Unit ENGLISH FOR COMMUNICATION SCIENCE
- Course
- Communication sciences
- Study-unit Code
- GP000201
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Federico Zanettin
- Teachers
-
- Federico Zanettin
- Hours
- 63 ore - Federico Zanettin
- CFU
- 9
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2021
- Offered
- 2022/23
- Learning activities
- Base
- Area
- Discipline semiotiche, linguistiche e informatiche
- Academic discipline
- L-LIN/12
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- English
- Contents
- The course of English for Communication Studies provides an introduction to aspect of English language music culture and industry in the the past century. Song lyrics and videos are used as source material for a number of comprehension and production activities and to discuss different levels of linguistic analysis. Some academic articles will also be used as a basis for writing activities (summaries), which will be reviewed in class. Students will be able to practice and develop their comprehension and production skills with activities specifically designed from a range of authentic materials.
- Reference texts
- Attending students:
The materials used in class and to be studied for the exam will be made available on the UniStudium platform, including gray materials containing the written activities and the academic texts to be used for the summaries. It will be the responsibility of students to download and print the materials.
Non-attending students:
Alan Partington and Charlotte Taylor (2017) The Language of Persuasion in Politics. An Introduction. Routledge.
Grammar:
Both attending and non-attending student can refer to the following text, available online:
The Survey of English Usage (1996-1998) The Internet Grammar of English, University College London, - Educational objectives
- The course focuses on reading and writing skills for students with an intermediate language competence. It aims at fostering abilities and knowledge regarding text-typological and lexicogrammatical features of English communication. At the end of the course students will be able to read and translate at first-sight media texts and understand academic texts in English in the social and communication sciences.
The main acquired knowledge will be:
- Knowledge of the main lexico-syntactical features of English
- Notions of phonetics, phonology and morphology of English
- Knowledge related to figurative language use
- Knowledge of the main linguistic functions and textual typologies
- Knowledge about linguistic variation (vocabulary and pronunciation) in English
- Knowledge of the main features of academic language in English
The main acquired skills will be:
- Comprehension and production skills, particularly as regards song lyrics
- Reading comprehension skills, particularly as regards promotional and informative written texts
- Reading comprehension skills, particularly as regards written texts in academic English in the social sciences
- Listening comprehension skills, particularly as regards promotional and informative audiovisual texts
- Critical reading and listening skills, particularly as regards media discourse
- Autonomous learning and self study skills - Prerequisites
- In order to attend the course of English for Communication Studies students must first obtain a B1 certificate from the University Language Center (CLA – Centro Linguistico di Ateneo, which will forward test results to the professor). The following International certificates are also accepted: TOEFL iBT score 57 or higher, IELTS 4 or higher, Cambridge PET or higher, Trinity ISE 1 or higher. The CLA certificate expires after 24 months, while international certificates expire after 36 months. International certificates must be presented to the professor in the first year, of not later than the first day of class.
NB: The new Inglese Basic test at the CLA cannot be used as a replacement for the B1 certificate. - Teaching methods
- The course comprises lectures with audiovisual material (slides and videos), and practical training based on activities with materials provided ad hoc and made available to attending students on the UniStudium platform. Classroom activities are carried out individually, in pairs and in groups. Students will be required to write two 100 word texts based on the academic texts in the reading list which will be provided. These texts, on which feedback will be provided in class but which will not be graded, must be uploaded on the UniStudium platform by given deadlines.
- Other information
- Attendance to the course of English for International Studies is not mandatory. Students who attend are, however, required to have a valid B1 certificate before attending the course. Attendance status will be conferred only to students with a valid B1 certificate who attend 75% of the course. Attending students will also need to take the written mid-term exam and hand-in two short written assignments on topics provided by the professor and based on the reading list.
All other students will take the exam as non-attending students. All students must enroll using the SOL platform, available at https://unipg.esse3.cineca.it/Home.do. - Learning verification modality
- Assessment criteria differ for attending and non-attending students.
Attending students: Students who regularly attend the course take a written exam during the course and an oral exam at the end of the course. On the whole, the exams are aimed at testing reading comprehension skills, the ability to apply the acquired knowledge for the critical analysis of written documents in public discourse, and the capacity to communicate appropriately and express a personal point of view in the foreign language. The 90-minute written exam includes a cloze test, a reading comprehension activity (both based on authentic material) and a few open questions (based on the topics covered in class). The oral exam is an interview of about 10-15 minutes which takes place as scheduled in the exam calendar. Students are asked questions on the content of 2 of the articles in the reading list. The overall evaluation takes into account the score of the CLA B1 certificate, the score of the written exam, and the oral assessment. Students who take the exam after November 2022 will be considered as non-attending students and tested accordingly (see section below).
Non-attending students: The overall evaluation of non-attending is based on an oral exam, and also takes into account the score obtained in the CLA B1 certificate. The exam consists of a 20-25 minute interview during which students have to show their ability to read, translate and report orally in English the content of the written and audiovisual documents presented and analyzed in the course book. They also have to show they have developed the appropriate linguistic competence by doing the activities developed from the written and audiovisual materials in the book and DVD. For instance, they must be able to recognize the main rhetorical structures and figures in a political speech or debate. The course book contains keys and commentaries to all activities which students can use for self-study. Students are also assumed to be familiar with the contents and terminology of the online Internet Grammar of English. - Extended program
- The course of English for Communication Studies provides an introduction to the development of the music industry and culture in the second half of the twentieth century, with particular reference to popular American music. The presentation of authors and topics from different times will be accompanied by the reading of articles looking at music from a social science perspective. Classes will focus on the lyrics of songs which have taken a special significance or are representative of a particular era. The lyrics will be taken as a starting point to discuss different levels of linguistic analysis (phonetics, syntax, lexis, pragmatics, etc.) and for a range of listening and reading comprehension activities. Song lyrics will be used together with related authentic written and audiovisual materials, such as promotional videos, interviews and articles taken from the press and specialized publications.
Class activities will be integrated with practical tasks from the online course The Internet Grammar of English.