Italian (Version 8.4)

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Context statement

The place of the Italian language and culture in Australia and the world
Italian, also known as Standard Italian or italiano standard, is the official language of Italy, the Vatican City, San Marino and parts of Switzerland.

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PDF documents

Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum: Languages - Italian are available as PDF documents. 
Languages - Italian: Sequence of content
Languages - Italian: Sequence of Achievement - F-10 Sequence
Languages - Italian: Sequence …

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Foundation to Year 2

Foundation to Year 2 Band Description

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of Italian language and culture.

Italian language learning and use

Students use Italian for social interactions such as greetings, asking and answering simple questions, responding to instructions, singing songs, and taking turns in games and simple shared tasks. The focus is on listening to the sounds, shapes and patterns of Italian through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. Repetition and recycling help children to identify frequently used words and simple phrases, and to recognise the purpose and intention of simple texts. They identify and use Italian non-verbal communication strategies and experiment with formulaic expressions and one or two-word responses to prompts and cues. Through creative play and action-related talk, children begin to notice that language can behave differently in different situations and that Italian speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. Students are encouraged to notice that they are part of a connected world which includes many languages and cultures, and they begin to become aware of themselves as communicators in particular cultural contexts and communities.

Contexts of interaction

Children interact with each other and the teacher, with some access to wider school and community members. Virtual and digital resources provide access to additional Italian language and cultural experiences, connecting learners’ social worlds with those of Italian-speaking children.

Texts and resources

The transition from spoken to written language is scaffolded through shared exploration of simple texts and language features. Children progress from supported comprehension and a small number of high-frequency and personally significant sight words and phrases to more elaborated simple texts which include a context, purpose and audience. They use grapho-phonic, grammatical, cultural and contextual cues to comprehend texts and communicative interactions. Writing skills progress from labelling and copying words, to writing simple texts using familiar vocabulary, and language structures and features. Written texts that students experience include children’s stories, big books, descriptions, recounts and labels.

Features of Italian language use

Students focus on the sounds of the alphabet, in particular the vowel sounds, and ‘c’ (ciao) and ‘ch’ (Chi?), and on intonation patterns and the use of accents. Students are also introduced to nouns and pronouns. They learn simple sentence structure using subject–verb–object order as well as how to form questions. They explore the idea of masculine and feminine gender, how to use singular and plural forms, the negative form non and the placement of adjectives.

Level of support

Students’ learning is highly experiential and activity-related, and is supported by the use of concrete materials and resources, visual supports, gestures and body language. Scaffolding includes modelling, monitoring and moderating by the teacher; provision of multiple and varied sources of input; opportunities for revisiting, recycling and reviewing; and continuous cues, feedback and encouragement.

The role of English

Children are encouraged to use Italian whenever possible. They use English to talk about differences and similarities they notice between Italian, English and other known; about how they feel when they hear or use Italian; and about how they view different languages and the people who speak them. English is used by both the teacher and learners for talking about the language and about learning, and for noticing, questioning and explaining.


Foundation to Year 2 Content Descriptions

Socialising

Interact with the teacher and peers to greet, to introduce themselves, and to name and describe favourite things, friends, family members and special talents, through action-related talk and play

[Key concepts: self, family, friendship; Key processes: participating, playing, observing] (ACLITC001 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • using simple greetings relevant to the time of day, the celebration or event, and their relationship to the person, for example, Ciao! Buongiorno! Arrivederci! Tanti auguri! Buona Pasqua. Buon Natale
  • introducing themselves, for example, Come ti chiami? Mi chiamo …, e tu? Quanti anni hai? Ho sette anni, e tu? Come stai?
  • naming family members and friends, for example, mio fratello Carlo; il papà Tom
  • understanding single words and simple phrases, and indicating comprehension through actions such as pointing to an object, selecting a picture card or flashcard to demonstrate the phrase heard, and matching games in digital form, for example, personal objects: la cartella, la bambola, la palla; school objects: il quaderno, la matita, i colori, il banco; toys and games: il treno, la bicicletta
  • indicating possession (as set phrases), for example, la mia penna, il mio cane, il mio papà, la mia mamma
  • answering simple questions with short spoken and written responses and using flashcards, word lists, posters, photos and multimedia slides, for example, Quanti anni hai? Hai un animale?
  • talking about and describing people and belongings, using familiar formulaic expressions, for example, Questo/a è,. Ecco il mio pallone
  • talking about simple actions in the present tense, for example, Gioco a football, Mangio la pizza
  • using formulaic phrases, for example, Grazie! Prego. Scusa. Per favore. Bene. Molto bene. Perché? Buon appetito!
  • expressing satisfaction/dissatisfaction, for example, Sì; no; mi piace; non mi piace
  • copying words and reading them aloud, matching pictures and words, or choosing from sentences provided to express ideas, for example, È Marco. È grande. È bravo
  • imitating Italian speech, using Italian patterns of intonation, pronunciation and stress, and incorporating appropriate gestures and body language
Participate in shared action with peers and teacher, contributing ideas through key words, images, movement and song

[Key concept: exchange; Key processes: sharing, deciding together] (ACLITC002 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • contributing to collective activities such as creating a class vegetable garden or photo display of a recent excursion or visit, by labelling and illustrating
  • contributing to guided, shared decisions, such as about a classroom display or a class party, for example, mi piace il rosso; io porto i biscotti
  • playing games, for example, counting games, sorting and order games, number games, tombola
  • making simple choices, based on given options, for example, Vuoi leggere questo? Giochi dentro o fuori?
Participate in real or simulated transactions using simple language and gestures in activities and games involving buying and selling

[Key concept: exchange; Key processes: exchanging, describing] (ACLITC003 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • participating in a guided role-play in a shop or at the market, for example, una banana per favore… ecco …; un gelato per favore; Ecco il gelato
  • selecting between given options relating to foods, toys or classroom items, for example, Posso avere …? Vuoi …? Cosa vuoi? Voglio una pesca. E tu, cosa prendi?
Participate in classroom routines, games, instructions and shared activities

[Key concepts: routine, play, sharing, reward; Key process: expressing preferences] (ACLITC004 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • responding to classroom instructions, for example, In piedi!, Seduti! In cerchio! Insieme. Qui. Attenzione! Non parlare, silenzio; alza la mano
  • using Italian for everyday classroom routines, for example, morning greetings or roll call, Ciao! Presente/assente; birthday song, Tanti auguri
  • using simple gestures to add emphasis to expressions such as sì, no, bene!, così così
  • participating in class activities and following instructions, for example, Siediti/Sedetevi, per favore. Apri il quaderno. Chiudi la porta, Tira la palla

Informing

Locate specific items of information in texts using early literacy skills

[Key concepts: text, observation, number, meaning; Key processes: noticing, decoding, selecting] (ACLITC005 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • participating in shared reading with the teacher, using contextual and visual clues such as illustrations in resources such as big books or digital books to decipher meaning
  • demonstrating understanding by using early literacy skills such as labelling, naming, pointing, matching, clicking and dragging, describing, drawing, tracing and miming
  • identifying words in written Italian
  • responding to questions eliciting specific details about participants, objects (size, colour) or events, for example, C’è il gatto? Sì/no. C’è il treno? Sì/no. È verde? Sì/no. Il treno è rosso? Sì/no. La pasta è buona? Sì/no
Give factual information about known people, everyday objects, family celebrations and personal experiences

[Key concepts: self, ownership/possession, celebration; Key process: conveying information] (ACLITC006 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • giving descriptive information using simple structures, for example, È la mia mamma. La mia mamma è alta. È il cane. L’uccello ha il becco
  • identifying the main idea or describing an event based on images, for example, naming what they see (la festa, la scuola, lo zoo, la spiaggia, l’estate, il picnic)
  • participating in ‘show and tell’, for example, Questa è la mia bambola. Si chiama Teresa
  • sequencing pictures to describe events, guided by the teacher
  • describing aspects of their immediate world by drawing and writing captions, such as:
    • people, for example, Ecco la mamma/mio fratello; É la mamma, Mario è il mio amico
    • objects, for example, Ho dieci matite. Ho la bambola, Si chiama Belinda
    • family celebrations, for example, Oggi è il compleanno della nonna. Tanti auguri, nonna!
    • places, for example, La casa di Tina è grande

Creating

Participate in shared reading/viewing of short imaginative texts and respond by drawing, miming, performing and other forms of expression

[Key concepts: story, imagination, response, character; Key processes: participating, responding, predicting, performing; Key text type: narrative/story] (ACLITC007 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • participating in shared reading of books and digital texts, and deciphering the meaning of a story using illustrations, sounds and animation
  • making predictions about characters and plot from the cover and illustrations, and at various points in the text before reading on
  • illustrating a shared class big book, for example, È un uccello. È verde. L’uccello vola. La farfalla è gialla. La rana è verde. La zebra è bianca e nera
  • sharing feelings about a book/video clip by participating in simple ‘reviews’, writing their names under one of the following statements: Mi piace; Mi piace molto; Non mi piace
  • taking on the persona of a character through play
  • reciting and performing chants, rhymes and songs, adding music and actions to support meaning of their own performances, for example, the farfallina counting rhyme: Farfallina bella bianca, vola vola e mai si stanca, vola vola sempre in su, farfallina non c’è più; resti fuori proprio tu
Create stories and perform imaginary experiences

[Key concepts: performance, expression; Key processes: miming, performing] (ACLITC008 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • drawing illustrations and using captions, for example, making a big book or photo story, as guided by the teacher
  • performing an imagined event to entertain others
  • matching or sequencing pictures to create a story

Translating

Share with others what they can express in Italian, and explain how meanings are similar or different

[Key concepts: code, translation; Key processes: comparing, explaining] (ACLITC009 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • identifying when Italian or English is being used in the classroom
  • comparing Italian and English songs and rhymes, noticing similarities and differences, for example, in numbers, in some words for family, animals and toys
  • explaining to others the meanings of particular words and when they are used, for example, ciao
  • demonstrating and explaining specific gestures used in Italian
Create a personal or shared record of ‘interesting’ words in Italian

[Key concepts: similarity, difference; Key process: comparing] (ACLITC010 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • collecting Italian and English words that are the same (for example, banana or similar, for example, pigiama
  • collecting Italian words used in English, for example, ciao, opera, pasta, spaghetti
  • creating a picture dictionary

Reflecting

Begin noticing what is ‘new’ or ‘interesting’ in Italian language and culture and recognising similarities and differences between Italian and Australian cultural practices and related language use

[Key concepts: self, other, respect; Key processes: noticing, identifying] (ACLITC011 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • viewing images of home, school and neighbourhood in Italy and Australia, and choosing from word lists to express reactions
  • noticing, recalling and responding to teacher prompts, such as Cosa vedi? Cosa pensi di …?
  • noticing similarities and differences in language use in Italian and English
  • expressing reactions to using Italian, for example, ‘I like it when …’ or ‘That word sounds like …’
Identify and describe aspects of self in relation to others

[Key concepts: family, self, identity; Key processes: connecting, relating, observing] (ACLITC012 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • recognising themselves as belonging to groups (for example, my friends, my Italian class, my school, my family, my community), and noticing the different languages that are spoken by friends in their class, for example, Sono australiano. Parlo inglese e cinese

Systems of language

Reproduce the sounds of the Italian language (ACLITU013 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • learning to reproduce Italian sounds and intonation patterns through imitation, repetition and experimentation
  • pronouncing the Italian alphabet, particularly vowel sounds, rolled ‘r’, the ‘c’ as in ciao and the ‘ch’ as in chi?, noticing similarities and differences with English
  • noticing that words which have accents stress the final letter, for example, papà, città
Notice and use some aspects of the Italian language system, including gender forms, simple sentence structures and the placement of adjectives (ACLITU014 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • noticing definite and indefinite articles with nouns, for example, la casa, una casa; il giardino, un giardino
  • noticing that Italian words end mostly with vowels to mark gender and number; observing that some words which do not end with a vowel are the same in English, for example, computer, robot, yogurt, sport
  • noticing that adjectives are used to describe people, objects or places and are usually placed after the noun, for example, la penna rossa
  • observing gender in patterns of naming, for example, Paolo/Paola, Alessandro/Alessandra
  • exploring how to use singular and plural forms
  • understanding different words for asking questions, for example, Chi? Quando? Quanti?
  • identifying people using pronouns, for example, io, tu, lui, lei
  • noticing that the verbs essere and avere are used when giving personal information about state or identity, for example, Ho due fratelli, sono basso, Ho 6 anni, Ho gli occhi verdi, sono alto
  • learning simple verbs to describe actions and using them in formulaic expressions, for example, Mi piace cantare/giocare; Ti piace questo giocattolo?
  • understanding and responding to imperatives, for example, Vieni qui!
  • learning the structure of simple statements and questions based on models, for example, lo sono Anna. Non sto bene. È un gatto? Sìcomptue è un gatto
  • expressing negation, for example, Non mi piace, Non ho un cane.
Understand that language is organised as texts (ACLITU015 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • joining words or phrases using conjunctions, for example, e
  • recognising features of text types such as stories and letters

Language variation and change

Recognise that different words are used in Italian to address and greet different people according to relationship, setting and time of the day (ACLITU016 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • learning to choose which form of address or greeting to use, according to gender and the relationship between participants, for example, using first names with peers (Ciao Isabella) but greeting the teacher with Buongiorno signora; using Caro/Cara in greeting cards
  • understanding that greetings vary according to the time of day or the occasion, for example, Buongiorno, Buonasera, Buon compleanno
Recognise that Italian and English borrow words from each other (ACLITU017 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • noticing words in Italian that are the same as in English, for example, computer, sport
  • noticing Italian words and phrases used in everyday life in Australia, for example, in the world of food (gelato, spaghetti), music (opera, forte, piano) and the arts (fresco)
  • observing that some of the Italian words which do not end with a vowel are also used in English, for example, robot, yogurt
Understand that Italian is one of many community languages spoken in Australia including Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, Asian languages and world languages (ACLITU018 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
  • understanding that Italian is the national language of Italy and is spoken in Italian-speaking communities around the world
  • experiencing the sounds, texts and images of different languages and cultures to develop an understanding of different languages used in the Australian community
  • noticing the different languages used by peers in their class and in their local community

Role of language and culture

Notice and reflect (mainly in English) on different cultural practices and the specific ways of using language in different cultures (ACLITU019 - Scootle )
  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • observing through visual and audio-visual resources such as video clips and photos that members of Italian-speaking communities may do everyday things differently to themselves, for example, shaking hands, kissing on cheek, starting a meal with Buon appetito
  • responding to guiding questions through which they reflect on experiences, such as greeting and socialising with others, or discussing aspects of school routines or family life, for example, What do you think about this? How would it feel if you were there/doing that? How do you feel about …? Is it the same or different in Italy and Australia?
  • understanding that culture influences representations of sounds such as those made by animals, for example, bau bau (dog), pio pio (chicken), gru gru (pig)

Foundation to Year 2 Achievement Standards

By the end of Year 2, students use Italian to communicate with their teacher and peers through action-related talk and play. They demonstrate comprehension by responding both verbally and non-verbally. They imitate simple words and phrases. They respond to familiar games and routines such as questions about self and family (for example, Come ti chiami? Dove abiti?), and choose among options, for example, in response to questions such as Vuoi il gelato o la caramella? They produce learnt sounds and formulaic expressions (for example, È bello! Non mi piace), or partial phrases, often providing only part of the required response in Italian or using a key word to convey a whole idea. They experiment with and approximate Italian pronunciation, for example, producing vowel sounds and ‘c’ and ‘ch’ pronunciation with some accuracy. They differentiate between statements and questions according to intonation. They make meaning using paralinguistic and contextual support such as pictures, gestures and props. They write descriptions, lists, labels and captions, using familiar words and phrases selected from modelled language, for example, rearranging sentence patterns such as Ho sei anni. Sono bravo. Il gelato è buono.

Students know that Italian is the national language of Italy. They identify the 21 letters of the Italian alphabet. They know that simple sentences follow a pattern, and that nouns require an article and are gendered either masculine or feminine. They demonstrate understanding of the different ways of addressing friends, family and teachers/other adults. They identify patterns in Italian words and phrases and make comparisons between Italian and English. They know that languages borrow words from each other and provide examples of Italian words and expressions that are used in various English-speaking contexts. They identify similarities and differences in the cultural practices of Italians and Australians. They understand that they have their own language(s) and culture(s), and that they are also learners of Italian language and culture.


Foundation to Year 2 Work Sample Portfolios