OVERVIEW

The course prepares students to reach a B2 level of English according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and is aimed at developing language skills in a scientific context.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to develop students’ language proficiency at the B2 level of English according to the CEFR for Languages. The course enables students to acquire lexical, morphosyntactic and phonetic skills, and to enhance their four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. At the end of the course, students will be able to demonstrate their language competence by taking the final B2 exam.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course prepares students to reach a B2 level of English according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and is aimed at developing language skills in a scientific context.

By the end of the course the student will be able to:

• understand the main ideas of complex texts on specialised scientific topics (articles, abstracts, processes, experiments) and specific terminology
• express him/herself with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers possible without strain for either party on a variety of topics: social interaction, current affairs, science
• produce a clear, detailed text in an appropriate style on scientific areas ranging from describing processes, experiments and visual data to writing abstracts and discussions

The course promotes the development of the following soft skills: literacy competence, social competence, personal competence and learning to learn competence.

PREREQUISITES

Being a master's course, students should have acquired, during the three-year-degree course, a B1 English level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)

TEACHING METHODS

The lessons are held face-to-face in the classroom for a total of 72 hours which correspond to 6 University Credits. Lesson attendance is compulsory as per the Education Regulations. The lessons will be given entirely in English with the aim of developing reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. They envisage practical exercises, communicative activities and problem-solving through collaborative learning: pairwork and groupwork. Lessons are enhanced by the use of multimedia and online resources. The teaching material is available on Microsoft Teams and/or Aulaweb. Students are advised to bring a laptop or tablet to the classroom.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

• Listening: listening activities to develop the ability to understand speech of varying lengths and accents using a wide range of spoken materials, such as news programmes, presentations and everyday conversations.
• Reading: reading activities to develop the ability to understand different types of extracts taken from books, magazines and newspapers and to identify key points, details and text structure.
• Use of English: exercises to develop grammar and lexical competence.
• Speaking: commmunicative activities to develop the degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party and actively participate in  discussions on familiar and scientific topics while giving  and supporting opinions.
• Writing: writing activities to develop the ability to write clear well-structured texts in an appropriate style: describing processes, experiments, visual data; writing abstracts and discussions

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grammar and Vocabulary for FIRST (and First for schools) di Barbara Thomas, Louise Hashemi, Laura Mathews - Cambridge University Press 2015

First Trainer 2 di Peter May - Cambridge University Press 2018

Supplementary material is provided at the request of student workers or students with SLD to meet their specific needs.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The lessons take place in the first and second semesters and the calendar can be consulted at the following link: https://easyacademy.unige.it/portalestudenti/

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of a written exam at a B2 level. The written exam is passed if the student has obtained an overall mark equal to or over 60% and a Pass, without a mark, will be given.

• Listening: (4 sections, 30 questions) comprehension test with multiple-choice questions, gapped sentences to complete and multiple matching  (40 minuti)
• Reading and Use of English: (7 sections, 52 questions) grammar and vocabulary exercises with multiple-choice questions, gapped sentences to complete and word & sentence transformations. Reading comprehension with multiple-choice questions and multiple matching. (1 ora 15 minuti) 
• Writing: (1 section) describing a process, an experiment, visual data; writing an abstract, a discussion in an appropriate style. (45 minuti)

There will be 3 exams available for the winter session (end of January-February) and 4 exam exams for the summer session (June, July and September). Extra exam sessions will not be granted outside the periods indicated in the study course regulations, with the exception of students outside the prescribed time.

In case of certification of specific learning disability, disability or other special educational needs, the University legislation and regulations on disability and SLD are applied. See https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa. See also the "Other information" section of this syllabus.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written exam will test the ability to understand the key arguments of a complex text on concrete and abstract issues, including technical discussions. The exam will assess whether the student has acquired the grammar and lexical competence at B2 level and whether they are able to apply them in producing a clear, detailed text on scientific topics.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with valid certifications for Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs), disabilities or other educational needs are invited to contact the teacher and the School's contact person for disability at the beginning of teaching to agree on possible teaching arrangements that, while respecting the teaching objectives, take into account individual learning patterns. Contacts of the School's disability contact person can be found at the following link Comitato di Ateneo per l’inclusione delle studentesse e degli studenti con disabilità o con DSA | UniGe | Università di Genova