ENGLISH LANGUAGE
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
An entry B1 level is expected, which is deemed acquired upon leaving secondary school. The review of core structures (both on the course and of the student's own accord) will still enable every student to develop the skills above.
Any previous attendance of specialist English courses in high schools with a social and health curriculum can facilitate learning, as well as previous attendance of General English or ESL / EFL certification courses.
Official assessment is carried out in the final written exam. The exam lasts 2 hours and includes:
- Reading Comprehension (15 marks); one longer text, 2 short ones.
- Writing a Short Answer (5 marks); formulation of a short answer to a question
- Use of English (15 marks); sentence completion, sentence transformation, word formation, multiple choice.
The mark is on a 30-point scale, with passing grade at 18.
More details on final test contents will be laid out towards the end of the course. Texts and sentences contained in the exam paper fully reflect the (specialist) contents developed in the course.
The course activities aim to build understanding and communication skills pertaining to CEF levels:
• Reading Comprehension (ESP English for health education): B2
• Writing (compose a short answer): B1 +
• Use of English (Grammar, Syntax, Vocabulary): B1 +
• Listening: B1 + (while oral and aural skills are not tested directly, students are encouraged to give these a high profile during and after the course, as a core component of L2 training). Listening comprehension and pronunciation (especially of scientific prefixes and suffixes) are developed and assessed in progress and may be part of mandatory pre-exam oral coursework.
Upon completing the course, the student:
• has developed pre-intermediate / intermediate structural foundations (syntax, collocations, discourse markers)
• has built lexical skills relevant for the industry (general terminology in use for Health Education Specialists in the Anglosphere, key medical /
health terms, Italian-English false friends)
• starting from such structural and lexical foundations, understands the focal points of common English texts (intermediate level) covering her / his specialization, abstracts + introductions of academic articles from "Oxford Health Education Research" journal, as well as real-world texts produced for the industry (report, proposal)
• can handle future Scientific English academic programmes with greater competence
• can briefly describe the profession of health educator, the facilities in which she/he operates, the other carers she/he works with, as well as their typical career training programme
• can produce a short answer to a question on familiar health and welfare topics, using the ESP vocabulary of a health education specialist
• can detect the logical/cohesive steps of a scientific contribution (contrast, addition, example, explanation, conclusion, etc.), identifying the main discourse markers (or linkers); knows how to use linkers correctly in a phrasal co-text
• (listening); can understand the essential points of a presentation on a familiar specialist topic
• is aware of accreditation opportunities in the UK and other English-speaking countries (e.g. specific language exams like IELTS or OET, or qualifications for foreign practitioners)
The course unfolds through 8 short Learning Units (LUs) based on the following content cores: The Human Body, The Human Mind, Families and Children, Adolescence, From Adulthood to Older Age, Social and Sanitary Issues, An Inclusive Society, A Global Approach to Healthy Living.
Besides providing generic + specialized lexical foundations, all of the texts in each LU (textbook + additional Readings) prompt discussion on key A2 to B1 + (elementary to intermediate) grammar items, which are developed in their functional-communicative perspective (eg. talking about general truths with the Present Simple, describing ongoing situations with the Present Continuous, planning and designing with Future forms, connecting discourse with linkers, etc).
- A Caring Society (D. Ardu - R. Beolé - R. Palmer). Publisher: Edisco (new edition, 2021)
paper + digital ISBN: 9788844121204
digital-only version ISBN: 9788844171209 (choose any of the versions)
This book (ESP English + language study) is required to successfully complete the course. Part of the tasks for homework (language, vocabulary and audio / video) are taken from the manual, which is covered in its key sections (with allowances due to course duration); the other parts (detailed in the classroom or on Teams) are to be completed independently. Which parts / sections / pages of the textbook are tested will be clearly specified.
Other recommended study resources (optional)
IELTS trainer - Academic. Six practice tests with answers. ISBN: 978-1108567589
Self-preparation for the IELTS Academic English test, intermediate score.
- Oxford Medical Dictionary APP (official Oxford English app with definitions and pronunciation tool for medical and health terms). The two App links (for Android or Ios) are shown in the introductory presentation slides.
The course provides for mixed-modality synchronous classes (both in presence – reservation needed - and remotely on the Teams platform), amounting to 20 hours allocated as per calendar.
Media and Materials
All the material below is regularly uploaded onto the Teams platform, before or after class depending on lesson plans. All of the uploaded and/or distributed items form an integral part of the course and are exam material - with special emphasis on the lexical items recommended (in bold) as highly relevant in the Reading sections.
• Ppoint or Mentimeter presentations discussed in the classroom. Slides include links to resources (lexical, syntactic, phonetic, cultural and professional practice) deemed essential for English in Health Education undergraduate training programmes
• reading files with ad hoc activities (3) - covered in class or assigned as a task
• abstract + introduction of specialized academic articles (3), selected from the Oxford University Health Education Research (HER) portal
• worksheets and mind maps (8)
• a vocabulary builder, which students fill in independently to create their own glossary
• report files of the online tests (taken on Socrative), with results and scores, to be kept as study material for the 'Use of English' component
Learning support materials
• audio / video practice from recommended textbook and from other multimedia resources, mainly focused on case studies and on cultural facets of welfare&health policies
• links to multimedia resources deemed useful for training purposes
Methods and Approach:
As with any intensive course, flipped learning will be a frequent approach.
Each lesson revolves around an inductive reading session, i.e. a teacher's card or Unit reading, which students will read at home, and from which relevant vocabulary and structures are then excerpted and discussed, followed by practice, audio or video content, Q&A sessions, and, when viable, oral interaction or role-playing. Tasks and additional material are assigned on Teams. The e-learning platform (Teams) acts as a follow-up after classroom work, and as a networking channel for further queries and insight.
Students’ attitudes should aim at building long-term proficiency and genuine reception-communication skills, to be capitalized on in view of their academic / career plans; learners are encouraged to avoid a purely theoretical approach to language and content.
Students can get in touch via virtual office hours on Teams or through the college email mary.bo@uninsubria.it for queries, guidance and advice.