Interpretazioni

"Fourteen contemporary Italian films, carefully selected to represent a variety of genres and cultural themes and accompanied by a myriad of activities to meet all teaching and learning strategies: this is the core of Interpretazioni, an essential text for any Italian studies program based on the interconnection of language and culture. As the authors note in their introduction, the title 'Interpretazioni,' with its double meaning in Italian, reflects the purpose of this text: refining students’ critical skills in analyzing both the act of performance and the film as a text. This is achieved through an ingenious scaffolding design of exercises that are suitable for their variety and flexibility both for the intermediate and the advanced language class. Interpretazioni fills a void in Italian studies and will be much welcomed by teachers and students alike."

Interpretazioni is an intermediate- to advanced-level Italian textbook that aims to teach language through film, focusing on Italian movies from 2010 to 2017. Teaching language through cinema is a widespread and proven practice that engages all four main language skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing), and Interpretazioni utilizes the proven format and pedagogy of Pausini and Antonello Borra's previous book, Italian Through Film (Yale UP, 2003), which is regarded highly among teachers. Films featured in Interpretazioni span genres, address a wide range of themes, and are set in various parts of Italy, encouraging students and teachers to more fully engage with the complexity of Italian cinema. As in Italian through Film, the activities based on the films are divided into three main categories (before, during, and after viewing the film) with a natural progression from warm-up questions to closed and controlled exercises to open-ended and creative tasks–both oral and written–including grammar practice, all within the context of each single film. An instructor's manual with answer keys and suggestions on using apps for teaching is available on the www.press.georgetown.edu website.