Department of Romance Languages and Literatures

910 Clemens Hall

Buffalo, NY 14260-4620

 

Italian 101 Elementary Italian 1st semester

Course Coordinator: Dr. Laura Chiesa, 927 Clemens Hall, Tel. 645-0872, lchiesa@buffalo.edu

Course description: the goal is development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing within a cultural context. LEC

Italian 101 is designed for true beginners, those with no previous knowledge of Italian. The goal of this course is to enable students to acquire a basic mastery of the following four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The course will emphasize practice of grammar and communication skills in the classroom.

Course objectives: At the end of this course students should demonstrate at 65% proficiency or better the following skills:

1) express orally, in the present, past, and simple future, basic needs, basic courtesies, personal information and preferences on topics related to daily activities and basic aspects of the Italian-speaking culture;

2) understand and respond, in the present, past, and future to short utterances and questions referring to basic information on daily activities of the students and people from the Italian-speaking culture;

3) read and understand instructions, menus, maps, directions, standardized messages, newspaper/magazine ads, and brief descriptions related to daily life of students and people in the Italian-speaking culture in the present, past and future;

4) write short sentences and paragraph on autobiographical and cultural information, in the present, past and future.

Students in ITA 101 will learn and use morphological & grammatical structures in chapters 1 through 6 of Parliamo italiano! (articles, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, present, the past and future tenses in the indicative mood, among others).

Placement Policies:

• Native speakers of a foreign language are not allowed in introductory or intermediate courses if they were schooled in a country in which the language of instruction was the language in question.
• Heritage speakers of the language (those with home knowledge of the language) must see language coordinator for proper placement.
• Students who have completed coursework in French, Italian or Spanish either at UB or another college will not be allowed to register in a proficiency level lower than that already completed.
• Students repeating a course in which a failing grade was received must do so prior to registering in a higher-level course.
• Students with special circumstances or who have been away from the language for some time must contact the language coordinator for adequate placement.
• WARNING:  The department will unregister (drop) students who attempt to take courses for which they are ineligible or over-prepared.

Textbooks: Available at the UB Bookstore:

Parliamo italiano!, 3e, with Quia Set (Set includes: a- Dawson / Parliamo Italiano!, 3rd Edition, b-A code for the eSAM QUIA which includes the online Lab manual and workbook and will be bundled with the book.) [ISBN:  978-0-470-61456-3.].

Suggested: Italian-English/English-Italian Dictionary.

NOTE: Students must have their own  eSAM QUIAaccount, we do not accept accounts sold used under the name of another person. Make sure you have been placed in the right course before opening the shrink-wrapped textbook package. RLL is no responsible for the bookstore not accepting the return of opened packages in the event a student self-placed in the wrong level.

 

Workload: This course is 5 credits. Students can expect to spend an average of 5 or 6 hours per week outside of class time. They are responsible for all the material presented in class and all the daily and weekly assignments.

Course Requirements: Students must attend class regularly, and participate fully in all class activities, both oral and written. Laboratory and homework assignments prepared outside of class constitute and integral part of the coursework. At least one hour a week with the audio component of the workbook is indispensable.

Grading Procedures:

Elementary Italian is a concrete, performance-oriented course, for which accuracy and mastery are essential. In general the grades will be calculated as follows:

Exams (3): 40%, Unit quizzes (at least 6): 20%, Homework (web projects, WB, LM, etc.) & Classroom Participation: 20%, Compositions (4): 20%

Classroom performance will be graded for quantity and quality of contributions. In general students can expect an: A if the student volunteers to participate frequently , is always prepared for class, shows interest and motivation, works well with others in groups, avoids using English in class, and comes to class regularly; B if the student is prepared and alert however, does not volunteer as often to participate, uses some English or sometimes shows that s/he has not prepared for the day, and comes to class regularly; C if the student is prepared for class but needs a "push" to participate and help to answer questions in class, depends on English regularly, and comes to class regularly; D if the student comes to class but fails to prepare adequately for class, does not contribute to the class discussions, does not cooperate in group work, does not show interest, refuses to use Spanish in the class, and does not attend class regularly; F if the student rarely attends class, fails to prepare adequately for class, is incapable to participate in classroom activities, does not contribute to the class discussions, fails to hand in homework assignments.

The grading scale used is as follow: 94-100=A, 90-93=A-, 87-89=B+, 83-86=B, 80-82=B-, 77-79=C+, 73-76=C, 70-72=C-, 69-67=D+, 66-65 D, 0-64=F.

Make-ups: Make-up quizzes are at the discretion of the instructor. Make-up of exams will be only offered if the student presents official documentation of some extraordinary circumstance and the instructor accepts it as a legitimate excuse (based on university guidelines). This documentation is due no later than one week after the absence.

Incomplete: The grade of incomplete will be rarely given, only in cases of a serious, well-documented medical condition. Only a student who has at least a grade of C up to two weeks before the last day of class may ask for an incomplete. No incomplete will be given to substitute for a poor or failing grade.

Plagiarism: Academic dishonesty will result in a grade of F and disciplinary actions by the university. Examples of academic dishonesty are: copying the work from the Internet or a book, having a friend/relative write the work for you, copying during an exam or quiz, using an electronic word by word translator.

Students with disabilities: Students who require special accommodations because of a diagnosed disability should bring relevant documentation to their instructors as soon as possible. The instructor in conjunction with the course coordinator will oversee arrangements with assistance from the Office of Disabilities.

Course Outline: The following is a SAMPLE course outline. Students who register for this course will receive an updated course outline through UBLearns (Blackboard).