University of Rome III - Degree in Languages & International Communication - Convener: Patrick Boylan - Academic year   2007-08

COURSE:        English I for English minors, Module 1


TASK 5


 Double interview with the students at Trinity College using:

-- a quantitative questionnaire based on hypotheses about interviewees' cultural values;

-- qualitative questioning to verify the knowledge obtained from the quantitative questions.

Criteria for writing the report of the double interviews

Write your report using British academic English.


For the lexico-syntax, the norms followed should be those of South-east (or Standard) British English as described in, for example, Huddleston & Pullum, The Cambridge grammar of the English language. Cambridge University Press, 2002, or an equivalent.


For the discourse characteristics of British academic English, see:

(no “www”!) patrick.boylan.it/courses/variety/discuss/1speech.htm


In particular, use abundantly the explicit connectives described here:

(no “www”!) patrick.boylan.it/courses/exercise/composit.htm



The report should discuss:


the findings of your quantitative (“sociometric”) questionnaire, i.e. what you learned about the cultural values that you hypothesized for Trinity students;


what this kind of knowledge is worth (do the answers you got really help you understand the Trinity student's mentality? How? Why?);


the findings of your qualitative questions (do the answers you got really help you understand the Trinity student's mentality? How? Why?);


what both kinds of knowledge are worth (Which is more explicit and verifiable? Which is less stereotypical and more revealing?);


See the Evaluation Form on the other side for the criteria in judging a good report.


Send your report to patrick@boylan.it by Thursday, April 10th.





University of Rome III - Degree Course in Languages and International Communication - Convener: Patrick Boylan - Year 2007-08
 
ECCO IL FOGLIO CHE IO UTILIZZERÒ PER VALUTARE IL VOSTRO REPORT:
COSÌ SAPRETE FIÀ, NEL SCRIVERLO, I CRITERI CHE VERRANNO USATI PER GIUDICARLO.
(QUI SOTTO SI PARLA DEL GROUP LEADER: BISOGNA SOSTITUIRE IL TERMINE CON “IL DOCENTE”.
INFATTI, NON HO AVUTO IL TEMPO PER INSEGNARVI COME GIUDICARE I VOSTRI COMPITI.


Circle a letter: Group   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J 

First Year English (minors) Module 1 -- Evaluation Form for TASK _5_(Report)
 

GROUP LEADERS: WRITE NAMES USING BLOCK LETTERS; COMMENTS ON BACK.

Students' writing style should accommodate to stereotypical U.S. academic papers. Thus, as to:

 -  form: the essay should be neat (see the format illustrated at the bottom of this page), legible (use a computer if possible), and in "U.S. academic style".  Note: U.S. academic style calls for language that is semi-formal: (use colloquialisms only for effect) and precise (use standard disciplinary terminology and conceptual references); in addition, it calls for argumentation that is explicit and step-by-step (first announce your conclusions and your premises, then give your empirical evidence, then -- reasoning inductively -- draw the announced conclusions from the evidence).  It should be two pages long, no more than three, using the format indicated on the class web site for the explanation of "Task 3".
POINTS:   0 = not neat/legible and/or not U.S. academic style;    1 = neat/legible and U.S. academic style.

 -  content: to be considered of scientific value, the report must:
a.) indicate a hypothesis about one of the traits of the target culture and must formulate two
      series of apparently natural questions to test it;
b.) justify why --
in theory -- those questions are valid: why should they, in principle, reveal
      the position (on the cultural dimension line) of a subject from the target culture?
c.) describe the informants interviewed and the results.  Was the prediction confirmed?
     Were questions asked both as one's double and as oneself? Was there a different rapport?

     POINTS:
     1 point for (a), (b) and (c).

 geniality: 1 extra point for a particularly brilliant report (ingenious reasoning, highly
perceptive observations, etc.); if not 0.

INDICATE STUDENTS' NAMES, CIRCLE POINTS IN EACH CATEGORY, GIVE TOTAL

1. ________________________________  Form = 0 1  Content = 0 1   0 1   0 1   Geniality = 0 1   Total = __

2. ________________________________  Form = 0 1  Content = 0 1   0 1   0 1   Geniality = 0 1   Total = __

3. ________________________________  Form = 0 1  Content = 0 1   0 1   0 1   Geniality = 0 1   Total = __

4. ________________________________  Form = 0 1  Content = 0 1   0 1   0 1   Geniality = 0 1   Total = __


Date_______   Group Leader (
IN CAPS)_________________________  Signature______________________