ANGLO-AMERICAN LANGUAGE 1

My module is based on a textbook entitled “English for American Studies: The Delectable Speaker," which I designed especially with Ca’ Foscari freshmen students in mind. You will be learning about the story of English in the United States, from its early development in the American colonies to the present day. The course is divided into two parts: the first part will introduce you to the development of English in the US from a historical and theoretical perspective; the second part consists of a series of hands-on workshops on selected passages from key American authors. Studying the development of a language and becoming familiar with its usage assumes considering the relation of language to place. The workshop part of the course, therefore, will illustrate concretely how Americans harnessed the English language to their specific world, struggles and hopes.
Students will learn about the historical development of US English and its imaginative perceptions over time, with a focus on its heterogeneity. Students can expect to enhance their language skills, especially reading comprehension and oral and written skills, while acquiring knowledge of the history and the structural features of English as it developed in the United States of America.
The module is linked to year-long Esercitazioni Linguistiche delivered by our Lettori. Esercitazioni linguistiche are mandatory.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to:


(knowledge and understanding)
• make strides in the path of awareness and intercultural awareness as language users, as outlined by The Common European Framework of Reference;
• Know about the empowering connection between reading, interpretation, and writing;
• improve their language competence and performance through the encounter with major texts in the modern and contemporary American cultural tradition;

(knowledge application and comprehension )
• summarize and comment on arguments from a variety of texts, while attempting to formulate their own arguments in response to them;
• identify an issue or a problem of interest
• produce a portfolio selecting one’s best work


(ability to gather and interpret relevant data)
• identify key ideas in the coursebook
• connect key ideas presented in the lectures to the coursebook materials
• draw connections between different ideas and/or authors


(communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions)
• participate in a debate,
• take turn with peers
• collaborate with peers in exploring an idea or solving a problem in response to a text or a question generated by the assigned readings;


(learning skills)
• Listening skills
• Note taking
• Speaking skills
• writing skills

Level B2 of the CEFR and interest in the subject.

Module:

The focus of this part of the module is on building your language skills, especially reading comprehension and oral and written skills while acquiring knowledge on the history and the structural features of English as it developed in the United States of America. Our classes are conceived to welcome first year students. For this reason, their overall aim is to convey the role of awareness as a fundamental aid in the study of a language, as it is championed by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). I will encourage you to activate the power of awareness, which involves the ability to assess your needs and your strengths as a language user.
The more specific objective, of course, is to facilitate a closer acquaintance with American English, the English used in the United States of America. We will overview the historical development of English in the United States and we will learn about its development through contact zones or areas in which different ethnic groups cohabited and co-existed. We will dewll on the representation of American speech in colonial and revolutionary times as well as on the reflection on language in the contemporary age by feminist movements.
My methodology banks on the potential of the language encounter to transform the undergraduate language classroom into a workshop of ideas. Approaching the language of the U.S. offers learners a double opportunity: it enables students to reflect on their own relation to language not only as a set of forms but also as an affective reality; it simultaneously offers students the tools to ask important questions for our time. For example: we will ask what makes the collective institution of language hospitable to individual users; or, how an individual beneficial attachment to a collective institution might be possible. We will do so with the help of short, manageable passages from great modern thinkers. Thus, this introduction to English for American Studies is designed to stimulate your imagination at the linguistic, historical, and cultural levels. Here are the class topics:
1. Introduzione al corso
2. Awareness and Intercultural Awareness
3.Language: The Strange Relation
4. In-Class TEST 1.
5. Imagining American English: A Historical Overview
6.Contact Zones
7. The Speaking Subject
8. In-class TEST 2.
9. The words of Anne Bradstreet
10. Student presentations: Discovering daily life in colonial America: Anne Bradstreet
11.The words of Emily Dickinson
12. Student presentations: Discovering daily life in nineteenth century Massachusetts: Emily Dickinson
13. The words of Dorothy Day
14. Student presentations: Discovering daily life in twentieth-century America: Dorothy Day
15. Conclusion and final pre-exam review


Lettorato:

- developing comprehension skills for oral and written texts
- developing the principal skills for oral and written production
- consolidation of overall level of B2 on CEFR

Module:

Mena Mitrano, English for American Studies: The Delectable Speaker (Venice: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina, 2021). PRINT. Available at Libreria Cafoscarina.
Passages from Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, and Dorothy Day available on Moodle.





Text that will be used during Esercitazioni Linguistiche with our CEL:
Lettorato:
Oxenden, Clive; Latham-Koening, Cristina. ENGLISH FILE DIGITAL GOLD Student’s Book and Workbook, C1. OUP, 2020. ISBN 9780194037891

Michael Swan, Catherine Walter. OXFORD ENGLISH GRAMMAR COURSE, Advanced, with complete interactive e-book, including pronunciation for grammar. OUP 978-0-19-441493-7

Your final grade will be the result of multiple moments of evaluation: Active participation (workshop), 2 in-class tests, final exam.
The two in-class tests will consist of written responses of a limited number of lines to a prompt of a problem-solving nature. They are designed to test your knowledge of the course materials and your capacity to reflect on the ideas presented in the lectures and draw possible connections. The first test is scheduled on WEEK 4 and the second test is scheduled on WEEK 8 (see Class Schedule at the end of this syllabus). Each test will last each 35 mins. The aim is to test your degree of familiarity with the course materials, including, importantly, the capacity to read, comprehend, and comment in detail on a selected text, to propose connections between different texts, ideas, or authors, and your level of English.
The final written exam is modeled on the format of the in-class tests and, like them, it is designed to evaluate your mastery of the course material, the level of your reflection on them, your capacity to develop connections, and your level of English.
Moreover, Esercitazioni Linguistiche are a course requirement. A passing level in Esercitazioni Linguistiche is a precondition for accessing the final exam.

Lecture
Interactive lecture
Peer learning sessions
Student research groups and presentations

English

No more than three absences are allowed. Students who cannot complete their preparation by attending class regularly will complete their preparation individually by reading M. Mitrano, English for American Studies, in its entirety, including the appendixes, and doing the review activities and exercises in the textbook. These students will be evaluated based on the result of their final written exam and on the level of Esercitazioni.
Once again, only students who will have earned a passing level (at least a C) in esercitazioni linguistiche can take the final exam.

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