English C1.3 - 1st semester
Code
711121065
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Línguas, Culturas e Literaturas Modernas, Secção de Estudos Ingleses e Norte-Americanos
Credits
6
Teacher in charge
Vanessa Marie Boutefeu
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
English
Objectives
The student should:
a) be able to perform in all the skills at minimum level C1 of the CEFR
b) acquire improved intercultural awareness and further develop their knowledge of the culture/language relationship
c) be able to write clear, coherent, well-structured texts in an appropriate style with a high degree of grammatical accuracy, showing a good commmand of a broad range of lexis
d) be able to understand and critically analyse extended, complex, contemporary written texts such as opinion articles on social and cultural matters, and specialised articles
e) be able to express him/herself fluently and spontaneously, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, and contribute without major difficulty to any discussion with few restrictions
f) be able to understand extended natural spoken discourse, even on more complex topics, with few difficulties
g) be able to analyze and control the grammatical system of English
h) know how to develop competences that lead to autonomy.
Prerequisites
Pass in Inglês C1.2
Subject matter
The course revolves around topics of a social, cultural and topical nature, but with flexibility built in to cater to different student needs/interests. The main topics covered are: identity (personal/cultural), history (World War 1, Britain past and present), freedom (human rights, personal freedom...), the media (especially online and TV news for decoding local and cultural references). The topics/materials lead into analysis and development of the following specific skills:
Writing summaries; narrative/descriptive texts; discursive/expository texts
Speaking pronunciation (suprasegmentals); conversational strategies; discussion skills
Intercultural competence identification, decoding & discussion of cultural references
Lexis idiomatic expresions; colloquialisms; noun formation; multiword
verbs; collocation
Grammar inversion; verb phrase review; articles; punctuation; cohesive devices & discourse markers
Editing/revising identifying and correcting linguistic errors
Bibliography
Aboulela, L. (2001) The Museum, in ´Coloured Lights´. Edinburgh: Polygon/Edinburgh University Press
Carter, R. & McCarthy, M. (2006) Cambridge Grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Crowther, J. (2005) The Oxford Guide to British and American Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Side, R. & Wellman, G. (2002) Grammar & Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency, Harlow:
Longman
Vince, M. & French, A. (2011) IELTS Language Practice: English Grammar and Vocabulary. Oxford: Macmillan
A collection of selected readings articles, literary, cultural and media texts and linguistic tasks [Colectânea de leituras seleccionadas artigos, textos literários, culturais e mediáticos e actividades linguísticas (a disponibilizar pelo docente)]
Teaching method
Communicative and dialogic method with a task-based, intercultural approach, all of which seek to stimulate interaction and promote increasingly autonomous learning, revolving around a series of topics. Discussion is a key element often preceded by reading or listening input and/or analysis and followed up by written work/further research by students. Skills-based tasks require both linguistic and extra-linguistic competences. Inductive approach for extending grammatical and lexical knowledge. Frequent use of the internet and audio-visual means.
In class teaching
Evaluation method
Assessment is continuous and formative consisting of:
4 written texts of different types 60%
2 spoken tasks (discursive/informative) 20%
1 test: grammar, vocabulary, reading/listening tasks 15%
General coursework mark: active participation (including attendance) and evidence of autonomous learning development 5%
Minimum attendance: two-thirds of classes given