Advanced English language 1 and translation
B1-B2 CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)
The final exam consists of three distinct parts:
1. A preliminary written exam common to both pathways;
2. A specific and separate preliminary exam for the workshops, according to the chosen pathway;
3. A final oral exam common to both pathways.
First Year Exams
The written exam is divided into 3 (three) sections:
- Reading & comprehension
- Listening & comprehension
- Use of English
This written exam, common to both pathways, will be valid for all the academic year 2022-2023. The use of paper and online dictionaries, as well as of texts and materials provided during the course, is not allowed during this written exam.
The oral exam will consist of an interview in pairs in English: Students answering general questions about a range of general topics. Students are asked to talk about a particular topic analysed during the course and subsequently engage in a conversation/discussion related to this.
Passing the preliminary written exam and the exam related to the workshop chosen (final average - passing grade 18/30) will give students the access to the oral exam.
Legal and Business Translation Workshop
The exam specific to the pathway Workshop of Legal and Business English Translation will involve a translation of a legal or business text from English to Italian. The exam is divided into two sessions. The first session will be at the end of the first semester. This intermediate exam is a 90-minute translation regarding the language concepts dealt with during the first semester. The final session will be at the end of the second semester. This final exam is a 120-minute translation on the issues examined during the second semester of the course. The evaluation of these two sessions takes into consideration the fluency, the accuracy, the comprehension of the source text and the vocabulary adopted.
Students are allowed to use monolingual or bilingual dictionaries during both these exams (both paper and online ones). The marks achieved in these two sessions will be valid for all the academic year 2022-2023 (with final average - passing grade 18/30). This final average grade will average with the grade achieved in the written exams and in the oral exam of the course.
Linguistic, Cultural and Legal Mediation Workshop
The exam specific to the pathway Workshop of linguistic, cultural and legal mediation will be a 90-minute written translation of two texts based on one of the course subject areas.
Students will be required to translate the following texts:
- One text from English into Italian (no longer than 250 words)
- One text from Italian into English (no longer than 150 words)
Students are allowed to use monolingual or bilingual dictionaries during both these exams (both paper and online ones).
All parts carry equal mark weighting and students’ communicative competence is evaluated according to the following assessment criteria: accuracy, completeness, fluency, domain-specific vocabulary.
The exam is divided into two sessions. The first session will be at the end of the first semester. The final session will be at the end of the second semester. The final average of the marks achieved in these two sessions (passing grade 18/30) will average with the grade achieved in the written exams and in the oral exam of the course.
This course aims to revise the upper-intermediate grammatical structures (B2-B2+ CEFR - Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), necessary to convey certain linguistic functions. It provides students with the tools to deal with all sorts of conversations and texts in English, to improve their understanding of socio-cultural contexts and intercultural communication, and to explore practical dynamics and activities useful for mediators.
The first-year common course aims at gaining knowledge on:
- phonetic aspects of English language
- processes of words formation in English
- basic notions of syntactic analysis
- grammatical structures
- vocabulary
- standard speech features
- construction of the sentence & punctuation
- more fluently and accurately use of the language
The fourth level of English, B2, is defined by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), a set of standards for defining and describing language levels within the European Union. The CEFR considers B1 and B2 to be the same. The B2+ level is commonly referred to as the upper intermediate level, necessary to reach C1 level at the end of the course. A proficient is someone who is skilled, fluent, and practicing, especially in the context of a skill or task. Through theoretical and practical exercises aimed at deepening students’ reflection on grammatical structures and vocabulary, at the end of the course students will be able to:
- Describe and appropriately use grammatical and linguistic structures in English;
- Understand the main elements of a standard speech;
- Express themselves in a grammatically correct manner in English;
- Understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, university, leisure, etc.;
- Produce a clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain their opinion on a current issue;
- Recognize a wider range of vocabulary and be able to use it more flexibly.
The practical laboratories of legal and economic translation or of linguistic, cultural and legal mediation provide a practical applicative context for the skills acquired during the course and is an integral part of the program. Case studies, problem solving and simulation exercises will allow the student to acquire practical competence in the professional field of the chosen pathway.
The course aims to practice all four macro skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. The objective is to reach a C2 level (CEFR) by the end of the second year program.
The first-year course focuses on:
- An introduction to English phonetics, phonology and lexis;
- Articulation of sounds and groups of sounds;
- Word stress, sentence stress, pitch and intonation;
- Parts of the speech;
- English lexicon: characteristics and training processes;
- Elements of lexical semantics;
- The structures of English language (collocations, etc.);
- English grammar B2/-B2+ level (tenses, voice, modals, etc.)
- Listening: info transfer, comprehension
- Translation EN > IT & writing exercises
Legal and Business Translation Workshop
The first-year workshop is designed to introduce students to the key features of the legal & business language and the practical/professional application of legal & business translation methods and techniques.
Therefore, the first part of the course will focus on essential language concepts, sources for legal & business translations and translation processes students need to be familiar with in order to tackle legal translation challenges successfully. Furthermore, at this stage of the course, basic guidelines as to the practical application of this field of expertise will be provided, focusing on common types of clients and assignments, as well as on the specific requirements legal translators need to meet.
During the course, paper and online resources currently used in this field will be illustrated through English to Italian translation assignments of short excerpts from real-life contracts and company documents. Lectures at this stage of the course will be held in a translation workshop mode, offering students practical in-class translation training. Finally, the lecturer will provide students with a detailed marked-up revision of their translations.
Linguistic, Cultural and Legal Mediation
The course aims to enable students to develop basic mediation and interpreting skills both from English into Italian and from Italian into English. Students will learn the fundamentals of mediation in the following subject areas: corporate/business and medical. Particular focus will be put on language styles, registers, cultural contexts and domain-specific vocabulary.
Activities will include memorizing, summarizing, analysing discourse and rephrasing in both languages as well as sight translation and dialogue interpreting. Specific practice is designed to improve accuracy and fluency focusing on pronunciation, intonation and prosody.
Course materials will feature a range of British, American and other international native and non-native speakers, helping students familiarize with different accents, vocabulary and cultures.
Requirement for both workshops:
As classes are fully taught in Italian and English, students will be expected to be oral and written proficient in Italian (CEFR C1) and in English (CEFR B2), showing accurate and articulate oral and written skills.
The 30-hour workshops during the first semester offers different training programmes and makes up an integral part of the course.
For appointments (ricevimento), please, send an email to the instructor.
Common course
Lecture notes (slides and any additional material in the form of links, articles or extracts) will be made available as announced by the teachers.