Inglese LM - ENG

Corso di Laurea Magistrale - Inglese

Dott. Colin Irving-Bell

Course Code:    SSD L – LIN /12
Subject Code:   COD-EO315
Ore: 32 : Cfu.4
Location:   Novara



1.    Educational Aims:

The aims of the course are to confront students with a forum of discussion and explore the current issues in world politics and economics. Presented in English, the course will challenge, debate and analyse  current political and  economic thinking. Students will be required to participate in discussions and will be introduced to the skills of public speaking by making their own presentations in English.

2.    Contents of the Course

The following topics will be at the core of the course:
•    The European Union – its structure, role and effectiveness.
•    The Euro and the monetary crisis.
•    The Banking Sector – its structure and the current crisis.
•    Globalisation.
•    The European Welfare State systems.
•    Immigration.
•    The European  Central Bank, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund.
•    Corruption, acccountability and transparency.
•    Democracy - its limitations and importance.

3.    Prerequisites

To follow this course properly, students must have a B2 level of English. Since the objectives of the course are to discuss and scrutinize current world issues all of which are relevant to their other courses, students will need to develop their skills in skimming and scanning articles and be able to synthesize them into making coherent arguments. They will be required to develop their skills in making presentations and answering questions from an audience and to answer questions in a developed and intelligent way.


4.    Course Text
There is no course textbook. Handouts will be supplied and later published on the student website. One or more of the following are essential background reading: Financial Times, Times, Guardian, Independent, Daily Telegraph, Economist , Sole 24 Ore. Any other serious socio-economic journal.

5.    Teaching Methods

The course will be a mixture of teacher - centred lecture/ discussion and student participation with the former being the norm in the first part and the latter in the second part of the course.
In the second half, students will be required to give presentations and participate in debate/ discussions.

6.    Examination:

•    The exam will consist of a 2 hour written paper in which students will be invited to answer any two questions from a list of about 15. All questions will have been about topics covered during the course. The questions will require a full discursive answer presented in good English and developed into a coherent and clear argument.
•    There will be no oral exam for those students who pass the written part, but those  who are borderline  will be given the chance of an oral in order to pass.
•    The exam is ‘ Idoneo ‘ and carries 4 credits.

International Certification.

This course is judged not only on language ability but also on content  and therefore international certification will not exempt anyone from doing the exam and neither will those who have done three months work experience abroad be exempt.

The Department positively encourages students to take external examinations (such as the Cambridge exams ,TOEFL and IELTS) for their own value. They play a vital role in a student’s armoury for future job opportunities. Advice and assistance in enroling and taking these exams is available at any time from me.
The relevant exams  to students at this level are : B2 – First Certificate of English ( FCE ), Business English Course – Vantage:C1 – Certificate of Advanced English ( CAE ), Business English Course (Higher ).B2/C1 - International Legal English Course (ILEC), International Certificate in Financial English (IFCE). International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and TOEFL.