ENGLISH LANGUAGE

English Language is an advanced C1+/C2 English Language Course. The general student learning outcomes for the course are:
To develop and consolidate knowledge and skills in English at the C1+/C2 level in the four language modalities (written and spoken language comprehension, written and spoken language production, including spoken and written interaction) with a focus on the use of English in international Academic Contexts (English for Academic Purposes, EAP). To develop knowledge and understanding of topics related to the cognitive science of language so as to permit fruitful classroom discussions; to develop original and in depth analyses of English with a multi-method approach using the analytical and empirical methods of cognitive science, linguistics, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics.

Consolidate and develop students' abilities to conduct in depth and original linguistic analyses of English in a comparative approach, analyzing both standard and regional varieties and registers.
Consolidate and develop students' comprehension and understanding of spoken and written texts of a high degree of complexity and idiomaticity.

This is a year-long course with language practice labs (esercitazioni linguistiche) starting in the first semester, facilitated by the "Collaboratori Esperti Linguistici" (CEL). The second semester consists of a module held by the Course Instructor. The language practice labs focus on developing students' spoken and written language skills, including spoken presentation and interaction skills. The module in the second semester has a dual purpose: to develop students' linguistic and metalinguistic competencies in the analyses of English; to strengthen and consolidate students' use of English as an international academic language (English for Academic purposes), fostering their sense of belonging to an international academic community.

Student Learning Outcomes include:

Develop and consolidate knowledge and use of English at the C1+/C2 level in the four modalities (written and spoken language comprehension, written and spoken language production, including spoken and written interaction).
Develop understanding and comprehension skills applied to the critical analyses of written and oral texts in English.
Develop independent research skills.
Develop comprehension and interaction skills to allow active participation in international academic environments.
Develop presentation skills to present one's individual research, being able to adapt the presentation to the background and needs of a diverse audience (e.g., experts, general public, audiences with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

With reference to the Dublin Descriptors ,student learning outcomes are:

1. Knowledge and Understanding of:
1a. the common functions of written academic discourse; knowledge and understanding of the structure, organization and content of an academic text types (articles, abstracts, proceedings, book chapters, meta-analyses, textbooks, popular books) (EAP)
1b. the functions and differences between different types of academic communication including cultural and linguistic aspects involved in participating in academic seminars, guest lectures, conferences (EAP).
1c. describing charts and graphs in plain in English
1d. the main qualitative and quantitative methods to study English and its spoken and written varieties (Genre and Discourse analysis, computational and corpus linguistics).
1e.models of language use: spoken and written language production and comprehension (psycholinguistics);
1f. recent debates in the acquisition and use of English as an L1/L2/FL or LF (psycholinguistics).
1g. the role of language in the construction of social and cultural identity (sociolinguistics).

2. Applied knowledge and understanding: students will be able to (SWBAT):

2a. produce original and in-depth analyses of linguistic texts and data in English.
2b. comprehend and produce written and spoken texts of a complex and specialized nature.
2c. express complex and original thoughts using the most appropriate register.
2d. translate and adapt texts between languages (to and from English).
f. summarize existing studies using appropriate referencing conventions (literature review).
2g. analyze, comment on, present and discuss existing data (data coding, data commentary).

C1 level English of the CEFR.

Analysis of academic communication and interaction: common functions of written academic discourse; knowledge and understanding of the structure, organization and content of an academic text types (articles, abstracts, proceedings, book chapters, meta-analyses, textbooks, popular books); functions and differences between different types of academic communication including cultural and linguistic aspects involved in participating in academic seminars, guest lectures, conferences, academic group discussions and presentations.
Analysing language with quantitative methods, Methods in psycholinguistics
Models of language: production
Models of language comprehension
Computational models of lexical access (IDell's Interactive Activation Model)
Recent debates in the acquisition and use of English as an L1/L2/FL or LF (psycholinguistics).
English in bilingual speakers with English as an L1/L2/FL/LF.
Adapting assessment batteries cross-linguistically (English, Italian).

Swales, J. & Feak, C. (2012). Academic Writing for Graduate Students, Second Edition: Essential Tasks and Skills (Michigan Series in English for Academic & Professional Purposes). ISBN-13: 978-0472088560.
Paul Warren (2013). Introducing Psycholinguistics. Cambridge University Press
A Corpus of written and spoken texts will be available on Moodle at the beginning of the first semester. Students will be invited to contribute to the corpus during the second semester.

Achievement of learning outcomes is assessed with a written and an oral exam.
The exam consists of a 3 hour written exam and an oral exam for which students must have passed the written exam to sit. The written exam covers all parts of the course.
For the module part the exam is a written test (1hr, 30 mins.) consisting of 4 short academic texts. Total points for the module part of the exam: 30.
Question types, word limit and points assigned for each question are as follows;

1. Data description (as in an APA results section) [150 words/7,5 points]
2. Follow up proposal based on input [200 words/7,5 points]
3. Process essay: account for the production of a sentence given a verb, using a diagram, with references, [300 words/7,5 points].
4. compare and contrast essay: comparison between opinions, phenomena, theories, approaches, methods, clearly presenting arguments for and against each position. [300 words/7,5 points]

Written Exam for the Language Practice Labs: Expository writing on topics related to the course and developed during the language labs.
All written exams are evaluated with C1+/C2 scales for written expression. Grades are expressed on an 18-30 scale.
The oral exam consists of a discussion of the answers from the written part of the exam with a maximum of two additional questions. Orals are approximately 10 minutes.

Frontal lessons and seminars, guest lectures; language practice labs, small group discussions, instructor facilitated whole class discussions and mini-presentations, peer-review activities, cooperative learning groups.

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion: Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments.

Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with
mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development