Level Description

The nature of the learners

At this level, students bring existing knowledge of Italian language and culture and a range of language learning strategies to their learning. They are increasingly aware of the world beyond their own and are engaging with youth-related and social and environmental issues. They require continued guidance and mentoring, but are increasingly independent in terms of analysis, reflection and monitoring of their language learning and intercultural experiences. They are considering future pathways and options, including the possible role of Italian in these.

Italian language learning and use

This is a period of experimenting with a range of modes of communication (for example, digital and hypermedia, collaborative performance and group discussions). Through their greater control of language structures and growing understanding of the variability of language use, learners become more confident in communicating in a range of contexts. Learners use Italian to interact and communicate; to access, exchange and present information; to express feelings and opinions; to participate in imaginative and creative experiences; and to interpret, analyse and create a range of texts and experiences. They use Italian more fluently and monitor their accuracy and use against their knowledge of grammar and associated systems. They explore intercultural experience more deliberately, for example, noting the influence of technology, media and globalisation on language use and communication.

Contexts of interaction

Learners interact with peers and teachers in their immediate school context and with members of broader Italian communities and resources available through a range of actual and virtual environments.

Texts and resources

Learners extend their familiarity with text types and language functions by balancing attention to language forms with purposeful language use. Sequences of tasks provide opportunities for collaborative planning and performance, resource development, and increased use of different language and cultural resources. Learners strengthen their communication strategies and processes of interpreting, creating, evaluating and performing in relation to a widening range of texts. Media resources, fiction and nonfiction texts, performances and research projects allow for exploration of themes of personal and contemporary relevance (for example, global and environmental issues, identity and relationships, and linguistic and cultural diversity). Learners develop critical analysis skills to investigate texts and to identify how language choices shape perspectives and meaning, and how those choices are in turn shaped by context and intention. They learn to consider different viewpoints and experiences, and analyse their own linguistic and cultural stance, and beliefs and practices that influence communication and intercultural exchange.

Features of Italian language use

The focus of learning Italian shifts to expanding learners’ range and control of the linguistic systems to develop the sophistication of language use. They learn to choose appropriate tenses, to identify and create mood, and to use cohesive devices to create extended texts such as narratives, reports and dialogues. They continue to build a metalanguage, using specific terms to assist understanding and control of grammar and textual conventions (for example, adverbs, conditional, imperative, subjunctive, past tenses, reflexive verbs).

Level of support

Learners are encouraged to develop greater autonomy, to self-monitor, and to adjust language in response to their experience in different contexts. They develop independent skills to access resources such as textbooks, dictionaries and online translators, and to critically evaluate the effectiveness of such resources and their role in learning and communicating. Students continue to benefit from scaffolding and support to access and create increasingly complex texts, such as the provision of visual and contextual cues.

The role of English

Italian is used for interaction within and beyond the classroom, for task accomplishment and for some discussion of ideas in texts. English is used, as and when appropriate, to facilitate comparison, evaluation, reflection and substantive discussion.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 10, students use written and spoken Italian to interact with others in a range of contexts and for a range of purposes. They discuss topics such as education, work, the environment and youth issues as well as concepts from a range of learning areas. They recount experiences, and express feelings and opinions, agreement and disagreement, using present, past and future tenses, and linking statements with both coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, for example, Era stanca, così non è uscita. Non mi piace quel romanzo perché è triste! Prima siamo andati al cinema, poi siamo andati a prendere un gelato. They demonstrate grammatical control when using complex sentences. They create a range of connected texts and interact with some degree of personalisation on a variety of subjects related to their own interests. In classroom discussions, they present and communicate personal thoughts and opinions, and account for and sustain a particular point of view, for example, Non c’ è dubbio che … Credo che questi articoli offrano solo un punto di vista. They identify key ideas in different text types dealing with both concrete and abstract topics. They follow the development and relationship of ideas, identifying, for example, identifying sequencing, cause and effect, and consequences. They compare and evaluate ideas across languages and cultures, for example, Secondo me … dal mio punto di vista … per quanto mi riguarda. I giovani italiani sono più interessati nella politica. They discuss future plans and aspirations. Students develop and defend interpretations of texts and diverse points of view, and elaborate, clarify and qualify ideas using supporting evidence and argument. They present real or imaginary events and experiences in narratives, descriptions and recounts. They translate texts and produce bilingual texts, recognising that not all concepts can necessarily be rendered fully in another language.

Students reflect on their experience of learning Italian language and culture. They exchange opinions and responses, noting how these may have changed over time. They identify ways in which writers and speakers make choices when using language, and make connections between language used, cultural concepts expressed and their own experiences or views. They reflect on their own and others’ use of language, the language choices made, and the cultural assumptions or understandings which shape them. They analyse how culture affects communication and the making and interpreting of meaning, and how languages reflect cultures.