2022/2023
English for General Academic Purposes. Upper-Intermediate Course - 2
Type:
Optional course
Delivered by:
School of Foreign Languages
When:
3, 4 module
Open to:
students of one campus
Instructors:
Кузина Екатерина Андреевна,
Бобок Ирина Викторовна,
Антонова Евгения Борисовна,
Шапиро Элина Диаматовна,
Бобок Ирина Викторовна,
Кузина Екатерина Андреевна,
Olga Kamenskaya,
Viktor Makarenko,
Irina Pelevina,
Tatiana Pitra,
Maria Pronina,
Ekaterina Vladimirovna Razbaeva,
Ani Stepanyan,
Elena Leonidovna Zanina,
Медведева Екатерина Павловна,
Леонова Екатерина Юрьевна,
Медведева Екатерина Павловна,
Леонова Екатерина Юрьевна
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
5
Contact hours:
80
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The “English for General Academic Purposes. Upper-Intermediate–2” course is designed for first-year HSE undergraduates to build their understanding and use of specialized academic discourse for tertiary education, research, and intercultural communication at the upper-intermediate level. In compliance with the “Regulations for Interim and Ongoing Assessments of Students at National Research University Higher School of Economics” and the “Conceptual Framework for Developing Students’ Foreign Language Competencies in Bachelor’s, Specialist’s, and Master’s Degree Programmes at National Research University Higher School of Economics,” the course aims to develop English-language communicative, integrated, critical, and creative thinking competences, as well as digital literacy. Specifically, the course is aimed at developing students’ core receptive skills (reading and listening) and productive skills (writing and speaking) in the academic domain at the upper-intermediate level. This enables students to extract and process key information, integrate multiple source materials, and produce coherent and cohesive analytical oral texts (monologues, group discussions, and presentations) and written texts (opinion essays and advantages-and-disadvantages essays). Essentially, the course includes a range of texts and tasks used in mainstream academic environments and practices. To successfully master the course materials, students complete independent work on the SMART LMS online platform. There are no blocking controls. The final grade consists of the following elements: 0.1 for attendance, 0.1 for the English Grammar and Vocabulary Test, 0.1 for the home assignment, 0.2 for the written assessment, 0.2 for the oral assessment, and 0.3 for the final assessment. The use of artificial intelligence in the preparation of academic papers is prohibited.
Learning Objectives
- The course focuses on enhancing essential analytical and language skills to deal with basic reading, listening, writing, and speaking assignments in English for academic purposes at the Upper-Intermediate level, which would meet students’ immediate academic needs. While catering to different learning styles, the course fosters autonomous learning, team building and digital literacy competences. To achieve these goals, students are expected to further enhance their knowledge of key concepts and conventions pertaining to the academic English as well as develop academic competences; gain awareness of different writing genres as well as assignment types pertaining to their academic and professional scope of activity (comparison and contrast; describing processes; cause and effect; narration; description); examine and apply different strategies to reading, listening, writing and speaking assignments depending on the target audience/ interlocutor; purpose; topic and organization requirements; develop skills of locating, organizing, analyzing, evaluating and integrating the necessary sources and ideas to fulfill their academic and professional tasks; increase awareness of and apply appropriate reading, writing, listening, speaking strategies, and academic language command to extract and analyze necessary information and produce relevant oral and written responses, depending on the target audience/ interlocutor, purpose, topic and organization requirements; gain awareness of key debates pertaining to the topics of “Money and commerce”, Zoology”, “History”, “Chemical engineering” at the Upper-Intermediate level; reflect and foster their individual style of learning as well as soft skills and digital literacy while contributing to collaborative problem-solving activities as a team member.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- To read authentic academic texts on different disciplines
- To develop linguistic competence
- To produce informative presentations
Assessment Elements
- FINAL ASSESSMENTThe interim exam lasts 70 minutes. The exam is written paper-and-pen test and is aimed at checking whether the student can demonstrate the acquisition of the learning objectives set. The exam consists of two parts, i.e. Reading and Writing that weigh 40% and 60% respectively in the total mark for the exam. The actual scores for Reading are turned into percentages which are tuned into a final mark out of 10 points. Grading scale: 10 =100 - 96%, 9=95 - 91%, 8=90 - 86%, 7 = 85 - 78%, 6 =77 - 71%, 5= 70 - 61%, 4 = 60 - 51%, 3 = 50 - 36%, 2 = 35 - 21%, 1 = 20 - 1 %, 0 = 0%. Writing is assessed against criteria. Period of FA: 10 days prior to the fourth module’s session. The release of examination papers: during the session. Time limit: 70 minutes online/offline. 1. Reading (R) Max. 10 points Students have no more than 20 minutes to complete the Reading part. Read the text. Possible reading tasks: • Correct option for each task (multiple choice). • Fill in the gaps (gap-filling). • Decide whether the statement is True, False or Not Given. 2. Writing (W) Write an essay on one of the topics given. Max. 10 points. Students should write a 250-word essay. Students have 50 minutes to complete the Writing part. Grading formula: R* 0.4 + W*0.6 = 10.
- Written AssessmentWritten assessment includes: minimum 1 reading test, minimum 1 listening test, minimum 2 vocabulary and grammar tests, minimum 2 written works (paragraph + essay). Written assessment elements can be taken during the course of 10 days after they took place if a student has a medical certificate. The 10-day period starts from the last day of the medical leave.
- Oral Assessment
- Independent Work AssessmentIndependent work includes activities that students do at home, in the classroom and online. The elements of independent work cannot be retaken.
Interim Assessment
- 2022/2023 4th module0.2 * Oral Assessment + 0.3 * FINAL ASSESSMENT + 0.25 * Independent Work Assessment + 0.25 * Written Assessment
Bibliography
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
- Downing, A. (2015). English Grammar : A University Course (Vol. Third edition). London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=929043