Scheda insegnamento

Students should know English at least at the B1 level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

The course aims at developing students’ competence in English to the B2 level of the CEFR by introducing them to the scientific study of the English language and to the study and analysis of representative texts of the English literary canon, with a particular focus on works that have been influenced by the Italian literary and cultural tradition.

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

• carry out exercises at the B2 level of the CEFR;
• distinguish English sounds through the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet);
• analyse English lexicon according to the word-class each item belongs to;
• outline the morpho-syntactic characteristics of the different word-classes;
• familiarise with word-formation processes in English
• discuss Anglo-Italian relations from a literary and cultural point of view.

The course consists of a theoretical and a practical module.

The theoretical module will cover basic principles of the linguistic theoretical description of English, such as:

• introduction to English phonetics and phonology through the study and application of the IPA;
• introduction to English syntax: word-classes and grammar categories;
• introduction to English morphology and word-formation processes;
• description of English word-classes and their relative morpho-syntactic characteristics.

In the practical module, students will study grammar and lexical structures at B2 level of the CEFR, through a selection of representative texts of the English literary canon. Students will familiarise with the structure of standard exercises at the B2 level. Furthermore, the practical module will:

•   discuss the influence of Italian culture and literature on English literary canon, with a specific focus on the Medieval and Early Modern period;

• compare and contrast texts written in the two different languages;
• analyse processes and practices of translation and adaptation;
• describe aspects of shared literary themes between the two cultural traditions.

Lectures will be held twice a week. The teaching methodology will be both lectures and seminars, in which students are asked to actively participate in and contribute to the teaching activities.

The final test will be a written exam. It will be divided in two main parts. In the first part, students are asked to recognise examples of the theoretical principles discussed in class (e.g., vowels, consonants, word-classes, morphemes) in a short text.

In the second part, students will be asked to carry out exercises at the B2 level of the CEFR based on the texts analysed and discusses in the pratical module, and to answer general questions on the literary themes discussed in class.

A copy of the mock exam will be uploaded in LOL for students to familiarise with the structure.

The theoretical module will cover a selection of chapters from:

• Laurel J. Brinton and Donna M. Brinton, 2010, The Linguistic Structure of Modern English [2nd edition], Amsterdam: John Benjamins; (Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5)

For the practical module, students will need a copy of:

• William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, B1.2 level, adapted by Derek Sellen, CIDEB Black Cat

• Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, B2.1 level, adapted by Derek Sellen, CIDEB Black Cat

The instructor will provide further material in class for the practical module, selected from:

• D. H. Lawrence, Etruscan Places: Travels Through Forgotten Italy. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019 (https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900381h.html; selected chapters)

Paolo Bertinetti (a cura di), (2004). Breve storia della letteratura inglese, Torino: Einaudi.

Herbert G. Wright (2013), “Ch. 3: The Decameron in the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries”, in Herber G. Wright, Boccaccio in England. From Chaucer to Tennyson, London: Bloomsbury, pp. 113-61.

Silvia Bigliazzi (2022). Shakespeare: guida a Romeo e Giulietta, Roma: Carocci.

Simonetta De Filippis (1989), “Lawrence of Etruria”, in D.H. Lawrence in the Modern World, edited by Peter Preston and Peter Hoare, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 104-20.

Additional material will be provided during class and made available online through LOL.