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Course Syllabus

2020/2021

English for General Communication Purposes. Upper-Intermediate Course - 1

Type: Optional course
Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages
When: 1, 2 module
Instructors: Воронцова-Менало Анна Сергеевна, Данилова Елизавета Андреевна, Семина Нелли Владимировна, Воронцова-Менало Анна Сергеевна, Olga Afonina, Yulia Andrushkina, Elena Borodkina, Victoria Kosheleva, Yulia Viktorovna Kostina, Alla Vladimirovna Loseva, Tatyana Vassilievna Luchkina, Maria P. Shilankova, Olga Troitskaya, Комова Лилиана Валериевна, Утенкова Дарья Владимировна, Комова Лилиана Валериевна, Утенкова Дарья Владимировна, Шапиро Элина Диаматовна, Зернова Виктория Игоревна
Language: English
ECTS credits: 3
Contact hours: 56

Course Syllabus

Full 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 is a course that aims (1) to build students’ confidence in using English in different life situations and contexts, i.e. home, university, work, tourism, and (2) to develop students’ language skills and communicative competences to B2 level (HSE Scale 50-59). The course is designed to assist students in achieving the level of independent users through developing reading, listening, writing and speaking skills, attaining excellence in vocabulary management and grammatical accuracy. The course offers a variety of authentic materials that familiarise students with real English expressions and scenarios, provides an array of contemporary topics for discussion and develops 21st Century skills such as critical thinking, text analysis, and digital literacies. The course develops a solid general English base for further success in learning English for academic or special purposes, taking international examinations, as well as future academic studies and research.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • Help students advance to the level of independent users of English for general communicative purposes
  • Boost students’ language skills to the B2 level (HSE Scale 50-59)
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Understand dialogues and polylogues on both familiar and unfamiliar topics; understand lectures; use basic listening techniques for different purposes (predicting, understanding the main ideas and details); note-taking effective use of skills
  • understand articles, reports, straightforward and specialised texts; know the text structure; write down notes during listening for later reference
  • Participate in dialogues on general, academic and professional topics (active listening, questioning, responding to questions, emphasizing, discussion strategies) ; to produce informative/descriptive/argumentative/persuasive speech ; to make effective presentations
  • Communicate their opinions and reactions, providing explanations and examples
  • Use paraphrsing, summarizing and synthesising to produce informative texts
  • Write summaries and emails
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Communication
    Issues: how to communicate confidently, communication problems, scientific study Vocabulary: topic-related vocabulary, phrasal verbs, idioms, collocations Grammar: the continuous aspect, the perfect aspect Skills: reading, listening, speaking, writing
  • Environment
    Issues: how to communicate confidently, communication problems, scientific study Vocabulary: topic-related vocabulary, phrasal verbs, idioms, collocations Grammar: the continuous aspect, the perfect aspect Skills: reading, listening, speaking, writing
  • Sport
    Issues: sports clubs, famous sportsmen Vocabulary: topic-related vocabulary, abstract nouns, using emphasis and comparison, formal expressions Grammar: quantifiers, definite and zero articles Skills: reading, listening, speaking, writing
  • Medicine
    Issues: illness and medicine Vocabulary: medical terms, dependent prepositions, personality adjectives Grammar: future continuous, going to, present continuous, future perfect simple, future simple Skills: reading, listening, speaking, writing
  • Transport
    Issues: transport, safety features Vocabulary: topic-related vocabulary, collocations, comparison and contrast Grammar: modal verbs Skills: reading, listening, speaking, writing
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Written assessment
    SUMMARY ASSESSMENT CRITERIA max 10 points TASK RESPONSE: 3 - All key points are mentioned; 2 - Most key points are mentioned and/or some crucial supporting information is omitted and/or the author’s ideas are partly reflected; 1- Very few key points are mentioned and/or little supporting information is provided and/or very few of the author’s ideas are mentioned, 0 - Only the topic is mentioned and/or no supporting information is provided and/or the author’s ideas are not reflected. VOCABULARY: 3 – Without mistakes; 2 - The original expressions are paraphrased. A wide range of vocabulary is used. 1-2 lexical mistakes are made; 1 - The original expressions are partly paraphrased and/or an adequate range of vocabulary is used and/or 3-4 lexical mistakes are made; 0 - The original expressions are copied and/or a limited range of vocabulary is used and/or more than 4 lexical mistakes are made. GRAMMAR: 3 – Without mistakes; 2 - A variety of complex grammar structures is used. No more than 1 punctuation and/or 1-2 grammar mistakes are made; 1 - An attempt to use complex grammar structures is made and/or 3-4 grammar mistakes are made; 0 - Elementary grammar structures are used and/or more than 4 grammar mistakes are made. STRUCTURE: 3 - The text is logically organized. A wide range of transitions is used appropriately; 2 - The text is mostly logically organized and/or an adequate range of transitions is used; 1 - The text may have serious breaches in logic and/or transitions may be over- or underused; 0 - There is no sequence of ideas and/or transitions are used inappropriately or not used at all.
  • non-blocking Oral assessment
    Speaking assignments include a monologue on a given topic, answers to 2-3 questions and a presentation. The elements of oral assessment cannot be retaken
  • non-blocking Independent work assessment
    Independent study includes activities that students do at home, activities that students do in the classroom and online work. The elements of independent study cannot be retaken.
  • non-blocking Final assessment
    The final written exam is conducted via video conferencing platforms: MS Teams, Zoom, etc. Students connect to the videoconference 10 minutes before the exam begins; the teacher sends a task. During the exam, it is prohibited to: communicate (using social media, with people in the room), cheat, give the exam variant to others to have it done, listen to the audio file more than twice, pause the audio, use dictionaries, translators or other sources. During the exam, the student is allowed to: use blank sheets of paper for drafts, open the audios in other web-browsers or download the audio to the computer and open it there. A short-term communication failure during the Exam is considered to be a loss of a network connection for up to 5 minutes. A long-term communication failure during the Exam is the loss of a network connection for more than 5 minutes. It is not possible to complete the Exam in case of a long-term communication failure.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (2 module)
    0.3 * Final assessment + 0.25 * Independent work assessment + 0.2 * Oral assessment + 0.25 * Written assessment
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • New language leader: upper intermediate : coursebook, Cotton, D., 2016

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
  • Booth, T. (2018). English for Everyone : English Vocabulary Builder (Vol. First American edition). New York, New York: DK. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1636939