2015/2016

2015/2016

DM270

L-LIN/12 (ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION)

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES

MODERN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

LINGUISTICO-FILOLOGICO-LETTERARIO

1°

1st semester (21/09/2015 - 23/12/2015)

9

36 lesson hours

ENGLISH

ORAL TEST

FREDDI MARIA (titolare) - 9 ECTS

Placement Test (on-line, following enrollment)

The course aims at lexico-grammatical competence at B1/B2 CEFR level with special emphasis on reading skills and the description of the functioning of sentence structures in diverse contexts and text-types. Throughout the course students will do speaking, listening, writing and reading activities aimed at developing proficiency and language awareness (at B1/B2 CEFR level).

The teaching programme consists in the course, taking place in the first term, and supplementary recitation classes throughout the a.y. (see below).
The course (first term) introduces English grammar in natural contexts from a functional perspective. More in detail, it describes parts of speech (closed vs. open word classes), words combinations into groups or phrases (verbal, nominal, adjectival, adverbial, prepositional), clause types and interdependencies, sentence structure with emphasis on word order (unmarked vs. marked word order: fronting). Description of these features of English grammar will be related to a variety of text genres (narrative, expository, argumentative, etc.) both written and oral to show how different structures correspond to different communicative purposes and rhetorical effects.
Students will have to practice their grammatical analysis with reference to texts of their own choosing (class assignments). To this purpose, a series of tutorials will also be scheduled. Throughout the course students will also do speaking, listening, writing and reading activities aimed at developing proficiency and language awareness (at B1/B2 proficiency level).
The teaching programme also includes year long classes taught by Collaboratori ed Esperti Linguistici (CEL) in the first and second semesters.

Lectures, classwork with guided tasks, homework assignments, recitation classes, tutorials.

Set texts:
Freddi, M., 2007, Functional Grammar: An Introduction for the EFL Student. Bologna, CLUEB
M. Foley, D. Hall, 2012. My Grammar Lab, Intermediate B1/B2 (with keys).
London: Pearson Longman

Workbook
Lipson, M. and M. Freddi, 2006, Practice in Functional Grammar. A Workbook for Beginners and Intermediate Students (with keys). Bologna, CLUEB

Recommended reference grammars:
Biber, D. et al., Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman, 1999

The following monolingual dictionaries are required for self-study and reference (choose one). All have a free on-line version (link provided in parentheses):
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
(http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/)
Collins Cobuild Learners Dictionary of English (http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-cobuild-learners);
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (http://www.ldoceonline.com);
Macmillan English Dictionary
(free on-line version at http://www.macmillandictionary.com);
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)

One bilingual dictionary, for example:
Grande Dizionario Hazon di Inglese 2.0 con WEB-CD

Oral examination and preliminary test

In the oral examination students will be assessed on the linguistic competence attained with reference to the course contents and objectives (see lexico-grammatical syllabus in the set books). In order to sit the oral examination students will have to pass a preliminary test comprising a reading comprehension which assesses the attained language knowledge holistically (with both multiple choice and open-ended questions) and assessments. The reading comprehension test is held in the Summer, Fall and Winter sessions. Students who regularly attend CELs' classes (at least 70%) will be able to choose the in itinere evaluation (assessments). The assessments calendar will be handed out at the beginning of the course. Non-attending students (those who will not reach 70% of CELs' classes) will have to sit all the assessment tests in the form of a global test held in the Summer, Fall and Winter sessions. Students are not allowed to sit the final oral exam unless they have previously passed all preliminary tests.
N.B. All the preliminary tests, if passed, are valid for 13 months.