Description

University of Exeter Pre-sessional Programme

Description - summary of the module content

Module description

You will take this course if you have been offered an Exeter university degree course and need to build up your skills in academic language and skills before you start. This course is primarily aimed at developing your academic skills and language in relation to the course you have chosen to study at university. The course focuses on all four skills but gives emphasis to writing and reading. You will spend 20hrs per week in class and will also have weekly writing and reading tasks and you will also complete a longer essay (1200 words) during the five weeks. All this will be done with the support and feedback of your teachers. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module is intended for students entering with a minimum level of English at CEFR level B1+ The module will provide students with essential skills for undertaking academic study through the medium of English. Students will develop their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills within a general academic context of use. The intention is to see progression to a CEFR level B2 or beyond depending on entry point. Although the course mainly focuses on reading and writing skills there is also an emphasis on developing confidence in speaking in small groups about academic topics. We hope that at the end of the course you will have the confidence and skills to approach the course you are going to take in the university.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. demonstrate an ability to use and understand complex language structures with ease and fluency;
• 2. demonstrate both productive and receptive use of vocabulary appropriate to your discipline
• 3. demonstrate understanding of demanding texts (oral and/ or written), including lectures or journal articles in your field;
• 4. Show refinement in your use of skills and strategies required for reading academic texts in your discipline
• 5. Demonstrate accurate and effective summary, paraphrase and note-taking skills
• 6. Produce clear, well-structured, oral and/ or written text appropriate to your specific discipline
• 7. Show appropriate understanding and use of the genres in which knowledge is communicated within your discipline
• 8. Show confident command of academic conventions in writing eg referencing and genre specific style
• 9. Express yourself with a good degree of fluency and spontaneity, especially within your subject area

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 10. Present a clearly structured, well written and researched, essay
• 11. Synthesise and comment critically on a body of academic writing.
• 12. Access and use critically printed and, electronic learning resources identified as useful by you
• 13. Be able to independently critically analyse and summarise research papers, without guidance
• 14. Demonstrate the level of language necessary to undertake the study of a degree in your discipline degree

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 15. Work co-operatively in study groups of students going to study in your discipline in university
• 16. Use a range of learning and communication resources; including IT and library resources
• 17. Evaluate your own performance in relation to given criteria
• 18. Take responsibility for your own learning and work independently; set realistic targets, manage your time and monitor your own progress
• 19. Communicate effectively in the written and spoken language;

Syllabus plan

Syllabus plan

Written language and Study Skills (within the subject discipline)

• Linguistic knowledge: language of academic texts; key vocabulary in discipline
• Writing process (e.g.: generating ideas; planning and organisation; revision skills etc)
• Text genre, structure & purpose in texts(e.g.: process, hypothesis, comparison & argument);
• Written presentation of research: (the project)
• Comprehension skills and strategies for reading: detailed understanding
• Study Skills for writing: practice in note-taking; paraphrasing and summarising; Use of source references in academic writing; locating and evaluating sources
• Strategies in creating a critical response in productive work

Spoken Language (within the subject discipline)

• Comprehension skills: detailed understanding
• Oral presentation of own research; oral summary of reading
• Discussion skills in a seminar setting
• Language: accuracy, appropriacy, fluency, pronunciation and intelligibility in the spoken language

Learning and teaching

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Assessment

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Re-assessment

Re-assessment notes

reassessment is not offered for this programme

Resources

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Academic Writing. Stephen Bailey - 978-1138778504

English for Academic Study: extended writing and research skills. John McCormack. 978-1908614308

English for Academic study: Listening. Colin Campbell.  978-1908614339

Oxford academic vocabulary book. Julie Moore.  978-0194000918

Oxford Grammar for EAP. Ken Paterson. 978-0194329996

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3085

Module has an active ELE page

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

a large amount of in-house resources given to students in booklets

Key words search

pre-sessional, summer, Exeter university,