The course aims to provide students with the tools to understand the main concepts of complex texts concerning both concrete and abstract topics, including the ability to discuss their area of ??specialization, pedagogy and education. The course prepares students to be able to interact with a certain degree of fluency and spontaneity so that they can communicate without difficulty to native speakers. In addition, the course helps them to produce clear and detailed spoken and written text covering a wide range of topics appropriate to level B2 and to present their opinion on a topic giving the positive and negative sides of different options.

The course will provide the main grammar and vocabulary to reach a B2 level:

Grammar areas:

Question formation

Tense review

Adjectives and word order

Passives

Reported speech

Confusing verbs

Gerunds and infinitives

Articles

Phrasal verbs

Vocabulary areas: Education/Environment/Health/Leisure/Personal Feelings/Opinions and Experiences/Technology/Travel/Work and Jobs.

In addition, students will read, listen and analyse passages concerning education topics such as:

-  Advantages and disadvantages of preschool education

-  Culture and children’s development

-  Importance of early childhood development

-  Language development and literacy

-  Learning disabilities

-  Outdoor play

-  Technology in early childhood education

-  Inclusion in pre-school

None in particular, however both attending and non-attending students are strongly advised to study the contents of the Blended Learning site in self-study mode in order to make the most of the variety of material available to them.

Knowledge and understanding.

Students will be trained to understand the main points concerning topics such as work, school, leisure time etc. They will be able to understand the main points in a listening text dealing with topics related to their sector.

Applying knowledge and understanding.

They will be guided to apply their grammatical, lexical and content knowledge in order to demonstrate a B2 level in the use of the English language in all language skills.

Making judgments.

Students will be encouraged to express their opinions in situations concerning the educational field as well as common situations typical at B2 level

Communication skills.

They will be able to use appropriate language to discuss familiar topics or personal interests, or typical of a B2 level, for example, family, interests, work, travel, and current affairs. They will be able to participate in discussion on familiar matters, expressing and justifying their position. They will be able to present clear and detailed descriptions on a wide range of topics related to their sector, and explain a point of view by providing both the positive and negative sides of the various options.

Ability to learn (learning skills).

Students will be guided in exploring learning strategies that best meet their needs.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

The CLA (University Language Center) is strongly recommended if students need additional support. Courses and timetables can be found at https://cla.uniurb.it/

Teaching

The lessons will be frontal and with small groups or in pairs to create opportunities to encourage oral skills during the lesson.

Attendance

Attendance is not mandatory, however it is recommended that students are already in possession of a B1 + level in order to successfully reach the level indicated by the course, and that they undertake to study all the additional material that will be uploaded to Blended and to attend the course in a constant way in order to successfully carry out the activities organised by the instructor.

Course books

In addition to the additional material uploaded on Blended and the slides of the lessons, students will have to obtain the following book for a more in-depth study of grammar and vocabulary:

English Grammar in Use Fourth Edition, 2019 by Raymond Murphy, published by Cambridge University Press. The version with the answer key is recommended for personal study use.

The texts relating to educational and pedagogical topics will be uploaded in Blended. Students must download the pieces before each lesson in order to read them before the lesson.

Assessment

Assessment of knowledge and skills of

understanding

The written test consists of two parts to ascertain the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary and the understanding of concepts and situations.

Part A: reading comprehension. Students will have to read a piece of about one page concerning a topic related to their sector, and will have to answer 10 questions that can be of the true, false or multiple choice type. 

Part B: grammar

10 multiple choice questions to test grammar studied during course

Part C: vocabulary

10 multiple choice questions to test vocabulary related to education topics

Assessment of knowledge and applied understanding

Once students have passed the written test with a minimum of 18/30, they will have to do the oral exam which consists of three parts:

Part A: talking about yourself and answering questions about topics such work, education, technology, travel and the environment;

Part B: present two of the articles studied during the course - one chosen by the student and one chosen by the professor;

Part C: speak more broadly about the topic of the text and exchange views with the examiner.

The oral mark will be scored out of 30.

The final mark will be based on a calibration of the written and oral marks.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

The same as attending students. It is highly recommended however that non-attending students contact the professor in advance of the exam to clear up any doubts they may have about the programme.