| Number |
eace
|
| ECTS |
2.0 |
| Level |
C1 |
| Overview |
British comedy has profoundly influenced Anglo-Saxon popular culture and even left its stamp on the English language. For many people across the world, it is now a gateway to British culture and provides them with a way to improve their English while enjoying themselves ('gain without pain')
Course content:
- history and theory of comedy, comic genres and types of humour
- British TV comedy (with special reference to the sitcom)
- recent production and available material/sources
- selected screenplays in their cultural/social/economic/political context
- vocabulary and idiom from selected screenplays
- principles of pronunciation and prosody (pause, intonation, rhythm etc.)
- textual explication of selected screenplays with discussion of individual points and (where appropriate) informal performance of scenes in groups
- varieties of English, conversational routines
- DVD recordings of original performances
|
| Learning objectives |
Upon successful completion of the module, participants will:
- understand the cultural importance of British comedy and appreciate its potential for language learning also in the longer term
- have a broad overview of English TV comedy and detailed first-hand knowledge of several screenplays and the comedy series of which they are a part
- be able to read from a script paying attention to pronunciation and prosody (pause, intonation, rhythm) and to details of vocabulary and idiom
- be able to engage with a comic text/performance and analyze its comic effect, showing an awareness of comic genres and types of humour
- be familiar with the English/Anglo-Saxon cultural, social, economic and political context of selected screenplays
- understand and appreciate aspects of English often neglected in regular language teaching: language varieties (dialect, sociolect, slang etc.), conversational routines/social scripts (e.g. English weather-talk) etc.
|
| Previous knowledge |
- Entry based on placement test or successful completion of e4/ten2. Language level C1 or above.
|
| Exam format |
Continuous assessment grade |
