Undergraduate Course: Italian 1 (ELCI08001)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | An intensive course in spoken and written Italian, with a focus on language production as well as on grammar structures, offering classes at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The language course (60%) is complemented by four integrated modules in Italian Cultural Studies (40%) introducing aspects of Italian culture from the Early Modern Period to the present. Auditing (Class only) is not allowed. |
| Course description |
By the end of the first year course, students will have acquired the following skills and competences:
A. Language
- Structural competence: ranging from a basic grasp of Italian grammatical structures for students with no previous experience of Italian, to a deeper understanding of grammatical concepts for more advanced students;
- Lexical competence: they will have acquired/developed a vocabulary of 800-1200 Italian words;
- Communicative competence: they will be able to communicate in Italian both in speaking and writing, within the range and context of the course;
- Receptive competence: they will read, understand and listening short written texts of simple to high level of difficulty.
B. Italian Cultural Studies
- knowledge and understanding of the cultural developments of the periods studied and of the formal and thematic issues raised by the selected works;
- familiarity with the recommended secondary material relevant to the period, authors, directors and composers studied;
- understanding of the relationship between the works studied and their social and historical context;
- ability to criticise, evaluate and interpret evidence.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This course is only open to Undergraduate University of Edinburgh and Visiting students. Postgraduate students must get the approval of the course organiser before enrolling. |
| Additional Costs | Language textbooks
- For beginners to Intermediate level:
Semester 1: Spazio Italia. Corso di italiano per stranieri. Livello: A1, Manuale 1 + Eserciziario 1+ DVD-ROM 1, Loescher, 2015.
Semester 2: Spazio Italia. Corso di italiano per stranieri. Livello: A2, Manuale 2 + Eserciziario 2 + DVD-ROM 2, Loescher, 2012-2015.
- For advanced students (A level/ Advanced Higher +):
Universitalia 2.0 B1/B2 by Piotti, de Savorgnani, Carrara, ALMA, New Edition January 2018.
The texbooks are available, at a small discount, from our local BLACKWELL¿S Bookshop, 53-62 South Bridge Edinburgh, or you can find them on the publisher's website (Loescher and Alma), or on Amazon.
Please check the links below:
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/readinglists/displaylist.jsp?fm_course=40640
https://www.loescher.it/dettaglio/opera/o_3348/spazio-italia?search&st=cat#configurazione
https://www.almaedizioni.it/en/catalogue/scheda/universitalia-20-a1a2/
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 100 |
| Course Start |
Full Year |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 75,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
294 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
LANGUAGE 60%
Assessment
- 2 Writing Tasks 15%
- 2 Oral Tasks 15%
- 2 Language Tests 30%
SEM 1
Week 7 Writing Task 1 (7.5%)
Week 11 Oral Task 1 (7.5%)
Week 12 Language Test 1 (15%)
SEM 2
Week 5 Writing Task 2 (7.5%)
Week 10 Oral Task 2 (7.5%)
Week 11 Language Test 2 (15%)
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CULTURAL STUDIES 40%
Assessment
- 2 Individual Essay 24%
- 4 Autonomous Learning Group presentations 16%
SEM 1
Week 5 ALG presentation 1 (4%)
Week 11 ALG presentation 2 (4%)
Week 13 Individual Essay (12%)
SEM 2
Week 5 ALG presentation 3 (4%)
Week 10 ALG presentation 4 (4%)
Week 12 Individual Essay (12%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a good grasp of everyday Italian vocabulary, grammar and syntax, along with a broad and critical understanding of Italian literature and culture.
- Appraise straightforward spoken and written information about everyday study or work related topics, identifying both general messages and specific details.
- Communicate with reasonable accuracy on familiar topics both orally and in writing, expressing personal opinions, and comparing and contrasting those of others.
- Develop effective communication, presentation and interaction skills across a range of media.
- Demonstrate self-reliance, initiative, and the ability to work flexibly with others as part of a team
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Reading List
ITALY: IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE
Module 1 | In Other Words: Jhumpa Lahiri and "her" Italian Short Stories
- Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words, transl. by Ann Goldstein (London: Bloomsbury, 2016)
- Jhumpa Lahiri (ed.), The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories (London: Penguin Books, 2019)
- Gian Maria Annovi and Flora Ghezzo, Anna Maria Ortese: Celestial Geographies (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015)
- Vilma De Gasperin, Loss and the Other in the Visionary Work of Anna Maria Ortese (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)
Module 2 | Women's Voice in Italian Literature
- Sibila Aleramo, A Woman, transl. by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell (London: Penguin Books, 2020)
- Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend, transl. by Ann Goldstein (New York: Europa Editions, 2012)
- Dacia Maraini, Woman at War, transl. by Mara Benetti and Elspeth Spottiswood (New York: Italica Press, 2008)
- Perry Willson and P. Morris Women in Twentieth-Century Italy - Gender and History (London: Palgrave, 2009)
- Laura Benedetti, The Tigress in the Snow: Motherhood and Literature in Twentieth-Century Italy (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2008)
Module 3 | Italian Opera and Beyond
- Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker, A History of Opera: The Last Four Hundred Years (London: Penguin Books, 2015)
- Peter Conrad, A Song of Love and Death: The Meaning of Opera (London: Chatto & Windus, 1987)
- Mary Ann Smart, The Cambridge Companion to Verdi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004)
- David R. B. Kimbell, Verdi in the Age of Italian Romanticism (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 1981)
- Anna Wierzbicka, Emotions Across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and Universals (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
Module 4 | Gramsci and the South
- Jane Schneider, Italy¿s ¿Southern question¿: Orientalism in One Country (Oxford: Berg, 1998)
- Peter Ives, Language and Hegemony in Gramsci (London: Pluto Press, 2004)
- Antonio Gramsci and Pasquale Verdicchio, The Southern Question (Lancaster: Guernica Editions, 2005) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | DELC Italian 1 |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Daniele Falcioni
Tel: (0131 6)50 8982
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Hope Hamilton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4167
Email: |
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