LINGUAGGI SETTORIALI E TRADUZIONE ANGLOAMERICANA

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 selected texts, and translation work from and to American English will be deeply encouraged, especially with regard to specialized languages of the contemporary American context. The course will aim at the acquisition of B2/C1 levels.

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 will develop a strong understanding and a capability to decode key concepts throughout the various texts.

applying knowledge and understanding:

The students will be able to work, in groups or individually, on the issues arising from the texts, both during reading 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 and relate to the content of the texts by enriching the range of analytical and critical hints with their personal reflections.

making judgement:

Guided by the material and the methodological tools through the discussion phase, the students will be able to activate autonomous capabilities for working on writing assignments or translations.

communication skills:

Through the successful completion of the course, students will be able to express in an articulate way their knowledge, their thoughts and their projects.

learning skills:

Students will be involved in frequent writing and translation practice. The skills thus acquired aim at establishing language command in events of social interaction in English, and both in cultural and professional contexts. By 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.

Text will be discussed and translated in seminar form

Third year language major students should start out at a low C1 level in all four of the language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening), and work towards a higher C1 level by the end of the academic year. The third-year program targets ESP and the course will concentrate on and reinforce the students’ reading and writing skills, with an initial focus on the study of translation theories and on translation practice from American English into Italian (practice texts will include poetry, fiction, essays and audiovisual material). Main formative goals will also include writing practice - academic essay writing - guided by the use of the workbook text indicated below. The course’s specific topic will be: AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES – LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, CULTURE. This reinforcement for most of the language skills should, by exam time, help the students achieve a higher C1 level.

Translation Theory :

Lawrence Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, Nottingham Univ. Press, Bundle 2000.

Susan Bassnett, Translation Studies, Routledge, London/New York 2002.

Merriam Webster Dictionary

www.thesaurus.com

Writing Practice:

Trudy Smoke, A Writer's Workbook. A Writing Text with Readings, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005.

Exams

WRITTEN EXAM Students will be requested to write an essay of about 500 words on a topic related to the content of the course. They will be also requested to provide a translation (English to Italian) of about 350 words.

N.B. Students that only need 6 CFU are exempted from submitting the essay but need to hand in TWO 350-word translation (English to Italian).

ORAL EXAM Students will be requested to read and discuss the content of the readings analyzed during the course. They will be asked to summarize core concepts and identify keywords/key expressions, and to critically engage with the source material. They will be also able to provide an accurate translation of a short excerpt from one of the texts under analysis.