2020/2021

English for General Communication Purposes. Advanced Course - 2

Type: Optional course

Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages

When: 3, 4 module

Instructors: Сенникова Ксения Георгиевна, Савицкая Наталия Александровна, Сергеева Ольга Николаевна, Семина Нелли Владимировна, Данилова Елизавета Андреевна, Букина Анна Викторовна, Данилова Елизавета Андреевна, Сенникова Ксения Георгиевна, Рой Вера Вадимовна, Ильченко Ольга Алексеевна, Букина Анна Викторовна, Борисова Лада Вячеславовна, Конова Маргарита Анатольевна, Yulia Aleshina, Yuliya Antonova, Tatyana Baranova, Leonid Bilmes, Elena Borodkina, Alina Budnikova, Valentina Byvalina, Anna Cheremnykh, Mariana Dobrovolskaya, Anna Doshlygina, Anastasia Germanovich, Ekaterina Gridneva, Alexander Vladimirovich Kalashnikov, Alina Khavronich, Irina Nikolaevna Khlebnikova, Elena Petrovna Khoch, Svetlana Kolesnikova, Victoria Kosheleva, Elena Krasilnikova, Victoria Kuznetsova, Anastasia Levina, Galina Levitskaya, Tatyana Vassilievna Luchkina, Viktor Makarenko, Marina Anatolyevna Markushova, Ekaterina Mironenko, Natalia Mironenko, Daria Ulkhanovna Mirzaeva, Elena Yurievna Mostacheva, Tatyana Nurgaleeva, Irina Pelevina, Tatiana Pitra, Anna Popova, Pavel Rakitin, Elena Shustova, Lidia Shvets, Alexandra Smorodinova, Ekaterina Alexandrovna Sobolyanova, Aleksandra Sokolova, Olga Stognieva, Olga Sviridenko, Dmitry Tyulin, Anna Vaisman, Ksenia Vasilyuk, Anna Viklova, Elizaveta Volodyaeva, Maria Zamkovaya, Anna Zhuravleva, Медведева Екатерина Павловна, Трибис Ксения Валентиновна

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. Advanced level” course is originally designed for the students of B2 CEFR level aspiring to excel their knowledge. Completing the course enables learners to boost their English language competences and skills up to the C1 level. Touching upon various life spheres from theatrical art to entrepreneurial success, the course builds up a student’s image as a thriving personality able to successfully communicate in diverse environments. Advanced vocabulary units and grammatical structures are acquired and applied throughout the course, which makes undergraduates feel comfortable in the multicultural atmosphere of the university. The use of assorted modes of working in the process of study contributes to the development of soft skills including time-management, teamwork, presentation skills and others. The course employs exclusively authentic materials such as articles, reviews, essays, podcasts and videos (e.g. TedTalks) as well as games and web-based platforms to build strong reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. The adaptability and saturation of the course provides each student with an opportunity to tailor the program to suit their individual interests and needs. By the end of the course you will have gained the skills and confidence to communicate effectively in English at C1 level (HSE Scale 80-89).

Learning Objectives

• The complex development of skills and competences for general communication of the C1 level (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), HSE Scale 80-89 points);
• The improvement of students’ command of English for interpersonal and intercultural communication;
• The enhancement of receptive and productive skills related to general purposes;
• The expansion of vocabulary on a variety of topics;
• The expansion of grammar structures in use.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• To develop understanding of articles, reports, straightforward and specialised texts concerned with contemporary problems at the threshold/vantage/effective operational proficiency level
• To form understanding of text structure
• To develop skills of using basic reading techniques skimming and scanning (predicting, understanding main ideas, understanding details)
• To improve understanding of dialogues and polylogues on both familiar and unfamiliar topics
• To develop understanding of lectures and learning context
• To develop skills of using basic listening techniques (predicting, understanding main ideas and details)
• To form skills of note-taking
• To develop writing skills (email / summary / essay)
• To participate in dialogues on general, academic and professional topics. (active listening, questioning, responding to questions, emphasizing, discussion strategies)
• To produce monologues (informative/descriptive/argumentative/persuasive speech)

Course Contents

• Technology and change
  Attitudes to technology. A new generation of robot companions. Robot in the house. Transport development. Living on another planet. Advantages and disadvantages of using machines like robots. Predictions about the future. Grammar: The passive; Complex noun phrases. Vocabulary: describing technology; collocations. Word-formation: collocations (noun+noun, adj+noun), prepositional phrases, clauses, to-infinitive.
• People and ideas
  A definition of creativity. Great thinkers of the past and of the present. Sharing good ideas. Managing a city. Old ideas relevant nowadays. Grammar: expressions of quantity, conditionals. Vocabulary: idioms with hand. Word-formation: irregular plurals.
• Journalism and media
  Modern trends in journalism.The influence of large media organizations. The most important medium for people in a country. Newspapers nowadays. The impact media has on children. Grammar: Verb patterns; Prepositional verbs. Vocabulary: The media. Word-formation: verb (+object) + to-infinitive; verb (+object) + infinitive without to; verb + -ing; verb + preposition + -ing; verb + ob + preposition + -ing.
• Law and society
  ‘Unwritten rules’ in the society. Social behaviour of teenagers. Juvenile crime. Minimum age of criminal responsibility. Types of punishment. When in Rome, do as Romans do. Grammar: Adverbs of degree; Reporting using nouns. Vocabulary: Idiomatic verb phrases; Justice systems; Noun conversion. Word-formation: suffixes for noun-formation.
• Business and economics
  What makes a business successful. How to boost the economies of developing countries. A win-win negotiation. Saving lives at sea. Grammar: Phrasal verbs. Vocabulary: alternatives to if, business and economic terms, confusing words. Word-formation: noun-forming suffixes.
• Arts and entertainment
  Artistic performance. The power of music. Digital technology and private life. Reality show production. Body language. Grammar: Non-finite clauses. Vocabulary: academic verbs, conversational english linkers. Word-formation: compound adjectives.
• Science and nature
  Space exploration. A human colony on Mars.Wise plastic consumption. Insects and animals as symbols. The impact of farming on the future. Grammar: Cohesion (substitution); Nominalisation. Vocabulary: Geological terms; Collective nouns. Word-formation: suffixes -al, -ment, -ness, -ion.

Assessment Elements

• Written assessment
  Written assessment includes: • 1 reading test, • 1 listening test, • 3 vocabulary and grammar tests • 2 written works (a paragraph and an essay).
• Oral assessment
  Oral assessment includes a monologue on a given topic and a discussion. 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. The final grade is equal to the mean of the grades for a listening test, reading test, and essay.

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: advanced : coursebook, , 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