Marco De Biasio
Updated Edition for the GCSE (9-1) course.
Features
Preparazione al NEW GCSE in Italian is the first publication entirely dedicated to the General Certificate of Secondary Education in Italian. The book aims to prepare students in the United Kingdom to obtain good grades in the GCSE examination, allowing them to access the best Sixth Form colleges.
The volume thoroughly covers all thematic areas related to the contents of the curriculum as specified by the AQA and Edexcel commissions and is divided into the following four chapters:
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Media and Arts
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Sports and Free Time
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Holidays and Geography
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Education and Work
Each chapter provides a series of exercises and activities suitable to develop the reading, listening, writing and speaking skills necessary for both the controlled assessment (Speaking and Writing) and the examination (Listening and Reading) of GCSE. Chapters are divided into different subsections, each of which deals with a specific topic through an introductory text from which students can start from in order to expand their vocabulary, develop the necessary communicative abilities, and comprehend grammar, thus preparing themselves to fulfil the linguistic requirements of the GCSE in Italian.
The new edition has been specifically shaped around the AQA and Edexcel syllabuses in line with the 2017 GCSE reforms. Thus, not only have important elements of the new curriculum been included (for example the final section dedicated to the Congiuntivo, which is one of the most challenging grammar topics), but also all the activities, as well as the test themselves, have been readjusted to the new Edexcel and AQA exam structure. In this sense, students are introduced to some literary fragments from Italian classics in the reading sections, and practice translating small texts.
Each and every section suggests reading, listening, writing and speaking activities that correspond to those of the GCSE in Italian by Edexcel and AQA, while indicating whether the activities are Higher or Foundation Tier levels of attainment.
Speaking and Writing activities are followed by useful Suggestions/Tips indicating how to achieve formal accuracy and how to develop the bullet point tasks in an appropriate manner. A collection of ideas and effective phrasing to express them are provided in the texts enabling students to obtain useful strategies on how to produce a complete written text or to have a dynamic conversation.
At the end of each section there is a grammatical summary of the corresponding linguistic structure and its explanation in both Italian and English, followed by some exercises to reinforce students’ knowledge of the structure in question.
Chapters are not introduced in gradual difficulty progression; on the contrary, the volume was compiled as a review and preparation tool to the GCSE in Italian examination. Therefor the text can be used in a flexible manner, allowing focus on certain language topics. Students can either choose to improve specific skills or to fill gaps in their knowledge database -especially regarding the thematic planning of the controlled assessment.
The volume also includes two complete GCSE practice exams, compiled according to AQA and Edexcel specifications (the Edexcel practice exam can be downloaded for free here on the top right by inserting the last word of p.35 as a password). Both exams correspond to the Higher Tiers typology, thus allowing students to pursue good grades in the actual exam.
Preparazione al NEW GCSE in Italian includes the keys to all exercises and an Audio-CD.