2020/2021

Английский язык для специальных целей. Урбанистика - 2

Лучший по критерию «Полезность курса для Вашей будущей карьеры»

Лучший по критерию «Новизна полученных знаний»

Статус: Факультатив

Кто читает: Школа иностранных языков

Когда читается: 3, 4 модуль

Преподаватели: Пелевина Ирина Анатольевна

Язык: английский

Кредиты: 5

Контактные часы: 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 The course is designed as the further development, both quantitatively and qualitatively, of the “English for Specific Purposes. Urban Studies-1” course and as so continues introducing students the basics of professional and business communication and developing their language skills for interacting on wide range of business matters with multiple stakeholders in general business and professional settings, specifically in urban planning. The used material contains a certain amount of authentic texts on technology, sustainable development and historical background because the issues which urban planning focuses on are largely ones that political, social, demographic, and economic changes bring to the forefront. Thus, the second part of the course focuses on motivating students to further development of the whole range of socially (professionally) responsible business language, functional business and professional skills such as presentations, debates, location and project description meeting facilitation, and brainstorming, allowing for personalization of the learning experience with a structured modular approach that gives the flexibility to focus on specific needs and learning outcomes using more advanced criteria of assessment. In particular, emphasis is placed on building professional vocabulary through reading authentic texts on the theory and practices of urban planning and listening to expert talks. To welcome newly enrolled students the introductory part to the course is proposed.

Learning Objectives

• The course focuses on mastering students’ general business vocabulary and the vocabulary used by urban planners and the main language functions and is aimed at acquiring further language mastery relevant to common business and urban planning professional communication areas
• To acquire vocabulary skills (general business and professional vocabulary in the field of urban planning)
• To master listening skills (listening to professional talks and discussions, Ted talks, note-taking).
• To master speaking in public agility skills through informative presentations on urban planning topics, meetings, discussions.
• To develop reading skills (read texts in the field of business and student’s specialisation)
• To apply the set of skills to the professional subject area, from simple ones to complex, like presentation skills (individual/group work), skills in conducting meetings and negotiations, coping with business/professional problems.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• To make inferences or predictions about the content of newspaper and magazine articles from headings, titles or headlines; to summarise, comment on and discuss a wide range of factual and imaginative texts.
• To distinguish between relevant and irrelevant content in extended informal speech; to identify the main reasons for and against an argument or idea in a discussion delivered in clear standard speech; to understand the advantages and disadvantages of different options during a discussion.
• To be able to understand specialized vocabulary used in presentations or discussions within their field; to plan, manage and deliver informative presentations; to explain information in detail in graphs and charts.
• To develop an argument giving reasons in support of or against a particular point of view; to be able to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different options during a discussion.
• To scan a long text or a set of related texts in business or in the field of their specialisation in order to find general or specific information; to extract key details from texts on a business/profession-related topic.
• To write a structured text clearly signalling main points and supporting details; to develop systematically an argument giving the reasons for or against a point of view; to be able to check and correct spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes in long written texts.
• To acquire and develop the basic skills of essay (different types) writing.
• To organise a work-related email to emphasise the main point.
• Using basic reading techniques, skimming & scanning (predicting, understanding main ideas, understanding details) making inferences or predictions about the content of newspaper and magazine articles from headings, titles or headlines; to summarise, comment on and discuss a wide range of factual and imaginative texts.
• To understand specialised complex longer texts/articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems (CEFR), scanning a long text or a set of related texts in business or in the field of their specialisation in order to find general or specific information; to understanding text structure and extract key details from texts on a business/profession-related topic.
• To evaluate and synthesise information and arguments from a number of sources; to write a list of key points after listening to a professional talk or discussion (ex.:TED talks); to understand main points and check comprehension by using contextual clues.
• To organise a work-related email to emphasise the main point

Course Contents

• Digital Business.
  Project presentation skills. Introducing basics of Meetings Management. Basics of project brief. Urbanisation in a digital world: the importance of cities
• Performance.
  Review meetings. Constructive criticism. Review summary. Urban Planning: what Ii it causes stress, how to cope.
• Ethics
  Responding to concerns. Promoting and selling a project. Company newsletter. Ethics in planning.
• Time management.
  Dealing with matters of urgencies. Dealing with difficulties in negotiations. Emailing. Time management for planners.
• Change.
  Brainstorming meeting. Difficult decisions and changes. Press release. Envisioning and shaping the future of cities.

Assessment Elements

• Written assessment
• Oral assessment
• Independent work assessment
• Final assessment
  Grade: 100-95% of fully correct answers = 10; 88-94% of fully correct answers = 9; 81-87% of fully correct answers = 8; 74-80% of fully correct answers = 7; 66-73% of fully correct answers = 6; 58-65% of fully correct answers = 5; 50-57% of fully correct answers = 4; 41-49% of fully correct answers = 3; 31-40% of fully correct answers = 2; 1-30% of fully correct answers = 1. Period of FA: 10 days prior to the fourth module’s session. The release of examination papers: during the session. Retaking exams: till the 15th of October 2021. Time limit: 70 minutes online/offline. Tasks complexity: А2 – В2 depending on the track of the course. Exam structure № Exam sections Tasks Max. point -10 Comments to the tasks 1. Reading (R) Read the text. 1. Correct option for each task 1-5 (multiple choice). 2. Fill in the gaps 6 - 10 (gap-filling). max. 10 points Students have no more than 20 minutes to complete the Reading part 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

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

• Business class : course book, Cotton, D., 2003
• Business partner B2+ : coursebook, , 2019
• 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

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• "Managing" stress : emotion and power at work, Newton, T., 1996
• Dynamic presentations, Powell, M., 2010