IT 401 - Oral skills syllabus

Aims:

to develop students’ oral skills both in a class conversation context and in public speaking situations. Students’ presentations aimed at the preparation of final oral exams by making them aware of the exam mechanism (presentations+related questions);
to familiarize students with a higher and more sophisticated register of spoken Italian and to expand their vocabulary;
to familiarize students with recent developments in Italian current affairs and enable them to discuss relevant aspects of contemporary Italy in relation with their personal experience.

Assessment

Students returning from YA or part-YA in Italy:

Assessed group presentation in weeks 8-9 of term 1 (15% of the final mark)
Summer oral exam (15% of the final mark)

All other students (who spent their third year in Warwick and did IT301 last year):

Assessed group presentation in weeks 8-9 of term 1 (10% of the final mark)
Summer oral exam (10% of the final mark)

Term 1 presentations

FORMAT:

4-5 minute presentation per person followed by questions from the audience.
TOPIC:
Please have a look at the list of the suggested topics (below). In their presentations, students are invited to show their personal and original approach to the topic. The topic of the presentation has to be confirmed by Tuesday, week 7, Term 1.
ASSESSMENT:
The presentation will be recorded for assessment purposes.
THINGS ALLOWED:
- Notes allowed on 1 half of an A4 (bullet points, no full text, no text on computer screen)
- Power point allowed, but not required.

Summer oral exam

FORMAT:

8-10 minute presentation in Italian, followed by 8-10 minute questions and general conversation in Italian. Students are required to include a final slide or provide a handout with bibliography.

TOPIC:
The topic of the presentation needs to be agreed with the tutor by Wednesday, week 9, Term 2. Please submit a 100-word abstract and a provisional bibliography with a minimum of 2 references to the course tutor for approval.

ASSESSMENT:
The presentation will be recorded for assessment purposes.
THINGS ALLOWED:
- Notes allowed on 1 half of an A4 (bullet points, no full text, no text on computer screen)
- Power point allowed, but not required.

Distinctions in oral Italian will be awarded to students who achieved first class marks in the end of year oral examination.

Please note: This module is marked using the 20-point marking scale, unlike first-year modules in Italian language, which are marked using any point on the 0-100 scale. This is because the 20-point scale is more appropriate to the modes of assessment used in this module.

For further information, please see the details of marking schemes offered in the School handbooks or ask your module tutor.

Course description

This course requires constant student participation and preparation. Students will be asked to prepare weekly topics by reading Italian newspapers, watching the Italian news and writing down topic-related vocabulary lists. Besides conversation and discussion activities, the first term will also include a brief introduction to how to prepare a presentation. In the second term students will be required to prepare a presentation on a topic agreed upon with the tutor.

Attendance and participation are requirements of the course: failure to fulfil tasks and lack of participation will be taken into account in the final course results.

Recommended dictionaries

- Il Ragazzini 2008-Dizionario inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese, Zanichelli.

- Collins-Sansoni: Italian Dictionary: complete and unabridged, Collins.