HORRIGAN Margaret | CLA - Centro Linguistico d'Ateneo

Tipologia:

CEL

Lingua:

LINGUA INGLESE

Indirizzo e-mail:

margaret.horrigan@uniroma1.it

Curriculum Vitae:

Margaret_Horrigan_CV.pdf (131.17 KB)

Indirizzo e-mail:

margaret.horrigan@uniroma1.it

Supporto alla didattica

Corso di studio:

L-19: Scienze dell'Educazione e della Formazione

Facoltà/Dipartimento:

Medicina e Psicologia

Attività:

Per la conoscenza di almeno una lingua straniera (AAF1188)

Tipologia:

Annuale

Canale:

Unico

Giorno - Orario - Aula:

martedì alle 14.00-16.00 - Sala lettura MARIA CORDA COSTA (RM052)

giovedì alle 15.00-18.00 - AULA 3 (RM055)

Orario e modalità di ricevimento:

Office hours Tuesdays 16.00-17.00 and must be booked via email.

Prerequisiti linguistici:

CEFR A2-B1

Programma:

The Lingua Inglese per SEF course is specifically tailored to provide undergraduate students in Educational and Training Sciences with academic and professional English language proficiency. Rather than teaching generic English, the curriculum integrates domain-specific content in pedagogical theory, educational psychology, cognitive development, and comparative schooling systems.

Course Objectives
Analyze Domain-Specific Texts: Demonstrate reading comprehension and critical analysis of key educational and psychological texts, focusing on cognitive development, memory, and learning theories.
Master Progressive Grammar: Apply foundational to advanced English syntax, including complex verb tenses, passive forms, modal verbs, phrasal/prepositional verbs, and conditional structures.
Communicate Professionally: Interpret numerical data and graph trends, utilize standard telephone phraseology, write professional descriptions, and apply guidelines for effective presentation design.
Compare Educational Frameworks: Discuss and compare the Italian education system with the UK and US education systems in spoken and written English.
Achieve Fluency & Accuracy: Meet intermediate CEFR-level expectations across reading, listening, writing, and oral communication domains.

Risultati di apprendimento attesi:

Expressing origin, health/mood, marital status, family, spelling, telephone numbers (0–9), technical titles.

Talking about habits, Wh- questions, quantities, numbers (1 to billions), age, prices, requests (would like).

Making comparisons, talking about the future, passive forms, preparing for job interviews.

Expressing unspecific quantities, possibility, ability, obligation, asking and granting permission.

Prepositions of place, defined past actions, academic degree titles.

Time, dates, historical periods, frequency, present actions, clothing, weather conditions.

Describing indefinite or recent past events and personal life experiences.

Discussing future events in various modes (intentions, schedules, arrangements, predictions).

Expressing possession, duration, word building, countable vs. uncountable concepts.

Describing homes, health ailments, providing medical advice, passive reporting.

Understanding prefixes, reflexive actions, typical day routines, general rules and facts.

Communicating numerical data, fractions, describing trends and visual graphs.

Punctuation usage, professional phone communication, error correction.

Direct/indirect objects, prior past events, complex passive structures.

Expressing duration (how long), multi-purpose uses of it.

Comparative analysis of national educational systems.

Describing interrupted/continued past actions, slide presentation design.

Formulating present hypotheses and past counterfactual possibilities.

Exam preparation, final review, cultural comparison of holiday traditions.

Modalità di svolgimento:

On campus lessons. Interactive lessons incorporating task-based activities, group discussions.

Modalità di frequenza:

Not obbligatory but highly recommended

Modalità di verifica:

Overview

This English proficiency exam (Level A2–B1) assesses core grammar, vocabulary, and functional language skills through structured, written gap-fill and multiple-choice tasks.

Key Exam Information & Conditions

Target Level: CEFR A2–B1
Duration: 1 hour
Total Score: 100 marks
Permitted Materials: Blue or black pen only
Restrictions: Electronic devices are strictly prohibited

Task Breakdown & Structure

Present Perfect & Mixed Structures (16 Marks)
- Task Type: Verb conjugation and multiple-choice option selection.
- Focus: Forming affermatives, questions and choosing correct contextual responses and qualifiers.
Present Perfect vs. Past Simple (16 Marks)
- Task Type: Dialogue-based gap-fill.
- Focus: Distinguishing between general life experiences (Present Perfect) and finished actions with specific time indicators (Past Simple).
Collocations: "Make" vs. "Do" (18 Marks)
- Task Type: Fill-in-the-blanks.
- Focus: Correct application of high-frequency fixed expressions using "make" or "do" (e.g., do research, make a promise).
Present Tenses & Collocations (12 Marks)
- Task Type: Sentence completion gap-fill.
- Focus: Combining aspect choice (Present Simple vs. Present Continuous) with correct "make" or "do" usage.
Future Tenses in Context (15 Marks)
- Task Type: Short text gap-fill.
- Focus: Applying Present Continuous or Future Simple forms within a continuous narrative.
Past Simple Narrative (23 Marks)
- Task Type: Passage gap-fill.
- Focus: Conjugating regular and irregular verbs into the Past Simple tense to complete a recount of past events.

Testi consigliati:

1. Domain-Specific Coursepack & Worksheets

"Psychology and Learning" Coursepack: Central reading text covering cognitive development, memory systems, information retention, and influential figures in education including Jean Piaget, John Dewey, Jaime Escalante, and Stanley Kaplan.
"Gruppi Nominali" Handout: Targeted exercise sheet breaking down complex noun phrase structures in educational literature.
"Figures and Trends" Booklet: Applied module on reading numerical data, percentages, fractions, and graph trends.
"Inglese al Telefono" & "The Punctuation Guide": Practical guides for professional telephone communication and English punctuation standards.
"Creating Effective PowerPoint Slides": Instructional guide for professional presentation design.

2. Digital & Multimedia Platforms

Moodle Sapienza: Official online repository containing lesson notes, course sheets, and assignment submissions.
Eurochance Beginners: Recommended self-study platform for foundational grammar consolidation.
Real English & BBC Learning English: Digital video platforms for pronunciation, functional dialogues, and listening skills.
Oxford English Video Series: Multimedia episodes utilized in class for practical comprehension exercises.
TED Talks & Audio Resources: Arthur Benjamin's "The Magic of Fibonacci Numbers" and VOA Special English educational biographical stories.feature=shared

Esempi di prove di esame:

Attachment	Size
LScienze-dell-Educazione-e-della-Formazione-Esame-Inglese-A2-B1.pdf (182.43 KB)	182.43 KB

Corso di studio:

L-24: Psicologia e Processi Sociali / Psicologia e Salute / Scienze e Tecniche Psicologiche (Unitelma)

Facoltà/Dipartimento:

Medicina e Psicologia

Attività:

Inglese Tecnico (AAF1411)

Tipologia:

Annuale

Canale:

Unico

Giorno - Orario - Aula:

giovedì alle 11.30-14.00 - Aula Magna (Via dei Marsi, 78)

Orario e modalità di ricevimento:

Office hours must be booked via email.

Prerequisiti linguistici:

Programma:

The course reviews the basics of grammar, vocabulary, and syntax, always in the field of psychology, before moving on to analyse a more in-depth and specialised discussion. The texts covered range from general psychology to the most recent international research.
The course's primary objective is to develop technical reading and listening skills. Knowledge of grammar and syntax, as well as the ability to extract specific information, will be assessed through a one-hour written test, in which candidates will complete simple exercises based on excerpts from authentic psychology documents written in English.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students who pass the English language test will have acquired a foundation of English grammar and syntax, as well as the technical and scientific vocabulary of psychological texts. The course itself will provide students with knowledge of the specific language used in various types of texts and documents in the field of psychology, including: conference and seminar programs; excerpts from encyclopaedias, volumes, and manuals; university prospectuses; health brochures; newspapers and specialised magazines; research articles and abstracts; and websites.

REFERENCE TEXTS
There is no requirement to study mandatory exam texts. The course, delivered in e-learning mode, includes video/audio lessons and interactive exercises based on English-language psychological texts. However, it is recommended that students bring a good, recently published bilingual dictionary (e.g., Ragazzini, G., Dizionario Inglese- Italiano/Italiano-Inglese, Zanichelli, Bologna) and a good English grammar textbook (e.g., R. Murphy, Essential Grammar in Use, (Italian version), Cambridge University Press). These texts are useful for learning English but cannot be used during the exam.

SKILLS TO BE ACQUIRED
The course primarily aims to develop various reading strategies for psychological texts: skimming (to extract the general meaning of the text or document as a whole), scanning (to extract specific information from the text), and intensive reading (the in-depth reading of the text itself). It also aims to develop the ability to understand oral discourse in academic and technical contexts. This will equip students with tools for researching and understanding materials (including those found online), which will be useful both for further studies and for their future careers.

Risultati di apprendimento attesi:

The Inglese Tecnico course offers a comprehensive, blended academic curriculum designed to transition students from foundational English proficiency to the high-register, precise discourse required in scholarly psychological research. Delivered as a 3 CFU accredited module (24 contact hours across 9 integrated modules), the course systematically bridges general language mechanics with domain-specific academic methodologies.

Global CEFR Proficiency Targets

CEFR B1 Target (Complex Technical Reading): Develop advanced reading comprehension skills to analyze complex technical texts, empirical research papers, and academic abstracts in psychology.
CEFR B1 Target (Writing, Listening & Translation): Acquire intermediate competence in drafting semi-technical academic paragraphs, listening to non-complex scientific presentations, translating semi-technical text from Italian to English, and applying formal academic register.

Specific Learning Objectives by Skill Domain

1. Reading Comprehension & Research Literacy

Master Reading Strategies: Apply skimming to extract overall text gist, scanning to locate specific empirical metrics and intensive reading to analyze core arguments in psychological texts.
Identify Paper Architecture: Structural analysis of peer-reviewed empirical articles

2. Writing Production & Syntactic Condensation

Optimize Information Density: Master syntactic condensation by converting preposition-heavy phrases into compact, professional noun groups (e.g., transforming "the quality of the delivery of instruction" into "instructional delivery quality").
Coherent Paragraph Construction: Draft well-structured academic paragraphs using logical connectors, topic sentences, and appropriate academic formatting.
Possessive Precision: Use the Saxon Genitive ('s) correctly to establish accurate subject scope in research reporting, distinguishing individual case studies ("the patient's response") from cohort data ("the patients' response").

3. Grammatical & Temporal Control in Scientific Reasoning

Verbal Aspect Calibration: Differentiate permanent scientific laws and routines from temporary experimental conditions and ongoing projects.
Historical & Longitudinal Description: Apply the Past Simple or completed historical studies (e.g., Jean Piaget's experiments), and the Present Perfect to connect past research achievements to ongoing scientific relevance.
Hypothetical & Predictive Logic: Formulate scientific hypotheses, clinical predictions, and cause-and-effect relationships using Zero, First, Second, and Third Conditionals.
Scientific Hedging & Modals: Utilize modal verbs (may, might, could, must) to calibrate certainty, express logical deduction, and hedge claims appropriately in scientific writing to avoid overstating research conclusions.

4. Morphology & Academic Vocabulary

Morphological Decoding: Analyze unfamiliar academic vocabulary by identifying noun suffixes and adjective suffixes
Classical Pluralization: Master classical Greek and Latin plural forms essential for research texts
Formal Register Upgrades: Replace informal multi-word phrasal verbs with formal Latinate/academic equivalents

5. Source Synthesis & Literature Review Methodologies

Synthesize Research Literature: Compare findings across multiple sources, use formal reporting verbs and integrate citations into narrative reviews.
Differentiate Review Frameworks: Identify and evaluate different literature review methodologies:

Modalità di svolgimento:

In presenza & Moodle

Modalità di frequenza:

Not obbligatory but highly recommended

Modalità di verifica:

The course combines continuous formative self-assessments with individual interactive tasks and a final summative written examination:

[ Formative Self-Tests ] ──► [ Individual E-tivity ] ──► [ Synchronous Webinars ] ──► [ Final Written Exam ]
10 Online Tests / Module Film Plot Summary 3 Interactive Workshops Pass/Fail (Idoneità)

Formative Self-Assessment Modules: Each module includes 10 interactive online quizzes (Tests 1.1 to 9.10) and listening comprehension activities (Modules 6–9) to reinforce grammatical mechanics.
Individual Interactive Activity (E-tivity):

Task: Students view a designated film in English and author a concise plot summary report applying academic synthesis techniques.
Timeline: Submissions open Nov 14, 2025, with a deadline of Nov 24, 2025.
Evaluation: Awards 0–1 bonus point toward the final grade (applicable upon achieving a passing exam score).

Synchronous Didactic Webinars: Three live interactive sessions provide direct academic support:

Course Presentation Webinar: Oct 06, 2025, 5:00PM-7:00PM.
Psychology Text Workshops: Nov 12, 2025 & Nov 26, 2025, 6:00PM-7:30PM.
Exam Preparation & Study Support: Dec 03, 2025, 6:00PM-7:00PM.

Final Assessment & Certification: A 1-hour written examination featuring reading comprehension, semi-technical translation, and technical terminology exercises based on authentic psychological texts. Successful performance awards a Pass/Fail (Idoneità) endorsement and 3 CFU credits.

Testi consigliati: