Advanced English language skills I

Teacher(s)

De Cock Sylvie; Dupont Maïté (compensates Meunier Fanny); Meunier Fanny;

Language

English

Prerequisites

Level B2 of the Common Europea Framework of Reference for Languages

Content

In order to achieve the objectives of the course, the participants will be faced to a wide range of audio-visual, written and oral material about both familiar and unfamiliar topics belonging to personal, social, cultural, professional and academic everyday life.

Teaching methods

Lectures (focus on vocabulary extension, accuracy and certain types of written genres; listening and reading comprehension) and exercise sessions (with a focus on pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary extension and grammatical control in spoken productions) . 
Students are required to do preparation work before coming to the lectures and the exercise sessions so they can take an active part in the various in-class activities. 
Self-study:
-Gairns, R. & Redman, S. (2020) Oxford Word Skills - Upper-intermediate - Advanced vocabulary. Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press
-Revision exercises on Moodle
-Pronunciation: words in context
The lectures and exercise sessions are given face to face (or online via Teams or using dual mode teaching if face to face teaching is not possible in case of a health crisis for example).

Evaluation methods

Certificate evaluation. Exam in June: five main parts:

• Oral production (with and without interaction; conversation and pronunciation):  20% of the final mark
• Written production: 20% of the final mark
• Listening comprehension: 20% of the final mark
• Leading comprehension: 20% of the final mark
• Focus on forms (vocabulary, error detection and correction, grammar exercises): 20% of the final mark
• The final mark for the course is the weighted mean of the five parts. As we are aiming to train language specialists, the focus on language accuracy is of particular importance (details on the specific weight of language accuracy in each part is available in a document on the LGERM1327 Moodle page). For the same reason, the use of generative artificial intelligence is not allowed for any parts of the evaluation.
• /!\ Successful completion of the five main parts of the exam (oral production, written production, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, focus on forms/accuracy) is essential to demonstrate the skills and knowledge defined in the learning outcomes for the teaching unit. Students who get a grade lower than 8/20 for one of these five parts will therefore fail this course overall (7/20 or less if the mean is lower).

Continuous assessment:

• active participation in the conversation and pronunciation classes and in videos/podcasts or oral presentations  
• protfolio of written assignments: four individual assignments and one group assignment will be set throughout the year (2 written assignments in term 1 and 3 written assignments in term 2). 
• exemption vocabulary test during the January session (exemption: 10/20): one third of the final mark for the 'focus on forms' part of the written exam in June.

Students who have to resit the June exam (September session) need to redo the exam parts for which they did not get 10/20 in June or the parts for which they were absent (oral production, written production, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, focus on forms). 
Words of caution

• At the end of the academic year, some parts of the exam will take place before the offical exam session. No 'catch-up' session will be organized for these parts.  
• Students who do not hand in the written assignments of the portfolio on time or who do not participate in the videos/podcasts or oral presentations will be penalised: one mark per missing assignment will be deducted from the final grade for the written production part of the course and/or three marks will be deducted from the final grade for the oral production part (no video/podcast or presentation).
• An absence for any part of the exam, be it justified or not, will result in an overall absence grade (A) for the whole exam.

Online resources

Moodle

Bibliography

• Course notes and teaching material on Moodle. Please bring them to class (paper or electronic version).
• Exercices et documents de travail sur Moodle (plateforme e-learning)
• Gairns, R. & Redman, S. (2008) Oxford Word Skills (Advanced).  Oxford: Oxford University Press. (with CD-ROM).

Teaching materials

• Course notes and teaching material on Moodle
• Gairns, R. & Redman, S. (2020) Oxford Word Skills - Upper-intermediate - Advanced vocabulary. Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Faculty or entity

> ELAL