Pla de formació en idiomes per a la internacionalització de la docència. Basic skills and tools to teach content subjects in English

:: This course is addressed to:

UB lecturers who are non-native speakers of English and would like to start teaching or giving some lectures in English or improving the way they have been using their English in class so far.

The course includes some revision of grammar and presentation of the structures most commonly used when delivering lectures and managing classrooms but it is not sufficient to acquire the skills and proficiency needed to fully teach in English.

Only UB teaching staff are allowed to join the course (research assistants and staff are excluded).

:: Aims

• To raise participants' awareness of their strengths and weaknesses in English for the purpose of improving their ability to give lectures.
• To analyse and practise oral discourse techniques.
• To improve one’s intonation and pronunciation.
• To be able to develop activities that integrate content and language learning and enhance collaborative and autonomous learning.

:: Course content and assessment

Content will be divided into the following modules:

• Classroom language
• Communication strategies
• Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach
• Teaching a class: pronunciation, fluency and intonation of delivery; discourse markers and signalling devices for organization of lecture, emphasis, topic change; vocabulary expansion and grammatical accuracy
• English for Specific Purposes

Participants will be required to design a content lesson in English based on CLIL methodology and present it to the rest of the class.

The course will involve initial observation of one of the participants’ presentations in English, followed by coaching sessions on various aspects of discourse depending on the needs of the lecturers involved.

:: Course methodology and approach

The methodological approach will be communicative and student-centered, which means that the participants will play an active role in the course.

Class sessions will consist of lectures by the teacher, group and class discussion and experimental practice by the students.

The materials used will be of general interest to all the students in the group but closely related to the field of the participants in the course.

Special emphasis will be placed on oral performance skills, pronunciation, intonation and rhetoric.

Please be reminded that this is not a general language course.

:: Duration:  30 hours

:: Number of students:  20

:: Schedule:  

• Campus Humanitats (M. Mar Suárez)
  Wednesday, 9 – 12 h
  From 10^th February to 20^th of April
  Location: Room 201, Facultat de Geografia i Història

• Campus Diagonal (Sean Murphy)
  Tuesday & Thursday, 13 – 15 h
  From 11^th February to 7^th of April
  Location: Room 21 a), Facultat de Dret

:: Standard required and level tests:

Participants are advised to have at least:

• 4^th course of the Escola Oficial d'Idiomes (EOI)
• 4^th course of the Escola d'Idiomes Moderns (EIM)
• Pre-Advanced FCE course of the Meritschool (UPC)
• Upper-intermediate 2 of the Institut d’Estudis Nord-Americans (IEN)
• Any other equivalent or higher certificate

Who is exempt from taking the level test?

• Those who can prove the level mentioned above with a certificate not prior to year 2013-2014.
• Those who can prove having taken a long stay abroad (at least one-year long) in the last three years in a university where English is used for daily communication.
• Those who can prove having defended their doctoral dissertation in English.

Those who can prove any of the conditions mentioned above will have to send a copy of a proof document via e-mail (iceformub@ub.edu) before January, 14.

Candidates who cannot prove the required language proficiency will have to take an entry level test before starting the course, this will consist of a written test (45 minutes) and an interview (5-10 minutes).

Several shifts for the level tests are scheduled. Those who cannot prove their level with any proof document will have to sign up for one of these level tests.

Each person can sign up for only one level test.

It will be possible to choose any of the shifts as long as there are vacancies.

Dates of level tests:

:: Course Preregistration

Preregistration is compulsory for all the teaching staff interested in joining a group.

Pre-registration is allowed to only one group.

End of pre-registration period: January, 14

Places will be confirmed after level-test evaluation.