30951 - English Language and Linguistics 1 (A-L)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students should be familiar with the meta-language of various aspects of a descriptive-analytical model of the English language, and should master all the communicative skills at B2 level as set by the parameters of the Council of Europe .

Course contents

The course of English Language and Linguistics 1 consists of the following components:

a) Lectures held by the course professor assigned to each group, Prof. Fusari or Prof. Luporini, depending on the student's surname. The lectures are the same for all students, and in English. This course is an introduction to text analysis, especially as concerns grammatical and lexical cohesion from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives applied to a selection of texts to increase reading and analysis skills.

b) Practical exercises (= Esercitazioni) in English with native English speaking teachers. At the beginning of the academic year, a Placement Test (OOPT) is held to form groups, based on the students' skills, from intermediate to advanced. In order to study English, it is obligatory to take the Placement Test on either of the following dates:

• Monday 21 September 2026 (enrolments from 15 May 2026 at 1 pm to 14 September 2026 at 1 pm);
• Tuesday 27 October 2026 (enrolments from 22 September 2026 at 1 pm to 20 October 2026 at 1 pm).

The minimum passing score is 55.

Instructions to enrol for the OOPT are available here.

Students who have obtained one of the following certificates after 1 January 2024 (certificates issued before 1 January 2024 can’t be accepted) are not obliged to take the Placement Test:

1. Cambridge ESOL: PET with no less than 153 points; FCE and CAE, with no less than 153 points; CPE;
2. IELTS: 5 (or higher);
3. TOEFL iBT: 65 (or higher);
4. TRINITY (only ISE, or Integrated Skills Exam): ISE (II).

Students with certificates are required to email a PDF or JPEG scan of their certificate (Email subject: “certificazione linguistica esonero OOPT”) to lilec.oopt@unibo.it, from 1 September to 31 October 2026. It is not possible to have your certificate recognized outside this time slot.

Students applying for credit recognition (programme transfer, transfer from another higher education institution, or advanced standing) who have been awarded at least 6 ECTS credits in English Language and Linguistics in their previous studies may be exempted from the OOPT. Exemption will be confirmed following review of the application by the relevant degree course Committee.

Readings/Bibliography

Lectures

Fusari, S. (2026). Introducing Textuality. A New Coursebook for English Linguistics Students. Bologna: BUP.

Students must also study the PowerPoints of the lessons, published by the teacher in Virtuale.

Practical Exercises (Esercitazioni)

Latham-Koenig et al. English File Advanced 4th edition, published by Oxford University Press.

Teaching methods

1) Lectures held by the professor assigned to each group based on the students' surnames initials (the lectures are the same for all students) during the first semester.

2) Language classes (= Esercitazioni) with mother tongue English teachers throughout the academic year. Students will be divided into groups from the placement test, and will be trained in all four language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Assessment methods

The exam is divided into two parts, one on English linguistics (corresponding to Prof. Fusari's and Prof. Luporini’s lectures) and one on English language (corresponding to the language classes held by mothertongue English teachers).

The linguistics part of the exam is written, and the language part of the exam is both written and oral; the oral part is called SAT (Speaking Ability Test).

The exam consists of:

(1) A linguistics written, based on the contents of the lectures held by the teacher of the course. This consists of a guided text analysis and a set of more general questions about the theoretical models referenced during lessons, as well as in the reading list. The aim is to show your deep reading competence (i.e. beyond literal meanings) and your knowledge of some theoretical concepts regarding text, e.g. register, genre, style, cohesion, coherence, phoric and deictic reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, lexical cohesion and the relation between sentence and text. This exam component is a 31-items multiple-choice cloze; the time allowed is 40 minutes.

(2) A language written, based on the contents of the language classes (Esercitazioni) held by native English speaking teachers. This tests the students' capacity to analyze, understand and use the English language at level B2 of the Common European Framework for Languages. This exam component is divided into separate sections on (a) Use of English (40 minutes), (b) Reading (20 minutes) and (c) Writing (60 minutes). The final mark is the mean of the scores obtained in the three sections. Passing the Use of English exam paper is an essential condition to pass the language exam. The text types used for this component of the exam are general interest texts (e.g. newspaper articles, reviews, interviews).

(3) A SAT (Speaking Ability Test), held in pairs (2 students + teacher), which tests the students' listening and speaking skills, and their capacity to communicate spontaneously, participate in dialogue, understand and make themselves understood in English, with a good command of grammar and a fairly wide vocabulary, on a variety of general, non specialized topics. This component of the exam lasts 8-10 minutes.

Students may take the practical (Esercitazioni) component of the exam only at the end of the academic year (May 2027), because the corresponding course lasts for the whole academic year. The lezioni frontali (linguistics, theory exam) can be taken in January 2027 because its corresponding lectures take place in the first semester. Exceptions may apply to Erasmus students spending only one semester in Bologna. These students are asked to contact their teacher, either Prof. Fusari or Prof. Luporini, as soon as possible at the beginning of their Erasmus stay.

 

Marking criteria and levels

 

Each part of the exam is evaluated separately. The final mark is calculated as follows: the score obtained in the language written is multiplied by 2, and added to the score obtained in the SAT. This figure is divided by 3, added to the score obtained in the Linguistics written, and finally divided by 2. Students who pass the written exam components with a score of at least 18/30 may not reject their mark and take written exams again. The final mark may be refused, but in that event all the partial exams (Esercitazioni written + lectures written + SAT) must be repeated. Marks obtained in written exams remain valid for 4 exam sessions, including the one in which the exam was passed, i.e. 1 year.

The written language exam (based on the content of the language classes) must be passed before the SAT: only after passing the written language exam can students take the oral.

Students who have chosen English as their third language are not obliged to take the SAT, but may do so if they wish.

Written exams take place once for each exam session; SATs are held twice for each exam session, once before and once after the writtens. It is not obligatory to pass the three components of the exam in the same exam term, but it is not possible to register the final mark for this course until all three exam components have been passed.

Students who show a solid (Independent User-Upper Intermediate) command of the English language and an equally good awareness of its metalinguistic aspects receive an excellent mark. Students with a lesser degree of linguistic competence and metalinguistic awareness receive a lower mark. Students applying their grammatical knowledge mechanically, without an adequate awareness of the connections between grammar, meaning and context, and/ or showing hesitations in their written and spoken skills may still pass the exam but with a low mark. Students with significant gaps in their metalinguistic knowledge and/ or whose language skills are below B2 do not pass the exam.

Use of artificial intelligence

It is forbidden to use artificial intelligence at all stages of this exam.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint presentations, language classes, online materials on the university platform Virtuale.

Students with SLDs or temporary or permanent disabilities: we suggest that you contact the relevant university office and your teacher immediately to work together to find the most effective strategies for attending classes and/or preparing for exams. Any requests for exam accommodations must be made at least 15 days before the date of the exam, by sending an email to the teacher and copying (Cc) the email address disabilita@unibo.it (in case of disability) or dsa@unibo.it (for students with Specific Learning Difficulties).

Office hours

See the website of Sabrina Fusari