ENGLISH LANGUAGE

English Language is an advanced C1-level English language course having as its overall objectives those of:
- Using the English Language at C1 level in the four skills (written and oral comprehension, written and oral production, including interaction) with a special emphasis on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) to critically investigate case studies relevant to Language Sciences, applying the methodologies of corpus linguistics, and/or (critical) discourse analysis and/or multimodality.
- Consolidating and enhancing the ability for in-depth and original analysis of the English language in its diamesic and diaphasic variation.

Teaching is of one-year duration and consists of the module course taught by the titular Professor (second semester) with associated language practice classes, in the first and second semesters, taught by the language assistants and experts (CELs). In the practice classes, starting in the first semester, C1+/C2 level skills necessary for academic writing (written comprehension and production), oral comprehension and production, both individually and in small group interaction, will be practiced in preparation for the Professor's module.
The Professor's module, in the second semester, has the dual objective of presenting 1) the methodologies useful for the metalinguistic reflection on communicative phenomena concerning the English language, i.e. corpus linguistics, (critical) discourse analysis, multimodality, and 2) the structure and characteristics of writing in the context of academic research in English, which students will use to explore in detail both at the end of the course and to write their dissertation in English. Metalinguistic reflection on language will focus on qualitative and/or quantitative analysis of case studies concerning English in authentic communicative situations.
The Learning Objectives of the course include:
- Developing understanding and critical evaluation of case studies concerning the English language.
- Developing original individual research skills.
- Developing the ability to understand, to participate and to interact, as well as to enable students to become participatory members of relevant scientific and professional communities even in international settings.
- Developing the ability to present one's research by adapting it to the diverse needs of the audience (experts, non-expert audiences, people with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds).
- Consolidating and enhancing the students' knowledge and use of English at the C1 level in the four skills (written and oral comprehension, written and oral production, including interaction) with an emphasis on the use of English for academic research.

With reference to the Dublin Descriptors, students’ expected 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) (EAP, ESP)
1b. the functions and differences between different types of academic communication including cultural and linguistic aspects involved in participating in academic seminars, possible guest lectures.
1c. describing charts and graphs in plain in English
1d. the main qualitative and quantitative methods to study English and its spoken and written variation with particular attention to the notion of genre and using the methods of analysis typical of (critical and positive) discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, and multimodality.
1e. patterns in academic language use: written and spoken language production and comprehension of the different levels of the language, namely: morphology, syntax and vocabulary, as well as the level of discourse.
1f. recent debates on the presence of the author in an academic text (stance) and on the strategies of audience design and audience engagement.

2. Applied knowledge and understanding: students will be able to apply the:
2a. production of original and in-depth analyses of linguistic texts and data in English through quantitative and qualitative approaches with methods of analysis based on genre analysis, (critical and positive) discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, multimodality.
2b. comprehension and production of written and spoken texts of a complex and specialized nature.
2c. research of bibliography in English, autonomously, both on digital and traditional sources.
2d. expression of complex and original thoughts using the most appropriate register.
2e. summary of existing studies using appropriate referencing conventions (literature review).
2f. analysis, presentation, and discussion of existing data (data commentary).

English Language at the C1 level of the CEFR. The course is for those students who have English Language in their study plan. Please consult the dedicated page for further information: https://www.unive.it/pag/25587/ .

Course title: “EAP in Research and Writing”
1. Introduction to the theoretical-methodological approaches used in the course (and to be selected by the students for their final paper): corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, multimodality.
2. Analysis of the structure and writing conventions of research papers in the disciplines considered in point 1 with particular attention on
- peer-to-peer academic communication and interaction: common functions of written academic discourse; knowledge and understanding of the structure, organization and content of an academic text types; functions and differences between different types of academic communication including cultural and linguistic aspects involved in academia,
- analysis of written communication in the academia: identification of shared and common written practices; comprehension and identification of the organizational/structural features of academic discourse.

Study material will be uploaded by the Course Professor in the Moodle space of the course. The password to the Moodle space will be provided by the Professor during the first class of the module’s course; those who cannot attend these classes can request the password via email to Prof Cesiri.

Main text recommended for language skills (language practice classes with CEL):
Stephen Bailey (2021). Academic Writing for University Students. London & New York: Routledge.

The final exam assesses students’ achievement of the course’s learning outcomes. This will happen through the submission of a written assignment and an oral discussion with the Professor. Students access the oral discussion only if they pass the written assignment.
The written assignment is a paper that simulates a research paper within the domain of corpus linguistics and/or discourse analysis and/or multimodal analysis. The paper has to be structured as follows:
1. Introduction, and 1.1. State of the Art: Introduction to the work (theoretical-methodological background, aim and purpose of the analysis) and presentation of the state of the art (literature available on the specific topic). This part also includes an analysis and brief critical summary of the secondary sources, which will include citations and bibliography;
2. Data and Methodology. Detailed description of the case study (primary sources) and of the theoretical-methodological background employed in the paper.
3. Quantitative Analysis. Presentation of the quantitative data gathered from the case study, using corpus linguistics methods of analysis, with a commentary on data presented through a graph or a table. If the study is a qualitative analysis, this section can be replaced with a Contextual Information section.
4. Qualitative Analysis. Critical, qualitative discussion, using discourse analysis tools, or critical discourse analysis, or multimodality tools, of the data from the case study with examples from the data and references from the literature to complete the discussion and to support’s students claims.
5. Discussion Section. Contextualisation of the results of the analysis.
6. Conclusions. General observations on the analysis and conclusions to the work/paper.
7. References.

The topic of the paper (case study, theoretical-methodological framework, etc.) has to be agreed with the Professor by deadlines that the Professor herself will communicate in due time. The Professor will also guide and supervise students in the writing process of the several components of the paper (points 1 to 4 above). Those who can attend regularly will receive feedback during classes; those students who cannot attend regularly are warly recommended to contact Prof Cesiri via email and/or during office hours to find an agreement on the topic and structure of the final paper.

The paper will be written in English, using the stylesheet provided by Prof Cesiri in due time. The paper will be at least 4,000-5,000 word long. Students will submit the paper in .pdf format, following the deadlines (typically by 7 days before the date of the oral exam as scheduled by the University offices) and the instructions that Prof Cesiri will communicate in due time through the course’s Moodle space and the Professor’s online board on the University’s website.

The oral component of the exam will be a discussion with the Professor – in English – on the submitted paper, with questions on the theoretical and analytical aspects of the paper. Students access the oral part of the exam once they pass the written component (submitted paper).

oral

Those students who pass the exam will receive a final grade, which might range from a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 30 (30 cum laude will be awarded to students who pass the exam with a distinction of merit).

The course with the Professor is held with the blended modality (10 synchronous lessons, 5 asynchronous lessons). Frontal lessons and seminars, possible guest lectures; language practice labs with the CEL to support students in the consolidation of the language skills necessary to successfully approach the Professor’s module.

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.

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