Years 7 and 8 Band Description
The nature of the learners
These years represent a transition to secondary school. Students in this pathway are continuing to study Italian, bringing with them an established capability to interact in different situations, to engage with a variety of texts and to communicate with some assistance about their own immediate world and that of Italy and other Italian-speaking communities. They have experience in analysing the major features of the language system and in reflecting on the nature of intercultural exchanges in which they are involved.
Italian language learning and use
Learners work both collaboratively and independently, exploring different modes and genres of communication with reference to their current social, cultural and communicative interests. They use modelled and rehearsed language in both familiar and unfamiliar contexts and begin to generate some original language. They work in groups to pool language knowledge and resources, and to plan, problem-solve, monitor and reflect. They are encouraged to make cross-curricular connections and explore intercultural experiences and perspectives, particularly through comparison.
Contexts of interaction
Italian is used for classroom interactions and transactions, for creating and maintaining a class dynamic, for explaining and practising language forms, and for developing cultural understanding. Additional opportunities for using Italian are provided by purposeful and integrated use of ICTs.
Texts and resources
Learners read, view and interact with a widening range of texts for a variety of purposes (for example, informational, transactional, imaginative, expressive). They draw upon Italian-speaking people in the local community and beyond to extend their experience of using Italian beyond the classroom and to gain different perspectives on aspects of Italian culture. They use a range of processing strategies and draw on understanding of text conventions and patterns in language to comprehend and create texts. They are supported to identify how cultural values and perspectives are embedded in language and how language choices influence how people, ideas and circumstances are represented. They compose and present texts (for example, media and hypermedia texts, shared stories, poetry, songs/raps, blogs, advertisements, reports, journal entries). They plan, draft and present informative, imaginative and persuasive texts, and participate in collaborative tasks and in discussions.
Features of Italian language use
This stage involves learners consolidating their understanding and use of regular forms and familiar grammatical structures. They expand their understanding through noticing variation and non-standard forms, for example, dialects used in the local community. They also notice exceptions to rules, for example, irregular forms. They learn to experiment with past and future tenses in their own texts.
Students learn how to closely analyse the relationship between language and culture to identify cultural references in texts and consider how language communicates perspectives and values. They compare their own language(s) and Italian, and reflect on intercultural experiences, including the process of moving between languages and cultural systems.
Level of support
This is a period of reviewing and consolidating students’ prior learning and providing engaging and relevant new experiences and connections. Students continue to benefit from scaffolding and support, such as the provision of visual and contextual cues when accessing texts. They use models, teacher feedback and resources such as word lists and dictionaries when constructing their own texts.
The role of English
Italian is used in classroom routines, tasks and structured discussions. English is used, when appropriate, as a basis for comparison of language and cultural systems. It is also used to allow for explanation, reflection and substantive, open-ended discussions to support the development of the use of Italian.