English: Listening Comprehension
[ANGL1872]
[20h] 2 credits
This course is taught in the 2d semester.
Teacher(s): Jennifer Moreman, Henri November(coord.), Marc Piwnik(coord.), Nevin Serbest, Anne-Julie Toubeau
Language: English
Level: First
Aims
Main themes
I. Concerning listening comprehension, at the end of Term 6, students should be able to :
- attend classes, conferences or talks given in English and to grasp, not only the general meaning, but also the important details,
- understand spoken English sufficiently well in order to communicate effectively with colleagues in scientific and technical contexts;
II. Concerning spoken English, at the end of Term 6, students should be able :
- on the one hand, to communicate orally in situations where there is no interactivity, such as reading aloud and clearly, reports, verbal accounts and other scientific or technical texts,
- on the other hand, students should be able to :
1. conduct a well-structured oral presentation of their T6 project by using appropriate language and presentation techniques without systematically resorting to written notes. This will be a group presentation.
2. express themselves spontaneously without the help of a text , for instance to formulate hypotheses, carry out analyses or draw conclusions, etc.
3. use basic scientific vocabulary fluently to express numbers, sizes, measurement units, etc.
4. use everyday language necessary for group work, for example, to show agreement or disagreement, to offer suggestions, etc.
III. Concerning written English, students will be able to :
- write an extended abstract of 3 to 4000 characters at the beginning of their project report,
- write the text of their project presentation using Powerpoint.
This course has been specifically designed to consolidate and integrate the vocabulary acquisition which began in T1, while taking into account the 3rd year Plan Langues courses which focus more on the speaking skills the students will need to master for their future professional lives.
Content and teaching methods
- Year of studies : FSA BAC2 (Faculty of applied sciences)
- Number of hours, rhythm, terms: 20h, 2h/week, 2nd term
- Aim and contents : listening comprehension of texts in the field of applied sciences, study of specific vocabulary,
reading aloud (stress and pronunciation), oral presentations and writing an abstract
- Evaluation: exemption test, continuous assessment, oral presentation of a project using Powerpoint, written exams
with a listening comprehension component.
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)
I. The texts used as teaching aids are either
1. spoken :
- videos dealing with different topics such as pollution and alternative fuels, the effect
of wind on tall buildings, the risks attached to new technologies, etc.
- varied texts found on the WEB used as an aid to understanding spoken English,
2. written :
- the course books which are prescribed for the T6 course
- additional texts to those spoken, for instance, on the probabilities of risks inherent to new technologies and on alternative energies.
II. Concerning vocabulary, students will be able to use
- general everyday vocabulary
- general academic vocabulary, as well as the vocabulary typical of the different T6 disciplines and the texts employed in the English course.
III. Concerning pronunciation, students will be able to
- spell out the English and Greek alphabets
- use the English phonetic system
- read aloud texts in English
- pronounce and stress words correctly
- use the weak forms of auxiliary and modal verbs.
IV. Concerning grammar, students will be able to
- employ tenses correctly (e.g. irregular verb forms)
- differentiate between the active and passive forms, between simple and progressive forms and those with or without 'have'
- use modals correctly, especially when combined with infinitives
- use correct sentence structures, especially with negatives and question forms.
V. Concerning listening comprehension, students will be able to comprehend the message, i.e., to
- grasp the main ideas
- extract certain vital pieces of information
- understand the structure.
Moreover, to ensure the smooth transition from passively understanding spoken English towards actively speaking it, it is important that the students distinguish and understand isolated words and expressions.
EVALUATION
. Continuous assessment
Students' skills in comprehension and oral expression and particularly the progress made, are subject to continuous
assessment throughout the term; this will cover both their comprehension (i.e. differentiating words like 'work',
'walk', 'woke') and their non-interactive production (i.e. the pronunciation and correct stress of words), as well as
their ability to communicate effectively (understanding and talking) during class activities. Continuous assessment
will also take into account regular class attendance and personal work as well as active participation in group work and in class activities.
. Continuous assessment will focus primarily on students' oral work, for example role plays, discussions, reports and
presentations. Presentations will be made either individually or in a group and must be related to topics covered in
T6 and preferably to their project. The defence of their T6 project will be conducted in English and will be the final
step in their evaluation.
. Throughout T6 there will be a number of short written tests covering vocabulary and listening comprehension. The
latter can be tested via the message or the language used. These tests also prepare the students for the exam
proper. All the different types of exam questions will be practiced in class beforehand.
. Their written work in the form of an extended abstract will also be marked.
. Continuous assessment accounts for 1/3 of the total mark.
. Examination
The examination will check whether the objectives concerning listening comprehension and code (vocabulary and
grammar) have been reached. The exam represents 2/3 of the mark.
EDUCATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION
The course comprises six learning units, implying 16 hours (2hours x 8 weeks) of class activities with a teacher.
The teaching schedule is the following :
1. Introductory lecture, initial work and exercises in class with the teacher,
2. Autonomous group and/or individual work (possibility of self-tuition to catch up on weak points)
3. Monitoring work and providing practice via (mostly) oral activities in class, such as role plays, questions-answers, debates, etc.
4. Feedback and advice on remedial work to be done after class.
TEACHING AIDS
- course notes, on sale at the ILV, with CAA (self-tuition centre) access card
- an audio cassette, sold with course notes
- videos, at the CAA, and at certain times in rooms ESOP22, ESOP33 at the ILV, Traverse d'Esope 1
- the CAA and multi-media room at the ILV
- the prescribed text books of the T6 course can be integrated into the course if they are written in English
TEACHERS
- Isabelle Druant (druant@ilv.ucl.ac.be)
- Dominque François (francois@ilv.ucl.ac.be)
- Henri November (coordinator) (november@ilv.uclac.be)
- Marc Piwnik (piwnik@ilv.ucl.ac.be)
- Albert Verhaegen (verhaegen@ilv.ucl.ac.be)