Specialized rehabilitation

Module GLOTTOLOGIA E LINGUISTICA

The course aims to provide students:

1) the theoretical basis for a "scientific study" of languages and language, through reflection on the characteristics and properties of all historical-natural languages, linguistic variation and the main sociolinguistic themes;

2) reflection tools for the analysis of the Italian of medicine (from morphological, syntactic, textual and pragmatic points of view) and indications of the main characteristics of the textual types of medical communication (scientific article, university lecture, report, medical record, etc.), with reference to the theme of simplification of medical communication;

3) a different point of view from which to observe language, i.e. the pragmatic perspective, with a special look at its main areas of research (e.g., Austin and Searle's speech acts classifications, Grice's model, politeness), and some textuality requirements, through reflection on the speaker's textual competence.

Lectures and active learning, with the support of multimedia presentations.

Workshop about textual competence. 

• Some basic concepts: natural and human language; natural-historical languages. The sociolinguistic perspective, varieties of Italian: specialistic languages and medical language.
• The Italian of medicine: morphological, syntactic and textual peculiarities. 
• From meaning to use: pragmatics. Speech acts, Grice's model, implicatures and presuppositions. Textual linguistics.  Courtesy, deixis, mitigation.
• Toward professional writing: textual types of specialized medical communication (scientific article, medical record, report, etc.).

1. Gloria Gagliardi, Linguistica per le professioni sanitarie, Pàtron editore, 2019: cap. I. Il linguaggio e le lingue storico-naturali (pp. 17-56).
   
2. Claudia Caffi, Pragmatica. Sei lezioni, Carocci, 2017 (pp. 162).
   
3. R. Piro, L'italiano della medicina, Carocci, 2022 (pp. 126). 

Possible in-course tests or laboratory exercises on textual analysis will be agreed upon and, if necessary, the students' writing of a textual analysis paper (as agreed upon in class).