10 | I used a Sabbatical Leave to develop simple readings for Italian 101 and 102 students. Part of 101 readings presents a mini-story and an extended reading that expands the mini-story. Other stories are divided in chapters. Often stories are set in Italy or have Italian or Italian-American characters or characters who have some connection with Italy and the Italian Culture. For Italian 102 I adapted the "Promessi Sposi" so students can read one small part of the novel for each day of the course (16 weeks course). The simple story as well as the many historical and cultural references make it a perfect point of departure to talk about many topics. The novel is also copyright free so there are no issues in this sense either. Reading opportunities for first year students are almost non existent despite researchers tell us that reading is a key factor in becoming a successful language learner. The goal of this project is to be adopted, changed and improved by the use of other instructors. I am developing a website where new version of this text can be uploaded and comments on the use and result of the material can be shared. While the main goal of the stories is to present a certain amount of repetition of the most important structures without giving the feeling that the language is too forced or unnatural, it is important to highlight that in order to increase students comprehension of texts it is not important to follow a strict progression of grammar structures but it is more important that students are able to understand vocabulary. In other words, in these stories I focused more on scaffolding vocabulary, not grammar. For this reason, when a new term comes into story and it is unlikely that the student encountered it in class, I provided the English translation. However, as I stated previously, any instructor adopting the material can make the changes s/he believes necessary to make it work in their class. |
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