Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Sign In Skip to Content

Advice for teachers -
Italian

Teaching and learning activities

Unit 2

Unit 2 – Area of Study 1: Interpersonal communication

Theme: The world around us
Topic: Global and contemporary society
Sub topic: Changes in the roles of men and women

Outcome 1

Respond in writing in Italian to spoken, written or visual texts presented in Italian.

Examples of learning activities

  • Read a novel/short story or view a film that depicts the roles of men and women in modern Italian society. Individually, focus on its key aspects and make notes. Present to the class a general overview of the written or visual text noting significant features.
  • Write personal journal entries to highlight main points on gender roles presented in the text and document your reactions to the selected text.
  • Describe some photos that depict images of modern and traditional Italian families.
  • Challenge gender stereotypes by collecting and describing photos in which men and women are executing tasks that traditionally belonged to the other gender, for example an image of a stay at home dad with his partner coming back from work at night.
  • Listen to a radio interview about one of the texts, or any aspect of it.
  • Read critical writing about the selected texts and note the points made, highlighting any similarities and differences between gender roles in Australia and in Italy.
  • Interview a native speaker about their memories and perceptions of the topic.
  • Read a blog about changes to the roles of men and women in contemporary Italian society and summarise the opinions in it.
  • Write an evaluative blog of the topic highlighting both positive and negative aspects of modern and traditional Italian family models. Explain which one is your preferred model and give reasons.
  • Example icon for advice for teachers
    In pairs prepare a role play between two people with different views about modern and traditional gender roles in Italian society. Perform the role play for the class.
Example icon for advice for teachers 

Detailed example

A role play between two people with different views about modern and traditional gender roles in Italian society.

  1. Research traditional and modern gender roles through reading, listening and viewing. Make notes and create a glossary of key terms and grammar items.
  2. Create a table to record examples of some expectations of men and women in contemporary society and traditional life. Use sub- headings such as: family expectations, work expectations and other factors.
  3. In pairs develop a draft of an exchange between two people who share information about their lives.
  4. Practise the exchange aloud, paying attention to pronunciation, stress, intonation and tempo.
  5. Present the role-play to the class.

Unit 2 – Area of Study 2: Interpretative communication

Theme: The world around us
Theme: The individual
Topic: Personal identity and lifestyles
Sub topic: Tourism and travel

Outcome 2

Analyse and use information from written, spoken or visual texts to produce an extended written response in Italian.

Examples of learning activities

  • Research statistics about tourism in Italy. Compare these to Victorian and/or Australian statistics. Consider the questions: Where do tourists come from? How do they arrive? What are they looking forward to? What types of tourism do both countries offer? What different categories of tourists do you think exist?
  • View a video about tourism in Italy. Take notes and identify customs and possible issues for further investigation.
  • Listen to tourists talking about their holidays in Italy.
  • Participate in a class discussion about general features of tourism in Italy.
  • Read blogs associated with tourism in Italy and answer comprehension questions.
  • View a series of pictures that depict tourism in Italy and analyse them.
  • Listen to an interview about tourism in Italy and answer questions. Extend the task by evaluating what type of tourist the interview is about and talk about possible issues.
  • Focus on the subtopic ‘Vita da spiaggia’ (life at the beach) and distinguish the differences between Italian and Australian beach life.
  • Prepare a PowerPoint presentation about aspects of a beach holiday experience in Italy. Analyse what different types of activities tourists would do at the beach.
  • Write a 200-word imaginary diary entry on how you spent the day at the beach and how this life-style is typical of the Italian summer.
  • Example icon for advice for teachers
    Create a tourism brochure for a particular area of Italy. Include pictures, captions and a series of brief paragraphs.
Example icon for advice for teachers 

Detailed example

A tourism brochure for a particular area of Italy

  1. Research popular tourist sites in Italy. Make notes and create a glossary of key terms and grammatical items.
  2. Examine advertising material and leaflets for tourism. Note the type of language used to engage and persuade readers.
  3. Draft a series of short paragraphs that both inform readers about the area and persuade them to visit it.
  4. Using digital media, incorporate images, headings and captions to bring the brochure to life.
  5. Display the tourism brochure for class comment.

Unit 2 – Area of Study 3: Presentational communication

Theme: The world around us
Theme: The Italian-speaking communities
Topic: The Italian cultural heritage
Sub topic: Architecture

Outcome 3

Explain information, ideas and concepts orally in Italian to a specific audience about an aspect of culture within communities where Italian is spoken.

Examples of learning activities

  • Research a town in an Italian-speaking community and write a time-line of its development.
  • Note the major architectural styles and periods of the town. Read extracts about each of the styles and summarise the elements in an informative piece of writing.
  • Watch a video about the latest wave of construction in the town.
  • Work in small groups to identify the reasons for this latest range of construction and its key elements. Prepare a poster of one of the exemplar buildings of the latest style. Note on it the major elements.
  • Interview another student about their choice of building and how it is unique and/or representative of this style.
  • Research one or more of the architects associated with these buildings. Outline, in a short biography, their influences on the development of the buildings.
  • Identify a particular street or district that features this latest architecture. Address the questions: Where in the town is it? Why was it built here? Is it a residential or business building? Identify any similar architectural elements in buildings in Melbourne or another town in Australia.
  • Listen to radio broadcasts about modern architecture in Italy. Take notes about how the locals perceive these new buildings. Read online blogs by architectural commentators about this modern development. Add these comments to the notes.
  • Example icon for advice for teachers
    Prepare a series of images and an accompanying 200-word informative article to explain the latest architectural developments in a town in Italy.
Example icon for advice for teachers 

Detailed example

An article on the latest architectural developments in a town in Italy

  1. Watch a documentary about architecture in Italy.
  2. Read an article about the latest buildings in the town chosen for this unit.
  3. Create a glossary of appropriate architectural terms to support this topic.
  4. Identify cultural features/meaning in the new buildings constructed in this modern style.
  5. Research a range of the latest buildings in this town. Tabulate similarities and differences between the buildings.
  6. Discover if these are private or public buildings and consider why this might be significant.
  7. Create a montage of images to illustrate this latest architectural trend.
  8. Listen to local people talking about these new buildings. Note their reactions and grade them as positive, negative or neutral. Note also examples of language used to describe the buildings.
  9. Draft your article explaining each image chosen and some of the buildings’ history. Combine content, language and cultural information to make connections and comparisons.
  10. Research the elements required for an article and choose grammar elements to best support the writing.
  11. Write the 200-word article and submit it to the teacher.