ENGLISH LANGUAGE

This course is a core component of the Humanities, History, and Philosophy degree programs. Its primary goal is to equip students with fundamental methodological tools for linguistic analysis and interlingual comparison. By focusing on developing skills in reading comprehension, translating specialised texts, presenting orally specialised content, discussing it effectively, as well as writing academically and professionally, students are prepared for both academic pursuits and professional activities within an international framework

The English Language course (Letters, History and Philosophy) is in 3 parts:

1) monographic course, delivered by Dr. Compagnoni in the 4th period, which includes three weekly meetings for a total of 30 hours.
2) 15 hours of 'Reading and discussion' tutorials (subject to availability), choosing between English for the Arts and English for History & Philosophy.
3) 15 hours of 'Writing' exercises (subject to availability), choosing between Professional Writing and Academic Writing.

To attend the 'Reading and discussion' and 'Writing' courses, students should contact the language assistants Nicholas Jones (nicholas.jones@unive.it) and Ewan Glenton (ewan.glenton@unive.it) for course attendance. Please note that places are limited, so we recommend contacting them in advance.

- Knowledge and comprehension of English terminology, phraseological and grammatical aspects of oral and written English within academic and professional contexts of humanities subjects.

- Understand and analyse specialised English-language texts in both phraseological and grammatical terms

- Translate specialised academic texts from English to Italian

- Present and discuss orally the contents of a specialised text in English

- Write academic and professional texts useful for studying and working abroad (CV, formal letter, email, etc.)

Passing the B1 test is not necessary to attend the courses; however, it is mandatory before taking this exam. The University Language Centre (CLA) manages the test. For further information about how the test is organised, contact the CLA (https://www.unive.it/pag/30211/ ).

The course aims to provide students with language skills and terminology valuable knowledge for understanding, reading and discussing authentic texts.

In fact, the course aims to refine comprehension skills in reading and listening to scientific texts. The participant(s) will become familiar with the organisation and structure of the scientific exposition in English, formal writing and presentation tools that will accompany him/her in the vast world of language publications and enable him/her to express him/herself with specific terminology and structures. Finally, special care will be given to oral production and reinforcement of grammatical forms included in the program.

The course is divided into thematic blocks that take into account the needs of different courses of study and cover topics in History, English and Italian Literature, Philosophy, and Art History.

The study of grammar (in lectures and for self-study) includes areas such as:
- present simple and continuous
- past simple and continuous
- present perfect simple and continuous
- past perfect simple and continuous
- future tenses
- articles
- comparative and superlative adjectives
- adverbs
- linkers
- modals and semi-modals: can, could, should, must, have to, may, might, need to
- conditionals
- relative clauses
- reported speech
-ing forms and infinitives.

In both reading and listening, special attention will be paid to specific language skills, such as understanding key concepts in an academic text, distinguishing main ideas from details of supporting an argument, and recognising unsupported claims and claims supported by evidence. In the oral production section, special attention will be paid to the ability to sustain an argument, arguing the pros and cons of different positions in a clear and structured manner.

PART I: Writing
Handouts:
E. GLENTON: Academic Writing Skills for the Humanities (2024)
F. GEBHARDT: Professional English (2024)

PART II: Reading
Handouts:
F. GEBHARDT, E. GLENTON & N. JONES: English for the Arts (2025)
F. GEBHARDT, E. GLENTON & N. JONES: English for History & Philosophy (2025)

PART III: Lecture course
Texts:
Murphy, Raymond, English Grammar in Use Upper intermediate, 5th edition, Cambridge University Press, 2019.
F. GEBHARDT: English Pronunciation

Additional materials will be available on the course Moodle page.

The exam comprises three parts, which must be passed in the following order:

1) written exam on general grammar, punctuation and lexis with a guided writing exercise which entails the production of an academic text or a covering letter;
2) oral exam involving the comprehension and discussion in English of six chosen texts from one of the books used in the 'reading' tutorials;
3) oral exam assessing comprehension, analysis and translation of texts studied during the lecture course.

The final grade will take into account the linguistic exercises in their assessment of the four skills of written and oral production and written and oral comprehension; in particular, the monographic examination will evaluate the metalinguistic, lexical and morphosyntactic competence, and it will be finalised taking into account the following percentage:

'Reading and discussion' exam = 25 %
'Writing' exam = 25%
Monographic course exam (oral) = 50 %

Tutorial course marks last for 18 months (however, we strongly recommend completing the exam within 12 months).

written and oral

Lectures, individual and small group activities, guided discussions, use of authentic printed, audio and video materials.

Attendance is strongly recommended.
Students who attend the tutorials will have a reduced examination programme, both written and oral.
Students who sit an English Language exam for anything other than 6 credits must contact me to agree an exam programme.

Students are advised to consult my personal page regularly.

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