AMERICAN LANGUAGE

The course is part of the core offering of the MA degree in American, European and Postcolonial languages and Cultures and of the MA degree in Language Sciences. It aims to offer students advanced knowledge and advanced competencies in English. The module focuses on the development of US English and provides students with the necessary tools to master the English language not only as far as interaction and oral productions are concerned but also in writing, as well as theoretical tools to further their reflection on language.

In line with the aims of the Program, this year's American Language course builds on the skills acquired in the BA curriculum (especially vocabulary and comprehension) in order to enhance them and develop new skills of analysis and interpretation, especially the capacity to read, comprehend, respond to, and connect texts of varying degrees of complexity. Students will make progress in their structural knowledge of American English (grammar, syntax, vocabulary) while at the same time studying language in a historical and theoretical perspective. A detailed syllabus is available on Moodle.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to
(knowledge and understanding)
• encounter, interpret, and appreciate the work of a major American authors and thinkers from colonial times to modernity
• expand their critical lexicon
• reading, understanding, analyzing texts of varying degrees of difficulty
• grasp and develop connections among different authors

(knowledge application and problem solving)
• identify an important issue or a question independently
• engage in critical reflection
• apply and develop knowledge of the conventions of academic writing (especially the paragraph) for the purpose of producing coherent and well-structrured written responses

(handling complexity and formulating judgements)

• map the scholarly conversation around a controversial or important issue
• produce written responses, articulating a position and making an argument supported by evidence
• develop a sophisticated awareness of context and audience


(Communication skills)
• summarize, paraphrase complex texts, grasping their arguments and relaying them to an audience of peers and for the purposes of responding to them in writing
• participate in a debate presenting a position and offering a contribution
• actively engage in peer-to-peer collaboration in discussing texts, orchestrating a public debate, offering feedback to the work of others

(learning skills)
• mastering the essential features of a written response (especially paragraphing)
• summarize, paraphrase, and quote properly
• take notes
• produce a well-structured written response to a problem, a text, or an author, or outlining a connection between texts and authors.

Level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference.
The course assumes a proficient user at the C1/C2 level of the Common European Frame of Reference.

What do great Americans have to say about the language they speak in and write in? The course relies on selected readings from landmark texts by key American writers and thinkers from colonial times to modernity (including Emerson, Thoreau, T. S. Eliot and others) to offer a first-hand insight into the historical development of US English, its perception, and its potential. We will identify an important line of reflection on language that is firmly rooted in the US while at the same time discovering its connections and dialogue with a modern and contemporary European tradition (Saussure, Kristeva). The course builds on the skills acquired in the BA curriculum (especially vocabulary and comprehension) in order to enhance them and develop new skills of analysis and interpretation, especially the capacity to read, comprehend, respond to, and connect texts of varying degrees of complexity. The overarching aim is double: students will make progress in their structural knowledge of American English (grammar, syntax, vocabulary) while at the same time studying language in a historical and theoretical perspective.

Julia Kristeva, Language the Unknown: An Initiation into Linguistics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989. (Moodle)
Mena Mitrano, English for American Studies: The Delectable Speaker. Venice: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina, 2021). PRINT.

Course Packet (Moodle) containing:
Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Language,” Chapter IV of Nature (1849). Ralph Waldo Emerson. Edited by Richard Poirier. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. 12-17, “Nature.” Essays: Second Series (1844). Ralph Waldo Emerson. Edited by Richard Poirier. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. 235-247.
Henry David Thoreau, “Reading.” From Walden (1854). The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau. Intro. By Joyce Carol Oates. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. 99-110. (Moodle)
Stanley Cavell, “Words and Sentences.” The Cavell Reader. Ed. Stephen Mulhall. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. 260-294; 260-272. (Moodle)
H. L. Mencken, selected pages from The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. First edition 1919.
T. S. Eliot, “American Literature and the American Language.” The Sewanee Review 74.1 (Winter 1966): 1-20.
Gertrude Stein, “Poetry and Grammar.” Lectures in America. Boston: Beacon, 1985. First ed. 1935. 209-231.
Ferdinand de Saussure, selected pages from Course in General Linguistics. Trans. Wade Baskin. Edited by Perry Meisel and Haun Saussy. New York: Columbia, 2011. 1-20; 32-33; 65-78.

EVALUATION

1. Active participation (opener initiative), showing the capacity for peer-oriented work and communication (10%)
2. A total of three (3) in-class tests aimed at assessing the capacity to engage meaningfully the assigned weekly readings and to engage productively and individually the lecture materials (through note-taking and further reflection) (50%)
3. Final written exam (40%)


The precondition for accessing the exam is at least a C level in Esercitazioni Linguistiche. Students without a passing level in Esercitazioni will not access the exam.
Additional bonus for students who have regularly attended Esercitazioni Linguistiche and have earned a final assessment of their language competencies at the B+ level and at the A level.

Students who cannot complete their preparation by attending class regularly will complete their preparation individually by doing an additional reading: M. Mitrano, English for American Studies, in its entirety, including the appendixes, and will be evaluated on the basis of the final written exam.

Lecture
Student contributions (opener experience: textual commentary)
Debate

English

Language of instruction: English

written

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