This course is for participants whose level corresponds to level B2 or C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Please only register if your level corresponds to the course. Participants of our partner institutions and Unifr employees can contact us to take a placement test if they are unsure of their level. Unifr students are automatically guided to the placement test when registering for a course on MyUnifr.

Target audience
Master’s students from across the university who need to be able to work in English, particularly in Master’s programmes taught entirely or primarily in English; 3rd year bachelors preparing for this; PhD students with similar needs.

Course content and method
This is an interactive workshop for practising and improving your communicative English, both through focused language work with texts and exercises and through engaging in academically challenging activities and formats typically expected of Master’s students working in or with English. You participate in spontaneous speaking and prepare and deliver more formal speaking activities catering to the needs of Master’s students with English as an additional or primary language for academic purposes. This will also require reading and writing, e.g. scripting a talk or writing presentation slides. The class builds oral confidence through regular production in English, including in four assessment tasks. Your class contributions and individual investment will support you in reaching your objectives, e.g. to be more fluent, more motivating, more informative, or more polished in your English for academic use.

Topic- or text-based language activities will be combined with practical or intellectual explorations. You compare the perspective of your studies with that of others and engage in exchanges to build ‘intercultural’ skills and knowledge. Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary work support your prepared and spontaneous speaking activities. Use of good English language resources (e.g. quality online dictionaries) is promoted. Later activities include deepening text awareness, critiquing skills and adapting to different audiences while also promoting instructive speaking and co-operation.

Class work and individual course work outside class will make your English more accurate, more informative, and more appropriate. Topics include introducing people and explaining different kinds of research to educated non-specialists; describing observations; explaining hypotheses, purposes, and processes; reporting on events and findings; and arguing positions from various perspectives. It focuses on presentation, discussion and co-operation skills and requires explicitly acknowledging sources in all formal tasks. Students’ academic experiences are also affected by the quality of their interactions with peers. Therefore, you also work in pairs or groups and share responsibility for outcomes.

Workload and evaluation
Please attend and contribute actively and regularly. Assessment will comprise three required tasks prepared at home and delivered in class, including a researched oral presentation that draws on peer-reviewed published research on a topic related to your studies. You need to participate in and pass all four tasks and submit your work as required to pass the course and earn the credits.

Materials
There will be a mix of class materials, self-study resources and links to reference tools such as good online dictionaries. For some tasks, you will receive instructions and find your own material/sources. Materials from popular and educational sources as well as from academic publications will be used. Some may require critical examination in terms of validity, bias or assumptions. Participants are encouraged to embrace or reject, apply or question, negotiate the meaning of or politely take issue with an account. All tasks and materials will hopefully engage curiosity and energize the class.

Activate and improve your oral English and display your growing academic voice and take. Respond to & initiate questions and co-construct discussions. Develop capacity for critical thinking & knowledge building through the medium of English. Exercise and share your academic literacy and explicitly draw on research (e.g. by selecting, evaluating & synthesizing information, citing sources). Topic- or text-based language activities will be combined with practical or intellectual explorations. You compare the perspective of your studies with that of others and engage in exchanges to build ‘intercultural’ skills and knowledge. Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary work support your prepared and spontaneous speaking activities in the autumn semester. Use of specialist language resources (e.g. quality online dictionaries) is promoted.

The General Conditions for Participation in Language Courses apply. 

Director(s)