English for Academic Purposes (6-10 August 2019)

Led by: Michael Jenkins/University of Edinburgh, Dr Karin Whiteside/University of Reading, David Read/University of Sheffield and Dr Maggie Charles/University of Oxford.

Level 1 (IELTS equivalent 2.0 to 4.0)

Topics covered:

• Grammar: past tense to describe key moments in your life, passive voice to describe inventions.
• Vocabulary: words connected to accommodation, agreeing/disagreeing.
• Study skills: using online tools to identify how useful a word is to learn.
• Presentation: giving a short (8-10 mins) presentation on a famous invention and inventor using a range of appropriate language. 

Level 2 (IELTS equivalent 4.0 to 5.5)

Topics covered:

• Grammar: verb tenses and question forms, ‘Showing logical links’: subordinators & sentence-linking words.
• Reading & Writing: reading example abstracts, structuring an abstract – five ‘moves’ and key language.
• Speaking: expressing opinions & collaborative decision-making (planning a public space), presenting in a group: problem-solution-evaluation scenarios (chosen by participants).
• Listening: a research story (Agriculture – Honey Bees & Elephants), listening to a lecture.
• Presentation: pronunciation – using pauses effectively and ‘chunking’ your spoken text. 

Level 3 + 4 (IELTS equivalent 5.5+)

Topics covered:

• Focus on academic writing: fluency, accuracy and appropriacy:
  • The structure and language of abstracts – reading and writing abstracts in academic fields.
  • The structure and language of academic biographies
• Listening to lectures and note taking.
• Introduction to and overview of the IELTS examination, including practice of the speaking and writing parts.