GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

Course objectives

"Uses and abuses of German in public communication" is the title of this course, the objectives of which have a twofold character: (i) The training objective of the monographic course aims - through the reading and discussion of texts of different types (in terms of medium, style and size) - at the acquisition of critical, linguistic and metalinguistic tools, suitable for recognising and evaluating the persuasive content of ideologically functionalised expressions. (ii) The objective of the lecture course (held by the linguistic expert and instructor "Uses and abuses of German in public communication" is the title of this course, the objectives of which have a twofold character: (i) The training objective of the monographic course aims - through the reading and discussion of texts of different types (in terms of medium, style and size) - at the acquisition of critical, linguistic and metalinguistic tools, suitable for recognising and evaluating the persuasive content of ideologically functionalised expressions. (ii) The objective of the lecture course (held by the linguistic expert and instructor Dott.ssa Violet Schlossarek is to perfect the language skills acquired previously, in order to reach CEFR level B2. It should be noted that the lectures of the lectureship begin in the first semester. "Uses and abuses of German in public communication" is the title of this course, the objectives of which have a twofold character: (i) The training objective of the monographic course aims - through the reading and discussion of texts of different types (in terms of medium, style and size) - at the acquisition of critical, linguistic and metalinguistic tools, suitable for recognising and evaluating the persuasive content of ideologically functionalised expressions. (ii) The objective of the lecture course (held by the linguistic expert and instructor Dott.ssa Antje Ingeborg Wolf is to perfect the language skills acquired previously, in order to reach CEFR level B2. It should be noted that the lectures of the lectureship begin in the first semester.

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ELENA BELLAVIA Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
(i) Monographic course: The course involves the development of a theoretical basis, in which the necessary skills for reading and interpreting German texts are acquired. This basis concerns in particular the in-depth study of "translational" uses of language, such as the persuasive use of compounds and metaphors in social and political conceptualisation. Of particular relevance will be the study of the ideological vocabulary used during the Nazi regime. The acquired theoretical-linguistic apparatus will constitute the heuristic tool for the analysis of language and its use in the field of public and political communication. (ii) For the detailed programme of language exercises (lectures), see the CEL teacher page (Dr. Antje Ingeborg Wolf).
Prerequisites
Required is the knowledge of communication functions and linguistic structures (phonetic, morphological, semantic and syntactic) at the A2 level of CEFR (European Framework of Reference for Languages).
Books
(i) Monographic course: study materials will be provided in the form of handouts by the course lecturer during the course. Some of the main bibliographical references (only short sections of which will be studied) are listed below: 1) Victor KLEMPERER (2010[1946]), LTI. Notizbuch eines Philologen. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam jun. 2) Victor KLEMPERER (2011[1998]), LTI. La lingua del Terzo Reich. Taccuino di un filologo. Firenze: Giuntina. 3) Aldo ENZI (2012), Il lessico della violenza nella Germania nazista. Milano: PGRECO edizioni. 4) Waltraud SENNEBOGEN (2008). "Die Gleichschaltung der Wörter. Sprache im Nationalsozialismus". In: Dietmar Süß/Winfried Süß (Hg.), Das "Dritte Reich" - Eine Einführung (164-183). München: Pantheon Verlag. 5) HEUER, C./H.-J. PENDEL /G. SCHNEIDER (Hg.) (2013), Der Nationalsozialismus. Aufstieg und Gleichschaltung. Berlin: Cornelsen. 6) Sylke WUNDERLICH (2021), Propaganda des Terrors. Plakate des NS-Staates zwischen 1933 und 1945. Berlin: Berlin Story Verlag. (ii) Lettorato (cfr. anche pagina docente CEL - Dott.ssa Antje Ingeborg Wolf): 1) Gaidosch, U./C. Müller (2018 o ed. successive), Zur Orientierung. Basiswissen Deutschland. Hueber Verlag.
Frequency
Ongoing assignments are planned for attending students, which will count towards the monographic course. Attendance is strongly recommended.
Exam mode
The final exam consists of: (i) written test (2 hours) to evaluate the acquisition of the linguistic aspects studied during the lectorship course; (ii) oral test - this part can be done after having passed (i). This test is divided into two parts: (a) an interview on the topics covered during the monographic course; (b) an interview in German aimed at testing the student's oral comprehension and production skills.
Lesson mode
The course is divided into two parallel modules: the monographic course and the language exercises. In both cases, different approaches are envisaged: frontal lesson, work in pairs, mini-groups, plenum. The languages used in both modules are German for didactic interaction and exercises; Italian for theoretical illustrations.
  • Lesson code10606613
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseAdministration, Innovation and Environmental Sustainability
  • CurriculumInnovazione della Pubblica Amministrazione (percorso valido per il conseguimento del doppio titolo italo-francese)
  • Year1st year
  • Semester2nd semester
  • SSDL-LIN/14
  • CFU9