Method

Learning a language is a science; speaking it is an art.

The books we study from were born in these classrooms: from research in applied linguistics and from teaching in Assisi, from mistakes, ours and our students', and from questions that have kept coming back for more than thirty years. Our current course, In italiano. Il corso, is published by Hoepli.

Start from the situation

You learn a language by using it: introducing yourself, asking, telling, discussing. Grammar, too, grows out of use, within a given context. That is why our approach is communicative and situational: you start from a concrete situation and learn to handle it in Italian.

Few structures, many sentences

Grammar follows a principle of generativity: a few structures, presented in their natural order, from which many others follow.

First the words you use

Vocabulary is chosen by frequency of use, so you learn first what you will actually use.

Pronunciation has its own space

Dedicated exercises on the sounds that are hardest to hear and to produce, with pronunciation lessons every week.

Contrastive grammars

Lessons are taught in Italian. For individual study, contrastive grammars are available in fifteen languages, from English to Chinese, from Russian to Arabic, comparing the structures of Italian with those of your mother tongue.

Texts for specific needs

Alongside the course there are texts for specific needs: 19th- and 20th-century literature, graded tests for certification, and Italiano in chiesa for seminarians and religious.

The authors of the method, Angelo and Gaia Chiuchiù, direct the courses: they design the programmes and follow the work in class. Studying here means studying with the people who wrote the books and who test them every day in the classroom.

The books of the method

In italiano. Il corso

The volume is articulated in 7 chapters and each one is composed by two or more forms of 60-90 minutes lessons. Each form develops and consolidates the communicative, grammatical, lexical and cultural elements needed to communicate efficiently in day-to-day life situations. Each path offers an introductory text, comprehension activities, oral exercises, exhaustive grammatical summaries, filling exercises regarding the micro functions, numerous listening and review activities.
The chapter is completed by guided writing activities, subdivided in macro functions (to describe/to narrate), cultural elements and some mock exams on the A1 and A2 levels.
In the text is it possible to find some suggestions about further useful activities contained in the volume written by Angelo and Gaia Chiuchiù Comunicare in italiano (Hoepli 2015).

Didactic articulation

  • Student’s book subdivided in 7 chapters containing: grammar and lexicon; a section of activities; writing paths; culture papers.
  • CD-mp3 (attached to the student’s book) containing audio tracks dedicated to class activities.
  • eBook+ (linked to the student’s book) with:
    audio tracks dedicated to the class activities contained in the volume;
    introductory videos presenting communicative situations set in different contexts;
    downloadable deepening files: photo gallery with exercises; further review exercises; Il mio portfolio where is it possible to transcribe and store up the texts; Cultura e Culture, to note down the characteristics of different cultures.

Online Resources www.hoepliscuola.it with:

  • Transcription of the audio tracks whose text are not contained in the volume;
  • Exercises keys;
  • Translation of the tasks in different languages in the first and the second chapter;
  • A teacher’s book containing the description of the didactic paths;
  • A class register downloadable in a PDF form, easy to fill in and to share with the colleagues.

On the website www.hoepliscuola.it several fee-paying additional materials (didactic, deepening and complementary) linked to the course, constantly enriched and updated, are available.

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In Italiano

In Italiano is a complete course for beginners and false beginners from 14 upwards, being especially suitable for those starting a second or third language.
The authors have adopted a fully communicative approach, but have applied a clear structure, and a notably successful treatment of grammar, giving the student the means for immediate, authentic communication, but also a solid foundation on which to build. Level 1 (units 1-12) covers such areas as personal identification, asking and giving permission, using the telephone, and the past, future and conditional tenses. Level 2 (units 13-24) introduces more advanced language, while retaining the communicative methodology. Each chapter throughout the course includes a section of cultural background.

In italiano combines highly effective language with an involving and informative introduction to Italy- its people, history, customs, and civilization. The colourful and illuminating video programs capture students’ attention and facilitate their comprehension of each aspect of language being presented.
In Italiano goes far beyond grammar rules and drills.
Both video and print materials make the students feel they are in Italy, seeing the country and experiencing true- to Italian-life – episodes that put their language learning into a meaningful and memorable context. It adopts a communicative-situational approach and introduces functional language at the Threshold Level according to the second language guideline established by the Council of Europe.

The components of the multimedia method In italiano are:

Comunicare in italiano

Il volume è articolato in 21 capitoli e ogni capitolo è dedicato alla presentazione di un argomento grammaticale secondo il principio della generatività, con elementi lessicali raccolti secondo i criteri della concretezza e della frequenza d’uso, ed elementi nozionale funzionali introdotti secondo l’indice di frequenza. Dopo la presentazione di base (livelli A1-B1 del Quadro Comune Europeo di Riferimento per le Lingue), nella sezione Approfondimenti (livelli B2-C1) l’argomento viene sviluppato nella sua interezza.
Completano il testo numerosi esercizi per mettere alla prova le conoscenze acquisite (con soluzioni in fondo al volume) e utili esercitazioni di fonetica (con 2 CD-Audio) dedicate alla pronuncia dei suoni generalmente più difficili da riconoscere e da riprodurre.

Estratto (PDF)

.it Italy to go

In this ebooks, you will find videos, audios, explanations, review activities, grammar and pronunciation exercises, just like in an actual language lab.

Yidali《译大利》

Corso di lingua e cultura italiana per studenti cinesi
为中国学生设置 的意大利语语言文化课程

Yidali è un corso per cinesi che utilizza le nuove tecnologie per insegnare in modo innovativo a parlare l’italiano e continuare a usarlo in modo efficace. Video, audio, spiegazioni, attività di revisione, esercizi di pronuncia e grammatica sono tutti fruibili direttamente all’interno dell’ebook come in un vero e proprio laboratorio linguistico.

《译大利》是专门迎合中国人而编写的意大利语教材,用创新的传授方式,使学生更有效的学习意大利语和使用意大利语。 本教材配备视频,音频,解释,活动校对,语音与语法练习,这些可以让学生们更直接的感受到书中所蕴含的知识,就像自己置身于一所真正而特有的语言实验室内。

   

Download the flyer (PDF)

Viva l'Italiano

Firmly centred on the child’s own world and his/her own interests, “Viva l’italiano” offers a wide range of activities: colouring in, cutting out, writing, drawing, story-telling, etc. In the third and fourth levels, which would be best suited to 8 to 11 year-olds, more emphasis is placed on the written word, with texts, poetry, songs and fairy tales. Free on line video course.

The Italian State Television (RAI) produced the Italian Language course Viva l’italiano under the auspices of the Italian Council of Ministers, Department of Information and Publication. In its entirety, the video course consists of 26 thematic units and serves the dual purpose of television circulation and classroom education. It is divided into 2 parts: units 1-13, covered in textbooks 1 and 2, are for children (ages 6-9), while units 14-26, covered in textbooks 3-4, can be proposed to a range of ages at a more advanced level. Each of the 2 parts uses a different teaching approach, accounting for the fact that interests, attention spans and means of reception differ depending on the age of the child. The main character of the video is Bruco Lino, put to life by cartoonist Maria Perego, who has brought her animated puppetry to stages around the world, the most well-known of which is surely Topo Gigio; the host of the program is Marco, an actor who has already established himself in successful Italian films and televised transmissions for children. The songs, composed and put to music by Maestro Sandro Tuminelli, a well known children songwriter, are played and sung by Piccolo Coro dell’Antoniano di Bologna, a world famous children choir.

4 TEXTBOOKS

TEACHING MANUAL

Arte e Metodo

Each text focuses on one specific aspect of the language in the context of a more general linguistic competence. The title of this series reflects the authors’ opinion that teaching and learning a language is a science, whilst writing and speaking it is often an art.

ITALIANO IN

Italiano in is in 3 flexible volumes, each containing 100 -120 hours of teaching materials. This can be extended by selecting relevant sections from other books in the “Arte e Metodo” series. Grammar is presented in concise tables, with whole sentences that make use of a varied and increasingly difficult vocabulary. Each section has recap activities and exercises on prepositions, as well as exercises aimed at reading skills and written production to help students to develop the necessary skills for university, academic and other specialist work. The cultural elements in each unit provide an understanding of aspects of life in Italy, but also give rise to intercultural reflection. Each volume also has creative sections -la galleria fotografica, il dossier, cultura e culture, la certificazione CILS -for independent work.  

Recensioni

Tania Convertini, Italica
Francesca Gallina, Cultura & Comunicazione
Sandro Caruana, The Sunday Times
Mario Pace, Malta Independent
Sandro Caruana, Perusia
Lúcia Fulgêncio, Perusia

GRAMMATICA E COMUNICAZIONE

This book presents a series of synoptic tables which gradually and accurately introduce the grammatical and lexical elements of the Italian language to beginners. Each chapter then develops the points that have been covered to an intermediate/advanced level. The CD contains audio material to complement the phonetic sections. The text is aimed at beginner level students who would like a complete guide to grammar rules, vocabulary and sentence structures, as well as for those who wish to recap what they have learnt so far before further developing their knowledge with the “approfondimenti” sections. The tables are also a very good resource for teachers/future teachers as they offer a complete guide to the material needed to teach Italian. Sample pdf.

Research

Research in applied linguistics is where the method comes from, and it keeps testing it. Selected publications by Gaia Chiuchiù on Italian and second language acquisition.

  • Effects of form-focused practice and feedback: A multisite replication study of Yang and Lyster (2010)

    Mifka-Profozic, N., Behney, J., Gass, S. M., Macis, M., Chiuchiù, G., & Bovolenta, G. (2023). Effects of form-focused practice and feedback: A multisite replication study of Yang and Lyster (2010). Language Learning, 73(4), 1164–1210. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12623 · PDF (open access)

    Conducted in Italy and Bosnia with secondary school learners, as part of the Language Learning SLA-for-All Reproducibility Project.

  • Structured input vs. textual enhancement on the acquisition of Italian subjunctive of doubt: Sentence and discourse-level tasks

    Benati, A. G., & Chiuchiù, G. (2021). Structured input vs. textual enhancement on the acquisition of Italian subjunctive of doubt: Sentence and discourse-level tasks. In A. G. Benati, Input processing and processing instruction: The acquisition of Italian and Modern Standard Arabic (pp. 47–66). John Benjamins. https://benjamins.com/catalog/bpa.11

  • A self-paced-reading study on the effects of structured input and textual enhancement on the acquisition of the Italian subjunctive of doubt

    Chiuchiù, G., & Benati, A. (2020). A self-paced-reading study on the effects of structured input and textual enhancement on the acquisition of the Italian subjunctive of doubt. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 4(2), 235–257. https://doi.org/10.1558/isla.40659

Teacher training courses

  • 15–16 June 2017 Summer course in Second Language Acquisition Led by Susan Gass. Accademia Lingua Italiana Assisi, Assisi (Perugia).
  • 28–30 August 2018 Summer course in Second Language Acquisition Led by Susan Gass. Accademia Lingua Italiana Assisi, Assisi (Perugia).
  • 10–12 January 2019 Focus on Form in second language teaching Led by Alessandro Benati. Accademia Lingua Italiana Assisi, Assisi (Perugia).
  • 29 May – 1 June 2019 Communication and tasks in second language teaching Led by Alessandro Benati. Accademia Lingua Italiana Assisi, Assisi (Perugia).

Accademia Lingua Italiana Assisi

Via Santa Maria delle Rose, 17
06081 Assisi, Italy

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