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

Learning outcomes

Students will gain an understanding of some basic characteristics of English language and culture and will be capable of understanding and producing written and oral texts.

Course contents

The module will focus on the social, cultural and political aspects of issue of multiethnic society in Great Britain. Students will be guided in the developmente and knowledge of contemporary English language and culture through an intensive and extensive reading programme on the subject, as well as through similar activities involving aural texts (videos, radio broadcasts etc.) 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-culturalbackground 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) attendance of which is compulsory. These lessons will cover some of the basic characteristics of the English language (reference level B1+/B2).

Readings/Bibliography

Secondary reading. ONE of the following texts which provide a larger framework for the social, cultural and political context of the texts analysed during the module.

Bhikhu Parekh, The Future of Multiethnic Britain (2000), chaps. 1-4

Yasmin Alibhia-Brown, After Multiculturalism (2000), chaps. 1-4

Afua Hirsch, British. On race, identity and belonging (2018) (“Introduction” and Chaps 1 and 2)

Reni Eddo-Lodge, Why I am no longer talking to white people about race (2018) (“Preface” and Chaps 1 and 2)

David Olusoga, Black and British. A Forgotten History (2018) (“Preface”, “Introduction”, Chap. 14

“Swamped” and “Conclusion”)

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)

 

Obligatory reading

Class reader. Work in class will centre on a number of brief texts (a few pages each) regarding aspects of multiethnic society in Great Britain from the 1960s until the present. The class reader will be made available to students at the start of the module.

Literary texts. ONE novel from the following list, chosen by the student, to be discussed during the oral exam:

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)

 

Secondary reading. ONE of the following texts which provides a larger framework for the social, cultural and political context of the texts analysed during the module.

Bhikhu Parekh, The Future of Multiethnic Britain (2000), chaps. 1-4

Yasmin Alibhia-Brown, After Multiculturalism (2000), chaps. 1-4

Afua Hirsch, British. On race, identity and belonging (2018) (extracts, to be communicated)

Reni Eddo-Lodge, Why I am no longer talking to white people about race (2018) (extracts, to be communicated)

David Olusoga, Black and British. A Forgotten History (2018) (extracts, to be communicated)

 

Further reading

Bhambra, G., Gebrial, D., Nişancioǧlu, K. (eds.), Decolonizing the University, London, Pluto Press (2018)

Fryer. P., Staying power: the history of black people in Britain, London, Pluto Press (1984)

Gilroy, P., The Black Atlantic. Modernity and Double Consciousness, London, Verso (1993)

Gilroy, P, Black Britain. A Photographic History, London, Saki (2007)

Leech, P., “Contemporary black history and writing in Britain: Afua Hirsh, David Olusoga, Reni Eddo-Lodge”, Storia e Futuro, aprile 2020 (http://storiaefuturo.eu/contemporary-black-history-and-writing-in-britain-david-olusoga-afua-hirsh-and-reni-eddo-lodge/)

Osborne, D. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to British Black and Asian Literature (1945-2010), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2016)

Walvin, J., Black Ivory

Teaching methods

Lectures, group and pair work, guided listening in the language laboratory, individual research and presentations to the class. The lessons will be carried out in a ‘mixed’ mode, guaranteeing some teaching in the classroom but also the possibility of following the course through distance learning.

Assessment methods

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

1. Two individual assignments, to be given in one week before the written exam, made up of:
   • The presentation, with a brief summary, of an oral text (video or radio broadcast), chosen by the student, around of around 5-minutes
   • a written essay which compares and contrasts two of the texts analysed during the lessons (roughly 300 words)
2. A written exam consisting of an essay on one aspect of the material covered in the course and the lettorato.
3. An oral exam consisting of (a) a discussion in English of a novel chosen by the student from the list above; (b) a discussion and sight translation of a paragraph taken from one of the secondary readings (see above)

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).

Office hours

See the website of John Patrick Leech