ENGLISH FOR JOURNALISM AND MEDIA COMMUNICATION
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Upper-Intermediate Level (B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – CEFR).
The students’ knowledge will be assessed through a final written test followed by an oral talk. Students are required to pass the written test to access the oral part.
The written test lasts 3 hours and consists of 2 parts:
1) Drafting of a short press release for the advertising sector starting from blocks of assigned information (10 pts).
2) Writing of a news article of 200/250 words based on given data (15 pts).
The final mark is calculated in 30ies. Pass mark is 18, which will allow students to access the oral part. If it is less than 18, the test is not passed and students will have to take the exam again.
on the topics of the lessons starting from the discursive analysis of a journalistic text or media in general assigned
For the oral exam students are required to illustrate and be able to talk about the topics of the lessons starting from the discursive analysis of a journalistic or media text assigned and to play a role in a journalistic interview with given roles.
The following aspects will be evaluated: 1) grammar and lexical correctness of the spoken interaction (10 pts); 2) correctness of the linguistic-communicative analyses (5 pts); 3) ability to plan and prepare questions and conduct conversational exchanges during the interview (10 pts); the students’ critical thinking skills and capacity of autonomy (5 pts).
The final mark is calculated in 30ies. Pass mark is 18. If it is less than 18, the test is not passed and students will have to take the oral exam again.
After passing the oral exam, the final mark will be added to that of the written test, which will result in a final, average mark.
The course aims at developing some linguistic strategies specific of academic, journalistic writing and communication industry writing. Special attention will be also drawn to developing oral skills in order to be able to manage oral presentations (e.g. press conferences), achieve advanced spoken interaction, understand oral, specialised productions and manage journalistic interviews.
The course will thus address all four basic language skills, that is listening, speaking, reading and writing at an advanced level (B2/C1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – CEFR), which will be achieved by revising and strengthening the grammar, syntactic and lexical structures of general English, with an in-depth insight into the specialised language of journalism and the media. Special focus will be placed on practising on authentic oral and written material (e.g. journal articles, media press releases and conferences, audio and video interviews, etc.).
In particular, students will be required to analyse and write news articles, listen to and understand a press conference/a specialised speech in English and manage an oral interview on selected topics. Current affairs topics will be addressed (e.g. science, medicine, politics, showbusiness and entertainment, culture, etc.).
Students will have to learn how to consult specialised bibliographic material, databases, pronunciation dictionaries, online and print monolingual dictionaries.
Specialised productive strategies of English for journalism and the media/communication industry will be developed and practised during the course:
- analyse offline and online journalistic articles and the discourse of journalism in general;
- write news (news writing), reports (report writing) and summaries (summary writing);
- write a press release in the advertising agency field;
- analyse virtual interviews;
- expand in paragraphs starting from notes / notes (expanding);
- listen and understand what is said during a press conference / interview;
- take notes (note taking) and ask questions during a conference / interview;
- prepare and conduct an oral interview.
Advanced language will be also practised by exercising advanced lexical-grammar competences, while using specialised journal and communicative materials.
REQUIRED TEXTS.
Students are expected to have read and studied the following texts:
• Clark, C. 2007. Views in the news. A textbook. Milano: LED Edizioni Universitarie.
• Sova D.B. 2002. How to write articles for newspapers and magazines, Thomson Peterson’s.
• Hashemi L., Thomas B., Matthews L. 2015. Grammar and Vocabulary for First and First for Schools Book with Answers and Audio, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Further material (slides, notes, etc.) will be uploaded on the lecturer’s e-learning webpage (English for journalism and media comunication > http://elearning.uninsubria.it/)
ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL REPERTOIRES (not required but recommended):
Desk dictionaries.
Monolingual dictionaries:
• Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary, Glasgow, Harper Collins, 2006.
• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English + DVD, London, Longman-Pearson, 2009.
Online dictionaries:
• Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Online
http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/lookup?cc=global
• Cambridge Dictionaries online
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
• WordReference.com
https://wordreference.com
Frontal lessons: the lecturer explains the contents of the course, interacting with the students through exercises, listening to authentic material in English and administering interim mock tests with guided correction.
Every week a specific task will be assigned (i.e. planning and writing a part of a news article, listening to a video interview, etc.) to be sent to and corrected by the lecturer.
Office hours upon appointment via email:
alessandra.vicentini@uninsubria.it