2024/2025
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:
Мищук Анастасия Михайловна,
Шапиро Элина Диаматовна,
Olga Kamenskaya,
Elena Kapustkina,
Natalia V. Katasonova,
Viktor Makarenko,
Irina Pelevina,
Tatiana Pitra,
Maria Pronina,
Elena Leonidovna Zanina,
Anastasia Zizina
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
5
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
- Students distinguish English academic writing style from other forms of writing.
- Students demonstrate awareness of key academic vocabulary and functional grammar at B2+ level (CEFR).
- Students define key principles of academic text organization and structures.
- Students demonstrate awareness of and respond to key contemporary debates within the scope of the given Course.
- Students employ active reading and listening strategies to suit text type and reader/ listener purpose.
- Students produce coherent and cohesive written texts, such as “Discuss both views and express your opinion” essays and “Discuss advantages and disadvantages” essays.
- Students employ argumentation to produce an academic monologue, deliver a presentation or engage in problem-solving discussions and group debates.
Course Contents
- Unit 1. Money and Commerce
- Zoology. Major issues in biodiversity preservation.
- Medieval culture. The value of historical sites.
- Chemical engineering. Ecology. Factors contributing to natural disasters and effective design solutions to prevent them.
Assessment Elements
- Oral Assessment (OA)Oral Assessment includes minimum 1 monologue, 1 Q&A discussion
- Written Assessment (WA)Written Assessment includes minimum 1 listening test. minimum 1 reading test, minimum 1 essay
- Student Independent Work Assessment (IWA)The elements of independent work cannot be retaken.
- Final Assessment (FA)The 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.
Interim Assessment
- 2024/2025 4th module0.2 * Oral Assessment (OA) + 0.25 * Written Assessment (WA) + 0.3 * Final Assessment (FA) + 0.25 * Student Independent Work Assessment (IWA)
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- 50 steps to improving your academic writing : study book, Sowton, C., 2012
- Academic vocabulary in use. 50 units of academic vocabulary reference and practice : self-study and classroom use, McCarthy M., O'Dell F., 2011
- Academic vocabulary in use. 50 units of academic vocabulary reference and practice : self-study and classroom use, McCarthy M., O'Dell F., 2011
- University success; reading; transition level, Zwier, L., 2017
- University success: oral communication : advanced, Cavage, C., 2018
- University success: oral communication : intermediate to high-intermediate, McLaughlin, T., 2018
- University success: reading : advanced, Eickhoff, L., 2018
- University success: reading : intermediate to high-intermediate, Steenburgh, C., 2018
- University success: writing : advanced, Norloff, C., 2018
- University success: writing : intermediate to high-intermediate, Dalby, K., 2018
- Кузьменкова, Ю. Б. Английский язык для социологов (A2). English for Social Studies : учебник и практикум для вузов / Ю. Б. Кузьменкова, А. Р. Жаворонкова. — Москва : Издательство Юрайт, 2022. — 333 с. — (Высшее образование). — ISBN 978-5-534-05307-4. — Текст : электронный // Образовательная платформа Юрайт [сайт]. — URL: https://urait.ru/bcode/488797 (дата обращения: 02.07.2026).
- Учебное пособие по развитию навыков чтения и понимания текстов (английский язык), сост. И. В. Извольская, Ю. Б. Кузьменкова, О. Н. Шевлякова ; Гос. ун-т - Высшая школа экономики, 49 с., , 1999
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (2001). Academic Communications and the Graduate Student. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.3E2EACE3
- Yucuis, N. (2016). Basics of Academic Writing ; A guide for navigating the perils of mechanics, punctuation, grammar, and style. United States, North America: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.29CD07C0
- Антонова, М. Б. Academic Writing in English for Mathematics and Computer Science: Академическое письмо на английском языке: фундаментальная и прикладная математика и компьютерные науки. Уровни владения языком В2-С1 : учебник / М. Б. Антонова, А. В. Бакулев. — Москва : ФЛИНТА, 2019. — 264 с. — ISBN 978-5-9765-4269-3. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/151302 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.