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.