30085 - English Language (LM)

Learning outcomes

Student have an in-depth knowledge of linguistic and discursive aspects of the English language, both from a synchronic and a diachronic perspective, also as concerns textual analysis and translation. Through practical exercises, their communicative skills in all abilities, both in production and reception, correspond to the C2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference. Students will thus be able to effectively interpret the sociolinguistic and the cultural codes of interactants in a conversation.

Course contents

"Face-to-face lessons"

Language, culture, pragmatics: a comparison of English and Italian

The course aims to explore the linguistic, cultural and identity-related specificities of English in its two main varieties (British and American), in a contrastive perspective with Italian, especially in the area of pragmatics. The students, through the analysis of written and audiovisual texts, will become familiar with complex structures of the English language both from a linguistic and cultural point of view. The methodology adopted during the course will be mainly built on the tenets of contrastive linguistics, which is based on the comparison as a learning method in acquiring skills of use and understanding of a foreign language. From this point of view, particularly important will be the in-depth study of aspects of British and American culture, in a contrastive perspective between Italian and English. The focus will be on intercultural pragmatics, i.e. how two different lingua-cultures carry out different social actions through language. The identification of different ways in which languages use contexts differently to arrive at a given linguistic message is in fact key when teaching one's own language to foreigners and to anticipate possible cross-cultural clashes. Differences and similarities between English and Italian will also emerge through the observation and commentary of translated texts, especially of audiovisual materials (dubbed and subtitled videos). Translation will therefore be approached through a product-oriented and not a process-oriented method, as it will be the instrument (and not the end) for the discovery of the linguistic and cultural differences between English and Italian.  

At the end of the course, the issue of World Englishes, as well as the education systems in the UK and the US, will be touched upon.

 

"Practice/Lecturer"

The exercises are aimed at consolidating students' linguistic skills and at deepening the linguistic and discursive aspects of the English language. Through practice, their communication skills, both active and passive, will enable them to improve their oral and written English production skills. To find out more about the exercises program, please see the teacher's website, Dr. Iacoviello.

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory text:

Patrizia Pierini (2004), Comparing Italian and English: An introduction.Roma: Aracne.

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars. Students are encouraged to actively participate in both discussion activities and translation in class.

Assessment methods

The exam will be a written test which will assess the mastery of the course content.  Attending and non-attending students will have the same program to prepare for the exam.

The written test consists of 3 questions with an open stimulus (the candidate is asked to discuss a broad topic, without a question focusing on a specific aspect) or a closed stimulus (the question concerns a specific aspect) and open-ended answers.

For each test, the criteria for obtaining 18 (minimum threshold) will be posted after each test, while to obtain 30 the individual indicators will be summed, starting from 18. These will also be posted after the exam. In general, the test is passed with 18 if the student demonstrates possession of basic skills in the topics covered, and shows poor argumentation and exposition skills. To obtain 18, it is also necessary to demonstrate a passable level of English, since in addition to the contents, part of the evaluation also takes the language into account. 30 is given to those who demonstrate that they possess, in addition to an in-depth knowledge of the topic of the 3 questions (which must always be accompanied by examples preferably different from those examined in class), good exposure skills and also a good use of vocabulary, syntax and punctuation.

The topics to be assessed will be those covered during the course: syntactic, lexical, morphological and pragmatic aspects of the English language compared with the Italian language. The student will have to show an awareness of cross-linguistic differences, and know how to explain them through personalized examples.

Students are reminded that, for the final mark to be registered, it is also necessary to take the oral part with Dr. Iacoviello. It will not be possible to refuse one of the two marks (both tests will have to be taken again). Also, students are reminded that from the moment they take one of the two tests, they have 3 attempts for the other part of the exam, to keep the first mark. The final mark consists of the weighted average of the two tests: the test with Prof. Napoli has a value of 2/3, the one with Dr. Iacoviello 1/3.

Teaching tools

During face-to-face lessons, PPT's projections and audiovisual texts for the analysis of translation strategies will be used.

Office hours

See the website of Vittorio Napoli