LI4 (BL)

Anno accademico: 2020–2021
SSD: L-LIN/12
Corso: Lingua inglese
Insegnamento: Lingua inglese livello 4 (LI4) BL
CFU: 6
Docente: Salvatore Mele (salvatore.mele@fusp.it) 

Description (1° semestre – COMPETENZE SCRITTE) – CFU 3

This first-semester course will concentrate on students’ written skills in English, and presupposes that students, having completed all coursework and exams for English Language Levels 1, 2, and 3, no longer require weekly grammar-based classes and that, as autonomous users of English, are now able to consult appropriate source material to resolve grammar, syntax, and pronunciation issues. The topics for this year’s Level 4 written skills course will be based on contemporary Australian literature, and will be structured as follows:

First meeting

Students will be provided with a bibliography of the novels that make up the compulsory reading for the course.

Second meeting

Students will have read at least two (2) of the novels from the list and have thought of an appropriate topic for their final essay. At this meeting, students will also be expected to provide any additional research material they have consulted or wish to consult for approval, and may also present any doubts or difficulties they are experiencing.

Third meeting

Students will provide a brief, 200-word outline of their essay topic, and will be expected to answer any questions (from fellow students or course teacher) regarding the topic.

Final presentation

Each student will be expected to submit a 2,000–2,500-word (LI4) or 3,000–3,500-word (LI5) essay on the topic chosen in conjunction with the course teacher.

Aims

The course principally aims to enhance students’ active written skills, and to bring them to C1 level in this area. Students will also become familiar with different types of essays (literary, expository, compare-and-contrast. . .), and will write and hand in an essay of approximately 2,000–2,500 (Level 4 students) or approximately 3,000–3,500 words (Level 5 students).

Assessment

Each student’s final essay (approximately 2,000–2,500 words for Level 4 students; approximately 3,000–3,500 words for Level 5 students) will be assessed by the course teacher, who will be looking for lexical/terminological appropriateness, coherence and register, discursive cohesion, logical development of argument, acceptable academic presentation and bibliographical method.

Bibliography

The following novels are a minimum requirement for the students’ essay (students may add other novels by the same, or other, authors should they wish, provided any additions are approved by the course teacher):

Adelaide, Debra. A Household Guide to Dying. London: HarperCollins, 2007.

Malouf, David. An Imaginary Life. London: Chatto & Windus, 1978 (or Sydney: Picador, 1980).

Tsiolkas, Christos. Dead Europe. Sydney: Allen & Unwin Publishers, 2005.

White, Patrick. The Twyborn Affair. London: Jonathan Cape, 1979. Any subsequent edition will do, including London: Random House, 2011.

Winton, Tim. Dirt Music. Melbourne: Pan Macmillan, 2001.

Description (2° semestre – COMPETENZE ORALI) – CFU 3