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S20-5 - English Language 1 (S20-5)

Course specification
Type of study Bachelor academic studies
Study programme
Course title English Language 1 (S20-5)
Acronym Status Semester Number of classes ECTS
S20-5 elective 1 2L + 2E 6.0
Lecturers
Lecturer
Lecturer/Associate (practicals)
Prerequisite Form of prerequisites
No prerequisites. None.
Learning objectives
This B1-B2 level academic course aims at providing students with intercultural skills necessary for successfully communicating and understanding various social, economic, and ethical concepts in the professional field of applied sociology and across the entire realm of social sciences and humanities. In addition, the course offers elaboration and clarification of the points of English grammar that serve the aforementioned central goals, as well as strategies and techniques for building up one's professional vocabulary and mastering rhetorical features of both written and spoken language.
Learning outcomes
Upon the end of the course, students shall be able to organise and manage meetings gathering participants of various cultural backgrounds, to communicate sensitive issues safely and effectively, to develop all aspects of communication process taking both the role of a speaker and a listener, and to present their contents by acknowledging the cultural diversity of the respective audience and the possible challenges imposed by it. Furthermore, they shall be able to utilise the grammatical points highlighted to express all the nuances of meaning as regards lexical choice and structures used.
Content
First week: Developing Intercultural Skills - Cultural Issues; Present Tenses - Functions; Small Talk Second week: Developing Intercultural Skills - Strategies; Overview of Past and Perfect Tenses - Overlapping and Differences; Third week: Managing First Meetings - Communication; Grammatical and Rhetorical Issues; Fourth week: Managing First Meetings - Different Styles; Aspects of Modal Verbs; Fifth week: Communicating Effectively - Messages; Determiners - Types and Usage Sixth week: Communicating Effectively - Differences across Cultures; Adjectives and Adverbs - Comparison and Degree; Seventh week: Mid-term Exam; Managing International Meetings - Different Approaches; Future Time - Structures Eighth week: Managing International Meetings - Language Points; Pronouns and Nouns - Textual Features; Ninth week: Becoming a Better Listener - Significance for Communication; Complementation of Verbs; Tenth week: Becoming a Better Listener - Analysis of the Process; BE, DO, HAVE - Expressions Eleventh week: Presenting across Cultures; Essay Writing - Basics; Twelfth week: Presenting across Cultures - Customising Messages; Prepositional Phrases - Time, Place, Manner Thirteenth week: End-of -term Exam; False Friends - Loanwords and Terminology, Vocabulary Building and Techniques
Teaching Methods
Lectures; Practical work
Literature
  1. 1. Communicating Across Cultures. Dignen, Bob. Student's Book. Cambridge Business Skills, CUP, 2011. (Original title)
  2. How English Works. Swan, Michael, Catherine Walter. A Grammar Practice Book. OUP, 1997. (Original title)
  3. Right Word, Wrong Word. Alexander, L.G. A Vocabulary-Building Companion. Longman, 1999. (Original title)
Evaluation and grading
Mid-term exam. End-of-term exam. Oral exam
Specific remarks
None.