Riassunti files esame completo Lingua inglese

READING AND ANALYSING BOOK'S BLURBS

A blurb should tell you what the book is about, and give you good reasons to read/buy it. It should do so in a relatively short time and using a relatively small space.

Providing informations:

• Who?
• What?
• Why?
• How?
• When and where?
• For whom?

Persuading potential readings:

• Highlighting some aspects, omitting/downplaying others;
• Creating a connection with the audience.

When you communicate through language, you make choices according to your goals.

IN ITALY WE LIVE IN SILENCE, DIE IN SILENCE AND WAIT - by Monica Maggioni

Before the virus came, I was living in my usual, hectic way, going back and forth from Milan to Rome for work. As such, I turned a blind eye to the worrying news coming from China. Even the onset of contagion in the Codogno area near Milan was, to me, just another news story.

Do I stay in Rome, where I live and work, or go back to the little village outside of Milan where my aging parents live? Ultimately,

I chose to stay close to my parents in case they needed help.

The streets are totally empty; it is forbidden even to take a walk unless you carry a document that explains to authorities why you have left your house. The lockdown that began here in Lombardy now extends to the entire country.

These days, in Italy, you die in silence and you'll be buried in silence. And the quiet is everywhere. For this is a silent war: no bombs, no shooting, no screams. No cars, no motorbikes, no children playing in the street. Most of your normal daily activities are simply forbidden.

Skype call It's a new ritual, a way to keep the family close. On social networks, threads about the virus are multiplying.

The lack of intensive-care beds forces them to make impossible decisions: who can be helped and who is too old, or too weak, to even try to save. This can really destroy your resistance as a human being.

We have learned that this is not just another flu; it's a terrible new virus that

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ischallenging a whole nation, Europe itself and perhaps the entire planet.

WHY DO WE LEARN ENGLISH?

What does “global language” mean?

It plays a special role which is recognised in every country, whether it is spoken as amother tongue or not.

Global English: more complex than it seems…

• English is not the only language with widespread official status (Arabic, Russian,French…)
• «One language, one people, one nation»: this more of an exception than the norm(see above, and English, Spanish, German …)
• «second language» (for historical reasons, cf. colonisation) vs «foreign language»(prioritised in teaching): NOT a matter of ability/fluency
• Distinguishing «first language» speakers vs others is not always easy (e.g. childrenraised in English)

What makes a major international language?

-There is the closest of links between language dominance and economic,technological, and cultural power;-

“Language has no independent existence, living in some sort of mystical space apart from the people who speak it. Language exists only in the brains and mouths and ears and hands and eyes of its users. When they succeed, on the international stage, their language succeeds. When they fail, their language fails.” (Crystal).

WHY DO WE NEED A GLOBAL LANGUAGE? SHOULD WE BEWARE OF A GLOBAL LANGUAGE?

Opportunities and risks of English as a global language:

Opportunities offered by a global language:

• International communities:
• International institutions (EU, UN, WHO, World Bank, …)
• Business
• Academic community
• And more ...
• Increasingly global and mobile, physically and virtually, thanks to ongoing technological advances
• Numerous languages involved → translation is extremely costly → a lingua franca is the best option

Risks of a global language: linguistic power

“Native speaker privilege”: power asymmetry between native and non-native speakers of English

• different work opportunities for native and non-native speakers
• Literary, journalistic, entertainment, academic work risks being ignored or rejected for linguistic reasons

No motivation for native speakers to learn other languages.

Crystal: there is a growing awareness of the advantages of knowing other languages in addition to the lingua franca, but we are still a long way off.

• Disappearance of minority languages
• "At least 50% of the world's 6,000 or so living languages will die out within the next century" (Crystal 2003:20)
• English accused of "invading other languages".

• No direct causal link between the presence of English and language death
• More in general, globalisation (not English in itself) is harming linguistic and

communities;-English is spoken in different contexts, such as:

• In public offices, institutions, law courts, universities, some media channels;
• As a lingua franca with people from different communities with different local languages;
• English as Foreign Language – EFL:

-English is there because it has been chosen as a primary educational target together with the local language(s), due to its status as a global language;

-Speakers have a first language ≠ English and pursue an education in English at varying levels.

ENGLISH IN ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES:

Italian university switches to English One of ltaly's leading universities - the Politecnico di Milano - is going to switch to the English language. The university has announced that from 20 14 most of its degree courses, including all its graduate courses, will be taught and assessed entirely in English rather than Italian. The waters of globalisation are rising around higher education – and the university believes that if it

remains italian-speaking it risksisolation and will be unable to compete as an international institution.When English is the language of international business, university’s rector alsobelieves that leaming in English will make his students more employable.Antonello Cherubini says he worries about the lack of recognition for the quality ofItalian teaching.The use of English, particularly for research, is seen as helping to raise visibility ininternational rankings.

LEZIONE 6ENGLISH IN THE WORLDGLOBAL ENGLISH AND WORLD ENGLISHES:Varieties of English.-In spreading worldwide, English was and is adopted in different contexts, by differentcommunities and speakers;-The way English spread changed throughout history;-Language varies according to its context of use.-Language variation might depend on:Time Geographical area Social situation/group Means of communication (paper/speech/computer).REMEMBER NOT TO BE JUDGMENTAL, AND ALWAYS CONSIDER LANGUAGE IN ITSCONTEXT.

«STANDARD» OR «NON STANDARD» HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH QUALITY OR LEGITIMACY LANGUAGE VARIETIES ALL HAVE THEIR OWN USES, VALUES AND LEGITIMACY.

Coronavirus in America: (The Guardian)

A lack of preparation, deep-rooted dysfunction and a reckless president – now the US faces being the center of the pandemic.

Coronavirus has raced across the American continent with the aid of a chronic lack of preparation, deep-rooted dysfunction in the US healthcare system, and a president who has repeatedly dismissed the crisis and is now looking to scale back containment efforts in favour of restarting economic activity.

More than 46,000 people in the US have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and nearly 600 have died. On Monday, for the first time, more than 100 people in the US died in a single day.

The Trump administration previously dismantled a federal team working on pandemics and cut back a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) group based in China tasked with tracking new