UNIMES

Curriculum: English (Language and civilisation) Degree

During the first year, it is essential to acquire:

• The necessary tools for a linguistic and phonological analysis of modern English. 
•  A methodology for translation based essentially on literary and contemporary texts.
• A knowledge of British and American institutions in order to prepare for a more in-depth study of the histories of Great Britain and the United States during the second year.
• An approach to British and American literature through 19th and 20th century poetry, novels and drama.
• Both for civilization and literature, the technique of text commentary.  Text analysis will be studied in this context.

   From the second semester and up until the end of the programme, the students must choose two out of the following four options:

• Advanced study in the English language
• Specialized translation in English
• Art and image of the Anglophone countries
• Introduction to Arab culture and civilizations

During the second year, advanced study of:

• Linguistics and phonology with a special emphasis on, amongst other topics, the syntactic and intonation phenomena.
• Translation practice using strictly literary texts from diverse genres and epochs. 
•  The study of civilization covering the history of Britain and the United States:  from the Reformation to the Second World War (for Britain) and from the colonial origins to the contemporary period (for the U.S.A.). 
•  The study of literature, including British 16th century drama and American contemporary poetry.  Oral text commentary in the second language will also be taught with a thematic approach, in order to prepare the students for essay writing techniques.

During the third year, 

   The teaching of linguistics concerns both the history of the different linguistic approaches and a comparative study of the functioning of the English and French language, which begins in the second year. 

 
   The oral practice of the language during the first two years is focused on rigorous oral presentation of novels, along with systematic public speaking and a study of public speaking techniques, thus preparing the student in a practical sense for the orals in competitive exams (for teaching positions) or other orals.

   Translation is approached with the same idea in mind: to prepare for the same competitive exams via direct and reverse translations which are shorter but definitely very similar to the translations required in the Capes or Agrégation exams.

   Both civilization and literature have a more thematic approach:  for civilization, a certain period or phenomenon will be studied from political, economic and social perspectives; for literature, a question will be tackled not just in terms of the text itself, but also regarding its reverberation beyond the genre and the period, defining an ever-changing literary space, questioning its representation and its relationship with the other arts.

   The LLCE Bachelor’s Degree in English has the following structure divided up in 6 semesters:

1st  semester (S1)

TU 1. Study of the Major and non-specialist Language
TU 2. Initiation to the English-speaking Culture
TU 3. Initiation to the Spanish-speaking Culture
TU 4 . Minors
TU 5. Methodology
TU 6. Free choice TU

2nd semester (S2)

TU 1. Language and Translation
TU 2. British Literature and Civilization
TU 3. US Literature and Civilization
TU 4. Minor and non-specialist Language
TU 5. Methodology: four different choices
TU 6. Free choice TU

3rd semester (S3)

TU 1. Basic Curriculum 1
TU 2. British Literature and Civilization
TU 3. US Literature and Civilization
TU 4. Minor and non-specialist Language
TU 5. Methodology: four different choices
TU 6. Free choice TU

For semesters 4, 5 and 6, the approach to English teaching follows the same structure. HOWEVER, during the 5th and 6th semesters (during the third year), the students are required to complete one of the following options for their U6 following their choice and according to their professional projects:

• a 15-day work placement at IUFM (with supervised teaching at an elementary, middle or high school).  During the 5th semester this will be at a primary school, in November; and during the 6th semester in February, it will be at a secondary school.
  OR
• a company placement (newspaper, radio station, travel agencies, etc.)
  OR
• introduction to research with the writing of a short research paper.
  OR
• the creation, planning and writing of a project (a trip, for example)

   Each academic year consist of two semesters of thirteen weeks. For each semester, the students are required to obtain 30 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System). The teachers in charge of each TU will explain the evaluation criteria to the students.