ENGLISH FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES

Academic Year 2019/2020 - 2° Year
Teaching Staff: Paola Clara LEOTTA
Credit Value: 4
Taught classes: 24 hours
Term / Semester:

Learning Objectives

The course aims at consolidating and deepening students’ linguistic skills particularly concerning the grammatical, morphological and phonological aspects of language (B1+ level of the Common European Framework), the ability of reading comprehension and the comment on specialized texts belonging to the field of psychology.

Entry level: B1.

Achievement level: B1+.


Course Structure

Lectures + lab.


Detailed Course Content

Grammatical, morphological and phonological analysis of texts of different typologies; reading comprehension activities with a focus on scientific lexicon on Psychology and particularly on the following topics:

- Industrial/Organizational Psychology (Workplace stressors)

- Physiological Psychology (Friedman and Rosenman: Type A and heart disease)

- Psychoanalysis (Freud, Methods used in the Psychodynamic Approach)

- "Problem Column" in Teenagers Magazine

- Shyness

- Human Emotions


By the end of the course, students will be able to:

- Identify and properly use the grammatical and syntactical structures dealt with during lessons.

- Recognize and properly use the most frequently recurring elements of specialized lexicon.

- Read, translate and comment on texts about education and pedagogy.

- Sum up information found in texts/films.


Textbook Information

Grammar and language skills:

- Grammar: M. Swan, C. Walter, D. Bertocchi, The Good Grammar Book for Italian Students, Oxford U.P., 2015 (only for reference);
Language skills: Handouts will be provided

Monographic course:
1. S. Porro, English for Psychological Studies, Celid 2009 (pp. 43-67)

2. Handouts (on Freud, "Problem Column" in Teenagers Magazine, Shyness, Human Emotions, Lexicology).