English Language

Bachelor 2019/2020

Type: Compulsory course (HSE and University of London Double Degree Programme in Data Science and Business Analytics)

Area of studies: Applied Mathematics and Information Science

Delivered by: Big Data and Information Retrieval School

Where: Faculty of Computer Science

When: 1 year, 1-4 module

Mode of studies: offline

Instructors: Коэн Мария Михайловна, Marina Sildimirova

Language: English

ECTS credits: 12

Contact hours: 278

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course is compulsory and aimed at helping students majoring in Data Science and Business Analytics develop English language competence. That involves improving students’ reading, listening, writing, and speaking skills, expanding their grammar and vocabulary range as well as preparing them for further studies and research on the University of London double degree programme. Students’ progress through the course is monitored by means of tests, written assignments, interim exam in module 2, IELTS mock exam in module 3 and is evaluated by the IELTS Academic test in module 4. Pre-requisites: the Unified State Exam (EGE) score is 70 points and higher or the International Students’ Entrance Exam score is 70 points and higher.

Learning Objectives

to hone students’ reading, listening, writing, and speaking skills in English.
to enrich students’ vocabulary.
to advance students’ knowledge of English grammar and their ability to use it.
to improve students’ pronunciation.
to enhance students’ communication skills.
to advance students’ critical and independent thinking skills.
to familiarize students with the IELTS exam format.
to equip students with effective IELTS exam strategies.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Students, following Cambridge Academic English Advanced, will attain the level of Proficient User (C1) according to the CEFR that corresponds to IELTS Band 7 (Good User).
Students, following Cambridge Academic English UpperIntermediate, will attain the level of Independent User (B2) according to the CEFR (The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) that corresponds to IELTS Band 6 (Competent User).
Students will be able to understand longer factual texts and specialised articles and recognise implicit meanings, express themselves fluently, use English effectively in social and academic contexts, produce a well-structured essay or a report, formulate their ideas with precision and use appropriate style.
Students will know IELTS exam strategies and how to use them.
IELTS Academic Reading, IELTS Academic Writing, IELTS Listening, IELTS Speaking.

Course Contents

IT in education and business.
Grammar and vocabulary: noun/verb + preposition, subject-verb agreement, tense choice in reporting verbs, prefixes. Skills: preparing to read a research article, checking predictions, producing slides from texts, reading in detail, presenting, giving feedback in discussions, giving a mini-presentation.
Culture, science and society.
Grammar and vocabulary: formal and informal verbs, language for giving opinions, complex noun phrases, classifying nouns, compound adjectives, collocations. Skills: identifying the main points, understanding meaning in context, reading in detail, making a presentation, writing an introduction.
Ways of studying in higher education.
Grammar and vocabulary: movement up and down, dependent prepositions, complex noun phrases, compound nouns, as-clauses. Skills: reading in detail, presenting and explaining results in charts, paraphrasing, understanding introductions, detailed points, recognising quotes, recognising examples that support the main point.
Marketing and consumers.
Grammar and vocabulary: complex noun phrases, word families, language for conclusions and recommendations, irregular plural nouns, nouns + passive verb combinations, it-clauses, problem words. Skills: reading in detail, organising information in sentences.
Criminology.
Grammar and vocabulary: problem words, classifying phrases, problem and solution phrases, word order in as-clauses, vocabulary for the context. Skills: making predictions, dealing with questions in presentations, reading in detail, organising information in texts, gist and detailed listening, recognising lecture styles, understanding lecture structure.
Families and relationships.
Grammar and vocabulary: word families, evaluative language, hedges, problem words, language for comparing results. Skills: understanding the writer’s opinion, inferring, reading in detail, understanding figures.
Communicating science.
Grammar and vocabulary: punctuation, conditional expressions, signposting language. Skills: following an argument, editing your work, understanding slides, predicting content, gist and detailed listening.
IELTS intensive preparation.
Cambridge IELTS tests, practising exam skills intensively.

Assessment Elements

1st semester Attendance and Classwork
2nd semester Attendance and Classwork
1st semester Homework
2nd semester Homework
2nd Module Exam
The exam in December comprises two parts: the written part, 80 minutes long, with listening, reading, writing and speaking, which is a 10-minute interview
IELTS Mock Exam
IELTS Mock Exam at the end of Module 3 is held on two days, has a written part of 160 minutes and a 14-minute long interview and serves the purpose of simulating the real IELTS exam conditions.
1st semester Tests
2nd semester Tests
Экзамен не проводится. Оценка выставляется по накопительной, с учетом результатов экзамена IELTS.

Interim Assessment

Interim assessment (2 module)
0.24 * 1st semester Attendance and Classwork + 0.18 * 1st semester Homework + 0.18 * 1st semester Tests + 0.4 * 2nd Module Exam
Interim assessment (4 module)
0.24 * 2nd semester Attendance and Classwork + 0.18 * 2nd semester Homework + 0.18 * 2nd semester Tests + 0.4 * IELTS Mock Exam

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Cambridge academic English: advanced: student's book : an integrated skills course for EAP, Hewings, M., 2012

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Cambridge vocabulary for IELTS advanced with answers : self-study vocabulary practice, Cullen, P., 2012
Writing for IELTS with answer key : 6.0-7.5, Dimond-Bayir, S., 2014
Writing for IELTS, Williams, A., 2011

Course Syllabus