General Focus:

Deal with and acquire knowledge of forms of oral and written communication relevant to university studies; make use of socially relevant, general interest texts to practice strategies for gaining and developing an understanding of written material

• Understand academic texts and identify their main points precisely and in a detailed manner
• Outline reasons, objections, and arguments
• Summarize and repeat information, present facts in a structured, balanced manner
• Give personal assessments and express a personal opinion
• Develop and expand academically relevant vocabulary and science-related means of expression

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course, students will have the following

linguistic skills:

• The ability to understand complex factual texts in relative detail and understand the structure and thought process behind them
• The ability to rearrange texts based on other criteria (chronologically, systematically)
• The ability to identify an author’s perspective and opinion on a matter provided this is expressed explicitly and without the use of irony or insinuation
• The ability to summarize, organize, and weigh information from different sources
• The ability to express themselves orally and in writing in a clear and confident manner when it comes to topics of general interest
• The confidence to join in with conversations and discussions at university

strategic skills:

• A number of strategies for comparing expectations with what a text actually says
• A number of strategies for ensuring they understand references contained within a text
• A number of strategies for planning, organizing, and writing their own texts
• A number of strategies for managing their own learning processes

intercultural skills:

• The sensitivity to examine differences in behavior, communication, and approaches to a problem based on different cultural backgrounds

Course Topics:

Language acquisition – Illiteracy – Nonverbal communication – Interculturalism – Language and how we perceive space – Biographies – Women in science and research – Biotechnology – Genetic engineering – Games – Laughter – Aggression – Time – Society and Crises – Stress – Sleep – Animal testing for research purposes – Media and communication, etc.