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General course organization and Methodology | |||||||||
The main purpose of this course is to integrate theoretical knowledge of English with the practical skills of listening and speaking. It is mainly oriented to the workplace but time is also dedicated to language that is more typical of day-to-day social interaction. The specific aims are as follows: - To provide models of useful language for different professional situations related with the PR and advertising sectors (job interviews, business meetings and presentations) and opportunities to practise talking about a range of different topics in social situations; - To improve the ability to understand spoken English; - To practice different language functions such as expressing and asking for ideas and opinions; negotiating, solving problems, etc.; - To develop communication strategies; - To improve grammatical accuracy, fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation; - To be able to talk about current affairs and the news; - To increase awareness of the cultural factors associated with the need to communicate effectively with professionals from all over the world, with special emphasis on the Anglo-American model of conversation (“minimal gap, minimal overlap”); - To encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning, both inside and outside the classroom; - To promote the ability to work independently as well as in groups. To further these aims, the course is taught in 2 parts, which focus on: i) job interviews and business meetings ii) presentations. Each part contains specific activities directly related to the main theme, as well as more general activities. An active methodology is used to encourage maximum participation. Students are recommended to attend classes and marks are given for constructive participation. Single assessment is not recommended for students whose English level is not at least B2. To enhance learning and participation, students are divided into 2 groups according to their level of English. (B2 – C1 and above, and B2 - B1 and below). The first session each week is with the whole group and covers the professional aspects of the course - “hours 1 and 2”- . The second is with one of the smaller groups on alternate weeks and covers more general discussion topics –“hour 3”; students therefore have 4 hours of English one week and 2 the next. The remaining 13 hours of the course are covered by complementary activities on Moodle – “hour 4”. |