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LANG-H500

English for professional purposes

academic year
2023-2024
2024-2025

Course teacher(s)

Alexander CORNFORD (Coordinator)

ECTS credits

5

Language(s) of instruction

english

Course content

  • Lexico-grammatical resources specific to professional, scientific and technical communication in English.
  • Phonological system of English
  • Intermediate-advanced grammar

Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)

In general, this course targets, as a minimum, a level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for speaking and writing in scientific and professional domains.
By the end of this course, the student will be able, both orally and in writing, to define, explain, and justify the theoretical bases and methodological procedures of a research project (normally the final year Master’s thesis), and to evaluate the work achieved both from a scientific point of view and in terms of professional development. The student will be able to present a professional CV, write a cover letter, and be capable of going through a job interview in English with confidence.

Prerequisites and Corequisites

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

At least 400h of English learning (+-/ a CEFR level B1+ ). A multiple choice test is organised at the beginning of the course (this does not count in the final evaluation).

Teaching methods and learning activities

Written exercises, language practice, personal work
The course presents students with written lexico-grammatical exercises, transferable to writing scientific and professional documents and to speaking tasks in scientific and professional contexts; discussion and debates in small groups, to develop clear and effective communication skills.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Recommended:

Advanced Grammar in Use Book with Answers and Interactive eBook. Martin Hewings, Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Course notes

  • Université virtuelle

Other information

Contacts

Mr CORNFORD, Alexander - alexander.cornford@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Evaluation

Method(s) of evaluation

  • Oral examination
  • Other

Oral examination

Other

Oral examination : An individual interview in English.
The interview comprises two parts: i) based on a written summary of a research project; and ii) based on the student’s curriculum vitae and a covering letter.
The written documents (summary of research, CV and covering letter) are submitted in advance of the oral examination date.
For this examination, there are two sessions: in June (1st session) and in August (2nd session).

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Oral examination: Interview part based on written summary of final year thesis: 60%; part based on curriculum vitae and letter of motivation: 40%

Language(s) of evaluation

  • english

Programmes