FURTHER EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES - LANGUAGE SKILLS
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Entry level that learners are expected to have at the beginning of the course: B2.
This ESP course is directed to participants whose level of language proficiency is upper-intermediate and above. Learners who will be accepted in this program are expected to have, before accessing the course, a B2-level language competence and - in terms of general English - should be able to do the following:
B2 - Vantage or upper intermediate
- understand and use spoken English for practical communication
- understand the main ideas and topics in oral interactions (including technical discussions in their field of specialization) and complex text on both concrete and abstract topics
- understand intermediate science-related language when listened to in lectures and academic settings
- read articles and reports in which the writers adopt particular attitudes or viewpoints
- interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction quite possible without strain for either party
- express their opinions and stand up for an argument orally
- briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans
- produce clear, concise and grammatical English that allows for a clear conveyance of meaning; produce clear, detailed text on a range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
Each student’s entry level may be assessed through a placement test.
1.Continuous assessment of active participation in class activities and of performance improvement.
2.Continuous assessment of written/oral assignments (Homework).
3.Final test.
To have access to the final test students must:
- possibly attend a recommended percentage of the scheduled lessons,
- possibly actively participate in class activities,
- produce all required assignments (homework) while undertaking to study and properly apply the rules and linguistic elements illustrated and discussed throughout the course. Homework must be mandatory handed in within the established deadline.
Attendance and active participation are required to ensure a successful outcome of the course.
Final test
- Oral presentation (with .ppt slides)
- Production of a short essay including an introduction, abstract, etc. Students should use an appropriate language (specialized structures and phrases), making reference to the content of the course.
- Test (written test) on grammatical and morphosyntactic aspects
Credit recognition is subject to successful completion of the final test and to a positive evaluation/outcome of the active participation in the course (achievement of minimum profit targets).
The course is specially designed to meet the needs of PhD and master-class students from Scientific Departments. Its primary aim is to develop the students language competence/skills while focusing on the peculiar structures of the specialized English required to communicate within the scientific community (English for Scientists).
The syllabus covers topics related to typical research studies.
The focus of the syllabus is the improvement of listening (understanding), speaking, reading and especially writing performance/abilities with reference to the specialized (science-related) English used within the scientific community, in academic and professional contexts.
Besides developing an advanced language competence (C1 level of the European Framework), the course aims at equipping students with the language skills needed to perform communicative tasks within academic and professional contexts relevant to their careers (e.g. internships). More specifically, the course aims at raising the students awareness of relevant areas of grammar and syntax (e.g. appropriate use of articles, tenses, noun phrases, lexicon) in order to help them:
- increase their knowledge of course-of-study-related specialized syntax, phrases and vocabulary
- write clear and grammatical English in an appropriate ESP style (EN for Scientists)
- receive and transmit information accurately and efficiently (clear conveyance of meaning)
- focus on high level of accuracy in writing work
- understand spoken/written English as it might be encountered in academic or professional situations
- integrate reading, writing and study skills in the pursuance of task-based activities (writing a report/critical review, presentations).
On successful completion of the course, students will improve their ability to understand and produce oral and written English as used with colleagues, professors and the general public in science-related situations.
More specifically, they will be able to:
Writing: write reports, articles, essays including an introduction, abstract, methods, discussion, and conclusion section; organize paragraphs logically, use an appropriate vocabulary, register and style; formulate their ideas in an appropriate style; explain procedures to colleagues.
Reading: understand academic and scientific essays; differentiate between facts/opinions in science-related articles; identify core vocabulary words in science-related articles and lectures; scan science-related documentation in order to get specific linguistic information.
Listening: follow a lecture, discussion or demonstration in English; understand science-related language when listened to in oral interactions in scientific career settings; understand spoken language in the form of descriptions, speculations, explanations in settings such as training meetings, supervision activities, performing procedures.
Speaking: express their opinions appropriately and clearly and stand up for an argument in science-related settings; use an appropriate ESP language to report on procedures performed.
Target level: C1 - Proficient user
LANGUAGE SKILLS AND PERFORMANCE
The course focuses on the specialized language that is commonly used in scientific communication (ESP for scientists) and on its application.
A review of grammar general rules (level B2) is foreseen where there is a need to point out/distinguish the standard use from the specialized use.
For reading, listening and communication activities, specialized articles/essays/videos are selected. Scientific topics might be related to the students’ fields of expertise.
Learning and practice activities are designed to develop the students skills and performance in the following areas:
LANGUAGE STYLE IN SCIENTIFIC WRITING AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS (speaking)
• Writing in an appropriate style - Writing up research
• How to write the introduction to a research paper
• Citations in a scientific article
• Presenting an argument
• Writing an abstract
• Language used in reporting, describing, expressing an hypothesis
• The language of Definitions: sentence patterns and tenses
• Hypothesising language
• Designing an experiment (explaining “how”): describing equipment, mechanisms, procedures, methods, reasonings, man-made processes and natural phenomena
• Speculating, describing probability
• Evaluating the results of an experiment. reporting progress
• Describing problems with an experiment
• Describing diagrams and graphs
• Cause and effect language patterns
• Organizing the results and discussion section
• Describing results
• Making comparisons of experimental results (similarities and differences, contrasting)
• Exemplification
• Organization of Scientific Research papers
• How to organize a paragraph
• How to read mathematics
Preparing a presentation
• Introducing the topic, making a statement, giving details
• Illustrating a point - giving examples and referring to research
• Developing an argument: illustrating/exemplifying arguments, ideas and opinions, expressing certainty and doubt
• Using evidence in arguing a point, agreeing and disagreeing, refuting arguments, offering evaluative comments
• Drawing conclusions, Making suggestions
LANGUAGE USE SKILLS
• Dictionaries and glossaries
• How to simplify structures
• Nominalization
• The use of passive
• Content equivalence in the transition IT-EN. Application to sentences used by students
• Connotation of verbs
• Language used in reporting, describing, expressing ideas and hypothesis, defining and explaining: sentence patterns, phrases, and tenses
• Complex sentence - Linking words and markers: how to improve your style and register
• Understanding meaning (reading, listening)
• Understanding explicitly stated information and conceptual meaning in specialized articles and essays
• Understanding highly nominalized texts
• Recognizing unsupported claims and claims supported by evidence
• Distinguishing main ideas from supporting details
GRAMMAR
Appropriate use of specialized grammar and syntax (language patterns, tenses, conditionals and modals, articles, phrases, noun structures, collocations)
NOUNS – ADJECTIVES - ADVERBS
- Articles and their use in the language of science.
- Collocations
- Noun phrases and prepositional phrases in scientific writing
- Comparing nouns, data, results
VERBS
- Verb tenses in scientific writing
- Reporting verbs and their degree of ‘support’/criticism
- Modal verbs to express ability, necessity, prohibition, speculation and future possibilities
- Conditional sentences (real / unreal possibilities)
- The use of passive in scientific writing
STRUCTURES
- Paragraph organization: topic sentence and supporting sentences
- Coherence and cohesion
- Nominalization
- Simplified sentences
- Reported speech in scientific reports
- Connecting sentences to make points clear
- Linking words and patterns to express cause and effect
English for Scientists: the specialized language of science
Writing in an appropriate style
Organization of Scientific Research papers: sections and scientific method
• Title
• Abstract
• keywords
• introduction
• methods
• results
• discussion
• acknowledgments
• references
What is meant by “Scientific method”?
Hedging:
• Definition
• Identifying hedging forms.
• Distinguish between established facts and hypothesis language
• Why should we use hedging forms
• Phrases used to report data that are less certain
Reporting verbs and hedging:
• How to choose them
• How to use them
GRAMMAR: Verbs followed by -ing and/or to
• use of verbs as subject
• after nouns, adjectives, prepositions, phrasal verbs
• after verbs: ing or to, ing and to
• negative forms with infinitive
• verbs followed by -ing and to with different meanings
• -ing used in nominalizations
• reporting verbs followed by prepositions, -ing, that
• past infinitive
• passive infinitive
• Practice
How to organize a paragraph: The topic sentence
• Analysing paragraph structures
• Identifying background information
• The topic sentence: definition, purpose, features
• Practice: identify the topic sentence, reorganize paragraphs logically.
• Write an appropriate topic sentence
• Practice:
o Create supporting sentences from notes
o Kinds of supporting sentences
o Write a whole paragraph including supporting sentences: coherence and cohesion
• Transition words, coherence and paragraph flow
Organization of Scientific papers: Practice
• reorganize the paragraphs of an Introduction
• introduce the verbs in the appropriate tense/form
Writing up research: how to write the introduction to a research paper
Writing the introduction:
• Scientific papers and reviews: sections.
• Content: What information?
• Organization of information and data in the introduction.
How to write a thesis statement
Citations in a scientific article: author-prominent, info-prominent
Reporting verbs: definition of the purpose fulfilled by the most commonly used reporting verbs
Preparing an argument
o sets of information
o logical order of sets
o topic sentence and supporting sentences
o transition words and coherence within paragraphs and between paragraphs and sections.
• How to choose a connective
• Grammatical use of linking words/phrases
Linking words: Presenting an argument
Reorganize the sentences and form logical paragraphs based on topic sentences/supporting sentences, coherence, introductory phrases
Linking words, cohesion and coherence
• What do we mean by coherence?
• Why is it essential?
• Linking words and their functions
• Linking words and phrases for: addition, equation, conclusion, purpose and result – practice
• in spite of, despite, although, even though, because, so, as, since, for example, such as, instead, however, while, yet, also.
• Sequencing: application to the description of procedures and phenomena. Practice
Dictionaries: sources and how to use them
• what do you have to look up for: meaning and grammatical use
• quality of sources
• bilingual dictionaries
• monolingual dictionaries
• visual dictionaries
• collocations
• Is lexicon enough? Is grammar enough?
• The quality of original sources: how to identify them, examples.
• glossaries and specialized sources
• glossaries: reliability and linguistic elements
• collocations in the specialized language of science
Hypothesis language
• Hypothesis, prediction, evidence
• The language of hypothesis, the language of predictions
Hypothesising: The language of predictions and speculations
• useful introductory phrases
• the language of predictions:
o “will” and modals in speculations
o modals expressing degree of certainty
o Will be doing – will have done
o probability vs possibility
o considerations on the use of verb tenses
• the language of hypothesis:
o the use of modal verbs in hypothesis and hedging
o conditional structures with “if”, “when”, providing/provided that, unless – practice
o consideratio
The syllabus activities and target level may be re-designed, from time to time, to match the learner’s entry level of language competence. The entry level may be assessed and established before starting the course.
The syllabus covers topics related to the students course of study and to the typical communication activities they might be required to perform. Special attention is paid to the purpose for which English is being studied (to be used in science departments/careers).
Lectures are based on a functional/notional approach that takes communicative factors into account right from the beginning, without losing sight of ESP grammatical and situational factors.
The development of accuracy is encouraged through a constant application of the appropriate (specialized) language patterns and grammar to writing exercises and speaking activities. Evaluative feedback is used to facilitate the progression of skills (towards a more appropriate and coherent language use).
Opportunities are provided for students to practice in contexts likely to be encountered in the target scientific community, in order to
- express meaning as clear as possible
- interact and communicate actively with/among colleagues, also from other fields of expertise
- actively apply the language skills specified under the “Content” section through guided/targeted practice (production of short essays, presentations, debates).
LANGUAGE LABORATORY
Acquisition of linguistic elements: Lectures with explanation of specialized language used in scientific communication.
Application: lectures are followed by conventional targeted application exercises - writing, reading, listening, speaking activities, presentations and mock meetings.
Interactive lectures: Communicative activities are related to the communicative and grammatical topics covered.
Practice sessions: in-class practice, group projects, listening comprehension; understanding questions, handouts, articles, presentations; interfacing with colleagues, explaining concepts.
Interaction: asking for clarification or information, answering to the request for clarification, oral presentations, making suggestions, participating in seminars, discussion of topics related to scientific issues.
Individual homework: written and spoken, designed to develop mastery in autonomous/proficient production in English for Scientists.
Individualized correction of errors made by students in their written exercises, highlighting of mistakes based on a grid of values (error severity) and indication of hot spots on which to focus self-study activities.
Studying reference materials (textbooks, manuals, articles, handouts etc.), searching and reading for assignment-oriented information.
Self-study could be required.
Attendance is definitely required and recommended.
For further information please contact: mariagabriella.bossi@uninsubria.it
Professors
Borrowers
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Degree course in: MATHEMATICS