ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2

The course, as part of the LCSL degree course, will develop the linguistic skills acquired during the previous year. In particular, it will develop the students' skills in terms of the metalinguistic and textual analyses required to understand and produce texts in English iin communicative contexts that include everyday as also academic and specialized situations.

The course consists of a Professor’s module held in the second semester and a year round language practice course (“esercitazioni”) closely integrated with the module and coordinated by the Professor. The general aim is to consolidate the metalinguistic competences needed to understand the English language as it is used in English-speaking countries as well as in everyday communicative situations (both in general and in academic or specialized contexts).

Competences:
Theoretical and applied competence of the English language as it is used in English-speaking countries (as L1 and L2) as well as lingua franca in communicative contexts that include everyday as also academic and specialized situations. The course will have a particular focus on the English morphology, syntax and discourse organization from a diachronic and a synchronic perspective.
Competence Applications:
Students will be able to understand, analyse and produce autonomously multimodal in English produced for specific communicative contexts. Students will also be able to individuate the register and the discipline of the texts, analysing them from a diaphasic, diamesic and diachronic perspective.
Independent Assessment:
Student will be able to analyse complex texts written in English.
Communicative Competences:
Students will be able (at a C1 level on the CEFR) to interact and discuss, appropriately, in English on the extra-linguistic factors (socio-cultural, historical and political) that induce linguistic variation and change in English.
Learning Competences:
Students will be able to select appropriate bibliographical sources (printed and in digital form) to enhance their knowledge on the topics studied in the Professor’s module as well as their general linguistic competence. Students will, then, use what they have learned in the English Language 2 to study in their English Language 3 course, the following year. Students will be able to self-assess their progress with respect to their metalinguistic and communicative competence in English.

B2+ level on the CEFR, obtained after having successfully passed the English Language 1 course.

Title of the theoretical module with the Professor: Variation(s) in English
The theoretical module (with the Professor) will provide students with theoretical-methodological frameworks that will be used by the students to understand, analyse and produce texts in English that can be used in everyday, specialized and academic communicative contexts. Students will analyse, in particular, linguistic variation in authentic (multimodal) texts from diastratic, diaphasic, diamesic, diachronic and synchronic perspectives. The texts to be analysed during the module's classes will be chosen to fit the different curricula of the students.

PROFESSOR’S MODULE (ATTENDERS AND NON-ATTENDERS):
• Cesiri, Daniela. 2015. Variation in English across space and discourses. An introductory textbook. Roma: Carocci.
• Lecture material available in Moodle (http://moodle.unive.it/ ).

COURSEBOOKS FOR THE LANGUAGE PRACTICE CLASSES WITH THE CEL:
• John Soars, Liz Soars. Headway Advanced. Oxford University Press [class]
• Mark Foley, Diane Hall. MyGrammarLab C1/C2. Pearson [reference grammar, class]
• Paterson, Ken / Wedge, Roberta (2013). Oxford Grammar for EAP: English Grammar and Practice for Academic Purposes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [OPTIONAL reference grammar]

Reference book for the specific terminology used in the Professor’s MODULE:
• Biber, Douglas, Conrad, Susan, Leech, Geoffrey (2002). Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Longman

OPTIONAL suggested readings on the Professor’s module part:
• Barber, Charles. 2000. The English Language. A Historical Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Bauer, Laurie. 1983. English Word-Formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Biber, Douglas / Conrad, Susan (2009). Register, Genre, and Style. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Crystal, David. 2003. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Crystal, David. 1996. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Gotti, Maurizio (2011). Investigating Specialized Discourse. New Edition. Bern: Peter Lang.
• Elmes, Simon. 2005. Talking for Britain. A Journey through the Nation’s Dialects. London: Penguin Books.
• Gregory, Michael & Caroll, Suzanne. 1978. Language and situation: Language varieties and their social contexts. London: Routledge.
• Hughes, Geoffrey. 2003. A History of English Words. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Hitchings, Henry. 2009. The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English. New York: Macmillan.
• Holm, John. 2000. An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Swales, John (2004). Research Genres. Explorations and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The expected learning outcomes are assessed in a structured exam at the end of the second semester. The exam is composed of two parts: assessment for the theoretical module (50 minutes) and general language test (approximately 2h30). The theoretical part is assessed in a structured written exam to test the students’ competence on the theoretical contents. The test will include direct questions and a brief open answer.

The general language test will assess whether students can apply the theoretical notions from the module into the production of a written academic text. The listening comprehension at the C1 level of an academic text (e.g. a TED Talk) will be assessed through brief answers. The reading comprehension of an academic text at the C1 level will assess students' skills to use grammar and lexis in context.
An optional part (Speaking) can be taken by students with the CEL during the academic year (during the E2 practice classes). This consists in a conversation in English that provides 1 to 3 extra points as a bonus on the final mark. The speaking part is optional but highly recommended.

Students need to pass the module’s part, first, to have the rest of the exam marked. Both the module’s part and the general language part (taken on the same day) need to reach the pass mark for the students to successfully pass the English Language 2 exam. For further information, please contact Prof Cesiri.

The English Language 2 course is composed of two parts:
1. Theoretical module (Prof Daniela Cesiri) - blended course
2. Language practice (esercitazioni, ca. 240 hours in class) with the CEL, in small groups, to develop the C1 level (written and spoken language)
Traditional teaching methods will be integrated with the use of multimedia sources and by the students' active participation to activities in class introduced by the Professor to train students in how to individuate and analyse critically the linguistic features of a text from a diachronic as well as a synchronic perspective.

English

Students are informed that:
• The Professor’s module is a blended course held in English and starts in the second semester;
• Materials to be studied for the module’s part and the e-classes will be available in the Moodle Learning Environment (password protected);
• Language practice with the CEL starts in the first semester and will continue in the second semester.

Students who want to read more on specific topics related to the module’s part or who want to write their final dissertation (first- and second-level dissertation) can contact Prof Cesiri via email (daniela.cesiri@unive.it) or during her office hours.

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