L0860 - LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION FROM ITALIAN INTO ENGLISH AND FROM ENGLISH INTO ITALIAN

courses

ID:

L0860

Duration (hours):

72

CFU:

SSD:

LINGUA E TRADUZIONE - LINGUA INGLESE

Located in:

PESCARA

Url:

Course Details:

LINGUISTIC MEDIATION AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION/CORSO GENERICO Year: 2

Year:

2025

Course Catalogue:

https://unich.coursecatalogue.cineca.it/af/2025?co...

Date/time interval

Annuale (03/10/2025 - 31/05/2026)

Course Objectives

The course, designed to achieve the objectives of the Degree Program in Linguistic Mediation and Intercultural Communication, aims to provide students with basic notions relating to discourse analysis, Global English, and corpus linguistics. The topics chosen for the language component are fundamental for preparing students to enter the professional fields of translation and interpreting, in both the public and private sectors, as well as for refining the linguistic skills of students who aspire to serve as linguistic and intercultural mediators for ministerial institutions.
Within the educational objectives of the Degree Program and consistent with the professional profiles and career opportunities it envisages, the translation course aims to provide students with the necessary competencies and tools for translating tourist texts from Italian to English and from English to Italian. To this end, key theories and concepts within Translation Studies will be presented; the necessary text analysis tools and related exercises will be provided, aimed at identifying appropriate translation strategies across different text types and varying levels of difficulty.
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Knowledge and Understanding.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

Describe and apply reading and writing strategies in relation to the notions of cohesion and coherence;
Use different linguistic variants employed in the media;
Create a corpus and describe the linguistic aspects of a corpus;
Translate tourist texts from English into Italian and from Italian into English.

Communication Skills
By the end of the course, students should be able to:

Provide technical and practical information about discourse analysis in both specialized and non-specialized terms;
Employ the English language in media contexts;
Discuss the various constitutive aspects of a corpus;
Analyze tourist texts from a linguistic perspective and translate them, identifying and applying appropriate translation strategies.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Knowledge and Understanding.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

Describe and apply reading and writing strategies in relation to the notions of cohesion and coherence;
Use different linguistic variants employed in the media;
Create a corpus and describe the linguistic aspects of a corpus;
Translate tourist texts from English into Italian and from Italian into English.

Communication Skills
By the end of the course, students should be able to:

Provide technical and practical information about discourse analysis in both specialized and non-specialized terms;
Employ the English language in media contexts;
Discuss the various constitutive aspects of a corpus;
Analyze tourist texts from a linguistic perspective and translate them, identifying and applying appropriate translation strategies.

Course Prerequisites

English Language I

Teaching Methods

The 36-hour Language course consists of two-hour lessons held twice a week. Topics covered will include discourse analysis, English and the media, corpus linguistics, and the translation of tourist texts from English into Italian and from Italian into English. Lectures and seminars will be alternated with activities and exercises aimed at developing writing skills (cohesion and coherence), English and media literacy, and translation abilities.
Although attendance is not mandatory, students are strongly advised to attend classes; the written exam will be the same for both attending and non-attending students.
For the translation module: frontal teaching, comprising theoretical lessons and practical exercises, for a total of 36 hours. Attendance is not mandatory, but strongly recommended.

Assessment Methods

he final grade is determined by calculating the average of the marks obtained by students in both the written and oral exams.
The English language exam consists of multiple-choice questions on discourse analysis, a cohesion and coherence exercise, and a textual linguistics exercise.
The translation exam is written and will consist of a translation test of two tourist texts, one from English to Italian and one from Italian to English.
For the written Language test, the multiple-choice questions related to discourse analysis aim to make students reflect on the importance of register, cohesion, and coherence in public and private communication.
The final grade will be obtained by averaging the three scores from the written tests (language test and translation of two tourist texts) and the score from the oral exam.
To be admitted to the oral exam, it is mandatory to pass all written tests, achieving at least a passing grade (18/30).
Should a student not pass one or more written tests, they may choose to retake only the failed test.
The final grade will also take into account the language assistant activities (lettori madrelingua) supporting the teaching throughout the academic year.
The oral exam, conducted in English, aims to verify knowledge and understanding of discourse analysis, English and the media, and corpus linguistics.
To pass the exam, students must use specialized terminology and express themselves with comprehensible language to demonstrate logical and reasoning abilities regarding discourse analysis, English and the media, and corpus linguistics.
The use of a monolingual dictionary is permitted for the written English language test, while a bilingual dictionary is permitted for the translation tests.
Attendance at the CEL (Centro Linguistico di Ateneo) exercises is strongly recommended for achieving the language proficiency levels set by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Before taking the exam with the lector, students will undergo the language assistant assessment according to the procedures established by the CLA. During the exam, the lecturer will consider the result achieved when formulating the final evaluation.

Texts

Language module (6 credits - Prof. Eleonora Sasso) for attending students:
- Brian Paltridge, Discourse Analysis: An Introduction, London, Continuum, 2006 (Chapters 1, 3, 6; Study material for both the written and oral exams);

- David Crystal, English As a Global Language, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2003 (Ch. 1, pp. 1-28; ch. 4: pp. 86-104; preparatory text for the oral exam);
- M. Grazia Busà, Introducing the Language of the News, Abingdon, Routledge, 2004 (Ch. 2,pp. 25-36; Ch. 6 , pp. 80-95; preparatory text for the oral exam);
- David Crystal, Language and the Internet, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004 (Chapters 2, 4, 7; preparatory text for the oral exam);
- Gunther Kress, and Theo van Leeuwen, Reading Images. The Grammar of Visual Design, London and New York, Routledge (Introduction, Ch. 1, preparatory text for the oral exam);
- Susan Hunston, Corpora in Applied Linguistics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002 (Chapters 1, 4; preparatory text for the oral exam).

Parte di Lingua (6 crediti - Prof. Eleonora Sasso) per studenti non frequentanti:
- Brian Paltridge, Discourse Analysis: An Introduction, London, Continuum, 2006 (Chapters 1, 3, 6, 7; per prova scritta e orale);

- David Crystal, English As a Global Language, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2003 (Ch. 1, pp. 1-28; ch. 4: pp. 86-104; per prova orale);
- M. Grazia Busà, Introducing the Language of the News, Abingdon, Routledge, 2004 (Ch. 2,pp. 25-36; Ch. 6 , pp. 80-95; testo per la prova orale);
- David Crystal, Language and the Internet, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004 (Chapters 2, 4, 7; per prova orale);
- Gunther Kress, and Theo van Leeuwen, Reading Images. The Grammar of Visual Design, London and New York, Routledge (Introduction, Chs. 1, and 2, oral exam);
- Susan Hunston, Corpora in Applied Linguistics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002 (Chapters 1, 3, 4; per prova orale).

Translation module (6 credits) for both attending and non-attending students:

Testi di riferimento:
Stefania M. Maci, English Tourism Discourse. Insights into the Professional, Promotional and Digital Language of Tourism, Hoepli, 2020 (preparatory text for the written exam);
Jeremy Munday, Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications, London and New York, Routledge, 2016 (preparatory text for the written exam);
Recommended readings:
Clotilde de Stasio, Oriana Palusci, The Languages of Tourism. Turismo e Mediazione, Unicopli, 2007 (preparatory text for the written exam).

The course aims to explore the foundations of Discourse Analysis, understood as the study of language “beyond the sentence.” Starting from the pioneering work of Austin, Grice, Halliday, and Leech, the course will examine the development of this discipline, which investigates language within its social context and, in particular, within the interactive dynamics between speakers.
Another significant section of the course will be devoted to the concept of Global English and its relationship with the media. It will illustrate how the press, radio, advertising, and especially television have contributed to the widespread diffusion of English as a global language.
Particular emphasis will be placed on Corpus Linguistics, presented as a key resource for enhancing students’ language competence. The goal is to develop their reading and writing skills, refine communicative practice, increase linguistic awareness, and promote autonomy in learning.
Translation Practice Module
The translation practice component of the course will provide students with the linguistic, analytical, and translational tools necessary to deal with different text types, with a specific focus on tourism communication.
Various texts will be analyzed, each presenting distinct translation challenges, in order to enable students to identify the most effective strategies to apply to specific case studies. Each text’s genre and communicative function will be examined in detail—both from a semantic and linguistic perspective—as an essential preliminary step to translation (both from and into English).
Learning will also be supported by the use of technological tools for lexical research and stylistic analysis. Students will be introduced to the basic theoretical concepts needed to approach their first experiences in translation.