Universitat Internacional de Catalunya - BarcelonaEffective Speaking Skills
Main language of instruction: English
Head instructor
Dra. Marta BOSCH - mboschv@uic.es
Office hours
Students may contact the teacher via e-mail.
The course "Effective Speaking Skills" focuses on the development of various oral abilities in order to make the communication in English efficient at different registers and with the use of multiple linguistic devices. It is organised around a series of everyday topics and with determined communicative objectives to offer students a wide range of linguistic and pragmatic strategies to effectively communicate in English.
Recommended level of English B1 - B2
- Become aware of the importance of the communicative strategies which ensure an effective production and interaction in English.
- Learn formulaic language typical for the everday situations and more formal settings, at the receptice and productive levels.
- Learn about some rethorical strategies used to give public presentations and practice them in class.
At the receptive level, students will improve the ability to understand English in diferent situations and with different accents.
The following aspects will be specifically covered:
- collocations
- idioms
- pragmatic features and conversational patterns
more efficient understanding of the information through the work on pronunciation (at the segmental and suprasegmental levels)
At the productive level, students will be able to communicate efficiently in different situations, using different grades of fomality and the appropriate intonationa and pronunciation. They will get familiar and will use the rules of communication within the English culture.
Finally, several techniques of public presentation will be presented and practiced throughout the course which will end by an individual presentation of the students in class.
The content is divided in four main areas: socialisation, formulaic sequences, monologic practice and pronunciation.
I. Socialisation
II. Formulaic language
III. Telling an anecdote (monologic practice) on the topics covered in class
IV. Pronunciation workshop (individual words, sentences, stress, rythm and intonation)
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | ECTS CREDITS |
|---|---|
| Seminar. This activity will consist of taking an in-depth look at specific up-to-date topics in a monographic manner-in some cases these topics will have been debated socially-, via active work in small groups. | 0.6 |
| Practical workshop. A highly practical working activity, where students can acquire skills that are practical or also theoretical (intellectual skills, logical skills, critical skills, intellectual learning skills, study skills, quoting skills, etc). | 5.4 |
FIRST SITTING
Work in class 10% (Attendance and group work)
Course tests 40% (4 tests)
Presentation 10% (10-minute presentation at the end of the course)
Oral exam* 20%
Written exam 20%
SECOND SITTING
I. All mid-term tests that were failed 20% (in case they are not any, the average mark of the four apssed tests will be counted)
II. Students will have to take both written and oral exams again.
Oral exam* 40%
Written exam 40%
* It is necessary to pass the oral exam in order to pass the course.
| EVALUATION SYSTEM | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|
| Partial exam Groupal Work | 35% + 15% |
| Final Exam | 40% |
| Oral presentation | 10% |
Clandfield L. & Robb Benne R. (2015) Global. Advanced level - Function globally
Gore, S. (2007). English for Socializing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kay, S. Jones, V. (2015) New Inside Out. Upper-intermediate level - Useful phrases
King, D. (2005). Socialising. Delta Publishing.
Kirkpatrick, B. (2004). English for social interaction. Social expressions. Learners Publishing Pte.
Soars, L. & Soars J. (2016) New Headway. Upper-intermediate level (Fouth Edition) - Everyday English