2. Florence, Italy Spring 2006 Tony Hanf

3. Where is Florence? Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany Tuscany is known for its landscapes and artistic legacy

4. Skyline above the Arno River Duomo Piazza Della Signoria Uffizi Gallery

5. Il Ponte Vecchio Front View Friends Looking back…

6. Where did I live? I lived in a flat just north of Santa Maria del Fiore (Il Duomo) 15 minute walk from the city center (10 if you’re late for class) Io vivo su Viale Giacomo Matteotti Venti-Cinque I lived with 9 roommates in a 5 bedroom flat

7. Classes Beginning Italian Political Theory and Philosophy Romanesque and Gothic Art and Architecture History of the Roman Empire

8. Teaching Styles Courses were taught in English with the exception of Beginning Italian With the exception of Italian, all courses were taught by direct instruction or lecture style All classes were taught by native Italian instructors with the exception of Political Theory and Philosophy. Which, strangely enough, was taught by a scholar from Hawaii

9. Italian Language Class For my practicum abroad, I want to discuss not only the cultural features of Italy and Florence, but also how language is taught Professore il nome Matteo (26 yr old) Used English rarely, only to support comprehension His proficiency was around level 3, so it forced us to use Italian!

10. Activities Matteo set up various simulations with question cards  Meeting someone  Introducing someone  Going grocery shopping (literally) The course stressed roughly equally grammar and conversational Italian Used common words a lot: Allura, ciao, buona sera, piacere, andiamo, tutti, ect.  With time and repetition, I began to understand more Italian Learned many verbs and their conjugations  Rote memorization

11. Approach I would take… If I were to teach English in Italy, I would use some of the same techniques However, I would use the following:  Communicative Approach Interaction in target language Authentic texts Use prior experience/background knowledge Various Activities Role playing, interviews, games, surveys, pair work, and reciprocal teaching

12. Cont.  Constructivism Generate knowledge from experience Learner centered Conducive environment for motivation Various Activities Brainstorming, problem solving, experiments, debates  TPRS (Total Physical Response Through Storytelling) Comprehensible Input (preview words) Use story accompanied by questions of increasing difficulty (yes/no – this/that – recall)