Academic Language Skills: Reading, writing and speaking 1

Course aims:

The aim of the course is to help students achieve fluency in discussing various topics in the academic context; to familiarize students with academic vocabulary and grammatical constructions characteristic for academic writing; to improve speaking, listening and writing skills needed for studying in English

Course content:

• Speaking, writing and reading exercises based on the following topic areas: culture, globalization, manipulation, authority, gender, race, history, country and nationality

• analysis of selected academic texts

• reading and discussing academic texts pertaining to the chosen seminar profile

• using the Internet and traditional data-base queries

• formulating critical opinions and supportive arguments

• using formal language as required by the chosen specialty

• giving academic presentations

• coordinating academic group discussions

Organization of meetings:

• Discussion on academic text(s)

• Essay writing practice

• Individual presentations

Literature:

Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen, 1994. Writing and reading across the curriculum. New York: Longman

Adams-Tukiendorf Małgorzata and Rydzak Danuta, 2012. Developing Writing Skills : A Manual for EFL Students. Opole: Uniwersytet Opolski

* The remaining materials will be provided depending on the seminar profile.

Knowledge

Graduate knows and understands:

1. in the advanced degree – selected facts, objects and phenomena of language and linguistic and/or literary and/or cultural theories explaining complex dependencies, forming the basic general knowledge in the field of English philology and selected issues of the detailed knowledge (k-W-1)

2. the place and significance of philological science among humanities and the directions of its development (k-W-2)

3. theories, methodology and general and detailed terminology of linguistic and/or literary and/or cultural issues (k-W-3)

4. methods of analysis and interpretation of texts (k-W-4)

Skills

Graduate can

1. use their philological knowledge - formulate and solve problems concerning the discussed issues, and perform tasks in not fully predictable conditions thanks to:

- proper selection of sources and information, evaluation, critical analysis and synthesis of that information (k-U-1)

2. recognize texts and carry out their critical analysis and interpretation with the use of standard philological methods allowing for an assessment of their relevance (k-U-3)

3. communicate with the use of specialized terminology (k-U-4)

4. take part in a debate - present and evaluate different opinions and positions in terms of philology and discuss them (k-U-5)

5. use English as a foreign language at the level of at least C1 of the Common European Framework for Languages (k-U-6)

6. plan and organize individual and team work (k-U-7)

Social competence

Graduate is ready to

1. critically assess their philological knowledge (k-K-1)

2.fulfil social obligations to and co-organize actions (k-K-2)

Course requirements and methods of evaluation

• Presentation’s evaluation

• Coordination of discussions

• Getting ‘pluses’ for active participation

• Distributing the texts to peers and the teacher (in print) at least a week before the discussion

• Preparing discussion questions to the group

• Coordinating the discussion