78436 - Institutional Communication

Learning outcomes

The student knows the types of texts and the fundamental issues of intra-, inter-linguistic and intercultural communication in an institutional setting. He/she is able to understand, analyse and (re)produce oral speeches used in several istitutional settings

Course contents

The first part of the course will deal with language, theoretical and applied principles characterising institutional communication along with the differences from common and specialised languages. We will also address institutional communication features in different contexts and modalities, also observing how it changes when the same speaker is vested with another role.

Then, we will analyse texts coming from different sub-domains - institutional politics; sports at different layers; academic-university; healthcare; judicial - stressing their main strategies and features. We will mostly work on oral or read Italian texts in order to focus our attention on the perspective of the Conference/Dialogue Interpreter.

This course is part of the integrated course of 'Specialized Communication' focussed on the interlinguistic, intralinguistic and intercultural analysis of different oral and written text typologies.

Readings/Bibliography

Amato, A. & Mack, G. (2015), Comunicare tramite interprete nelle indagini di polizia Bologna: Bononia University Press

Drew, P. & Heritage, J. (1992), Analyzing talk at work: an introduction, in P. Drew & Heritage, J. (eds), Talk at work. Interaction in institutional settings, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 3-65.

Garzone, G. & Viezzi, M. (2001), Comunicazione specialistica e interpretazione di conferenza, Trieste: EUT

Gualdo, R. & Telve, S. (2011), Linguaggi specialistici dell’italiano, Roma: Carocci editore.

Petrilli. R., (2015), La lingua politica, lessico e strutture argomentative, Roma: Carocci Editore.

Teaching methods

Lecturing, workshops, and practical work on texts.
Students active participation is requested.

Assessment methods

The examination consists of an oral examination which is aimed at evaluating:
i) students’ knowledge on institutional communication theories;
ii) students' ability to analyse an oral/transcribed text;
iii) students' ability to predict and point out most probable issues in interpreting a specialized text and to show adequate coping strategies.

The final evaluation will also take into consideration students' clarity and precision during the oral speech, as well as critical reflection.

More details on the features of the oral exam will be available at the beginning of the course.

Teaching tools

Moodle platform

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Cecchi