06490 - Foreign Language Teaching

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to describe the fundamental stages of the second language (L2) learning process; to identify factors that promote L2 learning; to know the main theories and descriptive models of language; to describe the pedagogical models in L2 teaching and their specific methods and techniques; to know some of the most relevant technological resources for language teaching, both for ‘face-to-face and ‘distance' teaching.

Course contents

The course aims at introducing the theoretical knowledge and pedagogical skills which are required from professional language teachers; thus, it guides students to understand the processes and the variables that affect language learning and teaching.

The first part of the course will focus on the main theories of first (L1) and second (L2) language acquisition; it will give special attention to those hypotheses which - among the many factors involved in L2 acquisition - highlight the role played by micro-social factors (e.g., quality of input and interaction, communication dynamics) and macro-social variables (for example, identity and language learning, multilingual uses, and social participation).

Secondly, the course will provide students with historical coordinates about L2 teaching, through an excursus on teaching methods and approaches. Moreover, the fundamental features of the teaching process will be explored: analysis of students' communicative needs, teaching objectives, curriculum and syllabus planning, teaching activities and techniques, teaching acts, class interaction. In relation to teaching processes, we will also consider the main contributions and challenges that the spread of artificial intelligence (ChatGPT in particular) is presenting to language teachers.

Finally, a critical reflection of the goals of language education will be stimulated, and the international debate about intercultural language education explored in class (the language-culture nexus in language use and learning, the concept of ‘intercultural communicative competence’, etc.).

Readings/Bibliography

• Pallotti, G. (1998), La seconda lingua, Milano: Bompiani. [Entire book] [337 pp.];
• Nuzzo, E. & Grassi, R. (2016),Input, output e interazione nell’insegnamento delle lingue, Torino: Bonacci-Loescher. [Chapters 2, 3, and 4] [117 pp.];
• Balboni, P. E. (2015), Le sfide di Babele: Insegnare le lingue nelle società complesse. Quarta edizione, Torino: UTET. [Chapters 2, 7, 8, and 9] [106 pp.];
• Borghetti, C. (2016), Educazione linguistica interculturale: Origini, modelli, sviluppi recenti, Roma/Bologna: Caissa Italia. [Parts I and III] [96 pp.];
• Kohnke, L., Moorhouse, B. L. & Zou, D. (2023), “ChatGPT for language teaching and learning”, RELC Journal, pp. 1-14 [14 pp.];
• Farrokhnia, M., Banihashem, S. K., Noroozi, O. & Wals, A. (2023), “A SWOT analysis of ChatGPT: Implications for educational practice and research”, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, pp. 1-15 [15 pp.].
  

 

N.B. Students are required to study the slides projected in class (slides can be downloaded from Virtuale).

 

Additional (optional) readings

• Consiglio d’Europa (2002 [2001]), Quadro Comune Europeo di Riferimento per le Lingue: apprendimento, insegnamento, valutazione, Firenze: La Nuova Italia. The English version is available HERE.
• Consiglio d’Europa (2020), Quadro Comune Europeo di Riferimento per le Lingue: apprendimento, insegnamento, valutazione – Volume complementare, Strasburgo: Consiglio d’Europa. Available HERE.
• GISCEL (1975) “Dieci tesi per l'educazione linguistica democratica”. Available HERE.
  
• Masini, F. & Grandi, N. (Eds.) (2017), Tutto ciò che hai sempre voluto sapere sul linguaggio e sulle lingue, Roma/Bologna: Caissa Italia.

Teaching methods

Teaching will take place through lectures and workshops (analysis of video-recorded language classes, students’ reports on small research projects, analysis of textbooks).

Assessment methods

Students can choose between two assessment modes:

1. Oral exam (100% of the final grade)
2. Design of a teaching unit (40%) and subsequent oral exam (60% of the final grade).

First mode (oral exam only)

The oral examination (indicative duration: 20 minutes) is aimed at evaluating the students’ knowledge and competences related both to the theoretical and to the practical issues related to learning and teaching a second language.

Second mode (teaching unit + oral exam)

• Teaching unit (project). Students are required to design a teaching unit designed to teach a language of their choice. They are invited to use the template which will be introduced in class and then uploaded on Virtuale. Their teaching units should not exceed five pages (possible attachments excluded). N.B. Students need to submit the project via email at least two weeks before the chosen date for the oral examination; this deadline is peremptory, and failure to submit the teaching unit in time may lead to exclusion from this mode of examination.
• Oral exam (indicative duration: 10 minutes). It is aimed at evaluating the students’ theoretical knowledge related to learning and teaching a second language.

 

Assessment criteria: oral exam

The following features will be evaluated:

• Extent of knowledge concerning content;
• Clarity of exposition;
• Skills of synthesis and argumentation;
• Terminological appropriateness;
• Degree of autonomy in analysing phenomena related to language learning and teaching.

 

Assessment criteria: teaching unit (TU)

The teaching units will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Compliance with the main theoretical tenets concerning language acquisition and teaching;
• Degree of appropriateness of the teaching solutions (objectives, themes, activities, etc.) according to the learner’s profile and language level;
• Consistency between the TU objectives and its teaching and assessment methods;
• Variety of teaching materials and procedures;
• Text clarity and readability;
• Terminological appropriateness;
• Correctness of form and attention to detail (also in respect of formatting choices).

Teaching tools

Different sets of slides will be projected during each class; students can download them weekly form  Virtuale. Workshops entail the use of additional tools, including printed handouts (grids for analysis, surveys, etc.), web sites, and web resources for language teaching.

Office hours

See the website of Claudia Borghetti