48
English Language and Translation
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course consists of a six-month theoretical/methodological module and annual language exercises. The course is intended for second-year students as a means of testing and consolidating the metalinguistic competence and linguistic knowledge necessary for understanding and using the English language in everyday, academic and specialist contexts in order to enable students to make uniform and harmonious progress in the development of the four language skills (writing, reading, listening, speaking). Particularly, students will observe and study linguistic variation in authentic texts and materials from a diatopic, diastratic, diaphasic and diamesic perspective.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The English Language 2 course aims to provide students with adequate knowledge to achieve communicative competence in English at the upper-intermediate level, encompassing both oral and written comprehension and production skills. In particular, the course aims to provide an overview of English as a global language. The most significant differences between American and British English will serve as a starting point for a broader discussion of the diatopic variation of the English language, with a focus on other major varieties. The course aims to provide the necessary tools to highlight how the English language varies in terms of syntax, morphology, vocabulary and (to a lesser extent) phonology. The status of English as a global language will also be considered. In this way, teaching aims to provide knowledge and skills related to the learning/acquisition of the English language and its linguistic and communicative structures so that students are able to analyse linguistic and communicative aspects of authentic textual and multimedia materials related to the use of the English language and its varieties.
FURTHER EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
WITH REFERENCE TO THE DUBLIN DESCRIPTORS, THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES ARE:
Autonomy of judgement:
Ability to learn independently, to interpret and synthesise in English various and complex texts in an autonomous, personal and effective manner. From the point of view of autonomy of judgement, the metalinguistic analysis of certain specificities linked to the English language and its varieties is required.
Communicative skills:
Intermediate-superior skills of comprehension and production of audio-oral text. Students are expected to be able to express themselves in a clear and structured manner with few errors. Students are expected to have developed the four language skills (reading, listening, writing, and speaking) in an integrated manner, as well as to be familiar with the main phonological, morphosyntactic, and lexical aspects of the English language. In addition, they will be introduced to the comprehension and production of everyday language through the use of printed and audio materials, which will expose them to different language varieties.
Course Prerequisites
The student must have good reading and comprehension skills in English. The initial language proficiency of the course is at an intermediate to intermediate-superior level and is intended to consolidate this level by the course exit.
Teaching Methods
The course consists of a semester-long module of 48 hours of frontal teaching by the lecturer in the first semester and year-long practical exercises for communicative purposes by native English-speaking CELs. The programme applies to attending and non-attending students. As the lectures are interactive and require active and continuous participation in oral discussions, constant attendance is encouraged. Students unable to attend are invited to contact the lecturer (in advance of the session in which they intend to take the exam) during office hours for clarification on the use of study materials. All students, whether attending or not, are invited to register on the university e-learning platform Moodle (CLAOR), through which study materials will be made available and information on the course of lectures will be shared.
Assessment Methods
The examination consists of a written and oral test
There will be no discussion of project work.
In the written test, the questions are Multiple-choice and free-response
The examination is conducted in English.
Assessment criteria:
The written test is preparatory to the oral test.
The oral examination consists of a discussion, in English, of the topics covered during the methodology course. There will be the possibility of in-itinere testing of the written and oral skills to be acquired. Assessment is based on language skills (reading, listening, writing, and speaking) and the ability to analyse authentic texts.
The final assessment may vary from 18/30 to 30/30, depending on the level of accuracy and completeness of the oral interview, as well as the correct use of methodologies and theories, and the mastery of the English language.
The minimum assessment level (18/30) within the required level is awarded when the student demonstrates uncertain or partial mastery in the application of the knowledge and methods studied, and has fragmentary knowledge or knowledge limited to the fundamentals of the various topics covered. He/she also demonstrates a minimal command of the English language in arguing and expounding his/her theses, partially in line with an intermediate-higher level of English language proficiency.
The highest grade level (30/30) within the required level is awarded when the student demonstrates complete and thorough mastery in the application of the theoretical knowledge and methods of analysis studied, and is able to solve the problems addressed critically and accurately. The student also demonstrates a high command of the English language in arguing and expounding his/her theses without uncertainty, in line with an upper-intermediate level of English language proficiency.
Honours is awarded when the student demonstrates an absolute mastery of theoretical and methodological content, the ability to relate the various topics covered in a cross-cutting manner, and is able to present the arguments with considerable expressive ability. Also assessed is the autonomy of judgment demonstrated in the selection of alternative texts to those proposed by the lecturer to further explore the topics addressed in the analysis.
Texts
- Crystal, David 2018. "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language" (3rd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (SOLO Part I [Chapt. 7] e Part V [Chapt. 20]).
- Jenkins, Jennifer 2015 “Global Englishes. A Resource Book for Students”, (3rd edition) Routledge
Additional study material will be provided during the course on the MOODLE platform specifically dedicated. An up/tò/date monolingual dictionary is recommended.
Contents
1. Context and variation in the study of the English language: diamesic, diastratic, diatopic and diaphasic variation
2. Key concepts in the study of English(es):
3. Models for understanding the spread of English
4. Language contact phenomena: hybridity in World Englishes
5. English in different areas of the world
6. English as a global language and English as a Lingua Franca
7. Categorising World Englishes
8. Language change and language contact
9. British English and North American English: grammatical, orthographical and lexical differences
10. English-based pidgins and creoles
11.Euro English
12.Lesser known Englishes
Course Language
English
More information
Students are encouraged to attend classes regularly and to actively participate in classroom interactions. General language courses are held by our English mother tongue teachers (CEL).