Syllabus L-12 I

Thematic Units

1. Focus on Form Through Music (Pace Model)

Focus 1 – Past simple, present perfect simple, present perfect continuous

Learners can:

- understand the differences between past simple/present perfect simple and continuous

- use the present perfect with other tenses (commenting, reporting, past tense, future)

Focus 2 – Other perfect tenses

Learners can:

- understand the chronological and achronological aspects of narrative tenses

Focus 3 – Going to, future simple, present continuous, present simple, would

Learners can:

- understand and use the future tenses

- use the verb tenses correctly to express unfulfilled plans, predicting the future, definite time

Focus 4 – Zero conditional, first conditional, second conditional, third conditional

Learners can:

- understand and use the conditional tenses to express realistic conditions, unrealistic conditions, impossible conditions, consequence that are generally true, consequences that may be true, and consequence that are never true

Focus 5 – Mixed conditionals

Learners can:

- understand and use mixed conditional tenses to express how the present would be different if something different had happened in the past and if the present were different, something different would have been done in the past

2. General Writing (linked with Culture & Society and Professional Writing)

Focus 1 – Punctuation and Syntax

Learners can:

- understand the origins and purpose of punctuation

- use English punctuation correctly

- build effective sentences

Focus 2 - Subjects and Actions

Learners understand the importance of and can:

- put actions in verbs

- put characters in subjects

- keep subjects near verbs

Focus 3 - Concision and Simplicity

Learners understand the importance of and can:

- omit needless words (excessive hedging, ineffectual phrases)

- prefer simple words

- use simple subjects

- use adjectives/adverbs frugally

Focus 4 - Cohesion, Coherence, and Emphasis

Learners understand the importance of and can:

- put new information last

- use passive voice judiciously

- match the first and last sentences of a paragraph

Focus 5 - Run-ons and Fragments, Modifiers, Pronouns and Parallelisms

Learners can avoid:

- run-ons and fragments

And can correctly use:

- modifiers, pronouns and parallelisms

Focus 6 -  Relative Clauses

Learners understand and can use:

- defining and non-defining relative clauses

- the three types of reduced relative clauses

Focus 7 -  Passive and active voices

Learners understand and can:

- use the active voice appropriately

- use the passive voice appropriately

Focus 8 -  Conjunctions

Learners understand and can use:

- coordinating conjunctions

- subordinating conjunctions

- correlative conjunctions

3. Culture & Society

Learners watch and discuss episodes of Dead to Me in order to explore culture, social norms and interpersonal relations in the United States. For each episode learners must also submit a written summary paragraph. The paragraph patterns introduced are chronological and list.

4. Travel and Tourism - Virtual Tours (Linked with Professional Writing)

Learners explore the culture, music, cuisine, sights and history of each city indivually and participate in small group tasks.

Focus 1 – Boston

Focus 2 – Las Vegas

Focus 3 – New Orleans

Focus 4 – San Francisco

5. Mock Profession (linked with Professional Writing)

For the professional writing unit, learners must become experts on brand positioning, which is the context for all the professional documents produced.

Learners know:

- the definition and purpose of place branding

- the elements of successful place branding (stakeholders, hardware, software and brand positioning expression)

- how to devise a place branding strategy targeting millennials

6. Professional Writing

The context for all the documents is based on the cities explored during the virtual tours and the mock position of branding consultant introduced in the Mock Profession unit.

Focus 1 – Claim or complaint letter

Learners:

- know the purpose of the document

- can format the letter correctly

- know the proper content for each paragraph

- structure each paragraph correctly

Focus 2 – Positive adjustment letter

Learners:

- know the purpose of the document

- can format the letter correctly

- know the proper content for each paragraph

- structure each paragraph correctly

Focus 3 – Negative adjustment letter

Learners:

- know the purpose of the document

- can format the letter correctly

- know the proper content for each paragraph

- structure each paragraph correctly

Focus 4 – Memorandum

Learners:

- know the purpose of the document

- can format the document correctly

- know the proper content for each paragraph

- structure each paragraph correctly

Exams

Multiple-choice midterm at the end of the first semestre.

Professional writing exam at the end of the second semester.

Online Material

All of the resources used during the lessons are available on the OpenOlat platform: https://online.unimc.it/dmz/