English advanced receptive skills I [ LGERM1322 ]

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Listening and reading comprehension.

To acquire advanced skills in listening and reading (B2 level - Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
At the end of the course, the student will be able to :
- understand the main ideas of propositionally and linguistically complex speech on both everyday life and academic concrete, abstract, cultural and literay topics delivered in a standard language, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization;
- follow extended speech and complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar, and the direction of the talk is sign-posted by explicit markers;
- follow the essentials of lectures, talks and reports and other forms of academic/professional/cultural/literary presentation which are propositionally and linguistically complex;
- read with a large degree of independence, adapting style and speed of reading to different texts and purposes, and using appropriate reference sources selectively;
- quickly identify the content and relevance of news items, articles and reports on a wide range of professional topics, deciding whether closer study is worthwhile;
- scan longer texts in order to locate desired information, and gather information from different parts of a text, or from different texts in order to fulfil a specific task; 
- obtain information, ideas and opinions from highly specialized sources within his/her field;
- understand specialized articles outside his/her field, provided he/she can use a dictionary occasionally to confirm his/her interpretation of terminology - use a variety of strategies to achieve comprehension, including listening for main points; checking comprehension by using contextual clues.

Lectures in auditorium (entire group). Presentation of reading and listening techniques. Advanced reading and listening exercises. Focus on language varieties. Testing of detailed understanding.

To reach the aims defined for the course, the students will be presented with a large variety of written, spoken and audio-visual sources dealing with familiar (and less familiar) topics from everyday, social, cultural, academic, literary and/or vocational life.

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