Aims

Acquire a higher intermediate level of communicative competence in two skills: listening and speaking (both individual and interactive).
After completing the course the student will be able to
-understand and take part in an unplanned conversation (e.g. with a native speaker) about an everyday topic or (ii) a topic dealt with in the media
-take part in a discussion about a topic with which s/he is familiar: understand the arguments put forward, be able to summarize them and express a personal opinion
-have no difficulty in following factual information presented e.g. on the radio or on television; be able to summarize and/or present it

Main themes

1. Basic vocabulary: various lexical exercises, special attention is paid to word formation processes (compounding, derivation)
2. Grammatical applications: consolidation of grammatical competence (morphological, syntactic and semantic aspects)
3. Speaking and listening skills: exercises aim to improve students' oral skills (pronunciation, intonation, accentuation) as well as their communicative skills.
Language laboratory exercises are organized (30 hours - limited number of students per session)

Content and teaching methods

(i) Contents : the topics covered mainly feature in the media and deal with society, politics, sports, culture (in a broad sense) or current affairs
(ii) Method :
-15 hours of lecturing (all students are grouped together for this part of the course) during which the above-mentioned topics are presented in written form (newspaper articles) or audio/video form (recordings), commented upon and analysed. Particular attention will be paid to pronunciation (phonetic accuracy, word stress, intonation)
-15 hours of conversation tutorials (groups of maximum 20 students) on the topics covered in the lectures; other authentic documents (in particular audio documents) connected with the same topics can also be used to elicit students' reactions.
-20 hours of individual work, in particular:
-Systematic and personal study of vocabulary coupled with listening comprehension materials (self-study)
-Preparation of listening and speaking exercises
-Revision of course notes, memorization

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisites : Course credit for FLTR 11XX/FLTR 11XZ.


Evaluation : The formal assessment consists of 2 parts, in line with the objectives outlined above. The topics used will be the same as those covered throughout the course. The assessment of the linguistic code will be integrated in the assessments of the 2 skills:
-Assessment of listening comprehension (both micro and macro comprehension): 50% of the mark.
-Oral skills assessment (individual and/or interactive): 50% of the mark .


Course Supervision/Course Holder :
The coordination of the course is entrusted to one (or two) academic member(s) of the GERM department.

Tutorials will be given by at least one assistant, who will also take part in the formal assessment.

Other credits in programs