59870 - English Language (Course and Laboratory)

Learning outcomes

On completion of these modules, students should be able to understand the key features of an oral text, such as a lecture or a news broadcast and make an oral presentation of its contents. They also should be capable to read and comprehend authentic texts of average difficulty.

Course contents

The 30 hours course is organized into two modules: one module will be devoted to enhancing students' reading skills by exposing them to a wide range of text types, in particular, reviews for the general public. Topics covered will include the analysis of the argumentative structure, references, modals, linkers and conjunctions, evaluative lexis, synonymy and polysemy, morphology. Particular attention will be also paid to the use of a monolingual dictionary. The second module will be devoted to improving listening skills, in particular, BBC World news. Attention will be focussed on stress, intonation and phonetics, especially weak vowels.

On completion of these modules, students should be able to understand the key features of an oral text, such as a lecture or a news broadcast and make an oral presentation of its contents. They also should be capable to read and comprehend authentic texts of average difficulty.

Readings/Bibliography

The texts to be analyzed during the course will be made available at the Ufficio didattico.

Autonomous study:  
C. Bevitori e M. Di Serio: ReViews: online Reading Skills for students of Political Science. Bologna: CLUEB 2003. Also available online at:
http://alfacert.cliro.unibo.it/moodle/course/view.php?id=18

Recommended reading:

Lee, S.J.    Aspects of British Political History 1914-1995  , London and New York: Routledge, 1996
Moran Michael,    Politics and Governance in the UK  , 2nd edition,  Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2011   Haralambos & Holborn, Sociology Themes and Perspectives (8th edition). Edito da Harper Collins, 2013

Teaching methods

The course is composed of lectures (30 hours) and a language laboratory (40 hours) Lectures are aimed at developing skills in order to comprehend and interpret written and oral texts of average difficulty. The course will be held in English. B2 level students will take the Advanced (G.A.) course. The language laboratory is aimed at improving fluency and accuracy in listening and speaking skills in order to allow students to reach a good command of linguistic and communicative competence. It will be conducted in relatively small groups.

Assessment methods

Assessment will be made through two written tests (mid-term test and  final exam) and a final oral exam.

The mid-term test includes a cloze test and a reading test with  multiple choice and open questions. Questions will include text structure, function of references, conjunctions and linkers, modality, synonyms in context and the language of evaluation. The final exam is composed of two parts: listening comprehension and reading comprehension.

Spoken English will be assessed in an oral examination on selected parts of one of the two recommended texts in bibliography: either 1 chapter from Moran's book (see selection below), or 1 from Haralambos & Holborn (see selection below), or alternatively 2 chapters from Lee's book (see selection below)

In order to pass the exam, students  are required to achieve at least level A2 in spoken English and B1 in written English

Students that do not follow lessons can take the exam as follows:

written test: reading comprehension and listening comprehension (from BBC World News)

oral test: an interview on selected parts (about 100 pages) as follows:

2 Chapters  from  TEXT A (  Politics and Governance in the UK) or from TEXT C (Sociology Themes and Perspectives) AND  3  Chapters from TEXT   B (British Poltical History)

 

A) Moran, M. Politics and Governance in the UK , 2nd ed., Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2011.

Chapters  4  (pp. 47-64), 5 (pp.65-85),   6  (pp.86-105), 9    (pp.149-172), 14  (pp.258-277),   15  (pp.278-298), 16    (pp.299-318), 17  (pp.319-339),   18 (pp.340-359).

 

B) Lee, S.J. British Political History 1914-1995, London and New York: Routledge, 1996

Chapters da 2 a 21 .

 C) Haralambos & Holborn, Sociology Themes and Perspectives (8th edition). Harper Collins, 2013

Chapters: chapter 2 (p.p. 95-139) / chapter 3 part1 (p.p. 155-191) or part2 (p.p. 185-231) / chapter 12.

Self-Study:

Reading comprehension:

C. Bevitori e M. Di Serio: Re-views: on line reading skills for students of Political Science. CLUEB: Bologna: 2003. Also available online:

http://alfacert.cliro.unibo.it/moodle/course/view.php?id=14

Listening comprehension

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/index.shtml 

 

Teaching tools

PC, projector, DVD

Office hours

See the website of Anna Marchi