The Liberal Art University in Hong Kong

Free Elective Courses


CEAL offers an assortment of free elective courses on a variety of topics designed to improve your skills in a range of areas, including English. For more information on the courses on offer, including course descriptions, learning outcomes, assessment methods and more, please access the links below.


    No.Credits: 3        Weekly Contact Hours: 4        Terms Offered: 1 & 2


    Course Description

    This course is an introductory creative-writing class in which the principles of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction will be addressed, with some discussion of the process of submission and publication. A key focus of the course will be on the importance of reading as a means of developing one’s craft as a writer. No previous writing experience is required: this course is open to new writers as well as experienced ones. In addition to exposing students to the literary arts and the life of the writer, students who complete the course should come away with an enhanced awareness of the structure of expressive language and narrative.


    Course Outline

    Note: Students who have taken CLA9016 are not eligible to take this course.

    No.Credits: 3        Weekly Contact Hours: 4        Terms Offered: 1 & 2


    Course Description

    This course will teach you to improve your listening, speaking, and critical thinking skills using the concept of a TED presentation as a platform for communication through the videos themselves and through discussion of the ideas and issues brought to the fore. The course will also analyse different presentation techniques and demonstrate to you the various constituent parts of a good presentation. You will also practice and improve your presentation skills, during class interactions with feedback received from both peers and the instructor, in delivering your individual presentations. There is also an advocacy Service Learning component, as you will apply what you learn during the course to develop a TED Talk-like presentation on a current Hong Kong wellness issue or a broadly defined positive development issue in a global context.


    Course Outline

    Note: This course should be taken when or after LUE1002 University English II is taken (except for inbound exchange students).

    No.Credits: 3        Weekly Contact Hours: 4        Terms Offered: 1 & 2


    Course Description

    This course will teach you the stylistic and affective dimensions of text performance in addition to mechanical elements such as pronunciation and articulation. It will allow you to be mindful of your pronunciation by practicing in a more controlled setting rather than doing so in fast paced conversations, although the techniques learnt in the course can be easily applied to everyday conversations, public speaking and the short speeches required in many speaking examinations. During the course, you will be able to engage with a wide range of classic and contemporary texts. The course can also be used as preparation for graded examinations in text performance with London College of Music or Trinity College London.


    Course Outline

    Note: This course should be taken when or after LUE1002 University English II is taken (except for inbound exchange students).

    No.Credits: 3        Weekly Contact Hours: 4        Terms Offered: 1 & 2


    Course Description

    This course will familiarize you with the formats and strategies of IELTS, and help develop your English competency. Throughout the course, you will be required to complete writing, speaking, listening and reading practices. Emphasis will also be placed on the development of clearer and more comprehensible pronunciation. Useful vocabulary will be highlighted by the instructor as it appears in the learning materials. Similarly, relevant grammatical structures will be noted and analyzed. You will have the opportunity to practice specific test tasks and receive feedback, and will also be guided to set individual plans and goals for self-study of their IELTS preparation.


    Course Outline

    Note: This course should be taken when or after LUE1002 University English II is taken (except for inbound exchange students).

    No.Credits: 3        Weekly Contact Hours: 4        Terms Offered: 1 & 2


    Course Description

    English is a global language with the number of non-native speakers far outweighing the number of native speakers. With the number of non-native English speakers rising year-on-year, there is naturally an accompanying increase in the frequency of intercultural interactions that are completed using English. This course offers students the opportunity to explore the role English plays in such intercultural settings and gives them a chance to reconsider their own understanding of the language. The course leads students to explore how English is used in their own culture, other cultures and its use when two or more cultures meet. The highly interactive nature of this course exposes students to intercultural communication settings, giving them hands-on experiences that help to train them to have the right mindset for using English in intercultural contexts.


    Course Outline

    Note: This course should be taken when or after LUE1002 University English II is taken (except for inbound exchange students).