ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND ESP

Academic Year 2022/2023 - Teacher: Iain Andrew HALLIDAY

Expected Learning Outcomes

1) Knowledge and understanding:

Understanding complex (written and spoken) texts in authentic communicative contexts (news and social media)

Understanding the communicative function of texts in specific, domains.

Knowing the relevant analytical frameworks for the three modules.

2) Applying knowledge and understanding:

Being able to identify, analyse and interpret linguistic and semiotic resources which are relevant to specific contexts and domains (news and social media).

and to use the appropriate tools and statistical measures which better fit with the necessary quantitative analyses.

3)Making judgements:

Being able to identify, analyse and interpret textual data within a complex context, and to use the most appropriate and effective research approach, motivating necessary choices.

4) Communication skills:

Being able to explain and support the various stages of the analysis and its findings in a structured and clear way, making use of an appropriate register and style.

5) Learning skills:

Starting from the knowledge, understanding, and competence developed in the module, being able to continue the graduate programme in a largely self-directed and autonomous way.

Course Structure

Lectures, workshops, and language tuition in English

Required Prerequisites

Level C1 in English langauge. Basic skills in English linguistics and Discourse Analysis. Basic IT skills: use of Microsoft Word, Excel, and search engines.

Attendance of Lessons

In person classes or equivalent activities: 72 hours

Language instruction classes or equivalent assisted activities: 60 hours

Detailed Course Content

The course is divided into three sub-modules and will regard aspects of English linguistics and specific forms of the language, with particular reference to critical discourse analysis, the languages of social media, and the language of news. The course will be taught entirely in English:

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (Prof. Halliday): This sub-module offers an introduction to CDA for a critical reading and interpretation of various authentic texts

The Language of Social Media (Prof. Venuti): This sub-module focuses on the language of social media from a variety of perspectives.

The Language of News Media (Prof. Halliday): This sub-module focuses on news discourse and specifically on journalism practices.

Textbook Information

Critical Discourse Analysis:

Machin, David and Mayr, Andrea 2012, How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis. A Multimodal Introduction, London, SAGE Publications Ltd, pp. 236.

Castro Seixas, Eunice, 2021 “War Metaphors in Political Communication on Covid-19”, Frontiers in Sociology, 5,

https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsoc.2020.583680.

Törnberg, Anton and Törnberg, Petter, “Muslims in social media discourse: Combining topic modeling and critical discourse analysis”, Discourse, Context & Media,Volume 13, Part B, September 2016, pp. 132-142, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2016.04.003.

The Language of Social Media:

Page, Ruth, Barton, David, Unger, Johann W., Zappavigna, Michele 2014 Researching Language and Social Media. A Student Guide, London Routledge, pp. 201.

Krendel, A., McGlashan, M., & Koller, V. (forthcoming 2022). The representation of gendered social actors across five manosphere communities on Reddit. Corpora, 17(2), pp.25.

Leppänen, Sirpa and Tapionkaski, Sanna 2021 “Doing gender and sexuality intersectionally in multimodal social media practices” in Jo Angouri and Juduth Baxter (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality, London: Routledge, pp. 543-556.

Varis, Pila 2021 “Digital ethnography in the study of language, gender, and sexuality”, in Jo Angouri and Juduth Baxter (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality, London: Routledge, pp. 164-177.

The Language of News Media:

Bednarek, Monika and Caple, Helen 2012 News Discourse, Bloomsbury Publishing, cap. 1, 2 e 4 (pp. 1-38 e 84-110).

Bednarek, Monika and Caple, Helen 2017 The Discourse of News Values. How News organisations Create Newsworthiness, Oxford University Press, cap. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 e 7 (pp. 1-133 e 171-194).

McLoughlin, Linda “Multimodal constructions of feminism”, in Jo Angouri and Juduth Baxter (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality, London: Routledge, pp. 494-508.

Fruttaldo, Antonio e Venuti, Marco 2017 “A cross-cultural discursive approach to news values in the press in the US, the UK and Italy: The case of the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage”. In ESP Across Cultures, 14, pp. 81-97.

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.


AuthorTitlePublisherYearISBN

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

¨ Practical test: at the end of each module there will be a test (optional) regarding the analysis of a case study on a topic to be agreed upon with your teachers 

¨ Written exam: The written exam consists of exercises regarding listening comprehension, reading comprehension, grammar, and use of English aimed at achieving skills at the C1+ level.

¨ Oral exam consists of:

a) an interview aimed at evaluating production and interaction in English at the C1+ level;

b) an interview evaluating the understanding, acquisition and processing of the various approaches to discourse analysis applied critically and with refrence to each single module.

For the evaluation of the exam consideration will be taken of mastery of the course content and the skills acquired, linguistic and lexical proficiency, together with the candidate's demonstration of their abilities in discussing  the topics covered.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

What is the goal of CDA?

What is the function of the representational strategies of Social Actors?

What is the role of transitivity in CDA?

What is Discourse?

CMC, Intertnet 2.0, Digital media, Social media: similarities and differences.

What is a digital ethnograpy?

What is the relationship of identity and intersectionality in social media practices?

What is News Disourse?

What is DNVA?

How to verbal and visual texts interact in discourse?
VERSIONE IN ITALIANO