Third Year English  for the curriculum  Intercultural Communication
Lingua Inglese III annualità per il curriculum Comunicazione Interculturale

Topic: Using English ethnographically in multicultural encounters.

Regulations, credits - Regolamenti, CFU> 
Assessment - Esame: contenuti e date> 
Roll - Registro iscrizioni-presenze-voti> 
Office hours - Ore di ricevimento> 

 <Programma e testi - Syllabus, set texts
 <Sunto delle lezioni - Recap of lessons
 <Attività di ricerca - Research tasks
 <Notizie, avvisi - News, Messages

Mon. 1:30-3 pm, Room 16 
Lunedì,  13.30-15,  aula  16  

Wed. 1-3 pm, Room 11 
Mercoledì, 13-15, aula 11 

Fri. 2-4 pm, Room 11 
Venerdì 14-16, aula 11 

*  NEWS
* Click on the newspaper to see the archived (old) news items

Students'  Message Board
To communicate with the other students (or with the teacher),
click on one of the orange rectangles:
 
 New user  ("Show me how!")           Old user  ("I know how!")  

MISSING ENROLLMENT FORMS

Please tell the following students that they have NOT enrolled and therefore the work they have done cannot be entered into the computer and will not count.

Tell them they can still enroll now but to hurry up and do so. Thanks.

Michela Marcoccio
Marco Francioni
Sara Garofolo
Annalisa Fioravanti

What to read for the final exam (in June):

All students who qualify as frequentanti: read chapters 2, 5, 9.

People who have more than 2 absences:

Sara Garofolo (3 absences) you are a frequentante mica tanto but if you do all the activies, read just chapters 2, 5,9 and 3;
Marco Francioni, Antonio Sannio, Stella Urciuoli (4 absences) you are a non-frequentante; read all chapters (1-10).

Students who have not completed first or second Research Project:
Project 1: Sara Garofolo, Frederica Fransoso, Marco Francioni.
Project 2: Stefania Folino, Valentina Ricci, Antonello Sanniu, Annalisa Fioravanti. Michela Marcoccio.

Do the research project(s) by 22 November, and bring it to me during office hours. For example, the three students who have not done Project 1 can do it together and bring me a single cassette tape.

Project 3-4: If you cannot consign the project by November 3rd, do it by 22 November, and bring it to me during office hours.

If you do not do all research projects by November 22nd, you become a non-frequentante and read Chapters 1-10.

 

 
 
The photos are now posted (go to the ROLL section and click on "Photos").

Would the current group leader please send me the names of the people in the photos, in the order in which the people appear? Thanks.

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  ROLL*
*ENROLLMENT,  ATTENDANCE,  MARKS

Enrollment form and instructions (in Italian)>             (Informativa sulla privacy> )
You must be enrolled in this course if you want to count as a frequentante, participate in the activities and take the mid-term tests (esoneri).  Otherwise it is not necessary. 
 
 
  PC HELP: Problems using your PC?*   Phone a student for help> 
*A common question: "I don't have a PC or money to buy one. But you use the Internet in your teaching. And I'll need a PC to write up my findings for the Research Tasks and, later, for my tesi. What to do?" For some answers in English, click here>      (In Italiano>  ) 
 
 
  Students enrolled  (Last update: )>   
 
 
  Photos (by groups)>   
 
 
   Attendance >   
 
 
  Marks for the Research Tasks: 1>    2>    3+4>  
 
 
Mid-term tests ("esonero") marks: > 
Although you must be enrolled in this course (see the enrollment form above) in order to take the mid-term tests (esoneri), no booking is required since they are not "real"exams -- they serve to reduce the study load for the final exam (for which booking is necessary).  Each mid-term test you pass in this course eliminates one of the articles from the final exam and counts for a part of your final mark.  But only the final mark goes on your libretto.

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ASSESSMENT

Non frequentanti   Final exam contents: As a non-attender, you are responsible for all texts (book, articles) on the Reading List.> 

    Criteria determining your mark >  < Avviso per i non frequentanti

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Frequentanti   Final exam contents: Class discussions (if you don't remember the topics, they are listed here> )  plus a third of the book on the Reading List>    (the pages to study will be announced in class).
Also the two articles if you didn't eliminate them by taking and passing the mid-term tests (esoneri). See the NEWS section for further details.> 
 Criteria determining your mark (out of a maximum of 30 points*):
   4 automatic points for attendance and completion of all assignments
+ total of marks received for the Research Tasks (out of 20)
+ average of marks received for the mid-term tests (out of 10)
+ mark (from -2 to +3) on the final exam (for an explanation, see here> ).
    *The sum of of all the points listed here is more than 30. This increase is meant to compensate for the fact that, in the Italian grading system, rarely do students get more than 8 out of 10 on partial tests and assignments.  Yet graduate schools and employers expect at least 25 out of 30 on undergraduate exams, and the university itself requires at least 28 out of 30 for an Honors Degree.

The partial marks for the various Research Tasks and mid-term tests may be found in the section  ROLL : click here>   



     Calendar for final exams (appelli): Summer session, June/July 2005> 
There are regulations governing when you can take the exam and in what order you must take each component of this course (the Module, the Exercises).  See the regulations under the heading Prerequisites on the main menu or simply click here>.

 Avviso per chi ha presentato certificati di lingua per essere esonerati dalla prova lettori. Cliccare qui.

   Computerized exam booking>         Avviso su come prenotare > 
No booking is required for the mid-term tests (esoneri) since they are not "real" exams (their purpose is to "exonerate" you from some of the material on the final exam) and the mark you get for them does not go on your libretto.

Booking is required, however, for the final exam -- and at least 10 days in advance.  Click on the orange button above to connect to the booking site, usually active 20 days before the exam period.  If your computer breaks down during the booking period, there are two "dedicated" PCs for booking next to the portineria.  (N.B.   For the written [Lettori] exams, which cover the Exercise component of this course, use instead the registers outside the Lettori Room for your booking.)


 

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SYLLABUS,  SET TEXTS,  HANDOUTS 

Syllabus

 
Using English ethnographically in multicultural encounters

     Interactants in L1/L2 and lingua franca encounters in English are often uncertain about the other party's linguistic-cultural matrix (felt values).  This leads them to adopt collegially a so-called "neutral stance" in framing utterances or in communicating behaviorally, in order to ensure minimal understanding and to avoid critical incidents. 

     The present module will critique such behavior -- which, it should be noted, is one of the most frequent solutions to "cultural diversity in the workplace" practiced in international organizations.  The module will then propose what it claims to be a more suitable ethnographic approach to creating genuine entente in native/non-native and non-native/non-native interaction in English. 

     After two preparatory exercises, the students, divided into Research Groups, will experiment both solutions in real-life interaction and then write an essay critiquing them -- as well as the experimental task itself, as devised and conducted.  Normally from the critiques the Research Groups should be able to hypothesize better interactional techniques and better research methods -- and then repeat the cycle to verify their hypotheses. Unfortunately this module is limited to 16 contact hours, not enough time for more than the initial cycle; so students must continue on their own. 

The present course defines "knowledge" as obtaining a more productive hold on reality by repositioning oneself with respect to reality.  If this course does effectively "produce knowledge", this will mean that students will have "repositioned" themselves differently -- and more productively -- toward the phenomenon called "learning English" and will therefore most certainly continue their cycles of experimentation long after the course.

     For the organizational aspect of the module -- requirements and credits, evaluation criteria and so on -- see the main menu.   As for the Reading List, it follows.

 Set Texts 
("programma")

1. P. Kistler & S. Konivuori (eds.), 2003, From International Exchanges to Intercultural Communication, Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.  
   Thanks to permission granted by the authors, photocopies of the book may be had at Pronto Stampa, via Ostienese 461.
   Note: Attenders read chapters 2, 5,9: non attenders read entire book (chapters 1 to 10).

2. P. Boylan. 2004. "Understanding others". SIETAR Deutschland Journal 10:1 (April), pp. 28-32. 
   To read the text click here>    To download the text click here> . 
   Note: For both attenders and non attenders.    Only the downloaded version is divided into sections for group work.

3. "Avviso sull'esame". 
   To read the text click here>    To download the text click here> . 
   Note: Although aimed at non-attenders, the text constitutes exam material for all students since it analyzes what it means to "know" English in the context of the exams for this Course.  (International students: read the English version; Italian students: read the Italian version as it discusses your particular situation in more detail).

 Handouts 
 
("Dispense per i soli frequentanti -- i non frequentanti NON devono leggere questi testi.")

<cliccare                     "Learning language as culture"
 
Documento storico di 20 anni fa: è il Manifesto (la prima dichiarazione di principio scritto in lingua italiana) di una nuova concezione di apprendimento delle lingue vive, basata sull'introiezione culturale.
La pagina riprodotta è la Postfazione al volume Accenti sull'America di Patrick Boylan, Roma: Armando Curcio Editore, 1987, p. 387. In glottodidattica, "Learning language as culture" viene chiamato anche "l'approccio comunicativo-culturale".

 
"Organizing Diversity"
Background concepts for the study of English for Intercultural Comunication

Slides written by prof. Roger Bell of the Esade School of Negotiation, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcellona (Spain), by courtesy of the author.
 

 
Common European Framework of Reference (CEF)
You'll hear teachers at Roma Tre (and elsewhere) speak of the Common European Framework (CEF) levels of competence in a second language. For example, our university entry test is targeted for Level B1 in reading ability and A2 in speaking ability. What does this mean? Click the orange dot if you want to know more about the system (which many people criticize as simplistic, so it will probably undergo change in the near future).
 

Learn English on the Internet... FREE (no fees to teachers or schools!)
Clicking on the orange dot will open a page full of Internet sites where you can practice and extend your English. But you have to know how to distinguish what sites are most useful to you. This means asking yourself (1.) what learning English really means and thus (2.) what kinds of competence you need to acquire and only then (3.) what exercises are best for you.

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 Please enroll!  Fill out the form (click>  ) and send it to me by e-mail.  I can't count your work unless you have filled out the form.

TASK 1
Due date: October 15th

 For the next time, prepare a group discussion on the article:'Understanding Others'. It is divided into 10 sections (in the downloadable version only!).

1. Meet with your group and divide the sections to read among you. Each person is responsible for one or two sections depending on the number of people in the group.

2. At home, read the entire article to understand the relevance of your sections in the dynamic of the developing thought.

3. Take notes on the sections assigned to you.  Do not write a summary, write just the key ideas.  Practice explaining the sections reading just the key words in your notes.  Speak out loud (in front of a mirror, if possible).  This is excellent practice for the "oral final exams" that you must take in the Italian university system.

   If you want, you can record your voice to test your FLUENCY.  You should hear:
    -  few hesitations,
    -  stress-timed syllablic pronunciation,
    -  an even mid-high intonation before the tonic syllable,
    -  an even falling intonation after the tonic (or a rising one for yes/no questions),
    -  an intonation contour on the tonic syllable expressing intent.

   
   In addition, practice using the cue sheets "Interrupting and asking for a clarification" and "Discussion gambits" so that you can participate actively during the presentations of the other students.

The Group Leader will mark you as Presenter, Listener, and Group Member. What does this mean? How will points be given? Click below for the

EVALUATION CRITERIA
(Form for the Group Leader to fill out)>

After recording your discussion, the Group Leader will listen to the recording and assign the marks.    The other students can listen with her/him and offer suggestions (but only suggestions).    This interaction will help students become autonomous learners, able to judge themselves.

The teacher will accept the Group Leader's marks, whatever they are.   However the teacher can raise or lower the Group Leader's mark considerably, according to how reasonably s/he assigned marks to group members.    Group Leaders who play Santa Claus will get a 0.
 

 
TASK 2
Due date: October 22nd

For information about this research project, click here>   

Note: When you write your paper, IN ENGLISH, observe the following rules.

Your paper is to be written to a panel of American language professors. You can use linguistic terms without defining them because they are common but if you use the specific terminology (e.g. Will to Mean) that you learned in the articles written by Patrick Boylan, you have to say what the terms mean.

Your paper MUST have the following form:

Note: if the paper is HANDWRITTEN and your handwriting is large and you leave a double space, make it two pages.

Your group leader will read and mark your paper (and her/his own) before the due date. S/he will write the following criteria at the top of your sheet:
FORM:_0_to_2 _ CONTENT:_0_to_2 _ GENIALITY: 0 or 1 _ TOTAL: 0_to_5
GROUP LEADER'S NAME _____________ and SIGNATURE _______________
(FORM means format, handwriting, spelling, grammar, academic register...)
(CONTENT means arguments are clearly and convincingly presented.)

 
TASK 3
Due date: November 3rd

For information about this research project, click here>   

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