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

Learning outcomes

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

Course contents

English Language and Linguistics 1 consists of the following components:

a) Lectures by the course professor in English; a workshop series with a tutor will also be available for the students for exam practice. This course offers an introduction to the systemic functional model of grammar which will then be covered in more detail in the second year and applied analytically in the third year.

b) Practical exercises (= Esercitazioni) in English with native English speaking teachers, Ms Sarah M. Stratford and Ms Caroline S. Walker. At the beginning of the academic year, a Placement Test (OOPT) is held to form groups.

Readings/Bibliography

Lectures

Thompson, G. (2004). Introducing Functional Grammar. Second Edition. London: Hodder Education (chapters 1, 2 and 7; in addition, pp. 28-34; 45-69; 86-123; 141-149, 195-212).

In addition, students are asked to download and study the materials posted every other week by the teacher in (http://campus.unibo.it/).

Practical exercises (= Esercitazioni)

English File Upper Intermediate, ed. Oxford University Press.

or (*)

English File Advanced. ed. Oxford University Press.

Additional material will be made available on-line and in local photocopy shops.

(*) Nota bene: Since the textbook used for practical exercises depends on the group that each student is assigned to based on the results of the Placement Test (OOPT), students are advised to wait until the results of the OOPT are available before they purchase the book.

 

Teaching methods

1) Lectures held by course professor (first semester);

2) Workshop led by a tutor, available throughout the academic year;

3) Language exercises (= Esercitazioni) with mothertongue English teachers throughout the academic year. Students will be divided into groups appropriate to their level of English. The language exercises will address all four basic language skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Students will be divided into groups from the placement test. The students will be trained in all four language competencies: speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Assessment methods

The exam is divided into two parts, one on English linguistics and one on English language, as reflected in the structure of the course and in its name.

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).

Exam structure

The exam consists of 3 components:

(1) A linguistics written, based on the contents of the lectures held by the teacher of the course. This tests the students' knowledge of the fundamental theoretical aspects of ‘register' and their capacity to use the descriptive-analytic model of Systemic Functional Linguistics. The aim is to analyze real English utterances from the grammatical and semantic points of view, with special attention paid to the role of context. This exam component is a 30-item multiple-choice cloze; the time allowed is 40 minutes.

(2) A language written, based on the contents of the language classes held by native English language experts. 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 specific sections on (a) Use of English (60 minutes), (b) Reading (40 minutes) and (c) Writing (60 minutes). The final mark is the mean of the scores obtained in the three sections. The text types used for this component of the exam are general interest texts (e.g. newspaper articles, reviews, interviews).

(3) A SAT, which tests the students' listening and speaking skills, and their capacity to communicate spontaneously, 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.

The specific skills and knowledge tested in each part of the exam are detailed in a document entitled “format” which will soon be available on-line in the School's website, http://www.scuolalingue.unibo.it and in local photocopy shops. The material includes exam facsimiles with keys.

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 the exam again. At present, marks obtained in written exams remain valid for 6 exam sessions.

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.

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 session, 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.

Additional information

The exam is the same for:

(1) attenders and non-attenders;

(2) students enrolled according to the old (509) and new (270) ordinamento.

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

Students of the old ordinamento “quadriennale”, for whom the exam is called “Lingua e letteratura inglese”, take only the language written and SAT (no linguistics). Their final mark for these students is the mean of the score obtained in their language exam and the one obtained in their literature exam.

Notes

Incoming and outgoing Erasmus students, as well as students from other Departments, must refer to the document published by the School here http://corsi.unibo.it/Laurea/LingueLetteratureStraniere/programma-llperasmus.htm .

More information and materials will be available in the English Languages Studies Program (ELSP) page, which will be on the School's web site -  Scuola http://www.scuolalingue.unibo.it/ - as soon as possible.

 

Teaching tools

PowerPoint slides

Office hours

See the website of Sabrina Fusari