Welcome to the course
Lingua Inglese 1, 2012, prof. Prat
1. How many first year students are there in
our faculty ?
1,363
2. Where do they come from?
221 are foreign students. About ¾ of our
graduates come from outside Torino. 25%
of students of Lauree Magistrali have come
from other universities.
( from our vice-chancellor’s, prof. Pellizzetti
official report)
Turin MUST be a good university and an
interesting place...
BUT there are problems:
with funds for scholarships and with being
able for some of you to be full-time
students
 with finding a good job at the end of your
studies
 about 17% of students drop out after the
first year
 about 13% of students do not take or pass

MARIA TERESA PRAT
LAUREA TRIENNALE
LINGUA INGLESE 1, 2011-12
I ANNO L-12 , CODE: LIN.0009
9 CREDITS, 54 HOURS
(MEDIAZIONE LINGUISTICA / ASIA E AFRICA )
OFFICE HOURS
Either before or after the lessons
During the course every Tuesday from 2 to 3 p.m. ,
room 22, 3rd floor, Palazzo Nuovo
When the course is over, check the Faculty news for
the next office hours or use the email address
mariateresa.prat@unito.it to ask for (brief)
clarification or to make an appointment
TITLE of the COURSE
INTRODUCTION TO
PRESENT-DAY ENGLISH:
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND,
GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD
AND
LINGUISTIC FEATURES
SET BOOK
Virginia PULCINI, a cura di,
A Handbook of Present-day
English,
Carocci, Roma , 2009
(Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, pp. 1-237)
* Chapter 5 will be covered in the second year
COURSE TIMETABLE, Second Semester 2012
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 10-12
Aula viola, Torino Esposizioni
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20, 21, 22, February: Introductory week
27, 28,29 February, : Language change and variation in English
5, 6 7, March: (follows)
12, 13, 14 March: The pronunciation of English
19, 20 21, March: (follows)
26, 27, 28, March: The grammar of English
2, 3 4, April: follows
9, 10, 11 Ester break
23, 24 April The English lexicon: from words to phraseology (25°
April is a holiday, the day of the liberation of Italy)
30 April, 2 May: end of the course and mock exam ( 1st May is a
holiday, Workers’ Day )
EXAM PROGRAMME
( see the official programme in the faculty website)
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•
•
•
A WRITTEN EXAM
IT WILL CONSIST IN ACTIVITIES AND
QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH, BASED ON THE
COURSE CONTENTS and THE SET BOOK
THE WRITTEN EXAM CAN BE ACCESSED
ONLY ONCE PER EXAM SESSION
STUDENTS MUST HAVE PASSED THE FIRST
YEAR “PROVA PROPEDEUTICA” (or
“LETTORATO), WHOSE RESULT WILL BE
INTEGRATED WITH THE MARK OF THE
LINGUA INGLESE COURSE
EXAM SESSIONS 2010-2011
PROVE PROPEDEUTICHE: 3 per year (1 in
the Summer Session 2010, 1 in the Autumn
Session 2010, 1 in the Winter Session 2011)
LINGUA INGLESE : 8 per year
4 in the Summer session 2011 (1 in May, 2 in
June, 1 in July)
2 in the Autumn Session 2010( 1 in September,
1 in November)
2 in the Winter Session 2011 ( 1 in January, 1 in
February)
MARIA TERESA PRAT’ BLOG
This blog can be accessed from either the
faculty website or from
http:// tarm.dm.unito.it/oslingue/prat
using the student credentials to log in.
The blog contains general information about the
course and the slides shown in class, which will be
made available at the end of each unit.
PROS AND CONS OF THE
BLOG (AND THE SLIDES)
PROS
IT MAY HELP STUDENTS WHO ATTEND TO REVISE THEIR NOTES
IT MAY HELP STUDENTS WHO DO NOT ATTEND, OR DO NOT
ATTEND REGULARLY , TO FOCUS ON THE MAIN POINTS TALKED
ABOUT
CONS
IT CANNOT SUBSTITUTE THE STUDY OF THE SET BOOK
IT SHOULD NOT BE STUDIED BY HEART WITHOUT UNDESTANTING
IT IN DEPTH
IT MAY MAKE STUDENTS LAZY AND DISCOURAGE THEM FROM
TAKING NOTES
PEDAGOGICAL ISSUES
Students’ (and teachers’)
beliefs and expectations
TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
1
2
What do I expect from
this course?
What do I bring to
this course?
1. Do you think that in order to learn a foreign
language well a special “gift” is needed ?
a) yes, it may help but it is not essential
b) no, anyone can learn a foreign language
c) yes, it helps but other factors are also
important (e.g. motivation, curiosity, hard work,
time devoted, total immersion, stays abroad,
bilingual contexts)
d) some people are more gifted than others (e.g.
young children, people with a talent for music,
people who take an interest in grammar)
e) other …
WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS OF TAKING
ADVANTAGE OF ATTENDING THE
LESSONS?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Liatening carefully
Listening and taking selected notes
Making a note of the unclear points
Ask the teacher for clarification during the lesson
Ask fa fellow student for clarification
Ask the teacher for clarificationt at the end of the
lesson
Compare your notes with the relevant sections in
the set book after the lesson
2. WHO IS MOST RESPONSIBLE
FOR SUCCESSFUL (LANGUAGE)
LEARNING?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The teacher
The student
Both in the same way
Both but mainly the teacher
Both but mainly the student
The institution
Society at large
other
3) Is to learn two (or more) foreign languages at the
same time an advantage or a disadvantage?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
It helps a lot, the more languages you
know the easier it is to learn new ones
It does not have any influence
It helps if languages are similar
It helps if languages are distant
It constitutes a difficulty unless you keep
them separate
It helps if you are aware of similarities and
differences
What does to “study ” a foreign language at
university mean ?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
To use it as if you were a native speaker
To use it fluently and confidently, and to have a
scientific, explicit and critical knowledge of it, which
some native speakers may not have
To master it well enough to learn about its history and
literature
To use it effectively for practical purposes in professional
fields such as business and tourism
To acquire good translation skills into Italian
To acquire good translation skills into English
To acquire good interpreting skills into Italian
To acquire good interpreting skills into English
To understand how human language works
other…
COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING
STATEMENT…
AT THE END OF MY
THREE-YEAR DEGREE
I EXPECT TO BE ABLE …
Why did I choose English?
Because…
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
I have already studied it
I have spent a study period in an English-speaking
country
I like it
It is a modern and dynamic language
It is today’s global language
It is easy
It is useful to travel
It is necessary for any career in Italy or abroad
I want to learn more about its history and linguistic
features
I am interested in British / American or other Englishspeaking cultures
It is very useful to study other ‘oriental’ languages
Other…
WHAT OTHER LANGUAGE DID YOU CHOOSE,
AND WHY?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
I already knew it well
I have never studied it
I am challenged by a distant language and culture
It is a language spoken in a country I am interested in
It is easy
It will prove to be very useful in the future
It is close to the other language (s) I am studying
It is rarely chosen by other students
It was recommended by a friend
It is highly required in Italy
Other…
LINGUA INGLESE STUDENTS SHOULD
COMBINE TWO TYPES OF COMPETENCE
1. PRACTICAL COMPETENCE in the use of
English, both spoken and written
( Practical classes)
2.
EXPLICIT AND CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE of
English: making implicit knowledge explicit,
using a metalanguage to talk about language
(Lingua course )
PRACTICAL COMPETENCE:
RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES
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Lettorati: regular attendance, active participation, homework and consultation of the website www.
lettoratiinglese@unito.it
Audio-visual resources for individual study in the Language Centre (CLIFU)
Individual revision of difficult areas of grammars ( see the up-to-date comprehensive grammars
available in the Department library and the lettorati set books)
Systematic use of advanced bilingual and monolingual general dictionaries in paper, CD-ROM and
on-line format. The unabridged Oxford and Webster dictionaries, many general desk, pedagogical
and specialised dictionaries are available in the department library.
Personal strategies to expand lexical competence ( e.g. make a note of new words, group words into
semantic fields)
Reading as many types of text in English as possible, from newspapers and magazines to literature to
specialized literature to reinforce both linguistic and cultural knowledge
Listening to TV or radio programmes in English ( e.g. BBC or CNN, e.g. the News or
documentaries)
Searching the Internet ( e.g. authoritative and reliable websites in English and for the learning of
English, e.g. wwwlearnenglish.britishcouncil.org/ and
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/)
Practicing oral communication with both native speakers and foreign students
Planning a study or work period abroad ( refer to official institutions such as The British Council or
the American Embassies)
Becoming aware of one’s learning styles and preferences
Becoming aware of one’s mistakes and areas of difficulty
Other
HOW TO STUDY THIS COURSE:
OPTIONS AND STRATEGIES
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OPTION 1
Regular course attendance
Taking active part in the
lessons; following the
lecturer’s advice; taking
notes, revising them and
checking them against the set
book; asking questions;
linking new to previous
knowledge; developing
personal strategies for the
study of the set book
Studying individually, in
pairs or small groups
OPTION 2
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Individual study
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Developing effective
strategies to understand the
contents of the book; to link
new to previous knowledge
and select the key points.
Identifying difficulties and
finding ways of sorting them
out (e.g. dictionaries,
encyclopaedias, other
students, lecturers)
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Studying individually, in pairs
or in small groups
BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH
THE HANDBOOK
FOUR CHAPTERS WRITTEN
BY FOUR LECTURERS IN
THIS UNIVERSITY
( Mazzaferro, Pulcini,
Minutella, Prat) on:
1.
2.
3.
4.
LANGUAGE CHANGE AND
VARIATION
THE PRONUNCIATION
OF ENGLISH
THE GRAMMAR OF
ENGLISH
THE ENGLISH LEXICON;
FROM WORDS TO
PHRASEOLOGY
SHARED FEATURES
Each chapter
1.
…is composed of the main
text, the chapter overview
and a list of study questions
and activities
2.
… is structured into titled and
numbered sections
3.
… has key-terms and names
in bold print (see analytic
index)
4.
… has key concepts in the
margin
5.
…has a selected bibliography
of important references
SOME FEATURES OF AN
ACADEMIC HANDBOOK
1
ACADEMIC ENGLISH. A handbook is written by experts to
experts-to be.
e.g. concepts and terms, which are widely shared by the scientific
community, are explained, or clarified through examples.
e.g. Different approaches and terminologies may be presented and
compared
2 ACADEMIC CONVENTIONS
e.g. use of graphic devices (e.g. italics), abbreviations and phonetic
symbols (pp.11-15), cross-references ( see Chapter 3, §4),
bibliographic conventions in the text and in the final bibliographies
The set book is a model of style for students in the written exam
From A Handbook of Present-Day English, chapter 4, p. 183
Read, understand and translate into Italian the following passage. Then discuss
your translation with your neighbour and talk about how you sorted out the
difficult points ( if any)
1. The study of words
To many people words are the most central and obvious feature
of language, almost a synonym of speech. At the same time,
words have always attracted the interest of scholars from
different domains of knowledge such as philosophy, history of
the language, neuroscience, literature and cultural studies, and we
have inherited a long and rich tradition of lexical studies. In
particular, within linguistics lexicology deals with the description
of the nature, meaning, history and use of the vocabulary of a
language, also referred to as its lexis or lexicon. Lexicography
covers the principles and the practices which are applied to the
writing of different types of dictionaries and vocabulary
reference works.
(FOLLOWS)
The scientific study of lexis presupposes the awareness
of a core of concepts and terms that are shared with
other areas of language study, mainly morphology.
Some phenomena on which there is a good degree of
consensus among scholars have already been dealt with
in chapter 3. They are the definition – more complex
than might be expected – of what a word is (chapter 3,
§ 1.1), the difference between word, word-form and
lexeme (chapter 3, § 1.2) and the lexicographic
concepts of entries, headwords or lemmas (chapter
3, § 1.2), the distinction between grammatical words
and lexical words (chapter 3, § 1.3) and inflectional
morphology and derivational morphology (chapter
3, § 2.4).
The study of words
Lo studio delle parole
To many people words are the most central and obvious feature
of language, almost a synonym of speech.
Per molti le parole costituiscono l’aspetto più centrale e
naturale del linguaggio, e ne sono quasi un sinonimo.
At the same time, words have always attracted the interest of
scholars from different domains of knowledge such as
philosophy, history of the language, neuroscience, literature and
cultural studies, and we have inherited a long and rich tradition
of lexical studies.
Al tempo stesso le parole hanno da sempre attirato l’interesse
di studiosi di diversi settori della conoscenza quali la
filosofia, la storia della lingua, le neuroscienze, la
letteratura e gli studi culturali e noi abbiamo ereditato una
lunga e ricca tradizione di studi sul lessico.
In particular, within linguistics lexicology deals with the description
of the nature, meaning, history and use of the vocabulary of a
language, also referred to as its lexis or lexicon.
In particolare, nell’ambito della linguistica, la lessicologia
tratta della descrizione, della natura, del significato, della
storia e dell’uso del vocabolario di una lingua, cioé del suo
lessico
Lexicography covers the principles and the practices which are
applied to the writing of different types of dictionaries and
vocabulary reference works.
La lessicografia comprende i principi e le pratiche che si
applicano alla stesura di diversi tipi di dizionario e testi di
consultazione sul lessico.
The scientific study of lexis presupposes the awareness of
a core of concepts and terms that are shared with other
areas of language study, mainly morphology.
Lo studio scientifico del lessico presuppone la
consapevolezza di un nucleo di concetti e termini
che sono condivisi con altre aree della linguistica,
in particolare con la morfologia.
Some phenomena on which there is a good degree of
consensus among scholars have already been dealt with
in chapter 3. Alcuni fenomeni su cui c’è un buon
grado di consenso tra gli studiosi sono già stati
trattati nel capitolo 3.
They are the definition – more complex than might be expected –
of what a word is (chapter 3, § 1.1), the difference between
word, word-form and lexeme (chapter 3, § 1.2) and the
lexicographic concepts of entries, headwords or lemmas
(chapter 3, § 1.2), the distinction between grammatical words
and lexical words (chapter 3, § 1.3) and inflectional
morphology and derivational morphology (chapter 3, § 2.4).
Si tratta della definizione di parola, più complessa di quanto ci si
potrebbe aspettare (capitolo 3, § 1.1.), della differenza tra
parola, forma di parola e lessema (capitolo 3 , § 1.2) e i
concetti lessicografici di voci/articoli e lemmi, la distinzione
tra parole grammaticali e parole lessicali (capitolo 3, §1.3) e
la morfologia flessiva e derivazionale ( capitolo 3, § 2.4)