Aims

To acquire advanced skills in speaking and writing (B2 level - Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ).

Speaking skills - at the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on a wide range of subjects related to his/her field of interest, expanding and supporting ideas with subsidiary points and relevant examples
- use the language fluently, accurately and effectively on a wide range of general, vocational or leisure topics, clearly marking the relationships between ideas
- communicate spontaneously with good grammatical control without much sign of having to restrict what he/she wants to say, adopting a level of formality appropriate to the circumstances
- deviate spontaneously from a prepared speech in order to follow up on interesting issues mentioned by listeners

Writing skills - at the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- write clear, detailed texts on a variety of subjects related to his/her field of interest, synthesizing and evaluating information and arguments from a number of sources
- write clear, detailed descriptions of real or imaginary events and experiences, marking the relationship between ideas in clear connected text, and following established conventions of the genre concerned
- relate information, express opinions and adapt to other people's opinions through writing

The student will :
- use a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to his/her field and to more general topics
- vary formulation to avoid frequent repetition
- have a relatively high degree of grammatical control
- communicate with reasonable accuracy in familiar contexts
- have a clear, natural, pronunciation and intonation
- produce clearly intelligible continuous writing which follows standard layout and paragraphing conventions
- use accurate spelling and punctuation

Main themes

Focus on language use (vocabulary and grammar) through oral and written productions. The stress will be laid on the argumentation and production of efficient spoken and/or written discourse. Special attention will be devoted to discourse and interaction strategies in speech, and to cohesion and coherence in writing.

Content and teaching methods

Contents
To reach the aims defined for the course, the themes addressed will be concrete or abstract, of a rather complex nature, including technical issues in the student's field of specialization.

Teaching method

Lectures in auditorium (entire group): focus, mainly through written exercises, both on vocabulary acquisition & expansion, and on grammatical and syntactic accuracy.

Exercise sessions in smaller groups: focus on correct oral production (vocabulary, grammar, fluency, pronunciation, etc.).

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

Assessment method:
End of the academic year
- oral exam to assess oral skills ;
- written exam to assess writing skills.

Links with other courses:
It would be desirable to address (at least partly) some of the themes dealt with in the receptive skills course (GERM1312/1322/1332). This would enable students to exploit the themes in the four skills.

Other credits in programs