English Language Skills Development

Speaking and Listening Skills

Students frequently tell us how developing a sense of community and belonging are crucial to their ability to fully participate in their programme and maximise their time at Exeter. The courses and workshops in this suite will help you improve skills for lectures and seminar participation as well as building building your confidence and fluency in social and professional settings. 

Here you will also find details of our Family Class, which is a course for the spouses and partners of international students and staff.

 

Oral Communication Skills and Seminar Skills

There are two options in this section. Oral Communication Skills focuses on social skills and is a great way to meet students from all over the University. However, if you are really keen to boost your skills for verbal argument and seminar discussion, then Current Issues might be the option for you.

Oral Communication Skills

A series of workshops aiming to help students to integrate into the social and cultural life of the university whilst improving their spoken English for everyday situations.  There are three parallel courses offered in term 2. Each course consists of five sessions. Use the links below to sign up for the course at the most convenient time for you. You can join a course at any point in the term, and signing up for one session will automatically sign you up for all the subsequent sessions at that time.

NB: OCS 1 is taught on the St Luke's campus and OCS 2 and 3 are taught on the Streatham campus.

OCS 1 OCS 2 OCS 3

 

Current Issues (CI 1 and 2) 

8 independent discussion sessions giving participants the opportunity to express themselves on complex and controversial topics; very useful for practicing and improving seminar discussion skills. A different topic of current importance in the world is chosen each week. 

Use the links below to sign up for the course at the most convenient time for you. You can join a course at any point in the term, and signing up for one session will automatically sign you up for all the subsequent sessions at that time.

CI 1 CI 2

 

 

Presentation Skills

Presentation Skills (PRES)

This is a series of 4 workshops for students from across the university. The course focuses on how to give an effective academic presentation, with lots of useful advice, examples and opportunities for students to present. 

Click on the links to sign up.

 

 

Listening Skills and Pronunciation Workshops

Listening and pronunciation are inextricably linked. A good knowledge of how letters and words sound will enhance your listening, and effective listening skills will help to expand your speaking repertoire. 

Listening Skills (LSK)

These sessions aim to extend your ability to listen at both a micro and macro level. They use a variety of different 'soft' academic listening material as examples to aid skills development.

This short course comprises three sessions and you are recommended to join all three for maximum benefit. However, if you can only attend part of the course, you should still feel free to sign up. Click on the links below:

Pronunciation Workshops (PW 1 and 2)

Workshops designed to extend strategies for clarity of expression ,and thus success in communicating ideas, by focusing on sound, stress and intonation in English. This also has an impact on listening comprehension and interpretation of meaning beyond that given by choice of vocabulary and grammatical structures. 

There are two short courses to take in term 2, each comprising four sessions. Select the best day and time for you - enrolling in the first session will automatically enrol you in all three sessions in that suite.

PW 1 PW2

 

 

Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication

The University of Exeter is a hugely diverse campus with staff and students from many different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This brings with it a wealth of rich experience and opportunities for learning important skills for the future. Cultural competence and the ability to work in diverse teams is highly prized by employers. 

Our intercultural communication workshops aim to raise your awareness of the ways in which cultures differ and provide a forum for discussing practical strategies for increasing cultural competence and improving communicative skills. 

In term 2 we will be running one workshops:

Understanding cultural differences 

This workshop explores what we mean by culture and considers how cultures differ. Using a theoretical lens, and drawing on examples as well as our own experiences, this session aims is to provide a space for students to reflect on their experiences in Exeter and to build relevant knowledge and skills for future study and the workplace. 

Timetable TBC

 

 

 

 

Preparation for Work - Interview Skills

Timetable TBC

 

Family Class

Family Class

This is a course on cultural and communicative English offered to the partners of international students and staff members who have come to Exeter but are not studying at the University. The focus is very much on communication, culture and how to get the most from your stay in Exeter. There are 9 weeks of classes with sessions being held twice each week. 

Course information
Class Time  10.35-12.25 
Dates  Tuesdays: 20th January - 17th March;  Thursdays: 22nd January - 19th March
Location  ISC 1.03
Tutor  Jo Hughes

If you would like to join the Family Class, please email insessional@exeter.ac.uk