Scheda insegnamento

Knowledge of English at the B2 level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for languages).

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• analyse the basic syntactic functions in a sentence;
• manipulate lexical items through basic morphological operations of derivation and composition;
• recognise the main parts in which an argumentative text is organised;
• reproduce the linguistic structures in which different degrees of certainty may be expressed in English;
• verify linguistic structures in a usage-based perspective with Corpus Linguistics tools;
• produce an original piece of writing in the genre of academic writing.

The course will focus on the analysis of written academic texts, and it will concentrate on the linguistic structures that are most frequently employed in this genre. More specifically, it will cover basic notions in syntactic and morphological description of the language. To do so, the lectures will also cover some basic theoretical principles of syntax and morphology of English. Students will also learn the basic notions and tools of corpus linguistics, and they will familiarise with the freely available LancsBox software. This software provides the opportunity of performing both basic and more sophisticated Corpus Linguistics analysis. Finally, students will also produce their own piece of writing, which will be discussed and evaluated in class.

The class is held once a week, and it consists of both lectures and seminars. During the seminars, students are asked to contribute their own pieces of writing, which will be discussed with their peers.

The final exam will be written. Students will be asked to produce a short abstract (max 500 words) for a scientific article.

Materials will be posted on LOL.

Extra materials will be posted on LOL.