1. Structure of the course
All students take five written papers at Part IB, of which at least TWO MUST BE language papers. Beyond this, the range of options available depends on whether or not you have taken one of your languages at Part IA ab initio.
If you have taken Italian ab initio in your first year, you must take two Italian language papers (Use of Italian and Translation from Italian), as well as an oral exam in the language. You must also choose three scheduled papers, at least one from among those offered by the Italian Department (see Section 2 below). Your remaining two scheduled papers can be from either Italian or various options in other languages.
If both your languages at Part IA were post A-level, you must take the Part IB language paper in both languages. The IB language paper in Italian, as in other languages, consists of two exercises: Translation into Italian and Writing and Comprehension skills through the Media. This leaves three further scheduled papers, which you may take in any combination between Italian and various options in other languages. Scheduled papers in Italian are listed in Section 2 below.
If you have taken Italian as a post A-level language in your first year and started another language ab initio, you must take two language papers and one scheduled paper in your ab initio language. This leaves two further papers, which can relate to Italian or options in other languages. You may either take the Part IB language paper in Italian (Translation into Italian / Listening Comprehension) along with a second scheduled paper, or you may take two scheduled papers, making a total of three. IB scheduled papers in Italian are listed below in Section 2.
2. Scheduled papers in Italian at Part IB
The scheduled papers on offer in Italian at Part IB in 2018/19 are listed below.
Topics within papers and some entire papers can change. Updates will be announced well before the courses begin. Check the relevant websites.
It.2: Structures and Varieties of Italian (suspended for academic year 2020-21, please see CS1)
It.4: Autobiography and Self-Representation in Italian Culture
It.5: Italian Identities: Place, Language and Culture
Alternative methods of examination, It.2, It.3, It.4.
It is possible to substitute the examination paper of ONE of these courses (and only one paper over all your languages) by the submission of two long essays. Essay titles are published in advance, and the essays (3500-4000 words each) are submitted at the start of the Lent and Easter Terms. The relevant regulations are published on the MML Part IB Moodle Course website.
3. Choosing your Italian options at IB
In coming to your decision about which options to take in your second year, it is important to be aware that Italian differs in some important respects from other departments in the Faculty in the range and type of scheduled papers it offers at IB. As you will see from the list above, the Department will offer three scheduled papers at Part IB next year, all of which are specifically designed for Part IB.
It.2, 4 and 5 were introduced a few years ago as part of a comprehensive revision of the Modern Languages Tripos, which we in Italian are continuing to refine. One of the main principles behind the IB papers was that they should be progressive: i.e. that each year of study should be designed to develop knowledge and skills which would then offer a basis for the following years' work to build on. The four IB-specific scheduled papers in Italian are intended to build on the 1A 'Texts and Contexts' paper and offer, between them, a kind of ‘foundation course’ for the more diversified set of papers offered in Italian, and in the Faculty in general, at Part II. They are designed to focus on a manageable amount of primary material with scope for further reading and development of your skills and ideas.