Welcome
English Language
Dr. Sergio Pizziconi
Academic Year 2013-2014
Plan of the day
Today, I will sound your entry level.
• My introduction
• Your introduction (speaking and writing
activities – submission)
• Introduction to the course
• Your specific needs
• If we have time, two commercials
Introduction 1/4
• I graduated in Communication Sciences
at/from…
– With concentration in Corporate Communication
– I defended a thesis about TV fiction production
analyzing the teleplay writing and the case study “Star
Trek- The original series”
Introduction 2/4
• I earned a dottorato di ricerca in Linguistics and
Applied Linguistics at the University for
Foreigners of Siena
– I defended a dissertation about the language of
patents of inventions.
• I completed a Ph.D. in English at Texas A&M
University-Commerce, in the USA
– With emphasis in Rhetoric & Composition and
TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages)
– I defended a dissertation about teaching English
as L1, in particular a curriculum for grammar
Introduction 3/4
• In Italy, I taught classes in:
– Composition, Sociolinguistics, General Linguistics,
Italian Linguistics, Communication, Technical
communication; I am currently working within the
English program of the Department of Communication
and Social Research of La Sapienza (Business English
and English for the media)
• In the USA, I taught classes in:
– Composition, Modern Grammar, Psycholinguistics,
Intro to Linguistics (undergraduate)
– General Linguistics, Structures of the English Language
(graduate)
Introduction 4/4
• My research interests: Linguistics, Cognitive
Linguistics, First and Second Language
acquisition, Educational linguistics, Languages
for Specific Purposes (Academic, TechnicalScientific Languages, Business ).
Specific fields: Advertising, Marketing, Movies,
Patents of inventions, Psychopathologies and
dreams
• Other interests: Movies, Literature, Science
Fiction, Tennis.
Introduce your-self
in speaking
• Choose one of the school fellows close to you.
Someone you do not know already.
Introduce yourselves to each other.
Introduce your-self
in writing
• Write maximum five lines to introduce yourself
• In few more lines, make certain you specify the
following pieces of information:
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–
–
–
–
Degree program you are enrolled in
Main interest/s within the university program
Main interest/s outside school
Your English language curriculum and competence
Whether you would like to see news on a dedicated
Facebook page.
• You will have to submit this piece of paper
• Write First Name, Last Name, Date
Syllabus: Textbook and other material
Giordano, W. English for Business
Communication. Milano: EGEA,
2012 (second edition)
Always bring to class:
• the textbook
• some writing utensils (paper
and pen) you will be requested
to submit your worksheet for
the in-class activities
Syllabus: Educational objectives
At the end of this course, you will be able:
• to detect and use major grammatical structures with a
particular focus on linguistic variation;
• to use readily available tools to improve your linguistic
skills autonomously (such as reference grammars,
dictionaries…);
• to use effectively the professional language of economics,
in particular:
–
–
–
–
–
–
analyzing case studies and reporting about them
reading of charts and other non-verbal texts
writing business letters
organize specialized lexicon
reading academic articles and writing academic papers (?)
writing your CV/resume
Syllabus: Activities
Methodologies: Lectures, class discussions, exercises
(speaking and writing).
You are expected to participate actively in any in-class
activity you will be involved in during the lesson.
• You will be asked to speak with your peers in pairs
and to the class,
• You will be asked to do some team or individual
work and to submit reports/exercises,
• You will be asked to complete the typical activities
to create a conference-like presentation (from the
abstract to the oral presentation)
Syllabus: Activities
Portfolio. At the end of the course you will be asked to submit your
portfolio which will comprise at least the following material:
• Exercises and reports of the in-class activities with my comments
and initials (at least: 60% of all the exercises/reports you will be
requested)
• Texts generated for your project (at least: abstract/proposal, final
paper, slides for a presentation)
• A lexicon structured according to your own organizing criteria (this
should look like a map with clusters) (mandatory)
• Your curriculum vitae (mandatory)
• Two cover/application letters: one for a corporate position, the
other for a graduate program abroad (at least one)
• A statement of goals for a graduate program, such as an MBA
(Master’s of Business Administration) (mandatory)
• A table of contents and commentary (at least 400 words) on the
material included in your portfolio (mandatory)
Syllabus: Organization of the final examination
The exam will be organized as Professor Giordano has always done in
recent years with a written test and a spoken exam. Here is an
excerpt from his syllabus:
PROVA SCRITTA
SI COMPONE DI 4 SEZIONI.
1 -sezione dedicata alla interpretazione dei grafici (rif. cap 5 del libro
di testo consigliato)
2. sezione di reading and comprehension (rif. cap. 4 libro di testo
consigliato)
3. sezione di grammatica (rif. testo grammatica)
4. lettera commerciale (rif. cap. 6 libro di testo consigliato)
La prova scritta è uguale per tutti, corsisti e non corsisti.
[…]
§ per nessun motivo sarà consentito di "congelare" il voto della prova
scritta;
§ allo scritto, non è consentito l'uso del dizionario.
Maps
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