Teacher(s)
Language
English
Prerequisites
To have passed LANGL1881 or reached the B1 level of the « Common European Framework of References for Languages »
The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
Main themes
The studied themes are connected with current environmental issues and general scientific topics such as water shortage, earth summits, renewable energy, deforestation, etc.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| At the end of the course, the students should have developed the following skills : |
|
| 1 | Reading comprehension
|
| 2 | Listening comprehension
|
Content
- Reading comprehension: portfolio of articles from the New Scientist, Scientific American, Nature, etc.
- Listening comprehension : set of authentic videos on scientific topics (climate change, sustainable development, labs, etc.)
- Phonetics and pronunciation exercises
- Speaking skills : short speaking activities
- scientific vocabulary
- grammar
Teaching methods
Class organised on a weekly basis (2h/week). Attendance is compulsory.
- The teaching methods used will encourage the active and interactive participation of the students. The first step, which is crucial, is the preparation of reading activities which will be dealt with more fully in the following lesson: students receive precise instructions on how to work either individually or in groups, on a series of problems which will enable them to discover, for instance, certain lexical or grammatical aspects of texts. Afterwards, during the lesson, the students are expected to comment on the different problems they encountered, and the conclusions they came to.
- Systematic development of reading strategies.
- Discourse cohesion, recurrent grammatical structures and additional lexical and grammatical difficulties.
- Listening comprehension : various language exercises to ensure a thorough understanding of the message.
- Short speaking activities and discussions in groups.
Evaluation methods
| Students who scored 14/20 or more in LANGL 1881 can take the exemption test organised in term 1. 12/20 exempts the students from both class attendance and the exam. If the exempted student wishes to improve their grade, s/he can take the exam at the end of the term but will have 2 extra questions (vocabulary + grammar). S/he won’t have access to classes but to the course notes and the LANGL1882 Moodle webpage. The student will be assessed on the skills trained throughout the term, namely on their reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills, as well as on scientific vocabulary, particular grammar points and speaking skills. Those skills will be trained in class, with the help of the course notes and on Moodle. The written exam (/10) usually takes place in week 13 (of the second quadrimester), and is a combination of MCQ and open questions (answers in English). There are 2 main parts: reading comprehension (60%) and listening comprehension (40%). The continuous assessment (/10) includes written and oral tests/activities during the course of the term and active participation in class. For the second session of the same academic year, the continuous assessment will be taken into account only if it is to the student’s advantage (same weighting as for the first session). If not, the exam will be out of 20, without continuous assessment. Beware, the continuous assessment cannot be postponed until another academic year. |
Online resources
Teaching materials
- LANGL1882 English for Bioengineers BIR12
- Moodle LANGL 1882
- Flowchase
Faculty or entity
