27347 - English Writing Laboratory (1)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the workshop is to allow students to gain worthwhile experience of formal writing in English, and to do so under ‘controlled conditions'.

‘Controlled conditions' means (i) that the tasks which students will be asked to perform will all have clear communicative aims (clear guidelines and model texts will be provided), (ii) that a a tutor will be on hand during the workshop to give advice.

The texts which students produce will be corrected and assessed.

 

Course contents

Types of text that will be produced during the workshop:

- brief presentation text: how to write a short text in order to present something to the public (a music festival, an exhibition, a research project etc).

- an argumentative text: how to write a text in which an idea/proposal is put forward and supported with argumentation. Often in texts of this type, in order to convince the reader, it is necessary to illustrate the opposing view and show that it is not valid. This means that the text, though 'monoauthorial', actually involves two ‘voices', that of the writer and that of the people who hold the opposing view.

Writing a successful text of this type thus involves (among other things) learning (i) how to ‘distance' the opposing view (so that it is not confused with one's own, i.e. that of the writer), and (ii) how to make one's own idea/proposal seem objectively valid (rather than sounding like a subjective opinion).

- a brief (argumentative) intervention in a web forum: this basically involves the same techniques as above but may require a more informal style.

Important: The workshop is designed for students who have already passed the (second year) exam Lingua Inglese.

Normally students on the Communication Sciences Degree Course who enroll for the workshop will have done the advanced level modules ('livello medio-avanzato') of the Lingua Inglese course; alternatively, in cases where they have done the intermediate level modules, they should have a mark no lower than 24/30. The overall linguistic level of the writing workshop is B2. Students on exchange programmes (Erasmus etc) should have at least B1 level when enrolling.

 

Readings/Bibliography

A brief guide to argumentative writing in English is in preparation for this workshop.

Teaching methods

Working under the supervision of the tutor in the computer laboratory and following an agreed outline, students write texts in English. These are corrected and assessed.

The workshop involves the performance of 6 writing tasks, at intervals of approximately 2 weeks during the Second Semester. Before each session students may be asked to read a small number of texts concerning the subject of the writing task.

Assessment methods

Continuous assessment, with special emphasis given to the last 3 writing tasks; no formal examination. Students must complete all six writing tasks in order to qualify for a final grade. All the writing tasks must be done in the laboratory and must be completed before the end of the fourth teaching period (= mid-May).

Teaching tools

 

 

A monolingual dictionary especially designed for non-native learners of English, such as:

 The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Oxford U.P.

The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary   Cambridge U.P.

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman

The Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary, Collins.

A guide to English usage (also specially written for non-native speakers) such as:

Swan, M. Practical English Usage, Oxford U.P.

Office hours

See the website of Peter Grenville Taylor