Learning objectives
Lectures; interaction with students during lectures; workshops, further work and interaction online.
The course will also be offered in a blended way on the distance learning platform called Elly.
Students can take the course in one of the following ways:
1 Attending the face-to-face lessons and participating to the alternative assessment (Path 1) as described below
2 Attending the lessons online in an asynchronous mode (Path 2)
Path 1
It is composed of :
a) lessons provided on campus, and made available online for 7-10 dyas. They are reachable via Elly section “Annunci”.
b) teaching units online on Elly which deal with the most relevant aspects of the course and regard the main contents of the lessons.
c) Powerpoint presentations used during the face-to-face lessons reachable via Elly section “Forum”.
d) recommended readings (See section below)
e) the opportunity to participate in a one-hour weekly meeting with the teacher and other students to discuss the topics dealt with during the lessons
f) assessment based on a written exam and a form of assessment as an alternative to the oral exam
Path 2
It is composed of 2 parts:
a) recorded lessons available online for 7-10 days. They are reachable via Elly section “Annunci”.
b) teaching units online which deal with the most relevant aspects of the course and regard the main contents of the lessons.
For the oral exam, see the information provided below.
c) recommended readings (See section below)
d) the opportunity to participate in a one-hour weekly meeting with the teacher and other students to discuss the topics dealt with during the lessons.
Students attending Path 2 will have to take the exam, written and oral, with what is explicated in the dedicated section.
Course unit content
Language acquisition and teaching.
The first part of the course is dedicated to the exploration of the mechanisms which rule language acquisition.
The second part deals with language teaching processes.
This course complies with D.M.616.
Bibliography
Mezzadri M., I nuovi ferri del mestiere, Bonacci, Roma 2015.
Prof. Rizzolatti's lesson on mirror neurons held at Parma University of 10-10-2022. More information on Elly.
Teaching methods
Lectures; interaction with students during lectures; workshops, further work and interaction online.
The course will also be offered in a blended way on the distance learning platform called Elly where you can find learning objects (video-lessons, writtwn texts, self-access activities) which deal with the most relevant aspects of the course and regard the main contents of the lessons.
The recommended readings (See section below) are an essential component of the module and of the methodology adopted.
As well as the assessment which follows different procedures according to the Course as described below.
Assessment methods and criteria
Students enrolled on the Modern Foreign Languages and Civilisations BA course
Written exam.
The written exam will last one and a half hours. Students will have to give evidence of their knowledge acquired through the studying of a book on language teaching methodology: I nuovi ferri del mestiere (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13. The exam will be based on a set of 4 items (open ended questions/paragraphs) .
The assessment grid is available on Elly.
If a student fails the exam, they will have to wait one month from the publication of the results on Esse3, before being allowed to sit for the exam once again.
Students enrolled on the Humanities BA course and other degree courses
Written and oral exam.
The written exam will last one and a half hours. Students will have to give evidence of their knowledge acquired through the studying of a book on language teaching methodology: I nuovi ferri del mestiere (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13. The remaining chapters will be part of the oral exam. The written exam will be based on a set of 4 items (open ended questions/paragraphs). Students will be allowed to sit for the oral exam only if they reach 18/30 in the written part.
The written part will weigh 66,666% of the total score. The oral part 33,333%
If a student fails the exam, they will have to wait one month from the publication of the results on Esse3, before being allowed to sit for the exam once again.
The oral exam will be based on a discussion about the written part and of topics dealt with in the remaining chapters of the manual which will not have been tested in the written exam.
A fail is determined by the lack of an understanding of the minimum content of the course, the inability to express oneself adequately, by a lack of autonomous preparation, the inability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the decoding of complex texts, as well as an inability to make independent judgments. A pass (18-23/30) is determined by the student’s possession of the minimum, fundamental contents of the course, an adequate level of autonomous preparation and ability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the decoding of complex texts, as well as an acceptable level of ability in making independent judgments. Middle-range scores (24-27/30) are assigned to the student who produces evidence of a more than sufficient level (24-25/30) or good level (26-27/30) in the evaluation indicators listed above. Higher scores (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) are awarded on the basis of the student’s demonstration of a very good or excellent level in the evaluation indicators listed above.
Other information
The written exam is based only on the book I nuovi ferri del mestiere (see the list of recommended readings).
