English 3

A.Y. 2024/2025
9
Max ECTS
60
Overall hours
SSD
L-LIN/12
Language
English
Learning objectives
The course is aimed at third-year BA students. It consists of lectures (Corso monografico) and practical language classes (Esercitazioni), held by language experts. The lectures aim to provide students with the theoretical tools to study a variety of text types and consolidate their knowledge of English through the analysis of rhetorical strategies, rhetorical and linguistic variation across texts and their linguistic forms. Practical language classes aim to develop students' receptive and productive skills in English at an advanced level.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: the fundamental notions of text and text varieties, registers, genres, and discourse; text, register and genre variation in different communicative situations, with different functions, in oral/written interaction; the rhetorical strategies which determine the linguistic choices in the construction of texts and discourse.

Applying knowledge and understanding: students will be able to identify the main features of text types, registers, and genres; apply the tools and methods of linguistic analysis to different types of texts and interactions; identify the linguistic features relevant for discussion; interpret their functional and textual significance.

Practical language classes: students will be able to write academic essays on a given topic.
Single course

This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.

Course syllabus and organization

A (A-K)

Responsible
Lesson period
year
Course syllabus
The course "The stuff of texts: knowledge and use of English" is made up of three parts:
(A) "The notion of text"
(B) "Texts and contexts"
(C) "English usage in a dynamic medium"
Part A will introduce the key concepts and theoretical frameworks for text analysis; part B will focus on the analysis of textual features in relation to context; part C will explore the uses of language and texts online.
Prerequisites for admission
The course is held entirely in English. Students are expected to have a Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) B2+ proficiency level in English to be able to take part in the teaching activities and to complete the assignments. Students must have completed their English Language 2 and English Literature 2 exams.
Teaching methods
The course adopts the following learning and teaching methods:
- interactive lectures
- individual and group activities (text analysis, oral presentations)
The course also features practical language classes (please refer to the 'esercitazioni' description)
Teaching Resources
The course website (MyAriel) features lesson handouts and notes and further teaching and learning materials.

Reading list:

- Carter, Ronald and Angela Goddard. 2016. How to Analyse Texts. A toolkit for Students of English. Routledge.
- ONE of the books from the reading list below:
1. Adams, Michael. 2012. Slang: The People's Poetry. OUP
2. Burnett, Dean. 2016. The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head is Really Up To. Guardian Faber
3. Crystal, David. 2011. A Little Book of Language. Yale University Press, reprint ed.
4. Francis, Gavin. 2016. Adventures in Human Being. Profile Books, Wellcome Collection
5. Harkup, Kathryn. 2022. Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts. Bloomsbury
6. Horobin, Simon. 2014. Does Spelling Matter?. OUP
7. Jopson, Marty. 2015. The Science of Everyday Life: Why Teapots Dribble, Toast Burns and Light Bulbs Shine. Michael O'Mara Books Limited
8. Jurafsky, Dan. 2014. The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu. Norton
9. Leith, Sam. 2012. Talkin' to me? Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama. Profile Books
10. Mohr, Melissa. 2016. Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing. OUP
11. Okrent, Arika. 2021. Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough don't Rhyme-and other Oddities of the English Language. OUP
12. Shea, Ammon. 2014. Bad English. A History of Linguistic Aggravation. TarcherPerigee
13. Stamper, Kory. 2017. Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Pantheon
14. Wright, John. 2014. The Naming of the Shrew. A Curious History of Latin Names. Bloomsbury

- Materials made available on the MyAriel website
- Not required, but recommended reading: Van Geyte, Els. 2013. Writing. Learn to write better academic essays. Collins.
- ONE of the books from the reading list below:
Assessment methods and Criteria
The course is assessed through both written and oral tests. The exam consists of the following parts:

1. Written test (course)
The written test is made up of open questions and multiple choice questions. Students who attend the course regularly may opt to take mid-term tests instead of the final written test.

2. Oral exam
Students who attend the course regularly may opt to deliver an oral presentation on a specific topic, based on the materials provided in class.

3. Written essay (practical language classes)
Essay exam sessions are in May, September and January. Students write an academic essay of 500-600 words on a given topic. The topics are the ones discussed during the practical language classes. Students are allowed to use a monolingual English dictionary. Writing skills will be evaluated according to lexical and morpho-syntactic clarity, conciseness and textual cohesion and coherence.

4. Book report
Students are required to write a 1000-word report in English, highlighting main topics, rhetorical strategies, linguistic and textual features of a book selected from the reading list (adopting the approaches that will be introduced, discussed and illustrated during the course). The book report must be submitted at the latest one week before the official appello date.

Students are advised to sit the written test and the oral interview in the same exam session, and in any case within 12 months of each other. The final mark is out of 30. Students have the right to reject it, in which case it will be registered as "ritirato".

International or Erasmus incoming students are required to contact the course lecturers as soon as possible. Alternative assessment methods for SEN and disabled students will have to be arranged with the course lecturers and the University Disability Office.
L-LIN/12 - LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION - ENGLISH - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor: Andreani Angela

B (L-Z)

Responsible
Lesson period
year
Course syllabus
The course "The stuff of texts: knowledge and use of English" is made up of three parts:
(A) "The notion of text"
(B) "Texts and contexts"
(C) "English usage in a dynamic medium"
Part A will introduce the key concepts and theoretical frameworks for text analysis; part B will focus on the analysis of textual features in relation to context; part C will explore the uses of language and texts online.
Prerequisites for admission
The course is held entirely in English. Students are expected to have a Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) B2+ proficiency level in English to be able to take part in the teaching activities and to complete the assignments. Students must have completed their English Language 2 and English Literature 2 exams.
Teaching methods
The course adopts the following learning and teaching methods:
- interactive lectures
- individual and group activities (text analysis, oral presentations)
The course also features practical language classes (please refer to the 'esercitazioni' description)
Teaching Resources
The course website, which is hosted on the university's MyAriel platform, features lesson handouts and notes and further teaching and learning materials.

The reading list for parts A, B and C is provided below:

- Carter, Ronald and Angela Goddard. 2016. How to Analyse Texts. A toolkit for Students of English. Routledge
- ONE of the books from the reading list below:
1. Adams, Michael. 2012. Slang: The People's Poetry. OUP
2. Burnett, Dean. 2016. The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head is Really Up To. Guardian Faber
3. Crystal, David. 2011. A Little Book of Language. Yale University Press, reprint ed.
4. Francis, Gavin. 2016. Adventures in Human Being. Profile Books, Wellcome Collection
5. Harkup, Kathryn. 2022. Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts. Bloomsbury
6. Horobin, Simon. 2014. Does Spelling Matter?. OUP
7. Jopson, Marty. 2015. The Science of Everyday Life: Why Teapots Dribble, Toast Burns and Light Bulbs Shine. Michael O'Mara Books Limited
8. Jurafsky, Dan. 2014. The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu. Norton
9. Leith, Sam. 2012. Talkin' to me? Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama. Profile Books
10. Mohr, Melissa. 2016. Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing. OUP
11. Okrent, Arika. 2021. Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough don't Rhyme-and other Oddities of the English Language. OUP
12. Shea, Ammon. 2014. Bad English. A History of Linguistic Aggravation. TarcherPerigee
13. Stamper, Kory. 2017. Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Pantheon
14. Wright, John. 2014. The Naming of the Shrew. A Curious History of Latin Names. Bloomsbury

- Materials made available on MyAriel
- Not required, but highly recommended reading: Van Geyte, Els. 2013. Writing. Learn to write better academic essays. Collins

Notice for non-attending students:
The syllabus is the same for both attending and non-attending students. Since difficulties may arise from preparing the exam on your own, distance learning students are advised to get in touch with the lecturer and to allocate enough study time to prepare for the exam.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The course is assessed through both written and oral tests. 50% of the overall exam mark (out of 30) is allocated to parts A, B and C of the course and 50% to the practical language classes.

The exam consists of the following parts:

1. Written test (course)
The written test is made up of open questions and multiple choice questions. Students who attend the course regularly may opt to take mid-term tests instead of the final written test.

2. Oral exam
Students who attend the course regularly may opt to deliver an oral presentation on a specific topic, based on the materials provided in class.

3. Written essay (practical language classes)
Essay exam sessions are in May, September and January. Students write an academic essay of 500-600 words on a given topic. The topics are the ones discussed during the practical language classes. Students are allowed to use a monolingual English dictionary. Writing skills will be evaluated according to lexical and morpho-syntactic clarity, conciseness and textual cohesion and coherence.

4. Book report
Students are required to write a 1000-word report in English, highlighting main topics, rhetorical strategies, linguistic and textual features of a book selected from the reading list (adopting the approaches that will be introduced, discussed and illustrated during the course). The book report must be submitted at the latest one week before the official appello date.

Students are advised to sit the written test and the oral interview in the same exam session, and in any case within 12 months of each other. The final mark is out of 30. Students have the right to reject it, in which case it will be registered as "ritirato".

International or Erasmus incoming students are required to contact the course lecturers as soon as possible. Alternative assessment methods for SEN and disabled students will have to be arranged with the course lecturers and the University Disability Office.
L-LIN/12 - LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION - ENGLISH - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
Mondays 09.30-10.30 and 12.30-14.30. Please get in touch via email to make an appointment.
Piazza S. Alessandro (Anglistica) / Teams