Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
IT30310
Module Title
The Language of Current Affairs
Academic Year
2021/2022
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Pre-Requisite
(Normally) eligibility for entry to Level 3 Italian.
Co-Requisite
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Due to Covid-19 students should refer to the module Blackboard pages for assessment details

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment 10 written assignments OR 7 written assignments PLUS one web page production exercise Continuous Assessment:  40%
Semester Exam 2 Hours   written examination (One translation and one summary from Italian into English.)  60%
Supplementary Exam 2 Hours   written examination  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

At the end of this course, students should

  • have become familiar with the language of Italian newspapers, with its often highly metaphorical and rhetorical quality;
  • possess a knowledge of those elements of Italian political life and structures and of cultural issues that will allow them to understand current newspaper and magazine articles;
  • be able to summarise or translate into English articles from Italian magazines and newspapers.

Brief description

This module aims to familiarise students with the language of current affairs (typically, as it appears in daily newspapers and weekly magazines). It also hopes to broaden the students' awareness of and curiosity towards the reality of contemporary Italy.

Lectures will be based, on a rota, on current newspaper or magazine articles or on material available in Robert Lumley' text (see below), which covers topics such as racism, political satire, terrorism, and the Tangentopoli scandal.

Students will be asked to prepare the material beforehand for discussion in class and then produce one piece of homework per week consisting, alternately, of a translation, a summary, or answers to the exercises in the Lumley text.

N.B. As an alternative to handing in three of the above pieces of work, students will be given the opportunity (and, if required, the necessary technical support) to produce a web page based on a current affairs article, with links explaining or illustrating relevant aspects of Italian culture, history, or politics.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6