Spunti: Italiano intermedio

Reviewed by Barbara Garbin, Assistant Teaching Professor of Italian, Skidmore College on 6/7/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text covers the main grammar structures usually addressed in a first-semester intermediate level. It provides an extensive review of the elementary concepts.
The text also offers cultural material, in the form of songs, short videos, both in English and Italian, and brief readings.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text is accurate and error-free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text offers a good combination of more recent and older cultural materials that would not require updates. Some of the video clips, however, may become unavailable in the future, and it could be beneficial to make them accessible offline.

Clarity rating: 5

All grammar explanations are presented concisely and clearly. The activities in “materiale per il corso” are also clear and accessible.

Consistency rating: 5

The 5 units mostly follow a similar pattern: an authentic text with comprehension activities, either written or oral, one or more grammar structures with explanation and practice, and a second authentic text with practice. However, some of the cultural material links are missing from the online menu in units 4 and 5.

Modularity rating: 4

The 5 units (modules) of the text can easily be divided into sub-units either around the cultural material or the grammar structures. A subdivision also in the menu bar of the text would facilitate the process.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The organization of the material could benefit from a restructuring. Having the unit handouts separate from the grammar explanations and the links to cultural material can cause difficulty in accessing the material. The side menu bar could be made more efficient if each unit/module had a dropdown menu that includes links to all the material for the unit, with sub-headers defining different categories (e.g., grammar, external videos, handouts, etc.).

Interface rating: 5

There are no interface issues in the online texts.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.

Comments

Compliments to Daniela for creating such a rich, comprehensive, and modern compilation of material. The textbook offers an abundance of material for both grammar learning and cultural exploration. However, I needed to read the “Appendice per l’insegnante” and the lesson plans to gain a better understanding of the content as a whole and learn how to use it effectively. I think reorganizing the side menu bar and its links would make it much easier to navigate the content in the book. A more explicit definition of the topics for each module, along with an introductory online glossary, could also make the units more cohesive and easier to grasp.

Reviewed by Claudia Ventura, Senior Instructor II, University of Oregon on 6/7/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

The text has an index and not a glossary. Also the topics are divided in two modules: (1) Lezioni di lingua per intermedio I, and (2) Lezioni di lingua per intermedio II. The second module si not comprehensive as the first one and misses many grammatical points, for example how to express the future in the past or the use of connectors with the subjunctive. The second module needs to be improved in depth and length.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text is accurate and error-free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The existing chapters are relevant for the study of Italian grammar at intermediate level of proficiency. I would add chapters on syntax such as analysis of parts of a sentence (subject, predicate, object, direct object) and sentence structure (the construction of simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex sentences).

Clarity rating: 5

It uses simple and clear explanations. It provides clarifications to technical words. For example: "First of all: what is a direct object? Anything that can answer the questions What? and Who? is a direct object, as in Compro i peperoni and Oggi vedo mia sorella, where peperoni and mia sorella are direct objects of the verbs comprare and vedere."

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework. It implements a deductive approach to grammar study: it involves the learners being given a general rule, which is then applied to specific language examples. It provides colored boxes for examples and grey boxes or white tables for grammar rules.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course. It could be reorganized easily.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The organization mimic the chapter sequence used in traditional foreign language textbooks, but does not gather the chapters in grammar or function categories. So the index topics are not easy to determine.

Interface rating: 5

The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. The domains covered are food, family and travels in Italy.

Comments

This is an excellent auxiliary Italian grammar book. I would use this textbook in my courses but I would need to add more chapters or add information in the existing chapters of the second section titled "Lezioni di lingua per intermedio II".