Spoken Academic English (FS)

Nummer

T016a

Leitung

Andrew Brown, andrew.brown@fhnw.ch

ECTS

3.0

Unterrichtssprache

Englisch

Lernziele/Kompetenzen

Students can:

understand talks given by native English speakers, even when speaking rapidly.
discuss a presentation critically and summarise key ideas
plan & deliver clear, effective, audience-focused presentations
express themselves fluently, spontaneously and accurately using a wide range of vocabulary
use language flexibly and effectively for academic and professional purposes.

Inhalt

Focus on speaking and oral comprehension. Students improve their ability to speak fluently and with clear, natural pronunciation, in both a formal and informal register; they learn elements of phonetics and the concept of English as a stressed-timed language. Oral comprehension is tested and developed with audio and video material from native speakers in academic and scientific contexts. Students are evaluated with listening comprehension exercises and a course-related scientific presentation in front of their peers. Functions

Expressing concepts precisely
Synthesizing and evaluating information
Hypothesising about causes, consequences etc.
Expressing shades of opinion and certainty
Criticising and reviewing
Developing an systematic argument
Emphasis
Defending a point of view persuasively
Responding to counterarguments
Discourse markers

Grammar structures

Revision of all tenses
Phrasal Verbs
Passive forms
Adverbs
Inversion

Vocabulary

Collocations
Approximating
Differentiated use of vocabulary
Formal and informal registers
Idiomatic expressions

Erforderliche Vorkenntnisse

Students must have:

successfully completed Basic English or
achieved a B2 level qualification in the previous two years or
achieved at least B2 level on the HLS English placement test

Students are expected to have a solid knowledge of:

all tenses (present/past/perfect/future)
Connecting words for cause and effect, contrast etc.
Passive forms
Reported speech
Relative clauses
Modals
Adjectives and adverbs
Vocabulary for summarising ideas and giving opinions

Students are expected to be able to:

understand the main ideas of complex texts from life-science fields
discuss relevant topics with peers fluently and spontaneously
justify their opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of ideas
follow talks given by native English speakers and grasp complex arguments in a subject related to their studies.

Bibliographie/Literatur

Module Preparation

Listening to factual/scientific radio programmes such as In Our Time on the BBC, e.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0435jyv#play
Watching scientific presentations e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdEGkJXE6QU&feature=youtu.be

Course Material

Lecture materials & homework given out in class and available on Moodle
Authentic audio and video material as basis for class activities
Additional materials and exercises as necessary

Lehr- und Lernmethoden

Interactive lectures with focus on listening & speaking activities.
Significant out of class preparation for group exercises.
Significant homework practice for listening exam.

Leistungsbewertung

according to the module index in the current StuPO

Anschlussmodule/-kurse

IELTS (International English Language Testing System)

Bemerkungen

3 Lektionen / Woche KW 8 bis 22 (14 Wochen im Frühjahr-Semester) 3 Lektionen / Woche KW 38 bis 51 (14 Wochen im Herbst- Semester) 1 x 4 Lektionen / Woche KW 8 bis 18 (10 Wochen im Frühjahr-Semester) 1 x 4 Lektionen / Woche KW 38 bis 47 (10 Wochen im Herbst-Semester) 3 Lektionen / Woche KW 8 bis 22 (14 Wochen im Frühjahr-Semester) 3 Lektionen / Woche KW 38 bis 51 (14 Wochen im Herbst- Semester)