English: reading and listening comprehension of scientific texts

lang1862  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

English: reading and listening comprehension of scientific texts
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
2 credits
30.0 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Adrioueche Ahmed (coordinator); Dumont Amandine; Halleux Ariane (coordinator);
Language
English
Prerequisites
To have passed LANG1861 or reached the B1 level of the « Common European Framework of References for Languages ».

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
Main themes
The main themes dealt with in the texts and videos are closely related to Bac 2 courses of the students' majors (biology, chemistry, geography, mathematics, physics and veterinary science).
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1 At the end of the course, the students should have developed the following skills:
Reading comprehension
  • A reading comprehension course aimed at equipping students with the receptive skills necessary for writing their dissertation and other academic work. Students should be able to understand in detail both descriptive and argumentative texts concerning general scientific topics. 
Level B2-C1 of the « Common European Framework of References for Languages »
Listening comprehension
  • A listening comprehension course aimed at equipping students with the receptive skills necessary for understanding television programmes (talks, lectures,') on scientific subjects.
Level B1-B2 of the « Common European Framework of References for Languages »
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
  • Portfolio of articles and abstracts from the New Scientist, Nature, textbooks,' oriented towards the students' fields of study (biology, chemistry, geography, mathematics, physics and veterinary science).
  • Set of television programmes on scientific subjects ( cosmology, Vets in Practice, the human genome, earthquakes,')
Teaching methods
  • The teaching methods used will encourage the active and interactive participation of the students. The first step, which is crucial, is the preparation of activities which will be dealt with more fully in the following lesson: students receive precise instructions on how to work either individually or in groups, on a series of problems which will enable them to discover, for instance, certain lexical or grammatical aspects of texts (Flipped classes). Afterwards, during the lesson, the students are expected to comment on the different problems they encountered, and the conclusions they came to.
  • -Systematic development of  reading strategies.
  • Discourse cohesion, recurrent grammatical structures and additional lexical and grammatical difficulties
  • Listening comprehension: various language laboratory exercises to ensure a thorough understanding of the message.
  • Short oral presentations in groups.
Evaluation methods
The level of the examination and the exemption test at the beginning of the year correspond to Level B2-C1 (reading and listening comprehension) of the 'Common European language reference framework'.
  1. Exemption test at the start of the term:12/20 exempts students from course and exam, provided the student validates it at the faculty in due time.
  2. Continuous assessment: vocabulary and reading tests during the term and Moodle (e-learning platform) exercises.
  3. Pronunciation test of frequent scientific and academic terms
  4. Written exam on reading and listening skills
Bibliography
> Syllabus
Faculty or entity
ILV


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Bachelor in Chemistry

Bachelor in Geography : General

Bachelor in Mathematics

Interdisciplinary Advanced Master in Science and Management of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Master [120] in Environmental Science and Management

Bachelor in Physics

Bachelor in Veterinary Medicine

Bachelor in Biology