Level 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.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 8, students use spoken and written Italian to interact in a range of personal and social contexts. They describe or present people, places, events or conditions; discuss likes, dislikes and preferences; present information; recount and narrate events; and talk about personal, social and school worlds, for example, Ecco mio padre. Si chiama Edoardo. Ha quarantadue anni. They understand main points and some specific details in a range of texts organised around known content and including some unfamiliar language. They express and understand feelings when corresponding with others, making connections between language used and cultural concepts expressed. They respond to and create simple informational and imaginative texts, for example, Io comincio la scuola alle otto e mezzo. Le materie che studio sono l’inglese, la matematica, le scienze e la storia. They express views on familiar topics and make comparisons, adding their own opinions or reasons, for example, Mi piace il mio amico perché è buffissimo. Mi piace anche perché è veramente intelligente. They apply their understanding that texts vary according to purpose and audience, and use contextual clues, questioning and bilingual dictionaries to identify, interpret and summarise the meaning of familiar and some unfamiliar language. They give some justification for their interpretations of texts. They ask questions and seek clarification. Students create cohesive and coherent texts for different purposes on a range of familiar topics, using appropriate language structures and vocabulary, including different modal verbs and tenses, for example, Non posso venire alla partita perché devo studiare. They use conjunctions, adjectives and adverbs to elaborate meanings, for example, La professoressa di matematica è molto simpatica ma il professore di educazione fisica è qualche volta troppo severo.

Students understand and use metalanguage to explain aspects of language and culture. They identify features of text types such as letters, emails, descriptions and narratives. They know that language is chosen to reflect contexts of situation and culture, and identify differences between standard, dialectal and regional forms of Italian. They analyse the impact of technology and media on communication and language forms, the influence of Italian and English on one another, and the interrelationship of language and culture. They know that languages do not always translate directly. They reflect on how they interpret and respond to intercultural experience, and to aspects of Italian language and culture, and discuss how their responses may be shaped by their own language(s) and culture(s)./