81-O,  812-L     First Year English  for LL English minors and OCI English majors (surnames A-Z)
Prima annualità per gli studenti LL di “inglese 2a lingua” e gli studenti OCI di “inglese 1a lingua” (cognomi A-Z)

“Seeing and saying things in English”
 Module on learning to internalize English as a way of being  (timetable below).
Tutorials with the Lettori, levels A2 (Prodromou), B1 (MacLaren) or B2 (Connealy)  – timetable here

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Notizie, avvisi, forum – News, Messages, Forum >  

  < Goals, rules, credits – Scopo, regolamenti, crediti

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

Three  Students''   Message Boards
 
Associazione Studentesca di Lingue   click     Forum Studenti Roma Tre Lingue


Forum degli Studenti di questo corso

 ESONERO RESULTS:

NOT READY YET, I'M STILL BUSY WITH THE ELECTIONS;
PLEASE BE PATIENT

 The Department of Linguistics announces:

 Il prof. Suresh Canagarajah sarà ospite da noi a Roma Tre per due diversi incontri. Il primo incontro - un open meeting - si terrà mercoledì 26 dalle 14.00 alle 16.00 in aula 14, sul tema: WORLD ENGLISHES and LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY What does being proficient in English mean today when there are diverse varieties of English. Implications for testing.

Questo incontro - un open meeting - è prevalentemente rivolto a studenti, studenti della SSIS, dottorandi, lettori e insegnanti di TESOL Italy.

Il secondo incontro è previsto giovedì 27 novembre alle 15.30 (Aula Riunioni, III piano, Dip.to Linguistica) per il ciclo dei Seminari di Linguistica e avrà come tema THE POSSIBILITY OF LINGUA FRANCA.

Per chi non può venire (posti limitati), un recente testo qui.
 

Della serie, “In che mondo viviamo?
Vogliamo far qualcosa per cambiarlo?”

1° Fatto  Radu (Group M – one of our class secretaries) wrote me to say why he was absent last time.  He was walking along the street when four young men approached him:

“I live in an area of Rome which is very right-wing... a friend of mine got beaten up 2 days ago in exactly the same place as me...4 of [these people] came along. I knew one of them because he goes to the school where I used to go, where me and my friend ran for "rappresentanti d'istituto". During the elections he referred to me as a "drunken, satanic Romanian." And to my friend, the one who got beaten 2 days ago, as "a terrorist" just because he's Egyptian.

I was thrown to the ground and they all started kicking me in the head and in the back after a while a car came by; it didn't stop, actually it went away, but it was enough to scare them away...I got up...called a friend of mine who took me to the hospital. Nothing broken...lots of bumps and bruises...



2° Fatto Elezioni per il presidente del Corso di Laurea
Continua il bullismo dei sostenitori dell'area Linguistica

Per ragguagli: leggete le pagine 4 e 5 del topic sul forum degli studenti di lingue di Roma Tre qui (prima devi iscriverti).

Assemblea, mercoledì 26.11, ore 16, aula 10.
 - Elezioni – possibile dimissioni di un rappresentante per le pressioni subite
 - Disfunzioni con i corsi lettori: soluzioni.
 - Discussione:
   - perché i rappresentanti degli studenti hanno votato la candidatura della prof.ssa nuccorini e non quella del prof. Lancioni? (Leggi anche il forum sopra)
   - quali sono i problemi più sentiti dagli studenti del corso di laurea in lci? ovvero problemi da portare al prossimo consiglio del collegio didattico?
 

 
17.11.08

 TROVATI!      

The 2 “permanent” class secretaries, to help me at the beginning of class (distributing roll sheets, collecting
homework, etc. etc.) are: Veronica and Radu.
 
Thanks.
 

 14.11.08

Results of the request to sign for “being Anglo during the lessons on Anglo language and culture”
(and not to sign if one prefers maintaining one's habitual Italian identity during the lessons)

Out of 87 students, 86 signed up to “be Anglo” during the lessons. And, hopefully, when interacting with Anglos!

One person did not sign, but perhaps this was because this person had already left early when the signing took place.
In any case, there is no problem: even if this person wants to act according to the rules of Italian culture, the people around her will “educate her” during the lesson.  They will be just like the Dutch boy (the one who felt it was his duty to educate the French girl who threw the cigarette pack onto the street).

So lessons will continue as usual.   AND the esonero will take place as scheduled: Monday.

As for the composition of the esonero, there will be five open questions regarding “How to Interview” and anything said in class – the themes of which appear in the section “Recap of Lessons”. 

No dictionaries allowed. And obviously no “cheat sheets” (foglietti con altri accorgimenti) allowed.

Since you will be Anglo during the exam, if you see anyone talking, looking at a cheat sheet or anything of the kind, you will tell him or her to stop.  So I don't have to intervene and play the “vigile”.   If I have to play the “vigile” as a traditional teacher does, I will continue being a traditional teacher for the rest of the course.

You will not sit in your group.  Just as with the Trinity students, I will give you a ticket telling you where to sit.

You will answer the five questions in one hour; that means 12 minutes per question. (Class begins at 4 but the exam begins at 4:30 and ends at 5:30). So you don't have time to write a draft (“la brutta”).  Just write straight off (“di getto”) what you remember.  Imagine you are taking an oral test – but with a time advantage (you never have 12 minutes per question during an oral exam: you must say the answer immediately, within a minute or two, or the teacher assumes you don't know it).

Sample questions:

Why is hand language (for example, Ada McGraph's English, expressed with her hands, in The piano) just as much English as the verbal language used by an Anglo student that you interview orally? (Discussed on October 15^th).

Define “culture” and say what it means to understand an Anglo speaker “culturally”. (From “How to Interview”, Part 1, “More on the concept of “culture” and “cultural values”...)

Remember: exams do not “prove” anything.  They are fundamentally arbitrary and therefore intrinsically unjust (just like “marks” for your Tasks).  So don't worry about “doing well” -- I never judge a student from an exam, I take into consideration most of all the kind of work done on the Tasks.  (And, numerically for your mark, your tasks count twice as much as both esoneri put together.)  For me the exam is just a tribal ritual to follow.

13.11.08

YES, We're having the encounter with the Trinity students this evening, despite the rain.
(What's a little water?)
 

 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH , AN EVENING
WITH THE STUDENTS OF TRINITY COLLEGE

Information about Trinity College: in the United States>           in Rome> .
(To interview effectively, you should document yourself on your future interviewees!
   Read their sites!)
 
 

Information about the “Contro-inaugurazione studentesca” on Thursday:
ore 15-17: Marco Travaglio: una discussione sulla P2 (che controlla l'Italia o comunque sta cercando di controllarla) 
ore 18-20: Tavola rotonda sull'università: che università abbiamo in mente. Approfondimento dei documenti per l'assemblea della Sapienza;
ore 20-22: Incontro tra gli studenti di Trinity College e gli studenti di inglese del I anno, Aula 10
                   Gli americani spiegheranno l'elezione di Obama. Gli italiani spiegheranno la protesta contro la legge 133 in corso.
Ore 21-22:30: Spazio autogestito dal Dams: proiezione del documentario:
                         The Weather Underground (più intervento sul film della prf.ssa Antonelli)
ore 23-alba: Musica (dj set drum'n'bass, reggae, ska, rock, punk)
                       Videoproiezioni, mostre fotografiche, banchetti
 

If you can't send your Group Leader your audio/video files because your email service doesn't accept big emails,
then use the http://intertransfer.interfree.it/ service.   After registering, you send your files directly to the service
(not by email).  Then the service sends an email to the person you indicate with a password.   That person can then download the files. Group Leaders can use this system to send me their group members' audio/video files.


 A student has written to me that APPENDIX “F” (in “How to interview”) DOESN'T WORK.   SO PLEASE CLICK HERE.

 
HERE ARE THE CRITERIA THAT I WILL USE IN EVALUATING THE MARKS THAT THE GROUP LEADER GIVES>

 
 7.11.08

LEZIONI CON I LETTORI: le lezioni sono sospese oggi 7.11.08 ma riprenderanno regolarmente da domani – comprese le lezioni con MacLaren e con Fallon -- MA NON LE LEZIONI DELLA PROF. CONNEALY (e 2 lettrici di cinesi, 1 di russo, 1 di arabo)
 
MOTIVO: L'amministrazione ha trovato i soldi per i loro contrati ma, quando hanno esaminato i contratti, hanno visto che per una parte delle ore dovevano ricevere un compenso più basso.  Il sindacato è intervenuto a loro difesa; non si sa quando le trattative si concluderanno.
 
What can you do?  Nothing, at least if we accept the logic of the student who goes around saying that I (Patrick Boylan) should not criticize the Corso di Laurea since I belong to it. With that logic, YOU should not criticize the Corso di Laurea either (even if you have no lettori lessons now) because you belong to it, too. 

Of course there is ANOTHER logic.  According to this logic, precisely because you belong to an institution you have the DUTY to criticize it when it is not serving the public interest... and to work to make it better.  In the case of the missing lettori, you could write a petition to the Rector criticizing the fact that you have paid for a service you are not receiving.  And you could work to make the situation better by meeting in Connealy's classroom during her class hours and forming self-study groups, using materials from the lab. (If you bring your tape recorders, I can ask the lab to duplicate tapes for you to listen to.)

 7.11.08

TRANSPORTATION STRIKE ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH – NO LESSON

Note on Task 2: As explained in class, Task 2 has been increased
so that you can be ready to interview the Trinity Students next Thursday.

The increase: in addition to answering the questions to Part 2 of “How to Interview”, you will do Part 5 (“First Outing”) as well.
 Read the explanation under Task 2 (in the Main Menu, click on “Research Tasks”).
You should also read the CORRECTION SHEET that Group Leader 4 will use in correcting you,
so you know what will be considered important.

 26.10.08

 
STUDENTS OF THE 6-8pm COURSE:
ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, THERE IS NO LESSON FROM 6-8-
I will be participating in the initiative “I Bambini all'Università” from 6 to 8pm in Room 10.

PLEASE COME (IF YOU CAN) TO THE LESSON FROM 4-6

STUDENTS OF CHINESE:
ON WEDNESDAY ROOM 10 WILL BE USED FOR THE CHILDREN'S INITIATIVE,
SO YOU MUST GO WITH PROF. ZANG TO ANOTHER ROOM.

 26..10.08

NO MAKE-UP LESSON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28

Our “alternative lesson” on Monday, October 27th, was rained out after 20 minutes!   So there was no lesson. And thus there is no lesson to make up.

To escape the rain, the students found shelter in a pub for American students, near piazza Farnese.   Here are a few pictures of them, studying hard.

   
 

 26.10.08
 

The weather report says it will rain heavily on Wednesday and Friday, so for now our ONLY Lezione in Piazza will be Monday.
We'll see what the Assembly on Tuesday proposes for alternative methods of protest.

 
 26.10.08
 
 GROUP LEADERS (week 2): I have just put the EVALUATION SHEET (to use in giving your marks for Task 1, Second Part)
at the end of the explanation of Task1 – Second Part.  Go to the Main Menu above and click on “Research Tasks.”

Please print a copy of the form (if you don't have a printer, no worry – at our lesson Monday in Piazza Farnese I will distribute copies), then fill it out and give it to me on Wednesday.

I am giving you two extra days because I was late in putting the form on this web site.

Some students, when they read the form, may decide they want to re-write their papers to be more in line with the criteria.  You can give them an extension – it's your business – but please consign the EVALUATION SHEET on Wednesday:
 
 

 MONDAY, OCTOBER 27,

OUR LESSON WILL BE HELD IN PIAZZA FARNESE
for the 4-6 group and the 6-8 group together
from 4:30 to 6:30 (a half hour late for transportation time).
It's easy to get there with Bus 23: see the map here.   

Our lesson will be partly on “How to Interview”, partly on the law 133 and partly on how to talk in an English pub and in an American bar.
(There is a famous American students' bar near piazza Farnese – The Drunken Ship in Campo de' Fiori – so bring some beer money to practice what your learn.)

The sit-in is AUTHORIZED so there will be NO problem of any kind.

Bring something to sit on (you'll be on the ground): a cushion, a plaid, a newspaper...
And bring something to write with (a pen, a pencil...): we may do an exercise.

And, finally, to explain to the people in the square why we are there, if you want you can bring IN ITALIAN
a big sign that you put on your back (or wear like a “sandwich-man”.
For information on the reasons for the protest,
see for example the declaration of the Conferenza dei Rettori here  about Law 133 (here)
For the government's point of view see here.
For opinions against the Law 133, see here or here,
For an opinion against the profest, see here   (Don't be like the students described!   Come informed!)


Group Leaders will take roll and collect the homework as usual.   The lesson will count for your “presenze”.*
(N.B. Last Wednesday the two classes freely voted to hold lessons outside the classroom by a huge majority: 82 – 7.)

*If you do not want to participate in this initiative (or if for some reason you can't come),
there will be a make-up lesson on Tuesday, October 28, FOR BOTH GROUPS (4-6 AND 6-8),
from 5 pm to 7 pm in Room 22.

24-10-08

 
ASSEMBLEA sulla Legge 133 e sulle iniziative di lotta
QUESTO MARTEDÌ, ore 12, AULA MAGNA
volantin qui 
 

 24-10-08

THIS THURSDAY EVENING...
                                                 another interesting film in the “Eyes Wide Open” film series, 8 pm, Circolo Arci Arcobaleno (Metro Garbatella):

Michael Moore's latest film (made in 2007 but just released)    Slacker Uprising (il risveglio degli studenti menefreghisti)

This Thursday, October 30^th, at 8 pm, U.S. Citizens for Peace and Justice - Rome will present Slacker Uprising, a documentary film that shows how Michael Moore, just before the last United States Presidential election (2004), held rallies on college campuses all across America, to convince college kids (who traditionally boycott elections) that THEY CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.   With him: musicians and artists like Eddie Vedder, Steve Earle, Roseanne Barr, Joan Baez, and Viggo Mortensen. The film shows "the birth of a new political generation."

Doors open at 7:30pm, films begin at 8pm sharp. The Circolo Arci Arcobaleno is in Via Pullino, 1. Take the “Metro B” to the Garbatella stop, then take the “via Pullino” exit from the station. Turn right and continue (200mt) across Piazza Albini to Arcobaleno. Map here.

 24-10-08

NOTICE for the students I assigned to classes with Connealy/Fallon.  
Your schedule has changed.
See your new schedule here.

 22-10.08

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME PERSONAL QUESTIONS
BEFORE THE CLASS BEGINS.
IT TAKES TIME AND MAKES THE CLASS START LATE.
IN OTHER WORDS, YOU MAKE 70 PEOPLE WAIT
DURING YOUR PRIVATE CONSULTATION.
THAT'S NOT FAIR.  

SO PLEASE SEE ME DURING OFFICE HOURS:
MONDAY AND FRIDAY: 2-3 (ROOM 3.01).
IF YOUR QUESTION IS URGENT AND YOU CAN'T WAIT,
SEND ME AN EMAIL OR USE THE FORUM ABOVE.

NATURALLY YOU MAY ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS OF GENERAL INTEREST DURING THE COURSE.

 22.10.08

Question to answer at the beginning of the class: How many students are taking prof. MacLarens's Speaking Module (Thursday , 2-4pm) and would be able to take it instead on Tuesday 10am-12 noon?

 22.10.08

SUGGESTED LETTORATI FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS (OCI and LL 2a lingua)
click here

 20-10.08
 

Please read the instructions on how to “take roll” (“segnare le presenze”).
You will be a group leader one day and should know how.
Instructions here> 
 

 20-10.08

TWO CHANGES IN CLASS DATES:

-- There will be a lesson on October 27^th. (I thought I would be out of Rome and so I had said there was no class; that has changed now. There will be no class on Friday, October 24th, but on Monday the 27th we will meet as usual.)

-- There will (probably) be no lesson on Friday, November 14^th.  The major union for University personnel has called a General Strike nationwide on that day (see details here) unless the Government changes Law N° 133, which cuts university funding and initiates the privatization process.


ABOUT THE STUDENT PROTEST AGAINST LAW 133...

-- There will be an assembly to discuss opposition to the law, Tuesday, October 21stx, in front of the Petrocchi Library:  Students may vote for forms of protest like: stopping “official” lessons, occupying the university, holding alternative seminars, holding lessons in public places, and so on.  You can participate, if you wish, and express your vote. 

In any case, whatever form of protest is approved on Tuesday or in the future, THIS CLASS WILL CONTINUE TO MEET ACCORDING TO THE SCHEDULE given under the Main Menu above.  The place and course content may change, but lessons will continue to help you learn to express yourself better in English.  In other words, going on strike does not mean going on holiday. 
 

  15-10.08

TUTTI GLI STUDENTI DI INGLESE, PRIMO ANNO, SONO PREGATI DI CONTROLLARE
I RISULTATI DELLA PROVA AMMISSIONE (QUI)
PER VERIFICARE SE DEVONO SEGUIRE UNO DEI CORSI DI RECUPERO ED EVENTUALMENTE QUALE.
(In classe ho distribuito una lista di nomi che ho preso da qui, ma posso aver sbagliato; quindi controllare qui per sicurezza.)

I CORSI DI RECUPERO AL CENTRO LINGUISTICO DI ATENEO (CLA)
INIZIANO IL 3 NOVEMBRE.  MA...

MA GLI STUDENTI INTERESSATI DEVONO METTERSI IN CONTATTO SUBITO
– E NON OLTRE IL 29 OTTOBRE – CON IL CLA
PER STABILIRE LE MODALITA' DELLA LORO PARTECIPAZIONE.
http://www.cla.uniroma3.it

La partecipazione ai corsi non dà diritto a crediti ma serve unicamente ad assolvere gli obblighi formativI.
 

15-10.08

How to do “Task 1” (compito) for Monday?

For full instructions,
click on “Research Tasks” in the Menu here.

If you have problems using your computer to do the task (password, downloading, etc.)
call one of our PC-HELP volunteers.
You can find their telephone numbers under “PC-HELP”... To get to PC-HELP, click on ROLL in the Main Menu.

15-10.08

The lessons on Wednesday, 6 – 8 pm, will be held in Room 12 instead of Room 10.

 15-10.08

As of October 15^th: NO MORE NEW STUDENTS ADMITTED TO THE FREQUENTANTI PROGRAM 

TO SEE THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE PROGRAM; CLICK ON “ROLL” IN THE MAIN MENU.
 

 15-10.08

 FRIDAY (October 17th): NO LESSON – SCIOPERO GENERALE, read about it here and here.
But... in the afternoon (4 to 8 pm) Aula 10 is empty and at your disposition to meet in groups and do the assigned tasks.

15-10.08

“Solution” for the conflict in class schedules

There were no large classrooms available on Tuesday 4-6pm or Thursday 10-12pm, so these two proposals could not be taken into consideration.

The Lettrice of Chinese came up with a solution.

FIRST YEAR ENGLISH (OCI + “strong” LL students):
Monday 4 - 6pm, Wednesday 4 - 5:30pm*, Friday 4 – 6pm
*On Wednesday, no break and no “quarto d'ora accademico”: class begins at 4 on the dot.

FIRST YEAR CHINESE
On Wednesday: 5:45 – 7:30pm

13-10.08

Schedule of the Lettori Lessons
(Not complete and perhaps with mistakes:
This is what some Lettori sent me;
I'm waiting for the rest.)
Click here.

08-10.08

If you didn't do (or finish) the DiaLang test today, do it (or finisih it) at home tonight.
You will have to install two programs on your computer (Java, DiaLang) before you can do the test.

All necessary information is here.

There are 15 PC's (with DiaLang ALREADY INSTALLED) in the in Language Laboratory that you can use until 4 pm.

Send me the results on the form here. Download it, fill it out, and send it to: patrickboylan.it

NB:  1. You will not always have a "prova di livello" or "autovalutazione". If you do them once, often this is enough and the computer will not ask you to do them again.
         2. Write your "autovalutazione" like this: "me: A2, test: B1".
This means: my autovalutation was "A2" but the test showed that I am really "B1". So I underestimated myself.

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08.10.08

The next film in the Eyes Wide Open* film series, this Thursday (Oct. 16), 8pm:

RADIANT CITY, directed by the Canadian surreal comedy king, Gary Burns.
 
To see a trailer of the film, click here.
To see a review of the film, click here.
 
The Eyes Wide Open film series is organized by a group of “U.S. Citizens for Peace and Justice” living in Rome; see their site here.  Screenings are at the Circolo Arci Arcobaleno, via Pullino 1 (Metro Garbatella).  Admission is free; a donation of 2 euros is accepted.

Next Tuesday, October 14, 2 pm,  Meeting of the Collegio Didattico, at the request of the Student Representatives (Federica, Kosyta, Valentina), to examine the conflicts in the course schedule.
(See the exchange of messages between a “matricola” and me on the Course Forum: first message, last message.

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  YOUR DATA*
*ENROLLMENT,  ATTENDANCE,  MARKS

Enrollment form and instructions ( in Italian)>     (Informativa privacy> )
                     You must enroll to be a frequentante and take the esoneri.  Otherwise it is unnecessary.
 
  PC HELP*: Problems using your PC?   Phone a student for help>  

If you don't have a computer, how can you enroll and follow the course?
Here are various solutions>     (Per la versione italiana cliccare qui> )
 

Students enrolled on   
>  

 
Attendance as of
> 
(view directly>  )

 
Photos >  

 
   

Marks for
Research Tasks>  

Marks for Partial exams*:
Written + Oral> 

*Partial exams: To take the “partial exams” (esoneri), you must enroll in this course (use the form above).  But no booking is required since they are not "real"exams -- they simply reduce the study load for the final exam (for which you must book).  Each partial exam you pass eliminates one of the texts 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 >    (Studenti italiani: Leggete il testo in italiano)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frequentanti   Final exam contents: Le domande verteranno sulle discussioni in aula (non sui testi al programma) così come risultano dai RECAP OF LESSONS, dalle spiegazioni dei Tasks nella rubrica TASKS e dalle NOTIZIE, comprese le discussioni sul Bulletin Board del nostro corso a cui si accede, appunto, nella rubrica NEWS cliccando sul tasto arancione nel riquadro rosso "Students' Bulletin Board."

Also the two articles if you didn't eliminate them by taking and passing the partial exams (esoneri).

 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.
 
 

                                     YOUR MARKS   (I TUOI VOTI)
YOUR MARKS FOR THIS MODULE (tasks, partial exam) are in YOUR DATA : click here> 
YOUR MARKS FOR THE ESERCITAZIONI  (LETTORI EXAM, June, September, January) are here> 
 
 
 

                                                      EXAM DATES
     Calendar* for final exams (due o tre appelli per ogni sessione di esame): click> 
     For last minute changes, go to the “Didattica / Notizie” page by clicking here> 

*NOTE: 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 Tutorial).  See the regulations under Regulations on the main menu or simply click here>   

 
 
   Computerized exam booking>   
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 8 days in advance.  Click on the orange button above to connect to the booking site, usually active 20 days before the exam period.  But before you click to book, see the “Calendar for final exams” in the paragraph above – it will help you determine for which exam to book.

 

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SYLLABUS,  SET TEXTS,  HANDOUTS 
 aaa

Syllabus 

 
“Seeing and saying things in English”  

     In this Module we will examine what language is "beyond words and syntax" -- a move toward a linguistics of parole alongside the traditional Saussurian linguistics of langue.  Then, on the basis of our wider definition of language, we will attempt a cultural description of "English" -- or rather, Englishes, as they exist in today's globalized yet fragmented world.

Students will acquire English as a “will to mean” and thus a particular existential state.  They will, in addition, be able to describe the multiple varieties of English – in our globalized yet fragmented world – as a family of such states.  In addition they will learn to use a local English in encounters with culturally diverse native speakers of that variety, as a practical application of the concepts elaborated.

Tutorial with a Lettore/Lettrice

During the Lettore tutorial students will acquire a better formal competence in using contemporary R.P. English – at level B1 or higher – through class and lab work.

The organizational aspects of the Module -- requirements and credits, evaluation 
   criteria and so on – are indicated in the main menu.   The Reading List follows. 
 

 Set texts
("programma")

 
 
Frequentanti and non frequentanti
are responsible for:

1. Monograph: P. Boylan. "Understanding others". SIETAR Deutschland Journal 10:1 (April, 2004), pp. 28-32.  To read the text click here>    To download the text click here> . 
 
2. Monograph: “P. Boylan, 'Seeing and Saying Things in English', IV annual IALIC conference, Lancaster University, 16.12.2003.” To read the text click here>    To download the text click here> . 
 
3. Book: D. Crystal.1997. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.   Available at university book stores – for example, the book store across from the Facoltà.
 
 

Non Frequentanti only
will also read

4. Monograph  P. Boylan “Il come e il perché degli esami”
Attention: The exam will contain questions on this text! To read the text click here>    To download the text click here> .  This text 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.
 
 

For Frequentanti only;

Frequentanti do not read text (4.) Boylan “Il come e il perché degli esami.”   In addition, they will substitute most of (2.) Boylan and (3.) Crystal with How to Interview* (click here .).
User name: PICTUREX   (maiuscole),  Password: .corkos   (minuscole)

     
  STUDENTS FROM LETTERE AND OTHER DEGREE COURSES   

Students from the corso di laurea in Lettere (and other degree courses) who need 6 credits will study texts 1, 2, 3 and 4 if they are non frequenanti; as frequentanti they will study the program indicated in the paragraph above. 
 
Students who need fewer credits (for example, only 4) will have a proportionally reduced program. As frequentanti they will attend the first 2/3 of the lessons (Oct. 6th to November 17th).  As non frequentanti they are responsible for texts 1, 2 and 4.
 
At the beginning of the course and in any case before the esoneri, all Lettere students are asked to see the teacher during his office hours indicated here.

     
  STUDENTS FROM LINGUE (Vecchio ordinamento) WHO NEED 10 CREDITS  

Students from the corso di laurea triennale in Lingue e Comunicazione Internazionale who need 5 credits for the Teacher's Module will study texts 1, 3 and 4 if they are non frequentanti.   As frequentanti they will attend lessons up to November 28th and take both esoneri.
 
At the beginning of the course and in any case before the esoneri, all such students are asked to see the teacher during his office hours indicated here.
 

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

<cliccare                     "Learning language as culture" (in italiano)
 
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".

 
Cultural Parameters Illustrated: How to predict communication friction.
Slides from a course by Linda Beamer, California State University, Los Angeles, 2001,
and modified by Patrick Boylan for University of Rome III students, 2002.
Warning: To see this text, your computer must have a PowerPoint Viewer (most do).  
You can get one free at www.microsoft.com  (enter “PowerPoint viewer”
in the search box or, for a direct link, click here).
 

 
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.

Return to Menu 

     
LESSONS
 

     
AFTER EACH LESSON, SEE HERE FOR THE SLIDES/NOTES USED.
 

October 6

Introduction to course

October 8

DiaLang test in the PC lab

October 10

Class organization.

News...

The next film in the Eyes Wide Open* film series, this Thursday (Oct. 16), 8pm:

RADIANT CITY, directed by the Canadian surreal comedy king, Gary Burns.
 
To see a trailer of the film, click here.
To see a review of the film, click here.
 
The Eyes Wide Open film series is organized by a group of “U.S. Citizens for Peace and Justice” living in Rome; see their site here.  Screenings are at the Circolo Arci Arcobaleno, via Pullino 1 (Metro Garbatella).  Admission is free; a donation of 2 euros is accepted.

Seeing this film is OPTIONAL and is part of the ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH* to language learning that this course promotes. 

*Rome offers many occasions to learn English, or other languages, ethnographically, through participant observation of native speakers while they interact as a community in real life situations.  For example, you can learn about British pub life by observing Brits in one of their “locals” in Rome (see the addresses here) and using the techniques Kate Fox describes here.  Or you can see and discuss “alternative” films with American expats in Rome who have organized the film club described above. See other opportunities here.
 

October 13

 
 
-  New arrivals, once again an explanation of the course,
-  Organization into groups
-  Explanation of the “corsi di recupero” offer
-  An interminable discussion on how to eliminate conflicts with other classes

Lesson:
Introduction to the concept of Language and Culture.

Ask yourself: how can I define the culture I am observing? (For example, Canadian culture if you see the film Radiant City.)

First technique: Note deviations from standard speech patterns and ask yourself what they correlate with. (You will never know exactly. But you will begin to see possible significant associations.)
For example, in the trailer to the film Radiant City, a young boy, indicating a sprawling Canadian suburb, says: “This is my neighborhood.”  But he says those words with hesitation, he pauses before saying “neighborhood” and says the word with an suspensive intonation.  He does not speak like this in other utterances.  So the word “neighborhood”, with reference to the visual context, must have a special meaning for him.

Second technique: Triangulation -- note how the culture is described by people of a third culture that you are familiar with.  (This will help to relativize your subjective impressions.)
For example, in the song Hey, Sarah Palin, which you can see here, Canada is mentioned in a special way by MC Howie (with Julie K), two American singers who make “viral web music”.  Since their song has spread virally, this means that it “talks to” young American mentality.  See also this spot on obtaining Canadian citizenship. 
 

October 15

Reminder: Eyes Wide Open film series tomorrow evening, 8pm, Circolo Arci Arcobaleno, Metro Garbatella

More on the concept of Language and Culture.

Third technique: Acting “as if” (see Stanislavsky's “Magic If” here, and how you can use it to enter into another culture here).


Class conduct.

Being in class

Discussion on a Short Story (about a boxer who looses a match) in the English literature class at El Cerrito High School, El Cerrito, California.  Teacher Joan Cone.

What cultural values are expressed by the turn-taking* procedures used spontaneously by the students?

 
 
*Turn-taking: obtaining the possibility to speak for a while in a two-party or group discussion.

Cultural Differences among Students – In class

The stereotype of the White, middle-class American of Anglo descent versus the stereotype of the South-Central middle-class urbanized Italian. See here.

Learning a language – in this case, English – means acquiring a will to mean that expresses a will to be shared by some English speaking community. Thus, when we are speaking English in class, we will be acting and thinking and feeling things as we would in an American classroom (later, if time allows, we will experiment doing things in a British, Australian, Irish, Jamaican etc. way).

As for American ways of seeing and saying things, specifically in a classroom environment, here is what an American student from Trinity college has to say about:

Coming late to lessons  Chatting during lessons  
To hear the recording, click on the words in red.
If your browser cannot play the recordings, download them by clicking here:
zip file for coming late         zip file for Chatting
and play them with Windows Media Player or a similar program.

This is what YOU should think, feel and want during the lesson,
in order to speak to the teacher using his language (American English).
How can you want things that, as an Italian, you have not been taught to desire?
This will be a central, recurrent question during the course.

A language like English is therefore not simply a code (words + rules for combining them). A language can seem like a code because, from the standpoint of acoustics, people do use a set of rules for signal/message conversion; and from the standpoint of semiotics, people do use a set of signs in lexical-syntactic opposition to each other. But this is only the superficial aspect of language. If language were only a code, under normal conditions there would be no ambiguities or misunderstandings or inventiveness. Talking would be a mere bureaucratic function.

In this course we will consider the “English language” (langue) to be a particular sedimentation in the minds of the members of some Anglo community (including “elected members”, like language students who speak “naturally” enough to be accepted as a de facto member by their native-speaker interlocutors) .

That sedimentation is the product of repeated acts of willing to mean in a certain “Anglo” way (and trying to impinge on some communicative situation in that way) – even when no words are used, as in signing (= the systematic use of gestures) by deaf people or babies in some Anglo community.

Ada McGrath, the deaf woman in the film The piano, is speaking “English” to her daughter, using hand gestures + head inclination + shoulder roll + gaze + facial expressions and so on. But note that most of her gestures + ... + ... + ...+ facial expressions are NOT equivalent to any single word or grammatical construction in what grammarians call  “(verbal) English”. They are, on the other hand, Ada's attempts at making her daughter feel a specific configuration of Ada's “English” will to mean (actually her Scots English will to mean, since, in the story, she was born and raised in Glasgow).


Fourth technique: Interviewing a native speaker. (But how?)

To discover what values constitute the will to mean (when communicating) and the will to be (as a shared existential state) of a given English-speaking interlocutor, we will prepare an interview using the materials from the PICTURE Project: HOW to INTERVIEW using a questionnaire -- to see the videos you need to give a User Name (PICTUREX) (LARGE letters) and a password (corkos) (small letters).

“Task 1” (compito) for Monday: For full instructions, click on “Research Tasks” in the Main Menu here.
 

October 20

More on “being in class”...

See the values of two linguistic/cultural groups belonging to the “middle class” in their respective societies:

Stereotypical upper class White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) students
(The students you will meet from Trinity college will be like this)
vs.
Stereotypical petty bourgeois, South Central, mostly Catholic, Italian students
(You are most probably like this.)

CLASSROOM VALUES

October 22

Discussion of (a.) your comments on the film clip “Littering” and (b.) your linguistic/attitudinal questions..

-- Valeria's comments and questions.

-- Lela's comments, typical of most students.

-- Francesca's astute questions.

October 27

     
 
A Lesson in Piazza Farnese...
 
CLICK ON THE PICTURES

      
1.                                         2.                                            3.

      
4.                                        5.                                            6.

HANDOUTS

1. Warm-up: “Hey, Sarah Palin”.

2. Comment on the criteria for marking Task 1.

3. Why I support the protest movement against Law #133 (ex Decreto Legge 122).

4, How to construct an interview of native speakers of English (Appendix A of How to Interview*).
*How to interview is a module of PICTURE, the European Community Lingua2 project aimed at encouraging students to learn languages by conducting interviews of native speakers -- http://www.worldenough.net/picture/

5. “How to ask for a drink in English”*
    *Reference: Charles Frake's famous study: “How to Ask for a Drink in Subanun”; American Anthropologist, 1964, 66 (6):127-130)
     with a “Breaching Experiment”*
     *Reference: Harold Garfinkel (1967), Studies in ethnomethodology, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
    See Kate Fox's fascinating study of the sociology of British pub life here.

6. Preparatory exercise before “pub crawling”.
 

October 29

-- Lesson to part of the class only (the other students at an Assembly on the Law 133).

-- Once again, distinguishing cultural description from moralistic judgments.

-- THIS THURSDAY EVENING...
   another great film in the “Eyes Wide Open” film series, 8 pm, Circolo Arci Arcobaleno (Metro Garbatella):

Michael Moore's latest documentary (made in 2007 but just released)    Slacker Uprising (il risveglio degli studenti menefreghisti)

This Thursday, October 30^th, at 8 pm, U.S. Citizens for Peace and Justice - Rome will present Slacker Uprising, a documentary film that shows how Michael Moore, just before the last United States Presidential election (2004), held rallies on college campuses all across America, to convince college kids (who traditionally boycott elections) that THEY CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.   With him: musicians and artists like Eddie Vedder, Steve Earle, Roseanne Barr, Joan Baez, and Viggo Mortensen. The film shows "the birth of a new political generation."

Doors open at 7:30pm, films begin at 8pm sharp. The Circolo Arci Arcobaleno is in Via Pullino, 1. Take the “Metro B” to the Garbatella stop, then take the “via Pullino” exit from the station. Turn right and continue (200mt) across Piazza Albini to Arcobaleno. Map here.
 

October 31

-- Photos of each group
-- example of Task 1 (b) paper here
-- How to describe cultures using “dimensions” (Beamer's list)>

November 3

-- 8 cultural dimensions: Which characterize stereotypical Americans and Italians?
                                             What questions could you ask an American (or Italian) to test for each dimension?

  Individualist vs. Collectivist
  Form distrusted vs. Form trusted
  Horizontal vs. hierarchical
  Self in control vs. Other in control
  Learn from experience vs. from authority
  Rules-observant vs. Rules-bending
  Communication direct vs. indirect
  Uncertainty-tolerant vs. Uncertainty-averse

Also see the original
5 cultural dimensions and comparison of countries
that Geert Hofstede (a Dutch sociology professor)
devised to evaluate intercultural communication
among the IBM offices worldwide. 



Test: What would YOU say or do in the intercultural situations described? >

Homework for Friday: “How to Interview”, Part 2 “Other Options”
(See the detailed explanation under “Research Tasks – Task 2”)

November 5

Regarding a question raised by a student during the last lesson...
Here's what seems to be the general opinion of San Francesco d'Assisi (source: the Italian Wikipedia):
          “Il francescanesimo si inserisce in quel vasto movimento pauperistico del XIII secolo, in uno spirito di
          riforma volto contro la corruzione dei costumi degli ecclesiastici del tempo, troppo coinvolti negli inte-
          ressi materiali e politici, nella sanguinosa Lotta alle investiture.”

Another source: (http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/21750) -- “In un ambiente corrotto da ecclesiastici indegni e dalle violenze della società feudale, egli non prese alcuna posizione critica, né aspirò al ruolo di riformatore dei costumi morali della Chiesa, ma ad essa si rivolse sempre con animo di figlio devoto e obbediente.”

Why am I interested in making this point?  I'll explain why during the lesson.


The purpose of the 5 SUB-GOALS in conducting interviews to learn English:

SUB-GOAL A – Learn how to ask for clarification as explained in Appendix B
SUB-GOAL B – Recognizing body language as explained in Appendix C. 
SUB-GOAL C – Asking the person you interview (the “interviewee”) about critical incidents s/he has had in Italy.
SUB-GOAL D – Practicing accommodating linguistically and culturally to an interlocutor.
SUB-GOAL E – Having fun -- and why this is important in learning.
 

November 7

-- The concept of intercultural understanding as a “decentering”.  (Love, too, is a decentering; thus the similarity.)
-- The concept of egocentric questions in “everyday interviews” (e.g., when try to get to know someone in a pub)
-- The two “first rules” to be able to interview effectively, especially a person linguistically-culturally different.
-- Why it is important, in interviewing linguistically-culturally different people, to test your stereotypes about them.
-- What kind of question permits you to “get into the mind” of your interlocutor?
-- Why questions to discover an interlocutor's“cultural dimensions” (Beamer...) are unpopular with students,
    although they effectively help one “get into the mind” of a person who is linguistically-culturally different!
 
 
Additional homework

IN ADDITION, TO COMPENSATE FOR THE MISSED LESSON (TRANSPORTATION STRIKE) AND TO BE READY FOR THE TRINITY INTERVIEWS, PLEASE DO PART 5 OF “HOW TO INTERVIEW” AS WELL.
 
Part 5 tells you to translate into Italian your Questionnaire for the Trinity students.  (It should be ready in English by now.)
Then you are to interview one, two, three Italians (as many as you want) to see if your Questionnaire gives you the information you think it does, to practice conducting and interview, to acquire a point of comparison with the culture of the Trinity students.  YOU MUST RECORD AT LEAST ONE OF THE INTERVIEWS AND GIVE THE TAPE (OR AUDIO FILE) TO GROUP LEADER 4, WHO WILL GIVE IT TO ME WITH THE EVALUATION SHEET.

This means that, in addition to a sheet of paper with the three answers requested above, you are to give Group Leader 4 a sheet with:
-- the translation into Italian of your questionnaire, following the rules of Intercultural Translation explained in Appendix E;
-- your comment on what you learned from interviewing Italians “ethnographically” (to discover their culture).

November 12

-- Go over news (has everyone read all the news items?):

      -- Still looking for two permanent secretaries... Any volunteers?
             -- The unpleasant but highly educational part: checking attendance when collecting the Attendance Sheets
             -- There is a problem with false Attendance Sheets; there may be a problem with cheating on the exam.
             -- If you want to be traditional students, then I will be a traditional teacher (it's much easier for me!)

      -- Counter-Inauguration – don't miss Marco Travaglio's talk on the P2 at 3 pm
      -- In italiano: Primo riscontro alla protesta, Decreto Legge “correttiva” approvato dal Consiglio dei ministri il 6 novembre e pubblicato sulla Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 263 il 10 novembre..   Vittoria?   Mah!  Decidete voi.

      -- Encounter with 30 Trinity students (2 per group); two secretaries at the entrance to the Facoltà
         to greet the Trinity students, take them to Aula 10, and give each student a Ticket to go to a particular group.
          (Will all groups be represented?  Will all groups bring something to eat and drink?   Clean-up Committee.)

         -- Still no lessons with Prof. Connealy, because of a contract dispute. -- Do you know the Lettori's situation?

         -- Homework for today: Part 2 and Part 5 (translation and interview in Italian). To know how to write your Report, see the link here or under “Task 2” in the Research Task section or click here (the link to Appendix F doesn't work in the text “How to Interview”).
        -- The criteria that I will use in evaluating the marks that the group leader gives>

November 17

 
Mid-term Exam (esonero)

November 19

-- REGROUP (2 groups of 2 or 3 together, towards the front)

-- Chinese and Arab lettori may interrupt lessons. Explanation.

-- Comments on interviews:
-- Recordings: few Clarification Routines.
-- Comments: “The American boy seemed just like me.” (Many ill-fated love affairs start like that, too.
         So what can one do to really understand others?)
      DESCRIBE AMERICAN CULTURE FROM THE EVIDENCE COLLECTED AT YOUR INTERVIEW.
      GIVE EXAMPLES OF HOW YOU WOULD SPEAK TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION YOUR AMERICAN INTERLOCUTOR'S MIND-SET
 

November 21

Suresh Canagarajah Negotiating the local in English as a lingua franca qui.

(from Kachru, 1982, 1988)

[from Graddol 1997:10]

    
Text: “Seeing and Saying Things in English” qui

RESEARCH TASKS

Marking Scheme

Italian school marking system:          0

1 - 3

4,  5

 6

7,  8

(9,  10)

Points for each Task completed:          0

   1

   2

 3

   4

   (5)

Research task 1 – First part, due on Monday, October 20th 

Read the Recap of the lesson on October 15th  and be prepared to answer questions on the concepts expressed.

Read Part 1 “Goals” of HOW to INTERVIEW using a questionnaire. (For now you do not have to read Appendix A).
    N.B: To see the videos, use the User Name (PICTUREX) (LARGE letters) and password (corkos) (small letters).

Then do the written tasks in Part 1:

a) watch the video Littering once again and then describe each person's principles and attitudes – the ones that explain why they expressed themselves as they did (through their body language) and why they behaved as they did. Then write a half-page in English saying what this incident might teach us about intercultural understanding;

b) after you finish writing, read the remarks on the video Littering that appear in the blue box (highlight it to read it);

c) now imagine you will have the opportunity to interview some American students and select the topic you want to investigate by interviewing them.  Write four questions on your topic: two linguistic questions and two attitudinal questions.

NOTE: When you write your questions (and, in the future, for all written tasks), DO NOT USE a small piece of paper, use an A4 sheet and leave wide margins, like this:

Give your paper to your group leader. (You should make a second copy to keep in case the Group Leader looses yours.) Next Wednesday I will explain to the group leaders how they are to evaluate your work. For now the Group Leader must do only one thing: mark the papers from 0 to 5 (see the values of each mark above) and select what s/he considers to be the best paper (s/he should write “BEST” on it at the top)..
 

Second Part – due on Monday, October 29th  (two extra days)

Read Appendix A:

d) view the video of an interview of a British man conducted by two Dutch students to verify stereotypes; then read how the students chose their topic and made their questionnaire;

e) view the video of a scene from The Spanish Apartment and write your answers to ALL 5 questions;

f) finally, make your questionnaire following these steps:
     i) define a few characteristic language habits or attitudes that you attribute to young American people;
     ii) make questions that you think reveal if your future interviewee (a student from an East-Coast American university) has these language habits or attitudes,
     iii) predict the answers that you think you will get from your interviewees,
     iv) say why the answers you obtain are valid evidence of certain (stereotypical? constitutive? mythical?) characteristics of the culture of your interviewee.

Write your answers using the format indicated for the First Part of this task, and give your paper to your Group Leader who will write “BEST” on the best paper.

The Group Leader will also indicate a mark from 0 to 5 at the top of the paper. This mark will take into consideration not only the present work, but also the work done on the First Part (which has already received a mark).

In other words, the mark that the Group Leader gives this paper – from 0 to 5 -- includes EVERYTHING: the first mark already given, the value of the second paper, the clean or untidy appearance of both papers, the punctuality of the student in presenting both papers, the improvement from one paper to the other, the geniality (if any) of the contributions, etc..

The mark on this paper (from 0 to 5) is a super mark – and the definitive one for Task 1. It must be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. Marks like 2½ or 4.6 are not acceptable.

GROUP LEADERS (week 2): Use this form to mark the other students' papers (as well as your own)>  (printable copy>

ALL STUDENTS: Read the form so you know the criteria your Group Leader will use in judging your papers!
If, after seeing the criteria, you want to re-write your paper, ask your group leader for a new consignment date (email or in person if your Task report is on paper).  Give your Group Leader the time to correct your paper and turn it in ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29.

Research task 2 – due on Friday, November 7th  Wednesday, November 12th 

SUB-GOAL A – Learn how to ask for clarification as explained in Appendix B
                            (There is nothing to write; but we will do exercises in class and you won't be able to do them if you haven't learned to use SPONTANEOUSLY and IMMEDIATELY all the expressions listed in Appendix B.)

SUB-GOAL B – Do the exercise on recognizing the British man's body language as explained in Appendix C.  Write your answers on a sheet and give it to your group leader.
(There is a second exercise in Appendix C, a green sheet to fill out next week after you do your interview of an American student. You cannot fill it out now.)

SUB-GOAL C – Read the comment about critical incidents and answer the question about the American and French delegates at an International Congress. Remember what we said about your comment on the Dutch boy and the French girl: YOU SHOULD EXPLAIN EACH BEHAVIOR AS “RIGHT” AND “PERFECTLY LOGICAL” FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE PERSON DOING THAT BEHAVIOR. Only after justifying both can you answer the question and say which person you agree with more.

SUB-GOAL D – Read the explanation of the importance of accommodating linguistically and culturally to an interlocutor of another culture.  Then look at the video and answer the questions.  Do you remember my criticisms of the answers to the “Spanish Apartment” question in Part 1?  Well, this time try to answer this question showing intercultural relativism. The question is: “What does the video show? Did the man demonstrate that accommodating can be negative?” (The text gives part of the answer: build on it to give the complete answer.)

SUB-GOAL E – Have fun (if you can) doing the assignments!


IN ADDITION, TO COMPENSATE FOR THE MISSED LESSON (TRANSPORTATION STRIKE) AND TO BE READY FOR THE TRINITY INTERVIEWS, PLEASE DO PART 5 OF “HOW TO INTERVIEW” AS WELL.
 
Part 5 tells you to translate into Italian your Questionnaire for the Trinity students.  (It should be ready in English by now.)
Then you are to interview one, two, three Italians (as many as you want) to see if your Questionnaire gives you the information you think it does, to practice conducting and interview, to acquire a point of comparison with the culture of the Trinity students.  YOU MUST RECORD AT LEAST ONE OF THE INTERVIEWS AND GIVE THE TAPE (OR AUDIO FILE) TO GROUP LEADER 4, WHO WILL GIVE IT TO ME WITH THE EVALUATION SHEET.

This means that, in addition to a sheet of paper with the three answers requested above, you are to give Group Leader 4 a sheet with:
-- the translation into Italian of your questionnaire, following the rules of Intercultural Translation explained in Appendix E;
-- your comment on what you learned from interviewing Italians “ethnographically” (to discover their culture).
    NOTE:  TO KNOW HOW TO WRITE YOUR REPORT, READ APPENDIX F HERE (the link doesn't work in “How to Interview”)


GROUP LEADERS: HERE IS YOUR CORRECTION SHEET>
Other students: It is in your interest to read the correction sheet so that you know how you will be marked.

HERE ARE THE CRITERIA THAT I WILL USE IN EVALUATING THE MARKS THAT THE GROUP LEADER GIVES>

EMAIL PROBLEM?

If you can't send your Group Leader your audio/video files because your email service doesn't accept big emails,
then use the http://intertransfer.interfree.it/ service.   After registering, you send your files directly to the service
(not by email).  Then the service sends an email to the person you indicate with a password.   That person can then download the files. Group Leaders can use this system to send me their group members' audio/video files.

Task 3 due on Wednesday, November 19th
Interviewing a native speaker of English (Part 6 of How to interview”)

NOTE: Students who are NOT able to come to the evening with Trinity College on November 13th must find, on their own (per conto proprio), American students in Rome to interview exactly as they would have done on the 13th.  They can find these students during the day at American book stores, churches, etc. and, in the late afternoon (“Happy Hour”, after 5 pm) in the pubs. For a list of “lairs” where the Anglo community holes out, click here.

The report should discuss:
the findings of your questionnaire, i.e. what you learned about the way Trinity students interact when dating;

what this kind of knowledge is worth (does it really help you understand Trinity mentality? How? Why?);

the findings of your ethnographic questions, in terms of your initial hypotheses regarding the position of Trinity students on Hofstede's cultural dimensions chart: AND, most of all, in terms of “empathetic intuitions” that you had listening to your interviewees' narrations (if you were able to provoke any such narrations).

what this kind of knowledge is worth (does it really help you understand Trinity mentality? How? Why?);

For advice on HOW TO WRITE YOUR REPORT, click here

See the Evaluation Form for the criteria in judging a good report>
HERE ARE THE CRITERIA THAT I WILL USE IN EVALUATING THE MARKS THAT THE GROUP LEADER GIVES>

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