University of Rome III - Faculty of Arts and Letters - Department of Linguistics - Patrick Boylan - October-December 2001

I programmi dei moduli offerti nel 2001-02 non sono più materia d'esame dopo febbraio 2005
non verranno più conservati dopo tale data i compiti svolti dagli studenti né i relativi voti assegni.
 

Course Syllabus (goals, topics, required readings)
Programma del corso (finalità, temi, testi da portare all'esame)

Il corso completa consiste nei seguenti quattro moduli. Secondo il tipo di formazione desiderato e quindi il curriculum scelto, lo studente può seguirne solo alcuni e in un ordine diverso da quello indicato qui.

a) le varietà

La lingua inglese verrà studiata come manifestazione, in molteplici contesti geografici e sociali, di una particolare volontà storica di essere.

b) ricerca sul campo

Il modulo cercherà di dare, attraverso la ricerca sul campo, una visione etnolinguistica dei vari inglesi nel mondo.

c) i valori e l'interiorizzazione

Verrano studiati, attraverso la soggettività dei singoli parlanti, i rapporti tra i diversi modi di esprimersi in inglese e i diversi modi di essere. Lo studente acquisterà poi la capacità di vedere e di dire le cose alla maniera del proprio interlocutore anglofona.

N.B.  Nell'ordine degli studi, viene detto che il corso Modi di essere e modi di esprimersi in Inglese s'articola in quattro unità ("a", "b", "c", e "d").  Quest'anno, tuttavia, per problemi organizzativi, verranno offerti i soli moduli "a", "b", "c".

Testi:

BOYLAN P., "Relativizing the Concept of Communication". In: M. Parry & D. Killick (a cura di), Crossing Boundaries, Glasgow, Academic Press, 2001, disponible anche in Internet: http://host.uniroma3.it/docenti/boylan/text/boylan09.htm ‹--Premere sull'indirizzo.

BYRAM M. & FLEMING M., Language Learning in an Intercultural Perspective, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998.

AA.VV., Siti per l'esercitazione interattiva in inglese, http://host.uniroma3.it/docenti/boylan/call/call-ing.htm ‹--Premere sull'indirizzo.
http://host.uniroma3.it/docenti/boylan/terni/terni-si.htm ‹--Premere sull'indirizzo.
(Interrogazione su 5 siti, a scelta dello studente)

Per ragguagli sugli orari delle lezioni, sui crediti riconosciuti e sulle categorie di studenti a cui questi corsi sono destinati, premere qui-›.

Enrolment Form.

Please download the Enrolment Form, fill it out, and e-mail it to me.  You can get a copy of the form and instructions for filling it out by clicking here-›..

(Informativa sulla privacy)

The information on the form will be treated with respect for your privacy.  The information will help me estimate what level I should aim for in my teaching.  It will also permit me to reform groups according to such criteria as: geographical proximity of habitation, knowledge of English, curriculum chosen, etc.

To see who is enrolled, click here-›..

To see the groups for the Ethnolinguistic Interview project (Monday lessons), click here -› .

To see the groups for the Accommodation of Pronunciation project (Thursday lessons), click here -› .

Optional reading: U.S. Accents  Click here-›.
From: www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/NationalMap/NatMap1.html

What does "optional reading" mean?
It means that this publication gives you background information

• that you will not be responsible for (on the exam) but

• that you can use to get a higher mark during the exam.

For example U.S. Accents gives you background information on American (and Southern American) pronunciation.  This will help you to understand and (if you so desire) imitate the pronunciation of the characters in the film Nashville.

On the exam, however, you will not be asked to imitate Southern American pronunciation or to transcribe it (unless you are taking Module C on Thursdays).  So the technical information in this publication will not be necessary to pass the exam.  On the other hand, some exam questions will be about the different varieties of English in the world; in answering them, you may be able to use some of the technical (phonological) information from this publication.  If you do, you will get a higher mark.
 

 Optional assignments
Compiti per gli "esoneri"

1.

Module B  (Monday classes)
Exam on December 17th, 2001

Phonetic and CA transcription exam as a preparation for the Ethnolinguistic report project (only for students taking Module B).

The exam (or "esonero") is scheduled for December 17th.  It consists of writing two transcriptions:
1. an IPA (International Phonetic Association) transcription of a BBC weather report;
2. a CA ("Conversational Analysis") transcription of a segment of the original Big Brother show (BBC, 1970 - working class speakers from Reading).
You can hear both segments on a cassette, labeled Documentation, which is available for individual study in the language lab.  The teacher will also furnish one Documentationcassette to each group leader for group study (in an empty classroom, at the home of one of the group members).  This is the best way to study.  Finally, you can also hear the sounds of RP English by pressing the buttons below :

.*‹-simple vowels    .*‹-dipthongs     .*‹-consonants
(to work, your computer must have an audio player installed, such as MS Media Player, Sonique, etc.)

*These files are too big to import directly.  They will be downloaded as compressed files, for example,  "consonants.exe".  Just click on them to extract the audio files and click on the latter.

To learn the phonetic symbols as defined by the IPA (International Phonetic Association), follow the booklet Documentation while listening to the sounds of RP ("Received Pronunciation") English.  Then listen to them again while practicing writing them.  Then practice writing out the phonetic transcription of the following RP reading of a

.*  ‹-weather report.

Check how you have written the words against the transcriptions found in any dictionary using IPA conventions.  For example, the Cobuild dictionary uses IPA while Webster's does not (it uses its own system); so do not consult Webster's..

_____

Then, using the conventions illustrated in the booklet Documentation,  practice making a Conversation Analysis (CA) transcription of two excerpts from the original "Big Brother" program produced in 1970 by the BBC:

• Tom and Mrs. W speaking together -›.*

• Heather and Mrs. W speaking together -›.*

Check what you have written against the CA transcription found in Documentation.

(Recorded material from:  Dennis Freeborn, Varieties of English, MacMillan: London, 1993.)
 

 Exam results:  click  here-› .

*These files are too big to import directly.  They will be downloaded as compressed files, for example,  "consonants.exe".  Just click on them to extract the audio files and click on the latter.

2.

Module B  (Monday classes)
report due any time before Easter vacation

Ethnolinguistic research project

To better prepare yourself for your ethnolinguistic research project, you can read the text Developing an ethnographic method by clicking here-›.  (to see the text on your screen) or here-›.  (to download the text).

Ethnolinguistic research project (only for students taking Module B).  Due date: before Easter vacation (otherwise it will not be corrected).  The group leader can consign the paper to the teacher during office hours.  For office hours and absences, press here-› .

To carry out the project you must be part of a group of 6 students (maximum 7, minimum 5).  These are different from the groups formed for the Cultural Accommodation project (Thusday classes). Click here to see the proposed groups (no enrolment application will be accepted after January 31st!) -›.

If you are not on this list, ask the students of one of the groups alreay formed to join theirs.

Once you have a group, elect a group leader and ask her/him to email the names of the members of the group to mod-b @ boylan.it (s/he must give the group number, too; see the numbers by clicking on the orange button above

Then, sometime before Easer vacation, as a group:

1. Interview a native speaker of English who speaks some variety that is not "Queen's English" (you can interview a typical tourist at the train station or in an Irish pub, for example).

2. Transcribe the most interesting segment of the recording (one minute of speech is the minimum): use CA conventions and, when the subject's pronunciation conveys meaning, use phonetic symbols between slashes, like the word "Italian" below:
  Student:ä Sîr (2.0) sîr (1.0) ä excuse me
                 (5.0) May we ìnterview you  (.)  [for a] cláss project
  Tourist:                                                  [Wha-]                    (2.0) a whát

  S            A clàss project  h  for our [ènglish] class=
  T                                                  [âh       ]        =At an /aitæ:ljÙn/ schòol

3. Identify the subject's cultural group membership: where s/he was born, raised, educated; where s/he now lives and works; what social class s/he belongs to; what kind of people and places s/he frequents; what beliefs and values s/he professes (this last question can be dangerous so use prudence!).

4. Write a report in which you give the CA (and phonetic) transcription, the subject's cultural group membership, and your comments.  Use a word processor to write the report.  Most versions of Word permit you to choose IPA symbols for your character set when doing a phonetic transcription.  If your word processor does not have IPA characters, you can write the phonetic transcriptions by hand.  The paper should be the length of the model papers in the booklet Documentation.
 
 

3.

Modulo C (giovedì)
Exam on December 13th

Cultural accommodation practices (only for students taking Module C) -- This is an individual exam, scheduled for the last Thursday of this cycle, December 13th.  Read the web pages here-›   to prepare for it.

 Exam results:  click  here-› .

4.

Modulo C (giovedì)
Exam on December 13th

Cultural accommodation of accent (RP and American) -- only for students taking Module C.  This is an group task, to be completed and consigned before Easter vacation (otherwise it will not be corrected).

Groups can have between 5 and 10 members.  Your group is NOT necessarily the same as the Ethnographic Reserarch Group (which probably has members who are not Operatori Interculturali and who therefore are not interested in doing this Cultural Accomodation Project).  In order to create a NEW group for the recording, find 5 to 10 students who live near you or whom you know, phone them or e-mail them to meet and make a recording, according to the instructions below.  How can you find 5 to 10 students to form a group?  Look at the names and addresses listed here: -›  ‹-On this page you will also see the groups already formed for the Accommodation of Pronunciation.

The grades (marks) will be assigned individually; the reason for doing the recordings in groups is that experience shows how much performance improves when students are coached by other students.  The group leader can consign the cassette to the teacher during office hours.  For office hours and absences, press here-› .
 

To carry out the project you must:

1. View at least part of the film The Maltese Falcon.  There are 5 copies of the film in the language laboratory.  Each monitor in the Video Room has a double earphone (cuffia) so try to view the film with another student: when you don't understand something, stop the tape and ask your partner for help.

2. Select a character you can identify with: Sam Spade, Caspar Gutman, Brigid O'Schaughnessy, Effie (the secretary), Joel Cairo, Wilmer (the Punk), Tom (the police lieutenant), Archer (Sam's partner), etc.

3. Imitate that person's pronunciation.  If you want to know what characterizes the pronunciation of the person you choose, read the description of U.S. Accents  (Northeastern, Mid-West, Western and Southern) above,   If you choose to imitate Gutman, read the description of "Received Pronunciation" (or "RP", the upper-class British pronunciation) in the following textbook (available in the language laboratory with an audio cassette):

Peter Roach, English Phonetics and Phonology, Cambridge University Press, 1983.

You are to imitate just a few seconds of speech (from 5 to 20 seconds).  This corresponds to two short utterances taken from a conversation or a brief monologue.  Example of a 5 second sequence:
            Caspar Gutman: "I must have my little joke now and then.  And you passed with flying colours."

4. Make a group recording of your pronunciation.  This means that you must first form a group of 5 to 10 students (not necessarily the same as the group you formed for module B, Mondays).  Tell one of the students to bring a cassette and a cassette recorder: meet in an empty classroom; practice imitating your character; listen to the criticisms of the other students and, if you agree, modify your pronunciation; record the modified version following the format given below:

    Name:  Hello, my name's Nero Bianchi.
    Identification:  I was born in Latina on January 15th, 1980.
     Character:  The character I have chosen to identify with is: Caspur Gutman.
    Accent:  He speaks old boy (upper class) British English, with an RP accent.
    Imitation: "Yes sir, that I did.  I must have my little joke now and then.  And I must say you passed with flying colours."

    Name:  Hello, my name's Bianca Neri.
    Identification:  I was born in Rome on December 4th, 1978.
     Character:  The character I have chosen to identify with is: Wilmer, the Punk.
    Accent:  He speaks general American with an Inland Northern accent typical of the slums and of criminals in general.
    Imitation: "Ya better watch what ya say.  [...] C'mon, dick, there's someone what wants ya."

(In this case, the student Bianca Neri has chosen utterances from two different scenes.  Putting them together has given her at least 5 seconds of speech.)

5. Consign the cassette before Easter.  DO NOT consign a cassette if it has only one recording on it.  The cassette must have the recordings of at least five students, one after another, preferably (but not necessarily) done the same day.
 

Scene from The Maltese Falcon
(John Houston, 1941;  with Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet)
Click here-›   OR  here-› .