Syllabus
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Italian 102 is tailored for undergraduate students who already have a foundational grasp of Italian grammar and conversation. This course guides students through more advanced sentence construction, enabling them to both understand texts and articulate more complex thoughts across diverse time frames, with a particular emphasis on past tenses.
Students will start to delve into and engage with longer, yet straightforward texts, with the goal of understanding and producing written and oral content appropriate for everyday interactions. Throughout the semester, a deeper appreciation of Italian culture will help students contextualize and grasp their linguistic experience.
LEARNING GOALS
By the end of this course, students should:
- be able to express themselves with some comfort using series of sentences, both orally and in writing, in order to sustain a topic
- comprehend somewhat substantial connected texts, both written and auditory, such as descriptions and narration, that are linguistically non-complex and have a clear underlying structure
- demonstrate close to full control of present tense in carrying out the above, and partial control of past tenses
- demonstrate conceptual control of some complex grammatical elements and sentence structures
- show increasing understanding of cultural processes, as well as knowledge of cultural icons and products.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Aski, J. Musumeci, D. AVANTI! Beginning Italian (5th edition). McGraw Hill.
Click here to access the digital companion to the textbook.
GRADING POLICIES
The variety of skills and activities in this course (listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, culture, lab work, homework, group work, presentations) will be reflected in our grading. Your final grade will be calculated in the following manner:
- 3 major exams: 20%
- Routine homework assignments: 15%
- Compositions or written projects: 10%
- Attendance and class participation 25%
- Final exam 30%
The grading system and test scale for undergraduate courses is established by the College. The following is the official list of letter grades and their numerical equivalents.
Only students who have submitted ALL the required assignments are eligible for asking for extra-credits.
Attendance is mandatory and will be taken in every class session. Much of your course grade will be determined by participation in class assignments and discussions, so excessive absence will have a negative impact on your overall grade. If you are going to be absent from class, please notify me via email BEFORE our scheduled class time. More than three unexcused absences will result in non-negotiable failure for the “attendance and class participation” section of your grade and ineligibility for extra credit assignment.
Punctuality is crucial. Students arriving more than 15 minutes late will be marked as tardy. Repeated tardiness (more than three instances) will be treated as an unexcused absence.
If a student experiences exceptional circumstances that may affect their attendance, they should discuss these with the instructor as soon as possible. Accommodations will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
GRADE BREAKDOWN
| GRADE | RANGE | VALUE |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97.5 – 100 | 4.0 |
| A | 92.5 – 97.4 | 4.0 |
| A- | 90.0 – 92.4 | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87.5 – 89.9 | 3.3 |
| B | 82.5 – 87.4 | 3.0 |
| B- | 80.0 – 82.4 | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77.5 – 79.9 | 2.3 |
| C | 70.0 – 77.4 | 2.0 |
| D | 60.0 – 69.9 | 1.0 |
| F | 0 – 59.9 | 0.0 |
