Technical English

Code:

CINF020

Acronym:

INGTEC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Language Sciences

Instance: 2021/2022 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Anglo-American Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor of Arts in Information Science

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
CINF	70	CINF - Study Plan	1	-	6	56	162

Teaching language

English

Objectives

1. To develop students' confidence in approaching academic texts written in English;
2. To develop receptive fluency in reading and listening to academic discourse;
3. To develop knowledge and use of key terminology and grammatical structures common to specific academic disciplines;
4. To develop students' communicative competence when presenting ideas and expressing opinions on themes related to Infromation Science;
5. To develop summary writing skills.

Learning outcomes and competences

1. Improved confidence in approaching academic texts in English;
2. Improved receptive fluency in reading and listening;
3. Improved awareness of key terminology and grammatical structures in specific study areas;
4. Improved ability to communicate ideas and opinions in English;
5. Improved ability to write short texts.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Vocabulary and grammar

• word formation and lexical relationships
• key terminology of study area
• functional exponents common to study area

Reading

• predicting content/creating anticipation questions 
• analysing the organisation of texts in terms of layout, thematic patterns, main and subsidiary ideas 
• practising various reading modes such as skimming for gist/scanning for the location and extraction of specific information/thorough reading for detailed understanding
• using a variety of reading materials within the students’ study areas

Listening

• strategies for recognising semantic markers, signposting
• predicting content/creating anticipation questions  

Writing

• note-taking
• constructing texts from notes
• simple summaries of longer academic texts/lectures

Speaking

• practising exponents for presenting ideas/opinions
• describing and evaluating texts/systems/procedures/processes 
• academic presentation skills
• attention will also be given to the pronunciation of technical vocabulary as well as word and sentence stress

Mandatory literature

Belgar. D. and Murray. N. ; Contemporary Topics: Academic Listening and Note-Taking Skills, Pearson, 2009
Burton. G. ; Presenting: Deliver Academic Presentations with Confidence, Collins, 2013
Butler, Linda; Longman academic writing series. ISBN: 9780132679381
Hogue, Ann; Longman academic writing series. ISBN: 978-0-13-291271-6
Oshima, A & Hogue, A.; Introduction to Academic Writing, Longman, 2007
Paterson. K. ; Oxford Grammar for EAP. , Oxford University Press, 2013

Complementary Bibliography

Wallace. M. ; Study Skills in English. , Cambridge University Press, 1996
Brieger, N & Pohl, A.; Technical English: Vocabulary and Grammar, Summertown Publishing, 2002

Comments from the literature

Students will be expected to select, read and contribute scientific articles from their study area to seminars/tutorial discussions.

Teaching methods and learning activities

APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING Lessons will be practical in nature. Active participation will be encouraged at all times. Students will be expected to take responsibility for their own learning with self-assessment being a main feature of the students’ independent study programme.  Classroom activities will include: group and paired discussions of texts; communicative information gap/problem solving tasks; mini-presentations.  The language and skills acquired and developed are all transferable as is the use of many learning tools such as:online academic journals, virtual libraries, online dictionaries, encyclopaedias and thesauri.  The Moodle platform will be used to provide complementary study material and access to other learning tools.

keywords

Humanities

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Prova oral	20,00
Teste	80,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	68,00
Frequência das aulas	56,00
Trabalho de investigação	38,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

All students are required to attend 75 % of classes, with exceptions according to FLUP regulations. Official worker students are not required to attend lessons but must take all components of continual evaluation on the dates specified in the course timetable.

Calculation formula of final grade

Continous Evaluation will consist of a number of tests which focus on: 

reading efficiency 20%;
grammar and vocabulary 20%;
listening, note-taking and writing, 40%;
oral presentation 20% ( see 'provas e trabalhos especiais' below)

These are done in class (dates to be supplied at the beginning of the course).
Tests and oral presentation done in class will account for 100% of the evaluation. An average mark out of 20 will be calculated. If this mark is 9.5 or above, the student passes this course. If it is below 9.5, the student does not pass the course.

NOTE:Absence from any element of evaluation without written justification from official sources (medical or otherwise) will lead to a mark of 0 (zero) being attributed to that element.

If the final average mark is below 9.5, the student may repeat ONE written test for which they had a negative mark in the resit period. Students must inform their teacher in writing (via email) which test they wish to repeat. The result of this one element will be used with the results of all other elements to calculate a new average and final mark. If this final mark is 9.5 or above, the student passes the course.

Examinations or Special Assignments

During tutorials students will given an academic presentation based on a written scientific text from an area of Information Science. This presentation will be done in pairs or small groups. Students will be expected to summarise the text orally and encourage the participation of other members of their tutorial group on key issues related to the text. This element is worth 20% of the total for continuous evaluation. Each student will be given an individual mark for their contribution to and performance during the presentation and discussion. This element of continuous evaluation CANNOT be repeated.

Internship work/project

N/A

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

N/A

Classification improvement

Students who wish to improve their final mark may only repeat ONE written test. Students must inform their teacher in writing (via email) which test they wish to repeat. Students must also be properly enrolled for ‘melhoria’ with the ‘Serviços Académicos’ so that their names are included in the marks list on Sigarra.

Observations

All students should regularly consult the Moodle platform for this course.