Duration
24h Pr, 48h E-Lrng
Number of credits
Lecturer
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The course is taught in English.
Level 3 is a specialty English course focusing on speaking skills. We will use complex authentic source documents.
The studied topics are directly linked to the students' field of study. Here are some examples: agricultural ethics; earth summits; renewable energies; geoengineering; cities; etc.
The second development trajectory 'Présenter en anglais un sujet complexe dans des termes adaptés au public visé' of the professional situation 4.3.4 ('Utiliser diverses méthodes de communication avec la communauté des bioingénieurs et la société au sens large') will be developed and assessed in class.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
At the end of the course, the student will have reached Level B2+ of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as far as reading, listening and oral summarizing skills are concerned.
Concretely, the student should be able to understand extended discourse on abstract and complex topics, included technical discussions, related to the field of bioengineering and which are propositionally and linguistically complex.
For the oral summarizing skills, the student can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously. He/she can use language for academic and professional purposes and present clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects. Students are expected to synthetize and present information in the form of an oral summary and formulate ideas and opinions related to the topic.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
The student has to have a B2 level (cf. CEFR) before starting the course.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Each topic includes many different activities, such as reading and listening comprehensions, oral summaries of complex study-related sources, oral interaction, and specialty vocabulary exercises. Students are also required to revise specific grammar points.
Students are required to take part in all the speaking activities of the course, including the coaching sessions with student assistants (compulsory).
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
The course will include face-to-face teaching, self-learning activities on ecampus, as well as coaching sessions with student assistants.
Recommended or required readings
We strongly recommend that Level 3 students get the following reference book:
Murphy, R. (2012). English Grammar in Use (fourth edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Assessment methods and criteria
Continuous assessment (15%)
- Tests (grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening) on E-Campus + pronunciation tests (10%)
- Presentations done throughout the year (5%)
Certififying evaluation
In January (15%), partial exam assessing:
- reading skills (5%)
- listening skills (5%)
- oral exam (5%)
In June, the final grade will be caculated as follows:
- partial examination from January (15%)
- written partial examination (only grammar + vocab of T1 + T2) (10%)
- continuous assessment (15%)
- oral exam in June (60%)
In September, the Level 3 grade will be calculated as follows:
- Written exam (course content from T1 + T2) (40%) (reading 10% - listening 10% - vocabulary 10% - grammar 10%)
- Oral exam (60%)
Exemptions, even partial, will not be granted.
Students signing one part of the exam will be given a final grade of 0/20.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
A precise description on the course and evaluation methods will be given during session 1.
Students with 'crédits résiduels' will be invited to a compulsory meeting at the beginning of the year.
Contacts
Fiona Thewissen
English Teachers' Office
081/62 24 46
fthewissen@ulg.ac.be(ingrid.bertrand@ucl.ac.be)