Bachelor
2023/2024
English through Global Debate
Type:
Compulsory course (International Relations)
Area of studies:
International Relations
Delivered by:
School of Foreign Languages
When:
4 year, 1-3 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Instructors:
Лукашенко Анна Дмитриевна,
Elena Andreeva,
Maria Safonova,
Yulia Vladislavovna Styvrina,
Boris Tarev,
Irina Yakusheva
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
50
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course is designed for students majoring in World Economy and International Relations as English for Special Purposes. The course tailors to the needs of the students in terms of their professional specialization in language skills and specialized vocabulary. The course summarizes the skills obtained in the previous courses of English for Special Purposes and advances the language mastery to a higher proficiency level (C1-C2). The course consists of six units varying economics and international affairs agenda: economy vs ecology, global governance, wealth redistribution, immigration, security, labour market. The topics are mastered through authentic language materials used in fostering the skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking. The ultimate goal of the course is to promote the skill of debate that includes inter-personal communication with persuasion techniques.
Learning Objectives
- The formation of a general cultural and professional foreign language communicative competence consistent with the larger professional competence of a bachelor of economics and international relations;
- The development of academic and professional communicative skills in line with using English within educational, academic and professional environments, further undergraduate studies, post-graduate studies and research in the field concerned;
- Achieving professional command of English comparable to C1 level (according to CEFR);
- The formation of a foreign communicative competence among bachelor degree students at a level of B1 and higher (according to CEFR);
- Attaining relevant public speaking skills and sociocultural awareness in accordance with acceptable communicative competence levels;
- The promotion of informational culture: including but not limited to searching and systematizing relevant information, identifying its credibility, summarizing and ensuring its instrumental use for a wide range of purposes, processing large quantities of information presented in a foreign language;
- The formation of skills, required to handle a wide array of texts according to the international exam format;
- An all-round development of cognitive and research skills with reliance upon sources, available in a foreign language for the classroom environment and independent work;
- The generation of a conceptual and terminological apparatus within the field and language concerned;
Expected Learning Outcomes
- The student demonstrates ability to analyze, juxtapose and interpret information within the subject field – with due reliance upon the relevant thesaurus and valid communicative strategies;
- The student is capable of maintaining dialogues, polylogues (in the format of debates and discussions), has the skill to advance arguments, support their opinion with examples while engaging in subject matter interactions with peers;
- The student is able to build sound, persuasive narratives demonstrating their own position in relation to the information given;
- The student observes cause and effect relations, assesses arguments in support of- or against a given statement, constructs relevant argumentation and counter-argumentation;
- The student analyses information, builds hypotheses, employs persuasion techniques;
- The student appeals to data, points to logical fallacies, summarizes statements;
- The student is capable of utilizing comparison and contrast techniques, recognizing bias, making appeals to values and emotions, common sense, etc.
- The student demonstrates an ability to advocate for a wide range of positions, including opposing points of view;
- The student successfully processes and systematizes the subject matter;
- The student defines relevant concepts and showcases full command thereof in Russian and English;
- The student effectively filters available sources, interprets given information;
- The student is able to express their thoughts and opinions using a foreign language for the purposes of official, interpersonal communication;
- The student demonstrates an ability to make reports of sociocultural and professionally-significant nature using a foreign language;
- The student has attained relevant language and communicative skills. The student can describe, summarize information, derive various word forms, systematize lexical units and collocations to ensure effective self-expression on the given topic;
- The student employs learned lexical units and collocations in professionally-driven communicative situations;
- The student responds to audio cues, authentic, mass-media and pragmatic texts represented through different types of speech (report, narration, interview);
- The student effectively reads texts of various genres with varying levels of content analysis depth;
- The student reads and perceives professional texts (continuous and scattered) with due consideration of the required information and details;
Course Contents
- Debate Skills
- Debate Skills 1: Climate debate
- Debate Skills 3: Redistribution debate
- Debate Skills 4: Diversity debate
- Debate Skills 5: Security debate
- Debate Skills 6: Education debate
Assessment Elements
- Writing tasks
- Speaking tasks
- Exam debate (Module 2)
- Persuasive speech (Module 3)
- Participation
Interim Assessment
- 2023/2024 2nd module0.4 * Exam debate (Module 2) + 0.2 * Participation + 0.2 * Speaking tasks + 0.2 * Writing tasks
- 2023/2024 3rd module0.2 * Participation + 0.4 * Persuasive speech (Module 3) + 0.2 * Speaking tasks + 0.2 * Writing tasks
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Ekaterina Talalakina, Tony Brown, Jennifer Bown, & William Eggington. (2014). Mastering English through Global Debate. Washington: Georgetown University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2200417
- Mastering English through Global Debate, , 2019
- Stanislav Mraz, & Klaudia Hranikova Pytelova. (2018). Foreign Intervention In Internal Conflicts. Medzinarodne Vztahy (Journal of International Relations), (4), 407–419. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.brv.journl.v16y2018i4p407.419
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- White, S. (2018). War Spin: How U.S. Politicians, the President and the Media Frame Foreign Intervention. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.D66CC221