1,721,192 research outputs found
Angeli neri: il mondo tenebroso di Cornell Woolrich nel cinema di François Truffaut
No full textIn his 1971 preface to the short-story collection Night webs, Truffaut talks of the clouds of ignorance surrounding American authors such as Woolrich, and it would appear that at the start of the 21st century nothing had changed, with the introduction to his novel Rendezvous in Black pointing out that: “Revered by mystery fans, students of film noir, and lovers of hard-boiled crime fiction and detective novels, Cornell Woolrich remains almost unknown to the general reading public” (Dooling 2004: vii). There are of course well-known advantages to a director deliberately picking a lesser known, or second-rate writer, to base a film on: it means that the viewer will not have the burning temptation to continually compare book and film and that critics will not merely “assess a picture on the basis of its literary quality rather than its cinematic quality” (Truffaut 1983: 69). While taking for granted that Truffaut is the sole author of his films, making use of literary works which are then freely refashioned so as to create films which bear his hallmark, the aim of this brief paper is to investigate some of the characteristics of Woolrich’s vast output in order to attempt to understand how much of this writer’s macabre pen can be traced in these two films by Truffaut. In doing so, I will refer not only to the novels The Bride Wore Black and Waltz into Darkness, but also to other works, in particular the novel Rendezvous in Black, a revisitation of the Bride wore black published in 1948.
Dooling, Richard. 2004 [1948]. Introduction. In Cornell Woolrich, Rendezvous in Black, New York: The Modern Library.
Truffaut, François . 1983. Hitchcock, Revised Edition, New York: Schuster
A flexible approach to the use of the European Language Portfolio in higher education contexts
Full text linkThis article illustrates a number of language learning tasks which can enable teachers to integrate the European Language Portfolio (ELP) into their courses; in doing so, it refers to the implementation project at the University of Padova, which began in the 2003–2004 academic year (Dalziel 2005). It starts by outlining the main pedagogical principles of the ELP, as these form the heart of the activities proposed. First of all, the reflection that work with the ELP requires of the learner is related to theories of learning strategies and in particular to metacognitive awareness. The article then stresses the importance of target language use for ELP-related tasks, arguing that this represents a driving force for the development of autonomy. After explaining why a flexible use of the ELP may be beneficial to learners and teachers alike, the following three sections of the article provide practical suggestions for ELP implementation focusing on: the use of technology; promoting learner interaction and collaboration; and how to exploit the pedagogical potential of the Dossier. The article concludes by stressing the need for a regular and integrated use of the ELP in the language classroom
English-Medium Instruction and approaches to teaching: some reflections on experience at the University of Padova
No full textAfter years of catering almost solely to the needs of students, in 2012, the University of Padova’s Language Centre was called upon to offer support for lecturers involved in or about to embark upon English-Medium Instruction (EMI). This article will describe the support now offered by the Centre on the basis of the findings of the LEAP (Learning English for Academic Purposes) project launched in 2013 and feedback received from lecturers and from the Centre’s language teaching staff. The Language Centre’s proposals will be placed within the wider context of internationalisation policies and the article will discuss the competences required to teach in a language which is not one’s own mother tongue at university level. After discussing EMI and presenting the LEAP project, it will reflect on whether the adoption of EMI may be a catalyst for change in approaches and attitudes to teaching, but argue for the importance of guaranteeing lecturers the freedom to choose their own individual style, without feeling that the use of English implies the imposition of classroom practices which are not relevant to their own teaching environment. It will conclude by offering some reflections on how language experts could collaborate with those in the field of education to ensure that the multilingual classroom is one in which high-quality university teaching can go hand in hand with inclusion and intercultural dialogue
Cut me no cuts: text adaptation in foreign-language theatre
No full textOn the suggestion of Mario Melchionda, the poster for the 2009 student production of The Duchess of Malfi displayed a section of the title page of Andreas Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica, in which we see the anatomist dissecting a corpse. Interestingly, the choice of image, although in no way dictated by issues of text adaptation, was the last in a series of steps in what has been described as “surgical art”. This article will briefly explore some of the challenges faced when adapting literary texts for performance by foreign-language student theatre groups, drawing on experiences at Padua University. In particular, it will consider three productions, that of Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part One, Francis Beaumont’s The Knight of the Burning Pestle and the above-mentioned work by John Webster. As well as outlining some examples of good practice developed over the years, it attempts to show that involving the students themselves in the process of adaptation is of great educational value and can lead to a richer linguistic and theatrical experience, one that is not limited to learning a few lines off heart, albeit in a foreign language
Around the Globe
No full textThis textbook for secondary-school students represents an attempt to put into practice recent theories of language learning such as task-based learning and content-based teaching. It provides information about the most significant and topical aspects of life in English-speaking countries, together with their history and geography. Learning a language not only through skills-based tasks but also by means of the exploration of cultural topics is a powerful tool in enhancing student involvement and motivation. Moreover, as confirmed by experts such as Byram, Gribkova and Starkey (2002), an international dimension to language learning enables students to develop their Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) as well as their language competence
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