ADRESSEES

MODULE 2

BRITISH HEROES IN MEDIOEVAL LITERATURE:

Beowulf-Robin Hood-King Arthur

MODULE MAPPING

1. Discovering the roots of European civilization: The Celts (24 hrs)

2. British heroes in medieval literature: Beowulf-Robin Hood –King Arthur.(32 hrs)

3. Telling stories: Geoffrey Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales.(10 hrs)

4. Elizabethan and Jacobean drama: Shakespeare-Marlowe-Ben Johnson.(30 hrs)

ADRESSEES

3^RD CLASS OF HIGH SCHOOL “LICEO SCIENTIFICO”

LEVEL B2/C1 ( some descriptors are referred to B2 of the CEF, others belong to C1) .

Hours : 32

TEACHING UNITS

THE ANGLO SAXONS: History, Society, Culture (3 hrs).
AN INTRODUCTION TO POETRY: Genres, Language, Stylistic Devices (3hrs).
ANGLO-SAXON EPICS: BEOWULF (4 hrs)
THE MIDDLE AGES (1066-1485): The Norman Conquest; The Plantagenets, Lancaster Vs York.(3 hrs )
MEDIOEVAL LITERATURE: Epics, Ballad, Medieval Romance.(3 hrs)
BRITISH HEROES: ROBIN HOOD-KING ARTHUR:(6 hrs+3 hours dedicated to watching movies)

From literature to the movies

7. Assessment (3 hrs)

8. Remedial work (3 hrs)

PRE-REQUISITES

v Knowledge

1. CULTURAL ROOTS OF MEDIOEVAL EUROPE

2. CELTIC CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION.

3. GEOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

4. BRITISH HISTORY FROM 600 B.C TO 500 AC.

5. HISTORICAL EVENTS RELATED TO CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

v Competences:

1. CAN MASTER VOCABULARY RELATED TO HISTORY , GEOGRAPHY, CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION. SPECIFIC LEXIS CONCERNING CELTIC SOCIETY, RELIGION, LIFE -STYLE, ART , ARCHITECTURE AND HANDCRAFT.

2. CAN USE:

§ Past simple

§ Adjectives

§ Present perfect

§ Paradigms of Irregular verbs.

§ Duration form with for/since

§ Past progressive

§ Past perfect

§ Modal verbs

§ Time adverbs

§ Time prepositions

§ Place prepositions.

§ Wh- questions

§ How long?

§ How far?

§ How much?

§ How many?

§ Ordinal numbers

§ Date

§ Cardinal numbers

§ Relative pronouns

§ Main connectors

§ The Passive

§ Direct and Indirect Speech.

3. CAN USE SYNTAX RELATED TO :

Affirmative, Negative, Interrogative sentence structure.

§ Relative, Temporal, Cause and Result , Clauses.

CAN USE LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS NECESSARY TO :

§ Ask and answer questions about events ,agents and incidents distant in place and time.

§ Describe People and Places.

§ Talk about events, locating them in time and place ;expressing cause and result nexus.

§ Tell a story

§ Make a report.

v Basic Skills

LISTENING: Can understand speech and lectures about general and specific topics, provided that they have been made familiar by the teacher through accurate presentation activities. Specifically :

1. Can listen for general understanding/for gist

2. Can listen for specific information

3. Can interpret what he/she hears , employing his/her own knowledge and linguistic skills .

READING: Can read texts ,related to specific topics concerning history, culture and civilization, provided that the teacher has made them familiar , through appropriate pre-reading activities. Specifically :

1. Can skim a text, quickly inspecting it in order to get the gist.

2. Can scan a text searching for a particular piece of information.

SPOKEN INTERACTION : Can Interact taking an active part in discussions about the topics presented in the module. Specifically:

Can ask and answer questions, exchanging information related to the contents of the module.
Can take part in discussions, sustaining his /her point of view

SPOKEN PRODUCTION : Can express himself quite fluently and spontaneously using appropriate lexis and register. Specifically:

1. Can present clear descriptions about general and specific subjects, using correct grammar, appropriate lexis and syntax

WRITING : Can write clear texts on a wide range of subjects , both general and specific using correct grammar, appropriate syntax, lexis and register. Specifically:

1. Can answer to open and closed questions.

2. Can write short essays, accounts and summaries.

v Capabilities

1. SHOWS AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH TO HISTORICAL EVENTS.

2. CAN FIND OUT CONNECTIONS AND CAUSE -EFFECT NEXUS BETWEEN HISTORICAL EVENTS AND THEIR SOCIO-CULTURAL CONSEQUENCES

3. CAN INFER LOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS

4. POSSESSES ABILITY OF SYNTHESIS.

5. CAN FIND CONNECTIONS AMONG VARIOUS SUBJECTS INVOLVED IN THE SAME MODULE

6. CAN:

Carry on research activities in the various subjects, using multimedia.
Exploit his/ her knowledge and competences in a cross-curricular and multidisciplinary perspective.
Employ what she/ he has learnt to interpret contemporary European civilization , being aware of its common roots and of the historical events which made European countries so different and , at the same time so similar, from a linguistic, ethnic, political and cultural point of view.

7. CAN USE DICTIONARY PROPERLY

8. CAN TAKE NOTES

9. CAN SUMMARIZE.

OBJECTIVES :

v General Objectives

1. ACQUISITION OF CONTENTS RELATED TO BRITISH LITERATURE AND HISTORY FROM THE FIFTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY A.C.

2. ACQUISITION OF A SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO LITERARY GENRES AND STYLISTIC DEVICES.

3. DEVELOPMENT OF THE ABILITY TO READ AND ANALYZE LITERARY TEXT.

4. DEVELOPMENT OF THE ABILITY TO ANALYZE A MOVIE.

5. DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAPACITY TO TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC TOPICS , USING APPROPRIATE LEXIS AND REGISTER.

6. CONSOLIDATION ,REINFORCEMNT AND IMPROVEMENT OF LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING,WRITING SKILLS.

7. CONSOLIDATION , RE-INFORCEMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF PRONUNCIATION

8. CONSOLIDATION, REINFORCEMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF PREDICTIVE SKILLS.

9. REINFORCEMNT OF SS SELF-CONFIDENCE.

10. IMPROVEMENT OF THE ABILITY TO PERCEIVE INTERCULTURAL AND CROSS-CURRICULAR LINKS.

11. DEVELOPMENT OF SS WILLINGNESS TO TAKE INITIATIVES IN FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION.

12. ENCOURAGE SS CO-OPERATION AND COLLABORATION, THROUGH PAIRWORKS AND GROUP WORKS.

v Specific objectives related to knowledge

1. KNOWLEDGE OF THE ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY (446-1066)

2. KNOWLEDGE OF ANGLO-SAXON SOCIETY, CULTURE AND VALUES.

3. KNOWLEDGE OF THE HISTORICAL PERIOD GOING FROM 11^TH TO 14^TH CENTURY. SPECIFICALLY:

§ The Norman Conquest.

§ The Plantagenets.

§ The war of the Roses.

4. KNOWLEDGE OF MEDIOEVAL POETRY .SPECIFICALLY

§ The epic : Beowulf.

§ The Ballad : Robin Hood.

5. KNOWLEDGE OF MAIN THEMES AND FEATURES OF MEDIEVAL POETRY

6. KNOWLEDGE OF MEDIOEVAL PROSE. ROMANCE.SPECIFICALLY:

§ Knowledge of prose used for artistic effects in chivalric romances

§ Influence from French models (for example Chrètien De Troyes).

7. KNOWLEDGE OF THE SOURCES OF ROMANCES. SPECIFICALLY:CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY SOURCES .

v Linguistic objectives

1. ACQUISITION OF A SPECIFIC VOCABULARY RELATED TO LITERATURE , CINEMA, AND TEXT ANALYSIS.

2. WIDENING VOCABULARY RELATED TO HISTORY, PHILOSPHY,RELIGION,ETHICS, HUMAN FEELINGS.

3. CONSOLIDATION, REVISION AND EXPANSION OF GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO:

§ -Past simple

§ -Present perfect

§ -Paradigms of Irregular verbs.

§ -Duration form with for/since

§ -Past progressive

§ -Past perfect

§ -Modal verbs

§ -Time adverbs

§ -Time prepositions

§ -Place prepositions.

§ -Wh- questions

§ -How long?

§ -How far?

§ -How much?

§ -How many?

§ -Ordinal numbers

§ -Dates

§ -Cardinal numbers

§ Relative pronouns

§ -Main connectors

§ -The Passive

§ -Direct and Indirect Speech.

4. CONSOLIDATION , REVISION AND EXPANSION OF SYNTAX RELATED TO :

§ -Affirmative, Negative, Interrogative sentence structure.

§ -Relative, Temporal, Cause and Result Clauses.

5. ACQUISITION OF FURTHER GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO COHESION DEVICES:

§ -Linkers (moreover, besides, in addition, as , since, so as to, in order to. Although, though,even if /though)

6. ACQUISITION OF FURTHER KNOWLEDGE OF SYNTAX RELATED TO:

§ -Addition clauses.

§ -Contrast clauses.

§ -Purpose clauses.

Can-do Statements.

LISTENING:

1. Can understand extended speech and lectures , following even complex lines of an argument provided that the topic has been introduced by the teacher through appropriate pre-listening activities.

2. Can understand a literary text, read by native speakers, being able to:

v -Identify the topic

v -Listen for gist

v Listen for specific information

v -Listen for detailed information.

v -interpret what it is heard , using his/her own knowledge of the world and linguistic knowledge.

3. Can understand the majority of films in standard dialect.

4. Can catch most of what is said in his-her presence in standard spoken language, but may find it difficult to participate effectively in discussion with several native speakers who do not modify their language in any way.

READING :

On condition that the teacher has indicated to the SS appropriate reading strategies and text analysis procedures, they can read and analyze a literary text, being able to :

§ Read it quickly (skimming) in order to identify its main topic and get to the gist.

§ Read it carefully to get details( scanning)

§ Recognize the relationship between the main ideas and their expansion.

§ Infer from the text.

§ -Draw conclusions.

§ Recognize the writer’s purpose and attitude.

§ -Follow the sequence of events

§ Identify genres

§ Identify differences of style,

§ -Recognizing figures of speech, sound devices, versification, rhyme and rhythm.

SPOKEN INTERACTION:

1. Can interact with a satisfactory degree of fluency and spontaneity , which makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible.

2. Can interact without too much difficulty and discuss about history, civilization, literature and cinema, formulating ideas and opinions with precision, using turn taking, sustaining his opinions and skilfully contributing to those of others . Specifically

§ Can ask and answer to questions , related to history , civilization and literature, understanding, checking , confirming information reliably.

§ Can take an active part in discussions about history, literature, culture and civilization interpreting what has been said, using turn taking, improving strategies for conversation , accounting for and sustaining opinions, providing relevant explanations, arguments and comments, facing problems, suggesting alternative and solutions and commenting on the other’s view.

SPOKEN PRODUCTION:

Can express /himself herself with a satisfactory degree of fluency and accuracy , presenting clear , detailed descriptions of complex subjects, related to literature, civilization, history, employing an appropriate and varied lexis, integrating sub-themes , developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.

WRITING:

1. Can write clear , well-structured text , using correct grammar and syntactical structures and employing appropriate lexis and register.

2. Can write a detailed exposition of a complex subject related to history, culture and/or civilization , in an essay or a report , underlining what he/she considers the most important issues. Can respect eventual restraints as to length of the text (number of words, lines).

3. Can write short answers to open questions about literature, history , culture and civilization, selecting appropriate contents, lexis and respecting particular restraints as to number of words and lines.

& TEXTS :

ORAL : LITERARY PASSAGES, READ BY NATIVE SPEAKERS.

WRITTEN : TEXTBOOKS (LITERARY MAPS-ONLY CONNECT), WEB PAGES,ARTICLES.

4 TASKS:

§ Looking at pictures ,maps, diagrams in order to answer questions and/or complete them.

§ Constructing semantic webs.

§ Predicting the content of the oral/written text.

§ Listening for the gist and answer questions.

§ Listening for detailed information and fill in the blanks, charts ,graphs.

§ Reading for the gist and answer general questions

§ Scanning the text in order to find more detailed information

§ Answering to specific questions (written)

§ Searching for key –words

§ Identifying characters, plot, and setting.

§ Identifying similes, metaphors and their effects.

§ Identifying sound devices and their effects.

§ Guessing meanings and matching words

§ Multiple choice exercises

§ True-False exercises

§ Structural exercises

§ Fill-in/Completion tests

§ Cloze tests

§ Writing summaries

§ Writing reports

§ Making reports (oral)

§ Discussing topics

§ Class debates

§ Commenting images

§ Answering to open and closed questions (eventually respecting restraints as to length and number of lines)

§ Giving personal opinions answering questions (written and oral)

§ Making searches on the Internet

§ Note-taking

§ Watching a movie in order to:

§ Describe the setting

§ Describe the characters

§ Identify genre, film director, cast and cinematic devices.

§ Discuss about it expressing personal appreciation.

r STRATEGIES:

Reception :

§ Framing (selecting mental set, activating schemata, setting up expectations)

§ Identifying cues and inferring from them.

§ Hypothesis testing: matching cues to schemata.

§ Revising hypothesis.

Production:

§ Rehearsing

§ Locating resources.

§ Considering audience

§ Task adjustment

§ Message adjustment

§ Compensating

§ Building on previous knowledge

§ Trying out

§ Monitoring success.

§ Self -correction.

Interaction:

§ Framing

§ Identifying information/opinion gap

§ Planning moves

§ Taking the floor

§ Co-operating

§ Dealing with the unexpected

§ Asking for help

§ Monitoring schema

§ Monitoring success

§ Asking for clarification

§ Giving clarification

§ Communication repair.

3 REMEDIAL WORK:

Remedial work depends on the result of assessment activities. It might require extra listening/reading activities with questionnaires, true/false ,structural exercises, multiple choice, matching and fill-in the blanks .

3 AIDS: Textbooks, copies, maps, blackboard, transparencies, videocassette, video player, Ohp, cassettes, tape-recorder.

2 ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND CRITERIA

Written tests:

Structured:

§ True/False

§ Multiple choice

§ Structural exercises

§ Closed questions

Half-structured:

§ Short essays

§ summaries

§ Not- Structured:

§ free writing

Oral tests :

Half structured:

§ Official talks

Not structured:

§ Questioning (Interrogazione)

§ Debates

§ Discussions

2 EVALUATION CRITERIA

§ Content

§ Grammatical and syntactic accuracy

§ Lexis (appropriateness-correctness-variety)

§ Communication (Accuracy-fluency)

§ Correct pronunciation

§ Coherence

§ Cohesion

§ Spelling

2 EVALUATION GRID

Oral

KNOWLEDGE	0-4
Absent	0
fragmentary	0.50
insufficient	1
Almost sufficient	1.50
Sufficient	2
Complete and deepened	3
Complete, deepened and expanded	4
GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX	0-2.50
Completely incorrect prevents comprehension	0
Incorrect but acceptable : doesn’t prevent comprehension	0.50
Almost correct but with some mistakes	1
Correct	1.50
Correct and accurate	2.50
LEXIS	0-1.50
Inappropriate	0
Almost appropriate with some mistakes	0.50
Appropriate but simple and repetitive	1
Appropriate , varied and specific	1.50
PRONUNCIATION	0-1
Incorrect , preventing understanding	0
correct	0.25
Correct and accurate	1
COMMUNICATION	0-2
Incapability to communicate	0
Insufficient communication	0.50
Simple and sometimes accurate, but not fluent communication	1
More complex, accurate and quite fluent communication.	1.50
Complex, Fluent and accurate communication	2

TOT ……………………../10

Written

KNOWLEDGE	0-4
Absent	0
Fragmentary	0.50
Insufficient	1
Almost sufficient	1.50
Sufficient	2
Complete	3
Complete and deepened	4
GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX	0-2.50
Completely incorrect: prevents comprehension	0
Incorrect but acceptable: doesn’t prevent comprehension	1
Almost correct but with some mistakes	1.50
Correct	2.50
LEXIS	0-1.50
Inappropriate	0
Almost appropriate with some mistakes	0.50
Appropriate but simple and repetitive	1
Appropriate,varied and specific	1.50
SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION	0-1
Incorrect , preventing understanding	0
Almost correct but with some mistakes	0.50
Correct	1
COHERENCE AND COHESION	0-2
Separate sentences without linkers	0
Presence of some logical sequence and use of main linkers	0.1
Perfect coherence and cohesion	2

TOT ……………………../10

2 CRITERIA FOR CREDIT GRANTING

§ 5 ½ = Narrow pass 8= pass with merit (8) D

§ 6= Pass

§ 7/8= Pass with merit

§ 9/10= Pass with distinction.

Ø LINKS TO OTHER SUBJECTS:

§ HISTORY= NORMANS IN EUROPE (FRANCE-ENGLAND-SOUTHERN ITALY)

§ HISTORY OF ART= GOTHIC IN EUROPE

(FRANCE-ENGLAND-SOUTHERN ITALY)

PHILOSOPHY= ST. AUGUSTINE.

ITALIAN = DAL PLACITO CASSINESE ALLA SCUOLA SICILIANA.

RELIGION: PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY.