Universität Wien

340347 UE Text and written communication English (2020W)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 34 - Translationswissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

(UPDATE: 6 Nov 2020):
Due to new measures to contain the corona virus, all units planned as hybrid will take place online only.

Format: Hybrid teaching/learning: probably via Blackboard Collaborate (with BigBlueButton, Jitsi, or Zoom as possible alternative platforms).

Thursday 15.10. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 22.10. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 29.10. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 05.11. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 12.11. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 19.11. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 03.12. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 10.12. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 17.12. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 07.01. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 14.01. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 21.01. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG
Thursday 28.01. 11:00 - 12:30 Hörsaal 2 ZfT Gymnasiumstraße 50 1.OG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

With a COVID SAFE plan in place, we will have one-hour workshops in our brick-and-mortar classroom during fall foliage season and winter. In case of emergency the course will be moved online (virtual live-streamed classes; video/remote learning).
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In transcultural communication, our staple is texts—seen as multimodal, multisensory, multicodal events.

In this course, we will assess (read/analyse), compose (design) and edit (adapt) texts. We will work with pen and paper, keys and screen. We will identify and mimic patterns—and break with patterns. GENRE, REGISTER, TEXT TYPE, DOMAIN, SUBLANGUAGE, AND STYLE will come as our toy blocks and building bricks, and we will try to drop them in our ‘shape sorter cubes’. On first sight, a written text (printed matter—on paper or on screen) seems to be a rather stable (fixed?) entity when compared to the spoken word—but the ground is always moving …

As we often work in highly asymmetric communicative settings, we will not only determine the purpose of a given assignment but also reflect upon the concept of PURPOSE in general: Whose purpose, really? What is stated, what implicit? To whose benefit?

The course provides collaborative opportunities to jointly work on texts with your peers. We will discuss choices, compare solutions, and rehearse ideas and arguments before you create your own texts individually or as a team. Our class will also provide stimuli to think and move beyond templates (i.e., dominant, widely circulated formats), thus working on texts that are fit to print and not only printed to fit.

In our class, you will experience a cooperative and supportive environment.

Learning objectives:
(i) to help students to develop their assessment and composition repertoire (including design, visuals, hyperlinks, etc.);
(ii) to hone reading and design skills with a focus on the communication situation and text organization.

In-class readings, regular writing assignments w/ presentation in class, peer reviews. Individual, pair and group work.

So, let’s hit the ground running …

Assessment and permitted materials

Mid-term test (30%), end-of-term test (30%), assignments (20%), participation in class (20%).
Students are allowed to use a hard-copy (monolingual) dictionary in exams.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

An advanced level of both oral and written English is required.
Students must complete all assignments.
Attendance is mandatory—two absences allowed.
Grading scale: 90-100%: 1 // 80-89%: 2 // 70-79%: 3 // 60-69%: 4 // < 60%: 5 (fail).
Students have to attain a passing score (60% or more) on at least one of the exams to be able to pass the course.

Examination topics

Evaluation will be based on the text types and exercise formats used in class.

Reading list

AP—The Associated Press. 2020. The Associated Press Stylebook. 55th Edition. New York: Basic Books.
Bal, Mieke. 2006. A Mieke Bal Reader. Chicago: CUP.
Barthes, Roland/Howard, Richard. 1967. The Death of the Author. Aspen 5-6 (3). http://www.ubu.com/aspen/aspen5and6/threeEssays.html#barthes [22/01/2020]
Blommaert, Jan. 2004. Discourse. Cambridge: CUP.
Brownholtz, Bethany M. 2013. [Queneau's] Exercises in Style: 21st Century Remix. College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences—Theses and Dissertations 138. https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/138/ [22/01/2020].
Cooke, Michèle 2011. Lightning Flash! Language, longing and the facts of life. Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main.
Cooke, Michèle. 2012. Tell It Like It Is? Science, society and the ivory tower. Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main.
Derrida, Jacques/Brault, Pascale-Anne & Naas, Michael. 1987. The Deaths of Roland Barthes. Continental Philosophy 1, 259-96.
Derrida, Jacques/Bennington, Geoffrey. 2013a. "Two Words for Joyce". In: Mitchell, Andrew & Slote, Sam (eds.): Derrida and Joyce: Texts and Contexts. Albany [NY]: State University of New York Press, 22-40.
Derrida, Jacques/Raffoul, François. 2013b. "Ulysses Gramophone: Hear Say Yes in Joyce." In: Mitchell, Andrew & Slote, Sam (eds.): Derrida and Joyce: Texts and Contexts. Albany [NY]: State University of New York Press, 41-86. http://users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/deconstructionandnewmediatheory/derridajoyce.pdf [14/01/2020].
Fairclough, Norman. 2003. Analysing Discourse. Textual Analysis for social Research. Oxon: Routledge.
Gadamer, Hans G./Weinsheimer, J. & Marshall, D. G. 2004. Truth and Method. New York: Crossroad.
Genette, Gérard/Lewin, Jane E. 1997. Paratexts. Thresholds of Interpretation. Cambridge: CUP.
Kress, Gunter & Van Leeuwen, Theo. 2006. Reading Images. The grammar of visual design. London: Routledge.
Lehman, Christopher & Roberts, Kathleen. 2013. Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons for Analyzing Texts--and Life. London: Heinemann.
Miller, Brenda & Paola, Suzanne. 2012. Tell It Slant! Writing and shaping creative nonfiction. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Moretti, Franco. 2013. Distant Reading. London: Verso.
Olson, Randy. 2009. Don’t be such a scientist. Talking substance in an age of style. Washington: Island Press.
Petelin, Roslyn. 2020. How Writing Works: A field guide to effective writing. London: Routledge.
Susan Sontag. 1961. Against Interpretation and Other Essays. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
University of Chicago Press. 2017. The Chicago Manual of Style. The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors and Publishers. 17th Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
White, Hayden. 2010. The Fiction of Narrative. Baltimore: JHUP.
Wroe, Ann. 2018. The Economist Style Guide. London: Profile Books.
Zinsser, William. 2016. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Revised and Expanded. New York: Harper Perennial.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: We 16.12.2020 10:09