Argomenc dl curs
The course focuses on reviewing and extending students’ ability to use English effectively and confidently in academic and professional contexts. The course thus approaches extending and consolidating students’ receptive (listening & reading), productive (speaking & writing) as well as interactive skills through selecting degree-relevant topics which may appropriately embed and target related English lexis, grammar and syntax at B2+ of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The course foci include:
- Needs analysis (written and oral tasks);
- Critical reading and listening;
- Summarising and paraphrasing;
- Academic English clinics: areas of lexical, grammatical, syntactical, and stylistic difficulty, with specific attention to the interface between the students’ other languages and English;
- Discipline-relevant English as an international language lexis and collocations;
- Academic writing: structure, clarity, cohesion and coherence, hedging, register;
- Optimising oral communication and presentation skills for effectiveness and confidence in academic and professional contexts.
Modalité de ensegnament
Each interactive lecture features a range of interrelated tasks which are part of the course formative assessment; they are carried out in individual and collaborative (small group) modalities. Interactive lecture tasks include:
- Needs analysis: written and oral tasks;
- Integrated skills activities stemming from reading/listening tasks, leading to written reports and individual/small group oral presentations informed by lecturer-, self- and peer-assessment;
- Whole class and small group discussions;
- Grammar, lexis and syntax clinics;
- Academic writing clinics;
- Developing effectiveness and confidence in oral presentations clinics;
- Written tasks targeting English vocabulary, collocations, grammar and syntax;
- Debates;
- Questionnaires and surveys;
- Project work stemming from students’ own academic/professional interests.
During the first and subsequent lectures, students will receive detailed information regarding the specific focus for each lecture, and the course formative and final assessment aims and modalities.
Active (collaborative) participation during attended lectures is strongly encouraged as it boosts student development and optimises final assessment success through personal engagement and through receiving constructive feedback from peers and lecturer.
Attendance, while not mandatory, is strongly encouraged, in congruence with individual student characteristics and English language needs. Actively participating in lectures boosts language development and therefore optimises final assessment outcomes through both personal engagement and through receiving formative feedback provided by the course lecturer, teaching assistant, and peers.
If unable to attend, students are urged to contact the lecturer at the beginning of the semester, so as to jointly decide on optimal learning pathways and appropriate support modalities on the basis of their specific requirements.
All students who wish to discuss their personal learning needs and characteristics so as to benefit from optimal assistance during lectures and examinations, and all students with questions or doubts, are welcome to contact the lecturer via email/Teams chat at all times throughout the 2026-2027 academic year.
Additional support is provided to students through:
- exercise hours (teaching assistant);
- Teams tutorials provided by the course lecturer to any and all students who require them.