Communicative competence in the English language at or above level B1

• Bring students to level B2 in all skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing)
• Develop skills for assessment, self-assessment, and 'learning how to learn'
• Gain an understanding of the complex cultural, social and national identities of the inhabitants of the British isles, to better understand the socio-political dynamics present in post-Brexit Britain

English language lessons given by the Mother-tongue language instructors (Dott.ssa Alatas and Dott.Tannert) form an integral part of the course. The content, texts and timetables of the lessons will be indicated at the beginning of the course on the instructors' webpages.

Part 1 - all students (6cfu and 9cfu)

Analysing Learner Errors and Assessing Written Work

This part of the course focuses on a central question for university language students: “Why didn’t I get a higher grade?”, and invites students to become critically self-aware by examining, critically evaluating and discussing short essays written by learners of a similar level to their own. In so doing they will learn to identify

(i) common errors in vocabulary, grammar and syntax which should be avoided;

(ii) which kinds of words, phrases, and grammar forms are too "simple" and therefore fail to demonstrate ability at the required level;

(iii) some of the features of good and excellent writing that they can emulate and aspire to;

(iv) how language skills are assessed in terms of "range" and "control" in relation to the CEFR levels.

Students will be introduced to the EAQUALS language assessment and self-assessment materials, learn about the core parameters of “control” (precision, correctness and appropriateness) and “range” (use of different forms and structures; lexical and phrasal variety), and what characteristics each of the CEFR levels have. The main purpose is to make students aware of their own weaknesses and strengths, to help them to set learning goals, and to ensure that they understand how their own language performance is assessed. A secondary learning outcome is to provide initial training for future teachers in how to assess and evaluate students’ work.

This part of the course is assessed with a written test based on the texts analysed in class (notes will be provided for non-attending students).

Part 2 (only for 9cfu course)

National and cultural identities in post-Brexit Britain

The second area addressed during the course concerns the cultural identities of English speakers, with a particular focus on the four nations of post-Brexit Britain. Students will be presented with selected extracts from Gavin Esler's (2021) "How Britain Ends: English Nationalism and the Rebirth of Four Nations" for discussion, debate and language/translation practice.

This part of the course will be evaluated with an oral exam.

Texts adopted

6cfu course (3rd year, ‘third language’)

(A) Brian NORTH, Angeles ORTEGA & Susan SHEEHAN (2011) A Core Inventory for General English. British Council / EAQUALS https://www.eaquals.org/wp-content/uploads/EAQUALS_British_Council_Core_Curriculum_April2011.pdf

9cfu course

(A) Gavin ESLER (2021) How Britain Ends: English Nationalism and the Rebirth of Four Nations. London: Head of Zeus. (selected extracts: approx. 30 pages)

(A) Brian NORTH, Angeles ORTEGA & Susan SHEEHAN (2011) A Core Inventory for General English. British Council / EAQUALS https://www.eaquals.org/wp-content/uploads/EAQUALS_British_Council_Core_Curriculum_April2011.pdf

General reference for all students – free online resources

Dictionaries

(C) Cambridge English Dictionary https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/

(C) Il Sansoni inglese-italiano https://dizionari.corriere.it/

Grammar reference

(C) Cambridge English Grammar https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/

(C) Collins COBUILD English Usage https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/english-usage

Listening practice

(C) BBC Learning English - English in the News https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/englishinthenews

(C) Times Radio [app] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio/how-to-listen-to-times-radio/app

(C) NPR One [app] https://www.npr.org/app

Teaching is mainly (>70%) conducted in English

• All students must have reached at least level B1 before the start of the course. To this end, all students are invited to attend the intensive ‘corso propedeutico’ in the first five weeks of semester 1 and to attend the regular lettorato lessons held in the second half of semester 1 and throughout semester 2.
• Students who hold a language certificate attesting their level as B2 or higher can normally ask for this to be recognized in place of the end-of-year lettorato exam (“prova scritta di accertamento linguistico”). The request must be made formally, following the guidelines published on the Department website https://lingue.unimc.it/it/ -> riconoscimento certificazioni linguistiche. Please note that a certificate cannot be used more than once.
• The written tests are organised in correspondence with the examination sessions, with a total of 3 examination opportunities throughout the year (May, September, January).
• In order to take the oral examination (9cfu course only), students must have passed both written examinations (the language test and the Analysing Learner Errors examination).
• The language competence descriptors for the different European levels can be consulted at the URL https://www.eaquals.org/wp-content/uploads/EAQUALS_Bank_as_levels.pdf

• • Face-to-face and interactive lectures, in which theoretical-methodological notions will be set out and enhanced with exercises and the analysis of texts proposed by the lecturer. Students are invited to actively participate in the discussions.
  • Pair and group work

• 6cfu course (third language, 3rd year)

  1. 50% language assessment test ('lettorato'), level B2 by native speakers. The written test consists of two parts: Grammar and Reading Comprehension (90 minutes), plus a Listening test (40 minutes).
  2. 50% written test of 'Analysing Learner Errors' - analysis, evaluation and commentary of a passage in English written by a learner (90 minutes). In the test, students have to put themselves in the teacher's shoes, analysing the text to identify both the errors present (see 'control') and the grammatical, syntactic and lexical breadth ('range'), and finally come up with an overall assessment of the quality of the passage. The test is conducted in English. *In this test, the student may freely consult a monolingual dictionary and notes*.

  
  

  9cfu course

  1. 40% language assessment test ('lettorato'), level B2 set by mother-tongue language instructors. The written test consists of two parts: Grammar and Reading Comprehension (90 minutes), plus a Listening test (40 minutes).
  2. 30% written test 'Analysing Learner Errors' - analysis, evaluation and commentary of a passage in English written by a learner (120 minutes). In the test, students have to put themselves in the teacher's shoes, analysing the text to identify both the errors present (see 'control') and the grammatical, syntactic and lexical breadth ('range'), and finally come up with an overall assessment of the quality of the passage. The test is conducted in English. *In this test, the student may freely consult a monolingual dictionary and notes*.
  3. 30% oral test (10 min). The oral test consists of a semi-structured interview in English, which will focus on one or more topics covered with reference to Esler's book (cf. Adopted texts), including:
  • The Irish question
  • The Union of the Scottish and English crowns
  • Devolution and home rule
  • Independence
  • New English nationalisms
  • North vs South: England divided
  • Social class and the Brexit vote
  • The British Empire and the last of the colonies

  All tests (written and oral) conducted in English are assessed at level B2, the parameters of which are also studied during the common course.

Teaching is mainly (>70%) consucted in English; exams are conducted in English

English