Communicative Competence Development of Language C - Italian for beginners, level 2

obligatory courses

Compulsory, 1st year, BA studies. Students begin the study of Italian Language, as the second language of students’ specialization at level A2 (C) and finish at level B1+ of CEFR at the outset of the course.

Classroom

The study of Italian Language, as the second language of students’ specialization (C) at A2 level at the outset of the course. The course consists of 150 hours in-class divided into thematic segments and requires a considerable amount of the student’s individual self-study.

The aim of the course is to further develop and improve the students’ communicative competence in Italian at the pre-intermediate level, equivalent to level B1+ within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages at the end of the 2nd semester. The teaching process stimulates integrated development of several communicative competences, i.e.: pragmatic, sociolinguistic, intercultural and metalinguistic. The content of the course conforms to the level of language skills among students and is designed for the studies at the Applied Linguistics, especially to professional requirements in academic, glottodidactic and translation domains.

A compulsory course for 1-st year BA students with Italian as the second language of specialization (C). During the 2nd semester of the course, students’ communicative competence in Italian begins at level A2 within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

The aim of the course is to further develop and improve the students’ communicative competence in Italian by the end of year 1 at intermadiate level B1 within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The teaching process stimulates integrated development of several communicative competences, such as the pragmatic competence, sociolinguistic, as well as intercultural and metalinguistic competences, with the focus on the skills of speaking and pronunciation, writing, listening and reading comprehension, as well as control over vocabulary and grammar structures at the level B1+ by the end of the 2nd semester. The content of the course conforms to the level of language skills among students and is designed for the studies with the major in Applied Linguistics, especially to professional requirements in academic, glottodidactic and translation domains. The course in the 2nd semester comprises of the following thematic components:

- vocabulary / speaking / listening

- grammar / pragmatics

- writing / reading

- Integrated skills

These components improve the students’:

- lexical competence (by contributing to their growing control over increasing range of elementary vocabulary, its use in context of the overall topics concerning everyday life, contained in the teaching programme at an B1+ level CEFR).

- grammatical competence (by contributing to their developing receptive and productive skills in creating and comprehending grammatical structures and sentences as covered by the teaching programme).

- orthographic and textual competence (by contributing to the skill of creating comprehensive written texts in accordance with Italian language’s rules of spelling and punctuation).

- discursive competence in speech and in writing (by contributing to their skill of composing grammatically and stylistically consistent texts and utterances at level B1+).

- functional and sociolinguistic competence (by contributing to the development of the skill of applying appropriate modes of expression in communicative situations, with regard to its recipients and in accordance with the context of selected cultural aspects associated with Italian at B1+ level).

The module "Integrated skills" aims to consolidate, improve and deepen the issues discussed during classes other components.

Contact hours (in-class): 150 hrs

Self-study/individual work:

- working with assigned texts – 50 hrs

- practical grammar assignments – 20 hrs

- preparing oral presentations and written assignments – 40 hrs

- revising and preparation for the end-of-term written tests/assignments/oral presentations – 15 hrs

Self-study/individual work total: 125hrs

KNOWLEDGE:

The student:

- has the knowledge of the language at elementary B1+ level (CEFR), understands its basic structure and specificity (K1_W01);

- knows morphosyntactic structures, understands simple oral statements at B1+ level, interprets short written texts at B1+ level, knows word definitions, synonyms and idioms, has a grounded knowledge of lexical, grammatical and phonetic issues regarding the Italian language, as indicated in the course description (K1_W01);

- understands the complexity of the Italian language at B1++ level (CEFR) (K1_W03);

- has the basic understanding and knowledge of the elements of Italys’ culture, understands the role of language in intercultural and cultural communication (K1_W07, K1_W10);

- knows and understands cultural differences, constituting important factors in the process of creating multicultural societies in the modern world, has a general knowledge of the reality, socio-economic and legal conditions of Italy (K1_W11)

SKILLS

The student:

- possesses linguistic skills at B1 level (CEFR), also in typical professional situations which require the knowledge of techniques, strategies and different communication channels (K1_U05, K1_U09);

- is able to critically perceive short cultural texts, search for, analyse, evaluate and select short and basic authentic texts in Italian at B1+ level, and develop basic professional skills in Italian (K1_U01);

- can identify characteristic cultural elements and correctly interpret phenomena regarding the Italian language, react properly in basic common communicative situations while considering the cultural context and using customary expressions (K1_U03);

- can prepare short written assignments in Italian on discussed subjects at B1+ level (K1_U06);

- can prepare short speeches in Italian, using properly selected source materials (K1_U07);

- can set priorities and plan activities in order to perform basic linguistic, communicative and professional tasks in Italian, understands the need of self-study and the necessity of continuous development of skills (K1_U12);

- can solve basic problems and perform simple linguistic tasks in Italian at B1+ competence level in conditions which are not fully predictable, through assessing the situation and choosing appropriate methods and tools (K1_U13)

SOCIO-CULTURAL COMPETENCIES

The student is:

- prepared to cooperate and work in a group, assume various roles and respect rules of good communication in Italian (K1_K06);

- prepared to identify and properly solve communicative dilemmas between Italian and Polish, which result from the asymmetry in linguistic systems and cultural variety (K1_K01);

- prepared to participate in cultural life in Poland and selected Italy, promote their cultures while using both traditional and modern forms of communication and media (K1_K03).

- prepared to take measures in inter-linguistic communication in order to preserve the cultural heritage of Poland and Italy (K1_K04)

Assessment criteria – thematic components:

Each thematic component is assessed according to the following:

- Continuous assessment (preparedness, activity in class)

- Home assignments

- graded control tests

- mid-term written tests/term papers

- mid-term oral exams

- preparation and delivery of oral presentations

Grading criteria - thematic components:

The passing percentage for graded works on all thematic components is 60%. All written tests and assignments within the components and during the course are graded according to the following criteria:

0-59% = failed (2.0)

60-67% = satisfactory (3.0)

68-75% = satisfactory plus (3.5)

76-83% = good (4.0)

84-91% = good plus (4.5)

92-98% = very good (5.0)

99-100% = very good! (5.0!)

The student is allowed one retake of every failed graded test at the time designated by the teacher. Unexcused absence during a test or a retake forfeits that attempt.

Assessment criteria – Exam:

In order to take the exam the student must receive passing grades from all the thematic components during the course. Receiving a failing grade from one or more thematic components results in negative grade in the USOS in first term, at which point the student must receive passing grades from all failed components in order to be allowed a second attempt at the exam during the retake exam session.

The exam is composed of written and oral parts. The written part consists of grammar test, lexical test and an essay in academic writing on a chosen topic.

Grading criteria – Exam:

The writing parts are graded according to the following criteria:

0-59% = failed (2.0)

60-67% = satisfactory (3.0)

68-75% = satisfactory plus (3.5)

76-83% = good (4.0)

84-91% = good plus (4.5)

92-98% = very good (5.0)

99-100% = very good! (5.0!)

The oral part of the exam assesses the communicative competence as well as the level of vocabulary, pronunciation and grammatical competence acquired during the 2nd semester of the course. The assessment criteria of the oral exam are as follows:

5.0 – very good: very good linguistic competence (proper and correct use of grammatical and lexical elements acquired during the course, accompanied by the proper phonemes, accent and intonation); extensive vocabulary (uses visibly diverse vocabulary, idioms, collocations and other expressions acquired during the course, uses proper register); very good and clearly thought through structure of delivered statements with clearly identifiable introduction, supporting arguments and conclusion; frequent, fluent and correct use of logical connectors and linking phrases; clearly signalling beginning and closure of an argument; statement coherent with the topic

4.0/4.5 – good/good plus: good linguistic competence (proper and correct use of grammatical and lexical elements acquired during the course, with the use of proper phonemes, accent and intonation; sporadic mistakes in pronunciation, sporadic and isolated errors in grammar); good level of vocabulary (uses diverse vocabulary from the classes, idioms, collocations and other expressions with few and isolated mistakes and errors, and occasional errors of register); good and planned structure of delivered statements that shows clear introduction, supporting arguments and conclusion, with singular losses of fluency and diversion from the main topic; visible use of logical connectors and linking phrases clearly signalling beginning and closure of an argument; statement coherent with the topic

3.0/3.5 – satisfactory/satisfactory plus: satisfactory competence (proper and correct use of grammatical and lexical elements acquired during the course, with the use of proper phonemes, accent and intonation; infrequent or occasional mistakes in pronunciation and grammatical errors are acceptable and do not prevent successful communication); satisfactory level of vocabulary (vocabulary acquired during the classes, idioms, collocations and other expressions, lacks in diversity; visible mistakes and errors, and errors of register); satisfactory structure of delivered statements that shows visible, but not clearly discernible introduction, supporting arguments, and conclusion of the argument; visible losses of fluency and diversion from the main topic; rare or infrequent use of logical connectors and linking phrases signalling beginning and closure of an argument; satisfactory coherence with the topic

2.0 – failed: unsatisfactory linguistic competence (notorious and regular grammatical, lexical, phonetic and pronunciation mistakes); vocabulary insufficient to create coherent statements, frequent errors of register, lack or incorrect use of idioms and collocations; chaotic structure of delivered statements, without discernible introduction, development and conclusion of the argument; lack of logical connection between parts of the argument, lack or incorrect use of logical connectors and linking phrases; visible lack of fluency, jagged or incomplete sentences, clear lack of coherence with the topic

The final grade from the exam is the average from the written and oral parts of the exam. The final grade from the course in the USOS is the average of the grades from the exam (50%) and the classes (50%).

Failing one part of the exam results in a failing grade from the entire exam in the summer exam session and the need to retake the exam in the same form during the retake exam session.

Students are required to attend all the classes in a given component of the course. Students are allowed two unexcused absences in a given component per 30 contact hours. When the number of allowed absences is exceeded, the student should ask the teacher to be given additional tasks aimed at making up for the material missed from the classes by that student. If the number of absences is equal to or exceeds 50% of the component’s total number of contact hours, it will result in a negative grade from that component as well as from the entire course.