English Communication Skills for Bioengineers

Teacher(s)

Adrioueche Ahmed; Dupont Maïté; François Dominique; Meirlaen Sandrine; Pertuit Mark Theodore; Peters Charlotte; Pham Adrien (coordinator); Stas Françoise; Toubeau Anne-Julie;

Language

English

Prerequisites

The LANGL1882 course or any other equivalent course. (Reading skills roughly corresponding to Level C1 (lower) of « the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages » and listening skills corresponding to Level B2 (lower).

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

To reach these objectives, teaching activities will focus on the following topics:

• socializing ( introducing oneself, greeting, inviting, small talk, ')
• meetings and negotiating: taking part in and chairing a meeting, debating, agreeing and disagreeing, convincing, concluding,'
•  presentation skills: presenting and defending a project:, facts and figures, processes and cycles, graphs,'
• giving/receiving a phone call
•  applying for a job: writing a CV and cover letter, leading up the job interview.
   

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	By the end of this module the students will be able to express themselves in English on general topics and their professional fields. At the end of the term, the student should have acquired oral skills corresponding to the B1-B2 level of « the Common European Framework of Reference 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

• Interaction in general and professional situations.
• Participation in and management of meetings.
• Negotiation skills.
• Objective description of projects, processes, cycles, graphs, facts and figures, etc.
• Scientific presentations: subject is chosen by the student
• Writing: e-mail, CV, letter of motivation
• Job interview practice

• Vocabulary and grammar mastery (general and specific vocabulary, grammar related to French-speaking students’ difficulties).
• Language functions: expression one’s opinion, agreement, disagreement, interrupting, diplomatic language, etc.
• Pronunciation: general and specific vocabulary

Teaching methods

• Interactive communication through classroom activities: simulations, debates, ...
• Exposure to a variety of real-life situations (scientific presentation, reports, CV and cover letter, job interviews) requiring specific language functions.
• Consolidation and improvement of grammar use, vocabulary accuracy as well as pronunciation.
• Regular feedback to students.
• Pairwork and small groups (conversation tables)
• Field trip

Evaluation methods

a) Participation (warm-up discussions, debates,…)               20%
      b) Presentation                                                                        20%
c) CV                                                                                        5%
d) Cover letter                                                                           5%
e) Meeting (group exam):                                                        25%
f) Job interview (individual exam):                                           25%

Online resources

Langl 2480 course on Moodle.

Bibliography

Langl 2480 course notes.

Faculty or entity

ILV