Course Objectives

Students will improve their skills in oral and written English for vocational purposes, within various cultural contexts, and at different levels. They will expand their technical and general vocabulary and grammatical/stylistic skills while studying technical and other relevant texts. Students will become more confident in their ability to use both spoken and written English in professional situations. They will improve their ability to distinguish between written and spoken forms of expression.

Course Description

Technical reports and business correspondence with an emphasis on formalities, ethics, style and target group-analysis. The formulation and interpretation of various types of documents, presentation techniques, and selected grammatical and stylistic problems. Practicing oral presentation is an important part of the course.

Learning Methods

Short lectures, written exercises for both individuals and groups, and oral presentations for a technically competent audience; if possible, in an English-speaking country.

Assessment Methods

Two group reports, each worth 24 points, 2 individual oral presentations, each worth 24 points, and a somewhat larger individual written document; or “term paper”, which will count for around 52 points. Together, these add up to around 150 points.

This means that around 32% of the final grade will be derived from collective efforts and the remaining 68% will derive from individual contributions.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean