Appunti completi Lingua Inglese per la comunicazione

Inglese per la comunicazione – A.A. 2019/2020

Prof. Luisella Leonzini - Lesson n.1

Indications to write a report

- No personal opinions but factual informations

- Collect details in formal paragraphs

- It must respect a layout

- Formal style

- Engage the reader by giving it detailed informations regarding a specific topic

- The purpose is to give informations

- Impersonal form

4 parts

• Headline
• Introduction to start with opening sentence related to the topic. 2/3 lines
• Body of the article (in points and in different paragraphs). 4 lines every paragraph
• Conclusion that remarks the evidences given by the dates in the body of the article. 2/3 lines

Each part must be a unique part. 1 space between every paragraph and between the different parts.

Indications to write an essay

- It’s a commentary

- It’s the writing composition that obliges you to take a position and to comment on the topic

- The corpus is not much different from a report, but there is no headline → 3 parts instead of 4

- Intro focused on your position on the topic, then think about 3/4 points to develop in the body

- Line between the different 3 parts and between the paragraphs, that will be as much as the points you decide to develop.

If you focus on 2 points, the paragraphs will have to be a bit longer. If you decide for 3 points, the paragraphs will be shorter.

- The purpose is to develop an argumentation. Conclusion = commentary

- Hypothesis (= intro), development (= body) and thesis (= conclusion)

- It must be formal (NO contractions, NO repetitions…)

- The point of view MUST be clearest

- It can be written in the 1 person

3 parts

• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion

Narrative and newspaper articles

As Labov (1969) stated, stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. A fully-formed narrative story respects the following pattern: abstract, orientation, action, evaluation, result/resolutions, coda.

• Abstract → it corresponds to the lead/1 paragraph and the headline while the lead summarizes the central action and it establishes the main point of a news story. The headline is “the abstract of the abstract”, it appears as the first abstract in the printed story.
• Orientation → In narratives and news stories it sets the scene: who the actors are, where, when the events take place, what the initial situation is. For journalists who, what, when and where are the basic facts.
• Action → the action corresponds to the sequence of events which occurred, it is the temporal sequence of its sentences.
• Evaluation → it establishes the significance of what is being told, it focuses on the events and justifies them claiming the reading public’s attention.
• Resolution
• Coda

Additional categories in news stories

• Background: it represents the past; it covers any events prior to the current action-story.
• Commentary: it represents the present, it provides the journalist’s present-time observations on the action, assessing, and commenting on events as they happen.
• Follow up: it represents the future; it covers the story future-time, any action subsequent to the main action of an event.

“The Inverted Pyramid Concept”, Van Dijk, 1988 → thesis: Information should be concentrated in the lead, headline, sub-headline and the developing of information in the body/action, where events are not developed respecting a chronological order.

The journalist has to:

• Give a balance between new information and given information: given information at the beginning, new information at the end.
• Use brevity and efficiency
• Chose sensational words (impressiveness)
• Attract through deviant language (deviance)
• Select relevant lexical and grammatical items (persuasiveness)
• Use a language with colloquial terms and figures of speech

Journalists quote for 3 reasons: neutrality, distance, and truthness.

Lesson n.2

The future tenses

More than one option is possible because it depends on the context.

Will vs to be going to

Will

• Is more formal than to be going to.
• Is more used for suggestions, requests, promises, offers…
• Use will to talk to facts or things that we believe are true or when we talk about future facts or things we believe to be true about the future.
• Use will also when you are making a decision.
• When the personal pronouns are I or WE in a question, DO NOT USE will but use shall. EX. “Shall I go to the cinema?”

For predictions, you can use both. For an arrangement, it depends on the moment the arrangement has been made:

• In the moment of speaking → use the future
• Fixed events → use present simple (EX. The plane leaves at 11:00 am)

To be going to

• It is based on the future consequences of present events, used for intentions
• It is used with predictions
• It is used for decisions already made

Lesson n.3

Use of definite and indefinite articles

Indefinite articles

• When you introduce for the first time something or someone
• When you talk about professions, travels
• When you use measures (EX. This olive oil costs 3€ a liter)

Definite articles

• With singular countable nouns, plural countable nouns, uncountable nouns
• When we are talking about something there is only one of - the
• Use the article when a particular noun has already been mentioned previously

No articles

• When we are referring generally to a category (plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns)
• With seasons
• With months, days or part of the day (EX. “at midnight”)
• With nationality of a person
• Specific nouns of cities, mountains, planets, streets
• Use no article with plural count nouns or any noncount nouns used to mean all or in general.
• When we talk about subjects of study (EX. Chemistry, geography, Italian…) or food (EX. Spaghetti)

Quantifiers: much, many, a lot of, lots of

We use the quantifiers to talk about quantities, amounts, and degree. We can use them with a noun (as a determiner) or without a noun (as a pronoun).

When we use much or many before articles (a/an, the), demonstratives (this, that), possessives (my, your) or pronouns (him, them), we need to use this.

When we are talking to someone face-to-face, we can use much and with a hand gesture to indicate quantity.

A lot of and lots of are used in informal styles. Lots of is more informal than a lot of. Both can be used with plural countable nouns and with singular uncountable nouns for affirmatives, negatives, and questions.

When we use much and many in negative questions, we are usually expecting that a large quantity of something isn’t there. When we use a lot of and lots of in negative questions, we are usually expecting a large quantity of something.

We usually leave out the noun after much and lots when the noun is obvious.

We can use much before comparative adjectives and adverbs to make a stronger comparison.

Too much and too many are often used before and mean ‘more than necessary’. We can use too much before an uncountable noun and too many before a plural noun, or without a noun when the noun is obvious.

We use so and very rather than much and many in affirmative clauses to emphasize a very large quantity of something.

When we want to make comparisons connected with quantity, we use as much as and as many as.

Lesson n.4 and n.5

Old media vs new media

Radio is one of the most well-known instruments of mass media. It’s dedicated to the masses. The era before computer, smartphone, tablets etc. was considered to be the era of old media. It was the era of radio, TV, newspaper, books and so on. Old media still exist and they are still used but they’re supposed to reach another target of population less technological than the new generation because they’re easier to use.

TV has been delivering factual news stories for decades now. People are more likely to trust a reporter on the news than the articles shared on Facebook. TV and radio are still alive and well. Old Media can save you time and money. There is a fast turnaround, broad reach, and little fuss about the cost. Of course, traditional media like direct mail can get a little costly, but TV and radio will give you the biggest bang for your buck in regards to reaching a wide audience.

But times are changing, the way people want to be advertised to is changing. People are moving away from different mediums. When smartphones were created, everything changed because the internet has changed...