unibo.it/course/index.php?categoryid=22 provides open access study materials.

For other needs, please write to the teacher.

Teaching methods

- Lectures.

- Interactive lessons with practical exercises and simulations of real situations.

- Group work to encourage collaboration and interaction in Italian.

- Use of authentic materials, such as economic articles and tourist guides, to practise real texts.

- Listening and comprehension activities through podcasts, videos and presentations on economic and tourism topics.

Assessment methods

A final written and oral test is scheduled to assess all language skills:

- reading comprehension

- written production,

- listening comprehension,

- oral production,

- written and oral interaction.

More details will be provided during the course. A mock final examination is scheduled towards the end of the lessons.

Non-attending students may contact the lecturer for further information.

Teaching tools

Power point presentations, hand-outs, websites, digital resources and teaching tools and applications.

Office hours

See the website of Monica D'Argenzio