Additional outcomes:
The module also aims to encourage students to:

Outline content:
This 40-credit module is divided between language and culture components. The study of language is emphasised in order to allow students with no previous knowledge of Italian to study the subject to degree level.
Students will work through an introductory language textbook, aiming to cover as much grammar as possible - albeit in an introductory way - in the time available. During the first term, students will attend a series of lectures on modern Italian history and culture from Unification to the end of the Second World War. Two literary texts relating specifically to the period of Fascism and the Resistance will be studied in more detail in tutorials. These topics will be studied in English translation.
During the second term, students will study one set text in Italian. Classes will be devoted to helping students read the text and to developing their confidence in dealing with a lengthy piece of written Italian, as well as to analysing its content, studying key themes and situating it within the period studied in the first term.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:
The module will be taught mainly in small groups. Four hours per week will be devoted to intensive language study. Students will have the same teacher for each of these four hours. A further hour (Language Skills), scheduled on alternate weeks, is spent exploring relevant grammatical issues. During the first term, students will attend one lecture per week and one small-group tutorial per week. During the second term, students will remain in their language groups for two hours per week working on the set Italian text. Students will be asked to produce regular short pieces of language work. They will write one assessed essay on one of the culture topics studied in the first term. Students will be required to submit four small pieces of work which will constitute the assessment for the Spring Term. These will all be based on the set text and they will take the form of two language exercises, one summary of a chapter, and a small essay on detective fiction as a literary genre in English. Group discussion will be encouraged in all classes, and students may be asked to give occasional short oral presentations.

Contact hours:

Assessment:
Coursework
The coursework assessment for the language component of the module will derive from a class test held at the end of each term, in the Language Skills class. For the culture component of the module students will write one essay of 1,500-2,000 words, based on the cultural topics studied during the first term. Students will also be asked to produce four pieces of assessed work on the set text for Spring Term (Carta bianca portfolio). The mark gained for the Autumn Term essay will form 50% of student's culture coursework assessment mark, subject to scrutiny by a second internal examiner and by the external examiner where relevant. The cumulative mark of the Carta bianca portfolio will constitute the other 50%. (See below for full details of weightings.)

Relative percentage of coursework :
Language Skills class tests: 5% of the mark for the module.
'Culture' coursework: 12% of the mark for the module.

Penalties for late submission:
Ten marks (out of 100 on the normal University conventional scale) will be deducted from a piece of work submitted up to one calendar week after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of that deadline). Once this period has elapsed, a mark of zero will be recorded.

Examinations

There will be two components to the examination for this module:

(i) Language.
There will be a two-hour written paper, to include, for instance, translation exercises; guided and free writing exercises; and comprehension exercises. The written paper will count for 35% of the mark for this module. There will also be an oral examination, which will count for 10% of the mark for the module. The oral examination will consist of either a short passage to be read and discussed or a short presentation in Italian, a listening comprehension exercise based on some authentic material in Italian, and some general conversation at a level appropriate to the students' abilities at this stage. Students who attend less than 75% of the language classes will have 10 marks deducted from their mark for the language component.


(ii) Culture.
There will be a two-hour written paper. Students will be required to write two short essays on topics studied in the culture part of the autumn term course. There will also be compulsory reading comprehension exercise taken from the text studied in Italian during the second term. The examination will provide 38 % of the marks for the module, and the assessed essay plus the cumulative mark of the Carta bianca portfolio will provide 12% of the marks.


The final mark for this module will be the cumulative mark resulting from the following items:

(i) a two-hour written paper in language (35%)
(ii) test in speaking and listening skills (10%)
(iii) language skills (5%)
(iv) a two-hour written paper on cultural topics and reading texts. Students will be required to write two short essays on topics studied in the culture part of the course and a compulsory reading comprehension exercise taken from the text studied in Italian during the second term (38%)
(v) Autumn Term essay (6%)
(vi) Carta Bianca portfolio (6%)

Requirements for a pass
A mark of 40% overall.

Reassessment arrangements
Re-examination in September. No coursework should be resubmitted.