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, Introduction to the course
2. Awareness and Intercultural Awareness
3.Language: The Strange Relation, Part I
4. Language: The Strange Relation, Part II
5. Imagining American English: A Historical Overview
6.Contact Zones
7. The Speaking Subject
8. The Speaking Subject continued
9. American Heroes Workshop series: Walt Whitman
10. Student presentations: Whitman
11. American Heroes Workshop series: Melville's Ishmael
12. Student presentations: Melville's Ishmael
13. American Heroes Workshop series: Dorothy Day
14. Student presentations: 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 Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, 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

Evaluation will be based on the final written exam. The final written exam is designed to assess your knowledge of the course materials and your capacity to reflect on the ideas presented in the lectures and draw possible connections. The exam will be articulated in two (2) tests of a problem-solving nature, each requiring a response of a limited number of lines. The exam evaluates two core skills targeted by the course: 1) understanding and commenting on the main ideas of texts, on both concrete and abstract topics; 2) connecting ideas, text and/or authors. Accordingly, the first test will establish the degree of familiarity with the course materials, through the capacity to read, comprehend, and comment in detail on a selected text (40%); the second test will assess your capacity to propose connections between different texts, ideas, or authors (60%). You will be given 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete your exam.





Esercitazioni Linguistiche delivered by our Lettrici are a requirement. A passing level in Esercitazioni Linguistiche is a necessary condition for accessing the final exam. In order to access the final exam of the module and thus be eligible for a final grade, the student must achieve a passing level in Esercitazioni Linguistiche. Esercitazioni Linguistiche are fundamental to learning the module content and are held throughout the academic year by our Language Assistants (Readers). There are 3 levels for Esercitazioni: A, or excellence level; B, or average level; C, or satisfactory level. Only students who reach a sufficient or higher level in the language skills required by Esercitazioni will be able to take the Anglo-American Language 1 exam and aim for a final grade. Achieving a high level in Esercitazioni will affect your final grade positively.

written

Lecture
Interactive lecture
Peer learning sessions
Student research groups and presentations

English

Regular attendance is strongly recommended since there will be in-class practice.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development