Ateneo - UPO

- Text and discourse: lexis, text coherence and text cohesion. The multiplicity of texts and discourse construal.

- Types of texts and genres: rhetorical strategies and language features.

- Register and style: popularizing texts, knowledge dissemination and scientific contents.

COMPULSORY HANDBOOKS (all the students)

1. BIBER, Douglas and Susan CONRAD, 2019 (2nd ed.), Register, Genre, and Style, Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics, Cambridge University Press.
2. CANNING, Patricia and Brian WALKER, 2024, Discourse Analysis. A Practical Introduction. Routledge.

READING LIST (compulsory), choose one out of four:

1. BURNETT, Dean, The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head is Really Up To, Guardian Faber, 2016.
2. FRANCIS, Gavin, Adventures in Human Being, Profile Books, Wellcome Collection, 2016.
3. JURAFSKY, Dan, The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu, Norton, 2014.
4. LEITH, Sam, Talkin' to me?: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Trump and Beyond ..., Profile Books, 2019.
5. SHEPHERD, Gordon M., Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters, Columbia University Press, 2013.
6. SPENCE, Charles, Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating: The Science of Dining from Restaurant Music to Sonic Crisps, Viking, 2017.
7. WRIGHT, John, The Naming of the Shrew. A Curious History of Latin Names, Bloomsbury, 2014.

FURTHER READING (optional for self study)

• FAIRCLOUGH, Norman, 2003, Analysing Discourse. Textual Analysis for Social Research, Routledge.
• JONES, Rodney H., 2024 (3rd ed.), Discourse Analysis. A Resource Book for Students, Routledge.
• McENERY, Tony, Richard XIAO and Yukio TONO, 2006, Corpus-Based Language Studies. An Advanced Resource Book. Routledge.

This course aims at introducing and discussing the notion of text and discourse, along with their linguistic features (ex. use of lexis, text coherence and text cohesion, register/s, discourse construal, etc.). The focus is placed on knowledge dissemination, with a view on the popularization of scientific contents in different socio-linguistic contexts for a non-expert target audience (i.e. general audience).

Some case studies will also be exemplified, analysed and discussed from a linguistic perspective, and from a variety of primary sources: monographs, newspaper articles, other sources (ex. websites).

The approach is metalinguistic.

Core learning objectives of the course are:
- to identify the main text types and recognise their essential structural features (e.g. cohesion and coherence);
- to identify discourse construal methods from the perspective of popularisation (e.g. plurality of texts and intertextuality, language registers, target audience, etc.);
- to recognise and describe the rhetorical-linguistic strategies and features governing popularising texts;
- to be able to read and comment on the original texts under scrutiny, identifying basic elements (vocabulary, morpho-syntax, phenomena of reformulation, repetition, simplification, adaptation, etc.).

A more advanced objective is the development of critical reflections through the comparison of the original texts under scrutiny (e.g. articles from popular science/general interest magazines for an informed/educated and/or general audience): discussing, through significant examples, the linguistic choices and discursive strategies in relation to theoretical considerations (Critical Discourse Analysis).

The 6 ECTS credits to be earned are distributed as follows for attending students:
Lecture-based teaching (DE) + interactive classroom teaching (DI) (1.2 ECTS, 30 hours)
Independent study (4.8 ECTS)

The course general contents and specific topics, language skills and activities, the end-of-course examination, as well as the assessment criteria applied, refer to B2+/C1 level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference).

English Language II

(Practical classes + English Linguistics A)

In-person lecture-based teaching (DE) and interactive classroom teaching (DI).

The course will be held in the first semester, October 2026-January 2027.

The use of handbooks for the theoretical approach will be supported by authentic materials for the analysis. Authentic materials will be drawn from magazines, newspapers, websites, audio and video files, etc.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities

Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

ASSIGNMENT:

In-depth study of one of the books from the Testi di Riferimento, Reading List section (see above). Students will highlight the main contents, concepts and methodological approaches of the selected reading (book).

Concepts and notions treated in the book will be the starting point for further in-depth discussion and detailed exemplification at the oral exam: these concepts/notions have to be related to the course contents/topics (i.e. Testi Obbligatori/Compulsory Handbooks, academic articles, other materials).

The discussion of the Reading list book contents, concepts, and methodological approaches is worth 30% of the assessment process, course contents are worth 70%. 

Students will pass their exam if they get 18/30 in both their book discussion and the oral discussion of course contents. 

The final grade is calculated on a weighted assessment basis.

With reference to the 'Intended learning objectives' (see below), the following grades correspond to different skills:
18-22/30: minimal knowledge of the syllabus, poor command of expression;
23-25/30: a largely mechanical and/or rote-based knowledge of the subject matter, limited vocabulary and expression;
26-28/30: a substantially accurate presentation, with some minor imperfections (language and content);
29-30 lode: a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the topics covered, excellent command of expression, advanced use of language.

Honours will be awarded based on the accuracy, depth, and capacity for critical elaboration of the responses.

ORAL EXAM:

1. Oral presentation and discussion of one of the books in the Reading List (see above, section Testi di riferimento/Textbooks)
2. Oral presentation and discussion of all the contents in the two Compulsory Handbooks (see above, section Testi di riferimento/Textbooks)
3. Text and discourse analysis of the primary sources analysed during the course and retrievable on DIR.

On the occasion of the English Linguistics B exam, professor E. Lonati will also assess oral interaction skills, language competence, and fluency (discourse structure, pronunciation, lexis, morphosyntax, and linguistic appropriateness).

ORAL EXAM ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: 1. appropriate presentation and discussion of topics, notions, and concepts; 2. discourse organisation; 3. lexical richness and accuracy; 4. lexical propriety; 5. lexical variety; 6. detailed text analysis (especially related to spelling variants, phonological system, and morpho-syntax of the varieties examined and discussed); 7. discourse skills.

An introduction to discourse: spoken and written interaction

Context an sociolinguistic perspectives

Text and discourse: thematic structure and syntax

Text types, genres, register/s

Rhetorical strategies and popularising issues

Coherence, cohesion and the seven standards of textuality

Cross-references, intertextuality, ellipsis, reiteration, deixis

Meaning construction: lexis and semantic fields

Meaning and/in context

Corpus linguistics and corpus-based approaches to analyse text and discourse: investigating a variety of written texts with the software AntConc 4.3.1.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

Students are expected to 1) explain and exemplify the complex notions introduced and discussed during the English Linguistics B course (i.e. the notion of text, text types, coherence and cohesion, register and style, popularisation and knowledge dissemination, etc.); 2) discuss the most relevant processes of discourse construal, with reference to popularising texts of scientific content for a non-expert audience; 3) explain the rhetorical strategies and the correspondent linguistic features to communicate a variety of contents.

APPLIED KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS

Students will also be able to identify and apply different registers and styles, and choose the most appropriate rhetorical strategies and language features for the production of popularising texts in a variety of non-specialised contexts. Their writing skills will be supported and improved by the many sources analysed and discussed (case studies).

Linguistic knowledge and language understanding will be used at a practical level, and applied to the many disciplinary research and professional contexts.