2023/2024
English for General Academic Purposes. Proficiency Course – 1
Type:
Optional course
Delivered by:
School of Foreign Languages
When:
1, 2 module
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
48
Course Syllabus
Abstract
«English for General Academic Purposes. Proficiency Course – 1» for the 1st year students is designed to develop foreign-language communicative and integrated and critical thinking skills that are based on "Regulations for Interim and Ongoing Assessments of Students at National Research University Higher School of Economics" and "Concept of Development of English- language Communicative Competence of HSE Students".
This course is suitable for university students with different academic needs and aims as the academic
skills, tasks, and language of this course are common to most disciplines and are relevant to the needs of most students. The course is focused on mastering the core tasks relevant to all tertiary level students, i.e. working out the main points of academic texts, lectures as well as giving talks and participating in debates on the most actual topics: sociology, economics, biology, humanities and environmental engineering.
The students should get not less then 70 points as a result of the Entrance Test to join the course.
The course has no blocking assessment.
Learning Objectives
- - to improve student’s ability to read and understand journal articles, texts, lectures from different perspectives; - to increase student’s comprehension of spoken English; - to strengthen student’s speaking and writing skills in a range of different disciplines; - to systematically and progressively develop students’ academic skills, language, and critical thinking; - to provide material for the students to revise, consolidate and extend their command of English grammar and vocabulary; - to develop the students’ reading skills to enable them to skim the text for the main idea, to scan the text for specific information, to interpret the text for inferences, attitudes and styles, to deduce meanings from the context; - to develop the students’ listening skills to enable them to understand and apply specific information from the input; - to develop the students’ general capacity to a level that enables them to use English in their professional and academic environment, granted that they are provided with the specific notions and vocabulary in the course of their studies.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- to express oneself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions;
- to interact with another speaker in a dialogue flawlessly and efficiently;
- to know and use advanced vocabulary from the topics of sociology, economics, biology, humanities and environmental engineering;
- to link multiple sources to produce a cohesive review;
- to produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices;
- to use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
- to interact with another speaker in a dialogue flawlessly and efficiently;
Assessment Elements
- Written Assessment (WA)Includes Summaries and Reviews
- Oral Assessment (OA)Speaking includes Dialogues, Discussions, Presentations
- Independent Work Assessment (IWA)Includes Quizzes & Tests
- Final Assessment (FA)The exam is a written paper-and-pen test. The exam consists of two parts, i.e. Listening (L) and Writing (W) that weigh 50% and 50% respectively in the total mark for the exam. The actual scores for Listening 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 the criteria. Period of FA: 10 days prior to the 2nd module’s session. The release of examination papers: during the session. Time limit: 70 minutes offline. The structure of the exam: 1. Listening (L) Listen to the text ONCE and complete the tasks. Max. 10 points. Students have no more than 20 minutes to complete the Listening (L) part. 2. Writing (W) Read the text. Summarize the text you have read. Write a summary. A student should write a 150-word summary. Students have 50 minutes to complete the writing part. Grading formula: L*0,5 + W*0,5 = 10.
