Study programme competencies |
Code
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Study programme competences / results
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Learning aims |
Learning outcomes |
Study programme competences / results |
Students should be able to hold a conversation on general everyday matters with native speakers without difficulty. They should be able to master a fairly wide range of styles and domains in reading comprehension and their own written English. |
A1 A6 A9 A20
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B4 B10
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C2 C4
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Students should express themselves in a creative, original and imaginative way in oral and written texts in the English language. |
A6
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B6
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C2 C4
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They should be able to understand the gist of advanced oral or written texts in English, be able to follow complex arguments and identify the main conclusions drawn. |
A6 A9 A20
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B4 B5 B10
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C2 C4
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Students should be able to follow radio and television discourse on current affairs and other matters of interest, including a certain amount of colloquial language and idiomatic expressions. |
A6 A8 A11
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C2 C4
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Students shuld be able to clearly express an argument concering matters dealt with in the course of the programme and others, explaining clearly and highlighting the main points so that these can be followed without difficulty. They should be able to answer questions on these matters and use Powerpoint (or equivalent) as a means to back up their presentation. |
A9 A20
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B1 B2 B4 B6 B10
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C2 C4
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Students should be able to take part in debates about everyday general matters of interest and defend their point of view using appropriate language.
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A6 A9 A20
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B4 B10
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C2 C4
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Students should express themselves in written English, clearly, fluently and in a well-organised, coherent way, using connectors and other devices appropriately. They should be able to use linguistic vocabulary and structures that express hedging and modality: degrees of certainty / uncertainty, belief / doubt, probability / improbablity, using appropriate paragraphing and punctuation consistently. |
A6 A9 A15 A20
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B3 B4 B10
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C2 C4
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Contents |
Topic |
Sub-topic |
( The subjects were chosen with the aim of preparing the student to face a good number of real communicative situations. See Step 8 on Sources of Information for the textbook from which the following topics are taken)
1. Where we live
Grammar: emphasis with inversion, verbal tenses (present and perfect past, present and simple and continuous past) Practical Functions: describe, inform. Audition: aural skills about the city and its people, to level C1 / FALLS. Written Composition: reports. Vocabulary: The lexicon related with the city and its people, to level C1/ CAE. |
a. a. So who needs people?
b. Madrid, my home sweet home.
|
2. The art of conversation. Grammar: relative clauses (defining and non-defining); Practical functions: offering advice and asking for information. Audition: Aural skills about facial expressions and at C1 level. Written composition: proposals. Vocabulary: vocabulary about introducing oneself and conversation at CAE level. |
a. Two million followers?
b. Facial expressions. |
3. Ages and stages. Vocabulary: Vocabulary concerned with education at C1/CAE level. (count and non-count nouns) Grammar: passive voice, collocations and phrases with “wish”. Practice in oral English: discussion about advertising; Style and register: Language appropriate for each task; register and style transfer. |
a. Learning how children think.
b. I wish I’d known that before.
|
4. No gain without pain.
Grammar: “-ing” and infinitive, doubling of consonants in “-ed” and “-ing” forms. Written composition: descriptions, arguments. Phonology: Intonation and stress at required level. Doubling of consonants after vowels depending on their pronunciation. Oral practice: debating and discussing about motivation. |
a. A motivating business
b. Secret to success. |
5. The feel-good factor.
Grammar: conditionals and hypothesis; conditionals: advanced features; “wish”, “would rather / sooner”, “it’s time”. Practical functions: descriptions; Vocabulary: Lexical items related to happiness atl C1/ CAE level. |
a. Happiness: It’s a state of mind;
b. Films that make you feel good. |
6. Living with the past.
Grammar: comparisons (by far, far more, far less, etc); adverbs, adverb phrases and conjunctions. Written composition: reviews of television series. |
a. Searching for a king;
b. My hoarder mum and me. |
7. The hard sell.
Grammar: conditionals and hypothesis (advanced features). Audition: Aural skills concerning sales techniques at C1 / CAE level. Style and register: Correct language to perform each task; transfer of register and style (narratives and advertising). |
a. It’s all about technique;
b. Windows of opportunity. |
8. Passing through.
Oral English practice: Travelling and volunteer work. Grammar: “modal verbs”. Written composition: brochures. Exercises: transformations. Phonology: Intonation and stress at level required. Vocabulary: Vocabulary related with travel at C1/ CAE level. |
a. Travelling for a living;
b. Volunteering for work abroad. |
9. Reading the mind.
Grammar: Collocations and phrases with “like, “alike”, “so” and “such”, causative “have”, etc Audition: Aural skills about psychology at C1 / CAE level. Writtten composition: articles. |
a. Why can’t we tickle ourselves?;
b. How the Internet is altering your mind. |
10. Things to come.
Grammar: Future forms. Audition: Aural skills to talk about the future at C1 / CAE level. Oral practice: the future. Vocabulary: Vocabulary related with the future, at C1/ CAE level. |
a. The musical future;
b. We’ve seen it all before. |
11. A perfect match.
Grammar: Advanced work on articles and prepositions; written compositions: formal letters. Phonology: Intonation and stress at required level. Oral practice: buying, complaining, etc. |
a. A working life;
b. Does your personality really fit?
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12. Soundtracks. Grammar: Future in the past; advanced futures, “phrasal verbs”; “cleft sentences”. Style and register: apprpriate language to perform each task; register and style transfer. Audition: Aural skills concerning the subject of music, at C1 / CAE level. |
a. How we taste different colours;
b. Music and sound.
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Planning |
Methodologies / tests |
Competencies / Results |
Teaching hours (in-person & virtual) |
Student’s personal work hours |
Total hours |
Introductory activities |
C2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
Guest lecture / keynote speech |
A6 C2 |
10 |
15 |
25 |
Directed discussion |
A6 A20 B4 B5 C2 |
8 |
12 |
20 |
Speaking test |
A6 A9 A15 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
Seminar |
B6 B3 B6 |
13 |
15 |
28 |
Objective test |
B1 B2 B10 C2 C4 C4 |
0 |
25 |
25 |
Oral presentation |
A6 A9 B2 B4 B6 C2 |
1 |
10 |
11 |
Student portfolio |
A8 A11 A1 C2 |
2 |
30 |
32 |
|
Personalized attention |
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
(*)The information in the planning table is for guidance only and does not take into account the heterogeneity of the students. |
Methodologies |
Methodologies |
Description |
Introductory activities |
Introductory sessions, where activities aim to obtain information about students' level of competence, in order to advance in agreement with their expectations and requirements. |
Guest lecture / keynote speech |
Lecture mode, accompanied by audiovisual materials, with the aim of increasing students' knowledge of the English language and the topics covered. |
Directed discussion |
Discussion in pairs and small groups, monitored by the teacher, in which students' skills are put into practice, whereby informal, spontaneous conversations and debates can take place. |
Speaking test |
A test in which communicative competence is assessed, within the context of an individual or pair interview which takes place with one or both of the teachers. |
Seminar |
Practical sessions where the four basic communicative skills are developed, with regard to topics contained in the programme or others that may arise. |
Objective test |
Written examination. This allows teachers to assess the knowledge and linguistic skills acquired, developed and improved during the course. This may include several types of questions: essays, multiple choice, gap-filling, transformation and other exercises, and a listening test. It will be almost exclusively based on materials covered in the course of the classes. |
Oral presentation |
This is a presentation in front of the class (medium size DI class) involving a topic for argument or controversy chosen by the student her/himself. Students should come to some conclusion ater considering and explaining the main points. They should use PowerPoint or similar to back up their arguments. |
Student portfolio |
Students should keep, register and arrange materials, which are the result of lectures and other activities, with their own comments and grades assigned to them, so that they can follow their own development. It should include their compositions together with the comments and corrections made by teachers. Also any other research and work carried out by themselves independently. |
Personalized attention |
Methodologies
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Student portfolio |
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Description |
Both teachers will assess compositions during the course. Students should take into account the corrections and comments made and apply them in future work done. They should consult with teachers concerning errors and necessary improvements to be made, and make use of self-study time to apply corrections made.
All students should make use of teachers' office hours, which are there for the purpose of individual monitoring of progress. |
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Assessment |
Methodologies
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Competencies / Results |
Description
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Qualification
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Speaking test |
A6 A9 A15 |
All students will perform a speaking test at the end of the four-month period, individually or in pairs, in which they must display communicative competence in the English language. Students will be assessed on their ability to make themselves understood, their coherence, fluency, pronunciation and also their lexical and grammatical complexity and correctness. |
10 |
Seminar |
B6 B3 B6 |
Students will be assessed according to their attendance and participation (10%). |
10 |
Oral presentation |
A6 A9 B2 B4 B6 C2 |
Students will talk about a topic chosen by her/himself, where there is an element of controversy involved. It should be based on a text, taken from a magazine, newspaper, website, etc, where a point of view is expressed, and the student should include and argue his/her own point of view on the topic. This test is individual, cannot be done in pairs or groups, and should be performed without notes. They should make use of a PowerPoint or other presentation, but this should only be consulted, not read in its entirety. Details can be found in the course programme available on Moodle. |
20 |
Objective test |
B1 B2 B10 C2 C4 C4 |
An objective test based on materials covered in class, further reading and assignments required by both teachers. Includes various sorts of exercises, a composition and a listening test. |
40 |
Student portfolio |
A8 A11 A1 C2 |
Written compositions will be assessed. The characteristics of each will be explained by the teachers involved. |
20 |
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Assessment comments |
IMPORTANT: In order to pass this subject, a minimum of 5 out of 10 is required. A score of 4 out of ten is the minimum required in the written examination. Those students who do not attend the written exams will be given a grade of NP (absent). JULY ASSESSMENT: Students who are absent from or who fail in the December / January examination will have to sit the "second opportunity" exam session in July, where the criteria for assessment will be the following: Speaking test (10%), Objective test (40%), Oral presentation (15%) student portfolio (20%). Summary of a short story (15%). Those who have passed part of the subject in the December/January session will NOT be required to repeat that part in July. Students sitting the December exam (final exam brought forward) will be assessed according to the criteria specified for the July opportunity. SPECIAL DISPENSATIONS: Those who have a special dispensation for part-time study according to the norms established by the University of A Coruña, will be required to fulfil the same requirements as those of the July session.
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Sources of information |
Basic
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Lynda Edwards and Jacky Newbrook (2014). Gold Advanced Exam Maximizer (without key) . Harlow, UK; Pearson (Price: about 24€) |
Students should bring the book to class with them as a matter of habit.
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Complementary
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Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. (1985). A University Grammar of English. London, Longman
Vince, Michael (2009). Advanced Language Practice. English Grammar and Vocabulary. (WITH KEY) MacMillan Publishers
Mann, M. (2008). Destination C1&C2: grammar and vocabulary. MacMillan
Tims, Nicholas et al. ( 2014). Face2face Advanced Workbook. Cambridge, UK: CUP ISBN 1107690587
Sally Burgess and Amanda Thomas (2014). Gold Advanced Coursebook. Harlow, UK; Pearson
Side, Richard and Guy Wellman (2000). Grammar and Vocabulary for CAE and CPE. London: Longman
Jones, Leo (2001). New Cambridge Advanced English. Cambridge, CUP.
Swan, M. (1996). Practical English Usage. Oxford: O.U.P. |
The above 8 books are for reference and further practice only. |
Recommendations |
Subjects that it is recommended to have taken before |
Lingua Inglesa I/613211103 | Lingua Inglesa II/613211104 |
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Subjects that are recommended to be taken simultaneously |
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Subjects that continue the syllabus |
Lingua Inglesa IV/613211404 | Lingua Inglesa V/613211405 | Lingua Inglesa VI/613211601 |
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