06490 - Foreign Language Teaching

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to describe the fundamental stages of second language (L2) learning process; to identify factors that promote L2 learning; to know the main theories and descriptive models of language; to describe the pedagogic models in L2 teaching and their specific methods and techniques both for acquisition and assessment or evaluation; to know some of the most relevant technological resources to language teaching, both for ‘in-presence' and ‘distance' teaching.

Course contents

The course consists of two modules.

Modulo 1
(Dott.ssa Claudia Borghetti)
This first module aims at guiding students to understanding the processes and the variables that affect language learning and teaching. A first part of the module will focus on the theoretical knowledge and skills a language teacher needs; in particular, these are: awareness of the main theories on first and second language acquisition, expertise in language description, knowledge of communicative dynamics. Moreover, teaching processes will be delved into their fundamental features: educational goals, analysis of students' communicative needs, teaching objectives, curriculum and syllabus planning, teaching acts, teacher-languaculture-student(s) relationship. The module will also provide students with historical coordinates about (second) language teaching through an excursus on the teaching methods and the approaches so far adopted; at the end of such excursus, particular attention will be given to the communicative approach.
The first module contents can be summarised in the following areas:

• Theoretical hypothesises on second language acquisition;
• Language teaching processes and variables;
• Teaching methods and approaches in an historical perspective, and teaching practice within the framework of communicative language teaching.

Modulo 2
(Dott.ssa Cristiana Cervini)
The second module, connected with the epistemological theories and the historical background dealt in the first one, focuses on the varieties of practice of the nowadays foreign language teachers working within multi-plurilingual contexts, on-site, on-line or blended, using ICTs in classroom or in e-learning and directing students towards lifelong learning approaches. The observation of evaluation tasks and of teaching and facilitation practices in various learning contexts will be put in relation with the perspectives on methodological eclectism and discussed considering the tensions between learners individual differences versus standardized procedures.
This module will follow three main directions:

• institutional and theoretical frame of the intercomprehension projects as one of the plural approaches in foreign language learning;
• evaluation and assessment in foreign language learning;
• analysis of new learning environments for foreign language learning and teaching deepening the concept of autonomy, metacognition and interaction in the self-access, self-learning, and blended learning domains;
• contributions of the corpus linguistics theories and practices in learning and teaching a foreign language: creating and using valid corpora, inventing useful activities including translation exercises;

The elaboration of a final project-work will try to enhance students' creativity and to foster the use of practical abilities.

Readings/Bibliography

-Chini, M. & Bosisio, C. (a cura di) (2014), Fondamenti di glottodidattica. Apprendere e insegnare le lingue oggi, Roma: Carocci. [Capitoli 1, 2, 3 e 4] [248 p.];
-Rizzardi, M.C. & Barsi, M. (2005), Metodi in classe per insegnare la lingua straniera, Milano: LED Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto. [Capitoli 1 (37 p.), 4 (59 p.), 10 (37 p.), 11 (97 p.)] [230 p.]
-Gregersen, T., MacIntyre P. D. (2014), Capitalizing on Language Learners' Individuality. From Premise to Practice. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. [Capitolo 4, pp. 107-118] [11 p.]

Linguistic policies and plural approaches: 
-AA.VV. (2001), Quadro Comune Europeo di Riferimento per le Lingue: apprendimento, insegnamento, valutazione, Ed. La Nuova Italia  [cap. 1 e 2: Il QCER nel contesto politico e educativo; Qual è l'approccio adottato; p. 24]
-De Carlo, M. (a cura di) (2011), Intercomprensione e educazione al plurilinguismo. Porto S. Elpidio: Wizarts editore. [un capitolo a scelta tratto dalla Seconda Sezione: “Pluralità dell'intercomprensione”, 20 pp. circa]. Link: https://www.academia.edu/11204524/Intercomprensione_e_educazione_plurilingue
-Ciliberti, A. (2012), Glottodidattica, per una cultura dell'insegnamento linguistico, Roma: Carocci [Capitolo 13: La ricerca in classe; 12 p.] 

Testing and Evaluation:
-Barni, M. (2012), La verifica e la valutazione, in De Marco A. (a cura di) Manuale di Glottodidattica. Insegnare una lingua straniera, Roma: Carocci. [Capitolo 7, pp. 155-174] [19 p.]
-McNamara, T., Roever, C. (2006), The social dimension of proficiency: how testable is it? In Language testing: the social dimension, Malden: Blackwell Publishing. [35 p.]
-Porcelli, G. (2005), Verifiche comode e verifiche valide, in Jafrancesco E. (a cura di), La valutazione delle competenze linguistico-comunicative in italiano L2, Atti del XIV Convegno Nazionale ILSA, Roma: Edilingua Edizioni [14 p.] 

Foreign language learning at distance and ICT:
-White, C. (2006), Distance learning of foreign languages, Language Teaching, vol. 39(4), p. 247-264 [16 p.] (accessibile online: http://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/1873)
-Cervini, C. & Valdivieso A., (2014), Dispositivi formativi e modalità ibride per l'apprendimento linguistico, Bologna: Ed. CLUEB [un capitolo a scelta]. (http://clueb.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Dispositivi_formativi_Indice.pdf)

Teaching methods

Teaching will take place through lecturing, workshops, seminars and practical activities in the computer lab.

Assessment methods

The examination consists of two parts: an oral examination and a short essay.

• The oral examination is aimed at evaluating students’ knowledge and competences related to both the theoretical and practical issues, which are related to learning and teaching a second language.
• In order to be admitted to the oral examinations, students are required to write a short essay focusing on a specific topic, including a short bibliographical section. Students can choose the topic that meets their interests and their previous teaching experience. Students are invited to discuss the topic of their short essays with the teachers, before starting working on it. N.B. Students are required to submit the short essay to both teachers at least one week before the chosen date for the oral examination. The deadline is peremptory and compelling.

Assessment criteria

• Short essay: originality, ability to elaborate and delve into a subject, relevance of bibliographical references, formal correctness, text coherence and cohesion, clarity, terminological appropriateness.
• Oral examination: content knowledge, capacity of discussion, skills of synthesis and analysis, terminological appropriateness and relevance.

Non-attending students

Course contents and readings are the same for attending and non-attending students. However, non-attending students are required to study two additional scientific articles. Such articles should be selected among those used as references for the short essay, and will be discussed during the oral examination.

Teaching tools

Power point, Moodle platform, videos, computer

Office hours

See the website of Cristiana Cervini

See the website of Claudia Borghetti