54
English Language and Translation
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course in *English Language and Translation 2* provides a theoretical and methodological introduction to the study of English pragmatics, with particular attention to the application of pragmatic and pragmastylistic tools to the analysis of fictional texts. The course focuses on the main domains of the discipline — speech acts, implicatures, inference, politeness and impoliteness theory, interactional analysis and the construction of contextual meaning — and explores their application to the study of character, dialogue and detective fiction. The course also aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to achieve, by the end of the course, an upper-intermediate level of communicative competence in English in oral and written comprehension and production. By the end of the course, students will have acquired theoretical and methodological knowledge of English pragmatics and will be able to understand, analyse and interpret intermediate-level texts in English, with particular attention to the inferential, interactional and contextual dimensions of communication. They will be able to identify and describe pragmatic phenomena such as speech acts, implicatures, politeness and impoliteness strategies, information management, reticence, cooperation, suspicion and the construction of character voice. In terms of applied knowledge and understanding, students will be able to use the tools of pragmatics and pragmastylistics to analyse fictional texts, narrative and dramatic dialogue, and case studies from detective fiction. They will be able to formulate interpretive hypotheses grounded in linguistic and textual evidence, placing texts within their relevant cultural, historical and discursive contexts. Students’ independent judgement will be developed through reading, analysis and discussion activities requiring them to identify, select, compare and critically rework linguistic, textual and bibliographical data. Particular attention will be paid to the ability to interpret the forms through which discourse constructs identities, roles, interpersonal relations, power dynamics and processes of meaning attribution. In terms of communication skills, the course will encourage students to express themselves in English clearly, appropriately and argumentatively on linguistic, textual and cultural issues. Students will be guided in discussing theoretical concepts, presenting textual analyses, formulating interpretive hypotheses and interacting collaboratively during classroom activities. Finally, the course promotes autonomous and lifelong learning skills by providing students with the methodological tools needed to continue studying English, pragmatics, textual linguistics and discourse analysis independently in further higher-level study paths consistent with the training received.
Course Prerequisites
Students — especially non-attending students — are expected to have an intermediate level of English language proficiency, as well as basic knowledge of English phonetics, morphology and syntax.
Passing the *English Language and Translation I* examination is required for all students. Students enrolled before 2021 must also have passed the *English Literature I* examination.
Teaching Methods
The course is taught in English and includes lectures, a tutorial-based approach, case-study analysis, exercises, simulations and guided assessment activities. The lecturer’s classes will take place in the first semester. Throughout the academic year, in both the first and the second semester, practical language classes with CELs will also be offered and are to be considered an integral part of the course.
During the course, optional mid-term/in-course tests may be offered to attending students who have taken part in at least 60% of the classroom activities. The format of the tests, the contents to be assessed and the assessment criteria will be explained during classes and made available through the course’s official teaching channels.
The result of the mid-term/in-course test may contribute up to a maximum of 50% of the final grade. Students who do not take the test, do not meet the minimum attendance requirement, or do not obtain a passing result will be assessed according to the ordinary examination procedures.
Assessment Methods
The examination consists of a language assessment test and an oral examination. The two parts are administered jointly. The language assessment test, consisting of a series of grammar and language exercises aimed at assessing the level achieved in English, is preparatory to the oral examination. The oral examination consists of an interview in English during which students’ knowledge, competences and skills relating to the pragmatics syllabus will be assessed.
Language of the examination: English.
Assessment criteria: the final grade may range from 18/30 to 30/30, depending on the accuracy and completeness of the oral examination, the appropriate use of the methodologies and theories studied, the ability to apply them to textual analysis, and the student’s command of English.
The minimum passing grade, 18/30, is awarded when the student demonstrates uncertain or partial mastery of the knowledge acquired and of its application, limited to the basic foundations of the topics covered, together with a minimum ability to use English to argue and present the course contents.
The highest grade, 30/30, is awarded when the student demonstrates complete and thorough mastery of the theoretical knowledge and analytical methods studied, is able to apply them critically and accurately to textual interpretation, and shows a high command of English in arguing and presenting the course contents without significant uncertainty.
Honours are awarded when the student demonstrates full mastery of the theoretical and methodological contents, the ability to connect the different topics covered in a cross-cutting manner, critical autonomy in the application of analytical tools, and excellent presentation skills.
Texts
Culpeper, Jonathan, and Michael Haugh. Pragmatics and the English Language. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Huang, Yan. Pragmatics. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Mansfield-Kelley, Deane, and Lois A. Marchino, eds. The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.
Contents
- Pragmatics: definition, scope and domains of the discipline
- The history of pragmatics: Austin, Searle, Grice
- Speech acts, implicatures and the construction of inferential meaning
- Interpersonal pragmatics and (im)politeness theory: Brown and Levinson; Culpeper
- Interdisciplinary models: pragmatics, conversation analysis and textual linguistics
- Pragmastylistics: intersections between pragmatics, stylistics and fictional text analysis
- Pragmatics of character: dialogue, interaction, identity and the construction of voice
- Linguistic characterisation in narrative and dramatic texts
- Pragmatics of detective fiction: investigation, inference, cooperation and suspicion
- The evidential paradigm: clues, signs, evidence and the construction of interpretation
- Investigative dialogue, interrogation, reticence and information management
- Integrated models of pragmatic and pragmastylistic analysis applied to detective fiction case studies
Course Language
More information
For the academic year 2026/2027, the course will include:
* a module focusing on the dialogic dynamics that characterise twentieth-century Anglo-American detective fiction, explored through the pragmatic analysis of conversational exchanges in English drawn from film and television narratives.