69270 - English Language and Culture I (Second Language) (CL1)

Course contents

The module will focus on the social, cultural and political aspects of issue of multiethnic society in Great Britain by means of an intensive and extensive reading programme on the subject, as well as through similar activities involving listening to the British radio. The reading and listening activities will provide the basis for the production of written and oral texts by the students which will evaluated in the final exam.

In particular, the students will examine the following topics:

• the subjective experience of migrants in Britain today;
• the history and socio-cultural background of multiethnic Britain;
• racism and the discrimination of diversity
• policies which promote a tolerant and diverse society;
• migration in the European context.

The module will include specific language practice (lettorato) with Dr. Allan Bennett attendance of which is compulsory. These lessons will cover some of the basic characteristics of the English language (beginning from roughly a B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference on languages - CEFR) such as verb tenses, modality, phrasal verbs and prepositions.

Readings/Bibliography

Language skills

For the development of specific language skills, you should have a monolingual learner’s dictionary and a grammar usage book. The following are particularly recommended:

Collins Cobuild English Dictionary (1995)

Michael Swan, Practical English Usage (2016)

 

Social, cultural and political context

Bhikhu Parekh, The Future of Multiethnic Britain (2000)

Yasmin Alibhia-Brown, After Multiculturalism (2000)

 

Novels (one of which should be chosen for discussion during the oral exam):

Monica Ali, Brick Lane (2003)

Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (1981)

Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (1988)

Jackie Kay Trumpet (1998)

Hanif Kureishi The Buddha of Suburbia (1990)

Hanif Kureish,The Black Album (1995)

Andrea Levy, Small Island (2004)

Andrea Levy, Fruit of the Lemon (1999)

Andrea Levy, Every Light in the House Burnin’ (1994)

Timothy Mo, Sour Sweet (1982)

Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2000)

Meera Syal, Anita and Me (1996)

Meera Syal, The House of Hidden Mothers (2015)

Teaching methods

Lectures, group and pair work, guided listening in the language laboratory, individual research and presentations to the class. Students are required to attend 70% of the lessons.

Assessment methods

The ability of the student to understand and produce written and oral texts in English will be tested with three distinct procedures:

1. An individual assignment, to be given in one week before the written exam, made up of:
   • The presentation, with a brief summary, of a 5-minute video chosen by the student, with the transcription of 1 minute of the same broadcast;
   • a written essay which compares and contrasts two of the texts analysed during the lessons (roughly 300 words)
2. A written exam on aspects of grammar.
3. An oral exam consisting of the discussion of a novel (chosen by the student from the list in the bibliography) and a sight translation of a paragraph taken from material used during the lessons. [specify the material from Parekh and Yasmin A-Brown later!]

Students who demonstrate the ability to understand fully authentic oral and written texts on the topic and to produce written and oral summaries in a clear and communicative English will obtain an ‘excellent’ mark (28-30).

Students who demonstrate a good comprehension of the written and oral texts proposed and essentially correct written and oral summaries will obtain an ‘average’ mark (23-27).

Students who demonstrate a basic but superficial understanding of the written and oral texts proposed with adequate but not fluent summaries or with major grammatical, lexical or phonological errors will be given a ‘pass’ mark (18-22)

Students who are unable to demonstrate a basic understanding of the written and oral texts proposed and whose written and oral production is incorrect or difficult to understand will get a ‘fail’ mark.

Teaching tools

Video, PC, photocopies, language laboratory, e-learning (using the moodle site of the course).

Office hours

See the website of John Patrick Leech