The aim of the course is to provide basic knowledge on the grammatical structures of  Italian language, and on the sociolinguistic reflection of contemporary Italian, in order to provide the analytical tools necessary for a correct use of the Italian language in understanding and producing oral and written texts, and for the didactic use of the subject matter.

The course, designed to meet the needs of future pre-school and primary school teachers, will be focused on the principles of the discipline. The first part of the course will be dedicated to contemporary italian sociolinguistic analysis (linguistic space, standard and neostandard italian, the contemporary Italian variety, specialized languages, with particular focus on food lexicon), and to the basic elements of italian grammar structures (phonetics, morphology, lexicon, syntax, textuality). The second part of the course will be dedicated to the role of language education and essential educational tools for Italian teaching.

 Knowledge and understanding 

At the end of the course the student will be able to

- know the basic structures of the Italian language;

- know and understand issues related to the variability of the language;

- know and understand the Italian language space;

- know and understand the characteristics of contemporary Italian in relation to communicative situations and types of texts;

- to know the main characteristics of the language of food, understood as a special language, and to know how to trace the most important stages in its history;

- know and understand the importance of the role of language education in the school context and in the broader context of social life;

- reflect independently and critically with respect to the didactics of the Italian language;

- know technical terminology;

Applied knowledge and understanding (applying knowledge and understanding)

By the end of the course the student will have shown:

- to have secure linguistic competence;

- To be able to recognize the varieties and uses of the Italian language;

- Of knowledge of the Italian linguistic space;

- to have metalinguistic analysis skills;

- to be able to describe the main characteristics of the language of food as a special language;

- To have critical knowledge of the main models and tools of language education;

- to apply appropriate teaching strategies within the discipline;

Autonomy of judgements (making judgements):

At the end of the course, the student is expected to demonstrate the ability to

- recognise themes and problems related to the discipline

- critically evaluate cultural phenomena through linguistic analysis;

- independently reapply the methods of descriptive analysis;

- analyse teaching materials suitable for pre-school and primary school;

- reflect on and design a teaching unit aimed at developing the learner's linguistic competence.

Communication skills

By the end of the course, the student should have acquired

- the ability to express the course content clearly;

- mastery of the technical vocabulary of Italian linguistics;

Learning skills

At the end of the course, the student should have acquired:

- the ability to reflect on language as a historical, social and cultural phenomenon;

- the ability to interpret linguistic data with a critical sense;

- the ability to use and autonomously find bibliographic sources for the study and teaching of the Italian language.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

A formative self-assessment test is planned.

Teaching

Front lessons

Attendance

In order to sit the examination as an attending student, class attendance is mandatory for at least 2/3 of the total number of hours (= 24 hours out of 36).

Course books

-  R. Setti, La scoperta della lingua italiana. Linguistica per insegnare nella scuola dell'infanzia e primaria, Firenze, Cesati, 2019.

-  R. Cella, Nozioni minime di storia della lingua e della grammatica italiane per insegnanti di scuola primaria, in R. Setti, C. De Santis, R. Cella (a cura di), Per una didattica della parole. Ascoltare, parlare, leggere e scrivere nella scuola primaria, Firenze, Franco Cesati, 2021, pp. 103-17;

- M. G. Lo Duca, Lingua italiana ed educazione linguistica. Tra storia ricerca e didattica, Roma, Carocci, 2019 (nuova ristampa), ch. I, II, III;

- G. Frosini, S. Lubello, L'italiano del cibo, Carocci, Roma, 2023 (in particular chapters I, II, III).

For attending students, the purchase of texts is not compulsory, but recommended. They are recommended as supplementary material for topics covered in the classroom.

Assessment

Written exam, consisting of a questionnaire with multiple choice and open questions. Evaluation criteria: level of formal correctness; relevance and effectiveness of the answers in relation to the contents of the program; adequacy of the disciplinary language used.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Non-attending students must follow bibliographical references listed in the corresponding section below.

Course books

-  R. Setti, La scoperta della lingua italiana. Linguistica per insegnare nella scuola dell'infanzia e primaria, Firenze, Cesati, 2019.

-  R. Cella, Nozioni minime di storia della lingua e della grammatica italiane per insegnanti di scuola primaria, in R. Setti, C. De Santis, R. Cella (a cura di), Per una didattica della parole. Ascoltare, parlare, leggere e scrivere nella scuola primaria, Firenze, Franco Cesati, 2021, pp. 103-17;

- M. G. Lo Duca, Lingua italiana ed educazione linguistica. Tra storia ricerca e didattica, Roma, Carocci, 2019 (nuova ristampa), ch. I, II, III;

- G. Frosini, S. Lubello, L'italiano del cibo, Carocci, Roma, 2023 (in particular chapters I, II, III);

- P. D'Achille, L'italiano contemporaneo, Bologna, il Mulino, 2019 (chapter III only)

Assessment

Written exam, consisting of a questionnaire with multiple choice and open questions. Evaluation criteria: level of formal correctness; relevance and effectiveness of the answers in relation to the contents of the program; adequacy of the disciplinary language used.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.