International English For Scientific Studies 2023/2024

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

The course aims at

• providing 1st year international students with the language skills, critical thinking and learning strategies required to attend a University degree held in English
• raising students' awareness on English as a Global Language and English as a Lingua Franca
• consolidating students’ advanced language level
• developing students' academic writing skills

READING LIST:

All materials will be provided by teacher and uploaded in the virtual classroom in MS Teams. Classroom code: w23fiwf

PROGRAMME:

The course is organized into four modules and two exam practice sessions.

• MODULE 1: Global English and English as a Lingua Franca
• MODULE 2: Graph description
• MODULE 3: Features of academic writing
• MODULE 4: Abstract and summary writing for scientific purposes
• EXAM PRACTICE 1: graph description
• EXAM PRACTICE 2: summary writing

LESSONS’ OVERVIEW:

• Module 1:  lessons on 28/09/2023, 05/10/2023 and 12/10/2023
• Module 2: lessons on 18/10/2023, 26/10/2023 and 02/11/2023
• Module 3: lessons on 09/11/2023, 16/11/2023 and 23/11/2023
• Module 4: lessons on 30/11/2023, 07/12/2023, 14/12/2023 and 21/12/2023
• Exam Practice 1 on 11/01/2024
• Exam Practice 2 on 18/01/2024

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:

Students are expected to have a B2+ level of English. Student who feel that their level does not meet this requirement, please contact the teacher as soon as possible.

TEACHING METHODOLOGY:

The course will follow the student-centred method and it will be highly practical and interactive. Each lesson will be introduced via a guided discovery activity and then there will be students' discussions and pair/group work. The course will also make use of the flipped classroom method to optimize classroom time.

EXAM FORMAT:

The final exam is a written exam structured as follows:

• EXERCISE 1: Graph description 

Candidates will be given a graph and will be asked to summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Points available for exercise 1: 15 

• EXERCISE 2: Summary writing

Candidates will be given a scientific article and will be asked to write a summary.

Points available for exercise 2: 15 

TIME ALLOWED for exercise 1 and exercise 2: 60 minutes

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

The final mark will be either Pass or Fail. There is no final mark in numbers. To pass the exam candidates must achieve a minimum of 9 points in each exercise.

A mock-exam will be provided during the course.

EXAM REGULATIONS:

There are three exam sessions with two exam dates per session:

1. Winter session: from 22/01/2024 to 03/03/2024
2. Summer session: from 18/06/2024 to 28/07/2024
3. Autumn session: from 27/08/2024 to 23/09/2024

Candidates can sit the exam on any exam date of their choice. To attend the exam candidates must register on Delphi within the registration window. Candidates without a valid registration in Delphi will not be allowed to take the exam.