Italian (Version 8.4)

The nature of the learners

At this level, children are developing awareness of their social worlds and of their memberships of various groups including the Italian class. They are developing literacy capabilities in English, such as writing in the Roman alphabet, which assists to some degree in learning Italian. They benefit from varied, activity-based learning that builds on their interests and capabilities and makes connections with other areas of learning.

Italian language learning and use

The development of oral proficiency requires rich language input in different modes and from different sources. Children develop active listening skills and respond through action-related talk. They strengthen their comprehension skills, using contextual and grammatical cues as well as phonic and non-verbal cues. The language they encounter is authentic, with modification when necessary, involving familiar vocabulary and simple structures. Children are supported to use the language themselves in familiar contexts and situations, such as exchanging simple ideas and information, negotiating predictable activities and interactions, and participating in shared tasks, performance and play. They continue to build vocabulary which can be adapted for different purposes, and to control simple grammatical forms to communicate in familiar contexts.

Contexts of interaction

The contexts in which learners interact in using and learning Italian are primarily local: the classroom, school, home and community, with some access to wider communities of Italian speakers and resources through virtual and digital technologies.

Texts and resources

Children develop literacy skills and textual knowledge through supported interaction with a range of spoken, written, visual and multimodal texts. Imaginative and interactive texts (such as picture books, stories, puppet plays, songs and games) engage the expressive and cultural dimensions of language. Procedural, informational and descriptive texts (such as negotiated classroom rules, planned activities, and family and class profiles) encourage students to use language to ‘get things done’.

Features of Italian language use

Students experiment with pronunciation and intonation in Italian, noticing similarities and differences with other familiar languages. They focus on structures and grammatical rules such as those relating to the use of possessive pronouns, prepositions and negation. They extend their knowledge of definite and indefinite articles, and of gender and singular/plural forms.

As they encounter Italian language and culture they make comparisons with their own language(s) and culture(s) and consider their own ways of communicating. This leads to exploring concepts of commonality and difference, and of identity, and to thinking about what it means to speak more than one language.

Level of support

Children’s grammatical knowledge and accuracy in spoken and written Italian are developed both through form-focused activities and through opportunities to apply this knowledge in meaningful task activity, as they build their communicative skills, confidence and fluency. Teachers provide models and examples; introduce language, concepts and resources needed to manage and complete tasks; make time for experimentation and drafting; and provide support for self-monitoring and reflection.

The role of English

The use of English, when appropriate, provides support opportunities for discussion and exploration of ideas which help children to build a conceptual frame and metalanguage for talking about language and culture, and about their experiences as learners moving between languages and cultures.

The nature of the learners

Students are expanding their social networks, experiences and communicative repertoires in both their first language and Italian. They continue to need guidance and participate in structured, collaborative tasks that both recycle and extend language. Students are gaining greater independence and becoming more conscious of their peers and social context. They are gaining awareness of the world around them and of the relationship of Australia with Italy and other Italian-speaking communities. They are noticing similarities and differences between Italian language and culture and their own.

Italian language learning and use

Students’ pronunciation, intonation and phrasing are more confident, and they access wider vocabulary resources and use non-verbal strategies appropriately to support communication. They participate in shared tasks and purposeful language experiences as well as focusing explicitly on language structures and systems, literacy skills and cultural elements of communication.

Oracy development at this level includes active listening to a range of input from different sources, and building interactional skills such as maintaining conversations, turn-taking, and contributing to discussions with observations and opinions. They learn skills in ‘reading’ language for cultural and contextual meaning. Individual and group oral-presentation and performance skills are developed through researching and organising information, rehearsing and resourcing the content of presentations, and selecting appropriate language to engage particular audiences.

Contexts of interaction

Learners use Italian with each other and the teacher for a range of purposes: exchanging information, expressing ideas and feelings, performing and responding to Italian texts and experiences. They use ICTs to interact with each other and with peers in Italian-speaking communities, exchanging resources and information, accessing music and media resources, and contributing to class activities such as a blog or webpage.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a range of oral, written, multimodal and digital texts that are increasingly public in nature. They use cues and decoding strategies to assist comprehension and to make connections between contexts, ideas and language within and between texts. They create texts for a range of purposes and audiences, such as emails, dialogues, public signs, presentations and performances. With support, they build cohesion into their Italian production in terms of both content and expression.

Features of Italian language use

Students increase their range of Italian language vocabulary, grammatical knowledge and textual knowledge. They learn how to describe present and immediate future actions, situations and events using familiar verbs. They use adverbs, adjectives and prepositions to create more complex sentences. They develop a metalanguage to describe patterns, rules and variations in language structures.

Learners consider how language features and expressions reflect cultural values and experiences (for example, language variation relating to gender, generation, status or cultural context). This leads to considering their own ways of communicating and to thinking about personal and community identities, stereotypes and perspectives reflected in language.

Level of support

While learners work more independently at this level, ongoing support, including modelling and scaffolding, is incorporated into task activity. Ongoing feedback and review support the interactive process of learning. While first language capabilities are more developed than learners’ Italian language proficiency, learning tasks and experiences need to take account of both their second language linguistic level and their more general cognitive and social levels of development.

The role of English

The use of English, in conjunction with Italian, for discussion, reflection and explanation ensures the continued development of learners’ knowledge base and intercultural capability and provides opportunities for learners to share understanding and experiences.