Scope / semester hours per week

A total of 60 classroom teaching hours (4 SWS)

Prerequisites

Oxford online placement test (score 90 - 99) or participation in the course "English Speaking in Academic Contexts B2/C1" or "English Writing in Academic Contexts B2/C1"

General information

The course is based on level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and is the first component of this level. The course teaches the skills of listening comprehension, reading comprehension, oral interaction, oral production and writing. The focus is on competences and use of the English language in an academic context. The lessons are activity-orientated and communicative.

Learning objectives

Listening
Students can understand a wide range of demanding, longer utterances, even if standard language is not necessarily used. Implicit meanings can be recognised from the following situations:

- radio programmes with several speakers

- complex conversations and discussions

- longer lectures and talks

Reading
Students are enabled to understand long, authentic general language or science-related texts in detail, even if they do not belong to their own area of specialisation, provided that difficult passages can be read several times. More complex text forms are dealt with in class, which are encountered in social and professional life, in education and at university, such as

- various press articles

- scientific articles from various departments

Oral interaction and production
Oral interaction and production in various situations is practised in the course so that students can

- keep up easily in a debate or discussion and convincingly defend a position, clearly recognise pro and con arguments and respond spontaneously to complex counter-arguments (e.g. during group work, in a seminar or a job interview)

- can describe and present complex issues clearly and in detail and are able to integrate subordinate topics

- be able to present complex topics in a well-structured and clear manner and handle questions with ease (e.g. during presentations and lectures)

Writing
Students will be able to write clear, well-structured texts on complex topics and emphasise the key points. The focus of the course in the field of writing skills includes:

- Planning and structuring essays

- Summarising a text or several texts (e.g. a literature review)

- Finding and using reference material from the wealth of academic literature

Proof of performance through

- regular attendance (proof is provided by attendance lists)
- written examination lasting approx. 180 minutes consisting of

• Reading comprehension
• listening comprehension
• Writing task(s)

- oral examination

ECTS points

Regular attendance and passing the written and oral examinations: 6 ECTS credits