English

Degree course: 
Corso di First cycle degree in COMPUTER SCIENCE
Academic year when starting the degree: 
2020/2021
Year: 
1
Academic year in which the course will be held: 
2020/2021
Course type: 
A foreign language, final examination
Language: 
Italian
Credits: 
6
Period: 
Second semester
Standard lectures hours: 
48
Detail of lecture’s hours: 
Lesson (48 hours)
Requirements: 

Level B1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages – CEFR

Final Examination: 
Orale

The final exam is divided into two parts, which are held in the same exam
session:
1. written test (grammar and vocabulary, 60 questions in 20 minutes),
with multiple-choice and open-ended questions;
2. oral test (presentation on a ICT-related topic following the instructions
provided in class, max 10 minutes), which is assessed based on grammar
proficiency (25%), lexical proficiency (25%), pronunciation and fluency
(25%), structural consistency of the presentation (25%).
Both parts will be given a score out of 30 and the final mark will be the
mean of the two scores. Students are required to pass both parts with a
minimum score of 18 out of 30.

Assessment: 
Voto Finale

The course aims at developing receptive and productive skills in English
language at an upper-intermediate level (B2 – Vantage according to the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – CEFR) and
to get students started to the use of English for Computer Science.
In particular, students are required to develop the following skills:
1. to use the main morpho-syntactic structures of English at an
intermediate level across registers;
2. to identify and use the basic specialised lexicon of and for Computer
Science (i.e. hardware, software, programming, web) to read and
understand specialised texts;
3. to talk about everyday issues or computer-related topics.

The course is divided into three modules:
A) Upper Intermediate language practice (24 hrs, objectives 1 and 3).
This module focuses on the lexico-grammar competences of English at an
upper intermediate level. Listening, speaking, reading and writing are
here practised based on the following grammar and functional areas.
Special attention will be drawn on speaking and listening:
Time and Tense
- The simple present
- The present continuous
- The past simple
- The past continuous
- Used to and would
- The present perfect simple
- The present perfect continuous
- The past perfect
- Going to and will
- Present tenses for talking about the future
- Modals
Sentences
- Word order
- Reported speech and reporting verbs
- Relative clauses
Testi di riferimento Il materiale per lo studio verrà distribuito/mostrato in classe durante le
lezioni e caricato sulla pagina e-learning del docente.
Inoltre, in classe si userà il seguente testo (si prega di acquistarlo prima
dell’inizio del corso):
Remacha Esteras S. (2011) Infotech. English for computer users.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Grammatica di riferimento:
Murphy Raymond (2012) English Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Altre informazioni Ricevimento previo appuntamento, da concordare via email:
ellen.patat@unisubria.it
Other verb forms
- Verbs followed by the infinitive or the –ing form
- First, second and zero conditional sentences - The third conditional,
wishes and regrets
- The passive
- Get/have something done
- Phrasal verbs
Naming and describing
- Articles
- Personal, possessive, reflexive and demonstrative pronouns
- Countable and uncountable nouns and expressions of quantity
Functional Areas
- Ways of comparing
- Possibility in the present and in the past
- Present, past and future obligation and necessity
B) The Language of the Media (16 hrs, objectives 2 and 3). In this module,
through the analysis of authentic texts and the participation in oral (i.e.
role plays) and written (i.e. functional exercises of English for special
purposes – ESP) activities, students are got started in the use of
specialised English for Computer Science based on the following main
topics:
- Hardware, input/output devices, storage devices;
- Software, graphic software, desktop publishing;
- Internet, websites, email, web applications;
- Programming
- Gaming
C) Presentation (8 hrs, objective 3). This module will address the linguistic
and communicative strategies to prepare a presentation on IT-related
topic with a visual support (e.g. PowerPoint, Prezi).

The material will be shown/distributed in class and uploaded to the elearning page of the course.
Moreover, the following book will be used in the lessons (please purchase
a copy of the book before the course begins):
Remacha Esteras S. (2011) Infotech. English for computer users.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reference Grammar:
Murphy Raymond (2012) English Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Frontal lessons, students will be required to be actively involved in class
activities (reading, listening, speaking, writing exercises) to achieve the
morphosyntactic and lexical objectives of the course.
Grammar and vocabulary skills may be further developed through the
use of an online self-learning platform. At the beginning of the semester
students will be required to take a placement test in order to be assigned
a course based on their entry level.

Office hours upon appointment via email: ellen.patat@unisubria.it

Professors

PATAT ELLEN