ANGLOAMERICAN LANGUAGE 1

The course will focus on the grammatical, phonetic, and lexical aspects of American English, with attention to its regional variations, as well as to its distinctions from British English. Part of the course will focus on reading, comprehension and critical discussion of the chosen texts. The texts will guide the students through a critical analysis of themes regarding the American academic world, the intercultural dialogue in the US, immigrant contexts, globalization and transnationalism.

Spoken and written abilities will be deeply encouraged, and students will be enabled to actively respond to the issues analyzed in the classroom with papers and articles.

knowledge and understanding:

During the course the students of Anglo-American language will deepen their understanding of textual analysis, through a close reading practice of essays, articles and book excerpts. They have already developed a strong understanding of the cultural context within which they are encouraged to identify and interpret the grammatical and lexical features of the material, and to decode key concepts throughout the various topographies of the texts. The educational objectives of the course regard the consolidation of the language skills of level C1/C2 according to CEFR parameters.

applying knowledge and understanding:

The students will be able to work, in groups or individually, on the issues arising from the texts, both during pre-reading / prelistening activities and during the critical survey of the material analyzed in the classroom. Students will be actively involved in describing actions, formulate hypotheses, list situations - relate to the content of the texts - by enriching the range of analytical and critical hints with their personal reflections. A comparative analysis will be encouraged, in order to enable the students to interpret, understand, and properly use modes of expression in situations of intercultural and inter-linguistic exchange.

making judgement:

Guided by the material and the methodological tools through the discussion phase, the students will be enabled to independently assess the strengths and weaknesses of an essay, a scientific paper or a piece of fiction in the Anglo-American language, thus activating autonomous capabilities for analysis and "argumentation", which will be favored in frequent writing practice, both during the lessons and in the form of assignments - to be completed independently from home.

communication skills:

Through the successful completion of tests and exams and the final degree, they will be able to express, in a complex and articulate way their thoughts, their projects and the results of their study courses.
In the course, students will be also involved in short and frequent writing practice, designed for the development of synthesis capabilities. The skills thus acquired aim at establishing language control in events of social interaction in English, and both in cultural and professional contexts; they also favor the students' path of research, providing them with a methodology for the study and the writing of their final dissertation.

learning skills:

Using the skills acquired through lectures, tutorials, seminars and laboratory work, the students of Anglo-American language will easily interact with Italian and foreign partners, modulating their linguistic intervention according to different contexts.

First year post-grad language major students should already have a C1 level in all four of the language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening). In my course priority will be to given to academic reading and writing, with a specific focus on the themes of HUMAN DEVELOPMENT and BEHAVIOR and SOCIAL ISSUES from an academic perspective. Critical analysis and academic discussion will be deeply encouraged after each reading in the classroom. Academic writing practice will follow, both during the lab hours and through home assignments. At the end of the course the students will be asked to work on their presentation skills, and prepare a specific written report on one of the topics analyzed during the year.

During the oral exam the final report will be discussed also with the help of PowerPoint Presentation Slides.

Methods and Strategies:

Activities in class will consist in shared and independent reading, group discussion, lab (use of media), language analysis, complex translation (direct and indirect), and academic writing practice (paragraph building, paraphrasing and summarizing skills, full essay composition).

1. Miriam Espeseth, Academic Encounters 4 (Human Behavior) Reading/Writing – New York/London – Cambridge University Press.

2. Dictionary: Merriam Webster (online version); Roget’s Thesaurus (online version);

3. Wordreference (www.wordreference.com).

Further reading material for analysis and translation practice will be provided during the course.