• Schaller-Schwaner Iris

• Schaller-Schwaner Iris

Audiences: Master’s students from across the university who need to be able to work in English, particularly in Master’s programmes taught entirely or primarily in English; 3rd year bachelors preparing for this; PhD students with similar needs.

This is an interactive workshop for practising your communicative oral English in academically challenging activities and formats typically expected of Master’s students working in or with English. You participate in spontaneous and prepared speaking activities catering to the needs of Master’s students with English as an additional or primary language for academic purposes. The class builds oral confidence through regular production in English, including four assessment tasks. Your class contributions and individual investment will support you in reaching your objectives, e.g. to be more fluent, more motivating, more informative, or more polished in your English for academic use.

Content in terms of topics, readings and other materials will come from popular and educational sources as well as from academic publications. You are encouraged to make suggestions and be explicit about what you need from the course. Examine what is offered critically in terms of its validity, bias or assumptions. Share with others what you would embrace or reject, apply or question. Help negotiate meaning when listening to others actively or modify your own account in response to what others contribute to discussions. All tasks will hopefully engage curiosity and energize the class.

The CEFR levels in the course title do NOT mean that the course leads from B2 to C1. Instead, they signal at what levels you can participate in this English for academic purposes course on the basis of your online placement test result and oral performance in class. Each individual CEFR level, particularly from B2 upwards, covers a range of abilities in several areas. It is therefore not surprising that your profiles, needs, purposes and skills as learners and users of English will vary considerably.

Attendance policy and assessment: Please attend and contribute actively and regularly. You must not miss more than two sessions. Assessment will comprise four assessment tasks prepared at home and delivered in class, including a researched oral presentation that draws on peer-reviewed published research on a topic related to your studies. You need to participate in and pass all four tasks to pass the course and earn the credits.

Activate and improve your oral English and display your growing academic voice and take. Respond to & initiate questions and co-construct discussions. Develop capacity for critical thinking & knowledge building through the medium of English. Exercise and share your academic literacy and explicitly draw on research (e.g. by selecting, evaluating & synthesizing information, citing sources). Topic- or text-based language activities will be combined with practical or intellectual explorations. You compare the perspective of your studies with that of others and engage in exchanges to build ‘intercultural’ skills and knowledge. Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary work support your prepared and spontaneous speaking activities in the autumn semester. Use of specialist language resources (e.g. quality online dictionaries) is promoted.