Psychological Sciences and Techniques

The course first reviews the basic grammar, vocabulary and syntax of the English language, within the psychology field, to then go on to analyze more detailed and specialist language. The texts dealt with range from general psychology to more recent international studies. The course consists of 9 units, one per week, for a total of 9 weeks. First week Introduction to some basic technical words used in psychology and to their proper pronunciation. Analysis of short psychology texts taken from various sources (table of contents of a book, course syllabus, etc.); noun groups; nouns (singular and plural forms); adjectives; some prepositions; the alphabet; suffixes of nouns and adjectives; the possessive “s”; verbs in the present simple tense. Second week Analysis of encyclopedia texts dealing with senses and perception; personal pronouns; interrogative pronouns; possessive adjectives; determinants; relative pronouns; the imperative; “do” as an auxiliary verb; the simple future tense: passive forms of the simple present and simple future tense. Third week Analysis of a textbook text on forgetting; modal verbs; comparatives and superlatives; non-specific quantifiers; cardinal numbers. Fourth week Analysis of texts on Piaget (a short biography) and on Piaget’s developmental stages (taken from technical texts); the simple past tense; some adverbs ending “-ly”; the English gerund. Fifth week Analysis of texts on comparative psychology and on learning (taken from university textbooks); the present perfect tense (active and passive forms); comparatives (“as … as”) and some confusing idiomatic expressions; ordinal numbers. Sixth week Analysis of semi-technical texts on psychology matters, taken from newspapers; the present and past continuous/progressive tenses (both active and passive forms); hyphenation of compound expressions; some prefixes for nouns, adjectives and verbs; the past perfect tense; reflexive pronouns; the “zero” pronouns. Seventh week Analysis of semi-technical texts on anxiety and phobias, taken from British National Health Service pamphlets; compound verbs (phrasal and prepositional verbs); contracted verb forms; adverbs of frequency; time expressions; kinship expressions. Eighth week Analysis of the structure of a research paper, with particular reference to abstracts; some so-called “false friends”; the present perfect progressive/continuous tense; various uses of the word “it”; conditionals and probability. Ninth week Analysis of a literature review; direct and indirect speech; numbers in graphs and tables; describing graphic trends.

The course requires an initial basic/elementary knowledge of the English language corresponding to level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.

There are no compulsory textbooks for the course. The use of a good bilingual dictionary (e.g. Ragazzini, G., Dizionario Inglese-Italiano/Italiano-Inglese, Zanichelli, Bologna) is highly recommended, as well as a good English grammar book (e.g. R. Murphy, Essential Grammar in Use, Italian version, Cambridge University Press). These two texts are useful in the learning phase but cannot be used in the examination itself.

Not mandatory, but recommended

The final examination aims to assess the students’ knowledge of English grammar, vocabulary and syntax, and their knowledge of the pronunciation of basic psychological terms, as well as their ability to glean specific information from authentic texts of the psychology field and to translate short sentences from Italian into English regarding psychology themes. The examination consists of a written test, lasting one hour, in which the candidate is required to do some simple exercises relating to texts taken from authentic documents written in English and pertaining to the psychology field. The exercises have a closed answer structure and assess reading comprehension, the capacity to translate semi-technical sentences from Italian into English on the topic dealt with in one of the texts, and knowledge of the proper pronunciation of specific sector terminology. Successful candidates will receive a “pass” mark.

The course is completely online and contains video/audio lessons along with interactive exercises based on authentic English texts dealing with psychology.