MODERN GREEK LANGUAGE 2

The teaching of the Modern Greek language is divided into levels (beginners, intermediate and advanced). The composition of the classes varies from year to year depending on enrolments, origin and participation of the students.

The course aims to introduce the main syntactic, morphological and phonological structures of the standard Greek language.
Course objectives: to develop language skills through a historical examination of the vernacular Greek, with particular reference to the question of language and the ideological use of the language in Greece.
The teaching focuses on the development of reflection skills on language, on active language learning, on the history of the language from ancient Greek to modern Greek through a specific dynamic learning path.
The course is open to students attending various courses of study.

1. Knowledge and understanding
Know and understand the grammatical, morphological and syntactic structures of modern Greek (basic communicative level A2-B1, B2);
Know and understand the historical dynamics that characterize the modern Greek language.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
Ability to recognize the phenomena of continuity and interference that affect the language, from a historical-cultural perspective. Ability to express themselves correctly in oral and written form; ability to understand oral and written speech (basic, intermediate and advanced communication level).

3. Autonomy of judgment
Be able to develop the ability to evaluate the modern Greek language in the evolutionary context. Being able to perceive continuities and discontinuities. Being able to understand the different expressive registers.
To develop a critical capacity with respect to the historical and linguistic phenomena that affect the modern Greek language.

4. Communication skills
Being able to communicate in the language used today in modern Greece, using appropriate terminology.

5. Learning skills
Be able to develop specific methodological tools in the study of various linguistic phenomena; being able to take notes and share them collaboratively; be able to critically consult the reference texts and the bibliography contained therein; be able to use multimedia systems for active language learning.

The course aims to offer basic linguistic and historical-linguistic knowledge that can allow the student to understand an oral speech (level A1 / A2), express themselves orally at level A1 / A2, understand a written speech at level A2 / B1, produce a written speech at A2/B1 level. The course can also be enjoyed by Greek mother tongue students who will have the opportunity to actively follow the teaching of the Greek language as L2 for Italian speakers and to learn the mechanisms of teaching foreign languages. In addition to communication skills and the development of judgment skills, the course offers a historical-linguistic section within which the different evolutionary stages of the language are presented. This dimension is necessary for in-depth learning, from the first year, of the linguistic dynamics of Greek.
Attendance of the institutional course (and language exercises) and individual study will allow students to:
to know and understand the standard Greek language spoken and written in Greece today (language of administration and education since 1976) but also to distinguish the literary and documentary language of earlier ages; apply the acquired knowledge and understandings not exclusively for the purposes of first interpersonal communication but also in a historical-linguistic and sociolinguistic dimension necessary for the knowledge of the mental structure of Greek speakers; develop the ability to understand the different levels of the Greek language and its grammatical, syntactic and morphological mechanisms.

Strong motivation is required to learn a language spoken by only about 15 million people, but with an uninterrupted history of three thousand years.
It is not necessary to have previous and scholastic knowledge of ancient Greek.
Students from classical high school are "false beginners" and possess a basic passive knowledge that allows them to reach level A2 / B1 from the end of the first year of the course.

History of the Greek alphabet; the 'ancient Greek': dialects, geographical areas, diaspora, literary languages, epigraphic testimonies; the κοινή: Greek in the Roman Hellenistic age and the dimension of Greek as a vehicular language in the Mediterranean; Greek during the so-called Byzantine Millennium (330-1453); contamination with Latin and borrowings from Western languages; relations with the Slavic languages; Greek during the centuries of Venetian domination and Ottoman occupation; the question of language; the Greek language after the founding of the Kingdom of Greece; katharevusa and dimotikì; the Greek language during the twentieth century: some dates (1903, 1941, 1976, 1982). Greekenglish and new trends.

An in-depth study will be dedicated to the initial stages of the transition from κοινή to spoken Greek (with particular attention to the function of the Greek language for the transmission of new religious and political-social thought in the first centuries from the III-IV century onwards).

The language classes, held by Dr Liosatou, are structured according to the teaching models proposed by the National Centre for the Greek Language for teaching and learning modern Greek as a second language, and are adapted to the specific prior knowledge of the class members.

Other insights will focus on:
1. first texts in Early Modern Greek
2. Venice, the Greek and the Greeks
3. Koraìs, Solomòs and Psicharis: reflections on language (between the end of the 18th and the end of the 19th century)
4. The teaching of Greek in Italy (1360-1860) and from the unification of Italy to today.
5. Modern Greek as L2
6. Greek words
7. Poetry and Music in modern Greek Tradition.

www.eduopen.org, Archaeoschool for the future, "Anche le pietre parlano"
https://www.openbook.gr/stoixeia-ellinikis-istorias-kai-ellinikou-politismou/
Ιστορία της ελληνικής γλώσσας, ΜΙΕΤ, Αθήνα 1999, http://www.elia.org.gr/research-tools/history-of-the-greek-language/

- M. Vitti, Storia della letteratura neogreca, Cafoscarina, Venezia 2016
- G. Horrocks, Greek a History of the Language and its Speakers,Wiley-Blackwell, 2014
- D. Holton, I. Manolessou (eds), The Greek Language after Antiquity, Routledge, New York 2025

- Ταξίδι στην Ελλάδα 1, Νεα Ελληνικά για ξένους, Grigori, Αtene 2018
- Ταξίδι στην Ελλάδα 2, Νεα Ελληνικά για ξένους, Grigori, Αtene 2018

- D. Holton, P. Mackridge, I. Philippaki Warburton, Greek, an essential grammar of the modern language, Routledge, New York 2016 (II ed.)
- P. Mackridge, The modern Greek language: a descriptive analysis of standard modern Greek. Oxford: Clarendon press 1987
A. Georgakopoulou-M. Silk (eds), Standard Languages and Language Standards: Greek, Past and Present, Centre for Hellenic Studies, King's College London,Ashgate, 2009
- V. Rotolo, Scritti sulla lingua greca antica e moderna, Palermo 2009
- C. Carpinato-O. Tribulato (eds.), Storia e storie della lingua greca, ECF, Venezia 2014
- G, Ieranò, Le parole della nostra storia. Perché il greco ci riguarda, Feltrinelli/Marsilio, Venezia 2020
- P. Cesaretti-E. Minguzzi, Il Dizionarietto di greco. Le parole dei nostri pensieri, ELS La Scuola, Brescia 2017
- G. Della Rocca de Candal, P. Sachet, M. Zetti, Alpha Beta. Apprendere il greco in Italia (1360-1860), Scalpendi, Milano 2023

Greco moderno-italiano, italiano-greco moderno, Seconda edizione, Zanichelli, Bologna 2013, C. Candotti, A. Kolonia, Parliano greco, Dialoghi, esercizi e vocabolario del greco moderno, nuova edizione, Hoepli, Milano 2010; P. Mackridge, La dimensione italiana della questione linguistica greca, in Aspetti di linguistica e di dialettologia neogreca, Bonanno, Acireale-Roma 2010, pp. 113-123; P. Mackridge, Language and National Identity in Greece, 1766-1976, Oxford University Press 2009; M E. J. Bakker (ed.), A Companion to the Ancient Greek Language, Blackwell 2010, part VII, Beyond Antiquity, pp. 525-587; G. Horrocks, Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers (revised and expanded 2nd edition), Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.

Films:
Theo Angelopoulos, L'eternità e un giorno
Tasos Boulmetis, Un tocco di zenzero
Pantelis Voulgaris, Nyfes
Emanuele Crialese, Nuovomondo
Manoel de Oliveira, Un film parlato

Verification of the level of learning achieved is obtained through a written test and an oral test.
In particular, the student will present the theoretical knowledge acquired in oral form.

Read: correct reading test (a short text).
Writing: being able to write correctly orthographically, under dictation, a text containing vocabulary already acquired thanks to linguistic exercises. Compilation of simple grammar exercises in Greek and formulation of a short written text (a letter, a summary, a description ...).
Understanding oral speech: synthesis in Italian of a short text pronounced in New Greek containing vocabulary, grammatical and syntactic forms of medium-high level.
Formulate an oral speech: the student will answer in Italian to simple questions posed by the commission on topics covered in class, using the linguistic knowledge acquired.
Evaluation: grammar, morphology and syntax = evaluation of assimilation and precision in use; lexicon: consideration of the appropriate use of words; ability to manage speech (oral and written); ability to interact with the written text, in a conversation; fluent use of written and oral speech (correctly written and pronounced). Ability to organize a critical discourse in Italian using theoretical and cultural knowledge (i.e. the theoretical and historical contents of the discipline).
The assessment of expected learning outcomes is carried out through written and oral tests, in order to evaluate the knowledge and skills acquired through the lessons taught by the teacher and through language exercises.

The written exam, lasting a total of three hours, consists of: 1 short written text in Modern Greek (max 500 words) in the form of a letter, short essay or commentary on a given topic; 1 multiple-choice exercise to assess lexical and morphosyntactic skills; 1 exercise with open-ended questions; 1 translation into Italian of a 5-line text in Modern Greek. The oral exam consists of an interview that begins with a section to test the language skills acquired (3 open-ended questions to test listening comprehension and oral production); reading and translation of a passage of max five lines; 3/4 open-ended questions on topics covered in class during the course taught by the teacher.
Both tests (written and oral) must be passed.

written and oral

Both tests (written and oral) must be passed.
The assessment, which includes both the written and oral parts, is expressed as a mark out of 30. The exam is passed with marks ranging from 18 to 30, as follows:
between 18 and 24 if the student demonstrates sufficient knowledge of the course content, has made up to 10 errors in grammar, spelling and syntax (both in writing and orally), and has sufficiently expressed the course content, demonstrating that they have acquired essential and basic knowledge;
between 25 and 28 if the student demonstrates good knowledge of the topics and critical analysis skills, if they have made fewer than 4 to 9 errors in grammar, spelling, and syntax (both in writing and speaking), and if they have adequately and critically presented the content, thanks in part to individual study of the recommended bibliography;
between 29 and 30 if the student has made up to 3 errors in grammar, spelling, syntax (both in writing and speaking), if they demonstrate excellent knowledge of the topics, confidence in their presentation and excellent critical analysis skills, thanks also to individual study of the recommended bibliography and any specific in-depth studies.
Students who achieve a mark between 27 and 30 have attained the ability to communicate clearly and unambiguously in Modern Greek, have historical and linguistic skills relating to vernacular and modern Greek, and are able to express themselves confidently in Modern Greek.
Honours are awarded in exceptional cases, when the written text and oral presentation are free of formal errors and when excellent skills have been acquired, thanks also to individual study of the recommended bibliography and specific in-depth studies.

The Modern Greek language course runs throughout the academic year and is structured as follows: lectures by the teacher in the first semester, language exercises (Dr Liosatou) throughout the academic year.
The teacher's lectures are divided into two sections: during the first hour, elements of the history of the Modern Greek language are presented, with a focus on oral tradition and folk singing (from folk songs to 20th-century musical poetry); the second hour is dedicated to reading, analysing, translating and listening to Greek poetic texts in musical versions.
Students will also use online teaching materials for self-study.

Ongoing tests may be assigned, which will be corrected and discussed in class and will form part of the final assessment.

Each teaching unit follows the same criteria:
1. preparatory phase (problem solving): the topic is presented using a reference grid (what, where, when, who and how; proposed theme, history, environment, linguistic specificities).
2. Operational phase (learning by doing): this involves teaching activities (reading and analysis, translations, use of the interactive whiteboard) to develop skills starting from hidden, inherent and prior knowledge: it begins with the guided discovery of basic vocabulary to identify words within the proposed texts.
3. Reconstructive phase: (reflective learning), in order to activate the dynamic collaboration of those who are learning the method, language and content.
4. Evaluation phase: before moving on to the final phase of the exams (written and oral), students are invited during the course to take simple tests for the evaluation and self-assessment of what they have learned.

It is necessary to attend the language classes held by dr. Liosatou.

The course is annual: the lectures of prof. Carpinato takes place in the first semester but to take the exam you have to follow the entire cycle of language classes.

ERASMUS exchanges are active (Athens, Corfu, Komotini).

There will be study meetings with other teachers and an in-depth study in English on History of the Greek Language: From the Hellenistic Koine to Modern Greek. Evolutionary stages of the Greek language after the Hellenistic Koine with examples from non-literary papyri of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD (pronunciation, morphology, syntax, vocabulary). There will also be a visit to the monuments of the Greeks of the diaspora in Venice.

The Modern Greek language modules for the three-year students aim to provide the basis for the knowledge of the historical-literary and cultural profile of modern Greece, from the first manifestations in the vernacular to the most recent testimonies of the neo-Greek language, within the historical context- geographical reference and the evolutionary peculiarities of the Greek language and culture (in a diachronic sense). The courses are integrated by the modules of Modern Greek literature (exercises, frontal and online lessons; teaching materials on Moodle) and by language exercises.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development