Con Fantasia: Reviewing and Expanding Functional Italian Skills by Marcel Danesi
Con fantasia provides teachers and intermediate students of Italian with a source of language, discourse, and contemporary cultural topics that make the review of Italian a pleasant and meaningful experience, taking the language beyond the text. To develop the ability to use the language in an autonomous, spontaneous, and creative way, learners must go beyond a grammar and vocabulary review format, with materials and activities designed to help them become more consciously aware of the uses of the language they are studying. The primary purpose of this book is to allow students to realize this goal-to become autonomous speakers of Italian--, and it encourages them throughout to use the language on their own terms for specific purposes.
The learning flow (1) starts from a spontaneous and creative recall phase (Avvio), (2) moves through a formal review phase (Vocabolario, Grammatica, and Comunicazione), (3) engages students textually with cultural information (Nota culturale and Dalla letteratura italiana), (4) provides opportunities for the use of the language in a creative fashion (Con fantasia), and (5) exposes students to the use of the language in the framework of our constantly changing world (Dal mondo italiano and Navigare su Internet). The many opportunities provided for students to express themselves, at each stage, are designed to encourage confidence from the very start.
The two guiding pedagogical principles behind Con fantasia are (1) the notion that students need to understand how language reflects cultural groupthink and (2) the common experience that intermediate students continue to struggle to master the uses of language, especially those that are derived from verbs. The former underlies the organization of each chapter around one or two themes; the latter is the reason why the book is divided into three main parts that reflect the three basic temporal uses of verbs-the present (first five chapters), the past (chapters 6-10), and the future and conditional (chapters 11-15). The subjunctive is presented alongside the indicative tenses so that students can master its uses early on, rather than wait to practice it in later chapters.
The learning flow (1) starts from a spontaneous and creative recall phase (Avvio), (2) moves through a formal review phase (Vocabolario, Grammatica, and Comunicazione), (3) engages students textually with cultural information (Nota culturale and Dalla letteratura italiana), (4) provides opportunities for the use of the language in a creative fashion (Con fantasia), and (5) exposes students to the use of the language in the framework of our constantly changing world (Dal mondo italiano and Navigare su Internet). The many opportunities provided for students to express themselves, at each stage, are designed to encourage confidence from the very start.
The two guiding pedagogical principles behind Con fantasia are (1) the notion that students need to understand how language reflects cultural groupthink and (2) the common experience that intermediate students continue to struggle to master the uses of language, especially those that are derived from verbs. The former underlies the organization of each chapter around one or two themes; the latter is the reason why the book is divided into three main parts that reflect the three basic temporal uses of verbs-the present (first five chapters), the past (chapters 6-10), and the future and conditional (chapters 11-15). The subjunctive is presented alongside the indicative tenses so that students can master its uses early on, rather than wait to practice it in later chapters.