2020/2021

English for General Communication Purposes. Intermediate Course - 2

Type: Optional course

Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages

When: 3, 4 module

Instructors: Мартюшова Наталья Олеговна, Olga Afonina, Anna Doshlygina, Yulia Viktorovna Kostina, Lidia Shvets, Marina Sildimirova, Olga B. Tambovtseva

Language: English

ECTS credits: 5

Contact hours: 88

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The discipline refers to the variable educational tracks offered to students of the curricula for bachelor's and master's degree at choice while mastering the optional course of English in accordance with the Concept of developing English-speaking communicative competence of students of Higher School of Economics — National Research University https://www.hse.ru/docs/381549301.html English for General Communication Purposes: Intermediate Level is a basic course on developing English skills for general communication purposes. Throughout the course, you will have multiple opportunities to work on the four major skills, such as listening, reading, writing and speaking, through in-person interaction as well as online work. The course will boost your English speaking skills by giving you a chance to take part in numerous discussions, presentations, and other forms of spoken interaction, and by expanding your vocabulary and grammar range. You will learn how to write a variety of texts including CVs, emails, summaries, and essays. You will also hone your reading and listening skills by reading extensively both authentic and adapted texts and listening to a variety of audiovisual resources that may include, but not limited to, podcasts, TEDtalks, and everyday conversations. By the end of the course you will gain the skills and confidence to communicate effectively in English at B1 level (HSE Scale 40-49).

Learning Objectives

• This course will help students improve their command of English for interpersonal and intercultural communication and develop their listening, reading, writing and speaking skills consistent with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), B1 level (HSE Scale 40-49). Students will practice different listening and reading strategies and will be equipped with the tools to properly compose written and oral texts common to communication for general purposes.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• To develop skills of using basic listening techniques (predicting, understanding main ideas and details)
• To develop skills of using basic reading techniques skimming and scanning (predicting, understanding main ideas, understanding details)
• To develop understanding of specialised complex longer texts/articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems (CEFR)
• To develop understanding of lectures and learning context
• To develop writing skills: summary; essay (opinion, discussion); email (business correspondence); CV
• To form skills of note-taking
• To form understanding of text structure
• To improve understanding of dialogues and polylogues on both familiar and unfamiliar topics
• To participate in dialogues on general topics (active listening, questioning, responding to questions, emphasizing)
• To produce monologues (informative/descriptive/reasoning)
• To produce presentations (informative/descriptive/argumentative/persuasive speech)

Course Contents

• Education
  Education and learning. Different teaching methods. Higher Education. Distance learning. The role of a teacher and a learner. Single-sex vs. mixed-sex schools. The main tendencies and problems of modern education. Grammar: Defining and non-defining relative clauses Vocabulary: Education and studying.
• Design
  What is design? Unusual design. History of design. Innovations. Grammar: Modals of necessity and obligation, modals of present deduction. Vocabulary: Word building, design adjectives, materials, shapes and textures, abstract nouns.
• Business
  How to set up your own company. Ethical dilemmas in business. Business icons. Grammar: Past Continuous and Past Perfect Simple. Vocabulary: Business terms and roles, collocations.
• Engineering
  Types of engineering. Engineering achievements. Women in engineering. Global threats. Superstructures. Grammar: The Passive, Articles. Vocabulary: Collocations, hazards and global threats.
• Trends
  Trends in everyday life. Fashion. Trends in art and music. Grammar: Expressions of quantity, verb patterns. Vocabulary: Phrasal verbs, fashion.
• Arts and media
  What is art? Works of art. Celebrities. Favourite books, films, and computer games. Types of mass media. Work of a journalist. Grammar: Reported speech, reported questions. Vocabulary: Describing books and films, media genres, words connected with the art.
• Crime
  Types of crime. Criminal masterminds. Causes of crime. Famous crimes. Grammar: Third conditional, modals of past deduction. Vocabulary: Crime, collocations.

Assessment Elements

• Written assessment
  Written assessment includes: • 1 reading test, • 1 listening test, • 3-7 vocabulary and grammar tests • 2 written works (a paragraph and an essay).
• Oral assessment
  Oral assessment includes a monologue on a given topic, a discussion and a presentation. The elements of oral assessment cannot be retaken
• Independent work assessment
  Independent work includes activities that students do at home, activities that students do in the classroom and online work. The elements of independent work cannot be retaken.
• Final assessment
  The final test is held in class within 10 days before the exam period. The final test includes one reading test, one listening test and one written work (an essay). The test tasks can be of different types.

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (4 module)
  0.3 * Final assessment + 0.25 * Independent work assessment + 0.2 * Oral assessment + 0.25 * Written assessment

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• New language leader: intermediate : coursebook, Cotton, D., 2015

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Berry, R. (2018). English Grammar : A Resource Book for Students (Vol. 2nd edition). [Place of publication not identified]: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1753147
• Качалова, К.Н. Практическая грамматика английского языка с упражнениями и ключами : учебник / К. Н. Качалова, Е. Е. Израилевич. — Санкт-Петербург : КАРО, 2018. - 608 с. - ISBN 978-5-9925-0716-4. - Режим доступа: https://new.znanium.com/catalog/product/1047576