Oral and Written English for Effective Communication(LCE3306)

Course Information

This is a general English language course for non-native speakers of English wishing to develop and consolidate their communicative competence in English. Course content focuses on the integration of language skills in some topical contexts, with an emphasis on speaking and writing skills.

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are to:

1. develop students’ abilities in the four language skills with an emphasis on speaking and writing for different purposes and audiences
2. increase students’ confidence in using English with regard to grammatical accuracy
3. encourage students’ active participation and expression through the use of stimulating and topical materials and role simulation
4. encourage independent and cooperative learning through self-evaluation and peer review

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. converse more effectively in different contexts using appropriate language functions and expressions
2. ask and answer questions in interviews
3. comprehend and summarize main ideas of spoken and written texts
4. give a presentation to persuade audience to take action
5. write a persuasive email to ask for help
6. write a short essay presenting views on a controversial issue

Measurement of Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes will be measured through assessment tasks which provide opportunities for integrated use of language skills as far as possible.

The course is 100% continuously assessed (no examination).  Assessment on this course is comprised of four in-class assessments. The breakdown of the assessment is as follows:

1. Assessment (1):  Students will read an article and work in pairs to conduct a conversation related to the article (20% of final mark).
2. Assessment (2):  Students will listen to an audio extract and work in pairs to conduct an interview about the extract (20% of final mark).
3. Assessment (3):  Students will write a summary after reading and listening to texts on a controversial issue.  They will then write an essay presenting their views on the issue (35% of final mark).
4. Assessment (4):  Students will give a persuasive presentation in groups.  Based on the information presented, they will write an email asking for help (25% of final mark).

Teaching Method

The course employs a varied range of classroom interaction, including individual, pair and group work for students to practice the target language and skills. Self-evaluation and peer review are practiced throughout the course.

Student Feedback

• I think this course is well prepared and I enjoy it.  (05-06)
• We have a lot of opportunities to speak in class.  (05-06)
• The interactions between classmates and teacher are very good.  (05-06)
• Course assessments are comprehensive and of appropriate level.  (05-06)
• Content very useful – I really feel I learned a lot, not only knowledge, but also the way to learn.  (07-08)
• I discovered my weaknesses in English; learned how to make continuous self-learning in the future.  (07-08)
• Good course for every student who (are) eager to learn English.  (07-08)
• This course can let me learn English in a relaxing way.  Most of the files are related to our daily life, e.g. “Dark Hours”.  It increases the level of interest in learning English.  (08-09)
• I do believe that my English got improvement as I kept practising during classes and also outside the class.  I am very happy to take this course.  (08-09)
• The activities on the class are very interesting and appealing to us. (09-10)
• All the students enjoy learning and participating in all class activities and assignment. (09-10)
• The four files are interesting. I learn a lot vocabulary from those files. (13-14)
• This course is really interesting. Assessments and in-class exercises can let us practice different skills. (13-14)
• Much useful and meaningful than LCE courses taken before (14-15)
• I don’t get ideal grade for the assessment but I do learn much from it. (15-16)
• I enjoy the class of LCE3306, I become more confident in speaking English. (15-16)

Syllabus