Janice M. Aski,
The Ohio State University Diane Musumeci,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ISBN: 0073386243 Copyright year: 2010
Chapter Features
Strategie di comunicazione: Each chapter opens with a video clip of native Italians filmed on location in Italy using high frequency expressions in real-life contexts that students can use immediately to meet their own communicative needs. Through the video, students see and hear Italians of all ages and backgrounds from all different parts of Italy. In addition to “what” Italians are saying, video lets students see “how” Italians say it, including gestures, posture, and intonation. There are ample activities to support the communicative topics in the textbook.
Lessico: This section presents thematically grouped vocabulary in meaningful contexts using visually appealing illustrations, photographs, dialogues, and mini-readings with an abundance of activities for vocabulary development. (Unlike books currently on the market, English glosses are avoided wherever possible so that students can make form-meaning connections directly in Italian.)
Strutture: Each grammatical structure is introduced by an inductive activity that encourages students to analyze the grammatical point in question and formulate the rules themselves. Each inductive activity is followed by a concise explanation of the structure point in English with examples in Italian. Communicative activities that provide meaningful interaction follow. Additional practice activities can be found on the Avanti! Online Learning Center and in the Workbook/Laboratory Manual.
Cultura: The culminating section of the text is divided into five parts: Ascoltiamo!, Leggiamo!, Scriviamo!, Parliamo!, and Guardiamo! This section allows students to fully intergrate what they learned in Strategie, Lesscio, and Strutture by engaging them in listening, reading, writing, and speaking activities.
In Ascoltiamo students listen to a mini-lecture on an aspect of Italian culture related to the chapter theme. These lectures have been videotaped for the second edition.
In Leggiamo students read and respond to authentic texts that include crossword puzzles, literary excerpts, magazine ads and articles, and cross-disciplinary readings taken from Italian sources. New Pre-reading activities, comprehension, and discussion activities follow.
In Scriviamo students use what they’ve learned in the chapter to perform various writing tasks.
In Parliamo they participate in pair, small group, or whole class discussions to solve problems or complete tasks.
In Guardiamo, which is an optional section, instructors may choose to show clips from Italian feature films whose themes are related to the chapter topic. Previewing activities, comprehension, and cultural expansion activities are provided. By ending the book with a film clip, students’ language learning program begins and ends with experiencing Italian in context, as it is actually used by Italians today. All films are readily available at major video rental stores.
Ripasso: Every fourth chapter (Chapters 4, 8, 12, and 16) is a review chapter with four review sections. Each section begins with contextualized practice of a previous grammar point, which is followed by the introduction of a new, related structure.
Per saperne di più: This section at the end of the textbook provides additional information (in English) about grammar points and other structures for students and instructors who would like more in-depth coverage of the points taught in each chapter. Practice activities for this section are provided in the Workbook/Laboratory Manual.
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2010 McGraw-Hill Higher Education