English for General Communication Purposes. Foundation Course

2022/2023

Category 'Best Course for Career Development'

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'

Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'

Type: Optional course

Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages

When: 1-4 module

Open to: students of one campus

Instructors: Yuliya Suvorova

Language: English

ECTS credits: 16

Contact hours: 256

Full Syllabus Ask Question

Abstract

"English for General Communication Purposes. Foundation Course" takes an intelligent approach to building the confidence and skills students need to succeed in academic study and use English in a globalised world. The course stretches students' ability to understand real-life English and enhances students’ language skills, communicative competences to the B1 level in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (HSE Scale 30-39). 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. A variety of authentic materials, contemporary topics and issues, real-life English expressions and scenarios stimulate students' minds and develop critical thinking skills as well as digital literacy. The course develops a solid general English base for further success in learning English for academic or special purposes, taking international examinations, future academic studies and research. "English for General Communication Purposes. Foundation Course" is available to the first-year students if there is not a mark for an English course in their high school diploma.

Learning Objectives

 To improve interpersonal and intercultural communication in English  To develop the listening, reading, writing and speaking skills in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), B1 level (HSE Scale 30-39)  To promote communicative language competences (vocabulary range and grammatical accuracy)  To raise sociocultural awareness  To develop digital literacy

Expected Learning Outcomes

Applies the vocabulary for places in a city
Uses the vocabulary for jobs and places for work
Scans and skims various texts
Talks about a film in general, types of film and expresses personal tastes in film
Practises comparative adjectives to compare different means of transport
Talks about the tastes in food and healthy/ unhealthy diet
Speaks about shops and shopping habits
Speaks about cities and ancient civilisations
Writes paragraphs about the most important inventions
Carries out an opinion survey
Speaks about preparing for and taking an exam
Discusses past travel experience
Practises listening for specific details and notetaking
Gets specific information from listening for gist
Defines important components of academic writing
Realises an 'abstract' at the start of an academic article
Practises writing a body paragraph
Develops skills of using basic reading techniques skimming and scanning (predicting, understanding main ideas, understanding details)
Produces presentations (informative/descriptive/argumentative/persuasive speech)
Produces monologues (informative/descriptive/argumentative/persuasive speech)
Participates in dialogues on general and academic topics (active listening, questioning, responding to questions, emphasizing, discussion strategies)
Develops writing skills (email / summary / essay/CV)
Forms skills of note-taking
Develops understanding of lectures and learning context
Develops skills of using basic listening techniques (predicting, understanding main ideas and details)
Improves understanding of dialogues and polylogues on both familiar and unfamiliar topics
Develops understanding of articles, reports, straightforward texts concerned with contemporary problems at the threshold level
Forms understanding of text structure

Course Contents

Work and Study
Nature
Leisure time
City transport
Food
Shopping
History and culture
Inventions
Money
Homes
Journeys of a lifetime
Human planet
People
The media
Health
Natural World
Society and family
Scientists
The night
Work and Industry
Global affairs
The environment
Minority sports

Assessment Elements

Final Assessment
The interim exam lasts 70 minutes. The exam is a 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. Listening (L) and Writing (W) that weigh 50% and 50% respectively in the total mark for the exam: Listening (L): Listen to the text ONCE and complete the tasks. Max. 10 points. Writing (W): Read the text. Write a summary on the text you have read. A student should write a 150-word summary. Students have no more than 20 minutes to complete the Listening (L) part and 50 minutes to complete the Writing (W) part. Grading formula: L*0,5 + W*0,5 = 10 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. Retaking exams: till the 15th of February 2023. Time limit: 70 minutes online/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. Write a summary on the text you have read. A student should write a 150-word summary. Students have 50 minutes to complete the Writing (W) part. Grading formula: L*0,5 + W*0,5 = 10.
Written Assessment
Written assessment includes: 1 reading test, 1 listening test, 2 vocabulary and grammar tests, 2 written works (email and summary).
Oral Assessment
Oral assessment includes a monologue on a given topic and a discussion.
Student 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
Final assessment equals to the interim exam which is held in the form of a written test. The exam aims to check whether the student demonstrates the acquisition of the set learning objectives. The exam includes two parts: Reading and Writing. Reading (R): Max. 10 points (1 point for every correct answer). Time: 20 min. Writing (W): Max. 10 points. Time: 50 min. Task: Write an essay. Recommended word count – 250. Grading formula: R* 0.4 + W*0.6 = 10. Period of FA: 10 days prior to the second module’s session.
Written assessment
Written assessment includes: 1 reading test, 1 listening test, 2 vocabulary and grammar tests, 2 written works (essay).
Oral assessment
Oral assessment includes a monologue on a given topic and a discussion.
Student 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.

Interim Assessment

2022/2023 2nd module
The final grade is composed of the following parts: 25% Written Assessment (WA) +20% Oral Assessment (OA) + 25% student Independent Work Assessment /online (IWA) + 30% Final Assessment (FA). Only overall grade is rounded up.
2022/2023 4th module
The final grade is composed of the following parts: 25% Written Assessment (WA) +20% Oral Assessment (OA) + 25% student Independent Work Assessment /online (IWA) + 30% Final Assessment (FA). Only overall grade is rounded up.

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

New headway: pre-intermediate : student's book, Soars, J., 2007
Straightforward: elementary : student's book, Clandfield, L., 2006

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Essential grammar in use : a self-study reference and practice book for elementary students of English: with answers, Murphy, R., 2010
Essential Grammar in Use, A self-study reference and practice book for elementary students of English with answers, 3rd ed., 319 p., Murphy, R., 2011
Oxford living grammar : pre-intermediate: [learn and practise grammar in context], Harrison, M., 2009
Vocabulary: pre-intermediate, Bourke, K., 2006
Буренко Л. В., Тарасенко О. С. ; Под общ. ред. Краснощековой Г.А. - ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА. GRAMMAR IN LEVELS ELEMENTARY – PRE-INTERMEDIATE. Учебное пособие для СПО - М.:Издательство Юрайт - 2021 - 227с. - ISBN: 978-5-9916-9261-8 - Текст электронный // ЭБС ЮРАЙТ - URL: https://urait.ru/book/grammatika-angliyskogo-yazyka-grammar-in-levels-elementary-pre-intermediate-471736
Буренко Л. В., Тарасенко О. С., Краснощекова Г. А. ; Под общ. ред. Краснощековой Г.А. - GRAMMAR IN LEVELS ELEMENTARY – PRE-INTERMEDIATE. Учебное пособие для вузов - М.:Издательство Юрайт - 2021 - 230с. - ISBN: 978-5-534-04538-3 - Текст электронный // ЭБС ЮРАЙТ - URL: https://urait.ru/book/grammar-in-levels-elementary-pre-intermediate-471708

Authors

SUVOROVA YULIYA ALEKSANDROVNA

Course Syllabus