Academic English Autumn, 2018

Dear Students,

It is a pleasure to welcome you all to the course Academic English.

By taking this course you will develop English skills for academic purposes and increase your confidence.

 reading skill: for gist, general and specific information

 listening skill: monologue or dialogue comprehension
 speaking skill: oral presentations (short and extended pp) and discussions
 writing skill to produce well structured academic texts, describing, analyzing, paraphrasing,
criticizing and summarising information
The course will also extensively help you to acquire and use topical or functional academic vocabulary
throughout the course.

What makes this course special?

 Focus on all four skills - Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking - set in academic context
 Exposure to academic context, including lectures, dialogues, presentations, radio programmes,
and interviews
 Assignments, to read and discuss texts covering basic academic and field-related concepts
 Intensive language practice aimed at revising already known and learning new general and
academic vocabulary and language structures common in academic discourse
 Regular effort to examine, identify and treat typical writing and speaking problems or
grammatical and lexical difficulties occurring in academic situations
 Highly intensive speaking and writing practice

Objectives
The objectives of this course are to enable you, within the language level you have, to:
 develop specific vocabulary to speak and write about your field of study in English
 raise awareness of, practice and reflect upon the conventions of formal style (speaking, writing)
 avoid plagiarism in your presentations and writing
 improve your critical reading skills, and respond constructively to the work of others
 develop four language skills in close integration
 minimize common lexical and grammatical errors
 comprehend spoken English when it is used to speak about academic, field-specific concepts and
topics in lectures, presentations, interviews, discussions.

Course content
The course includes components and uses assessment criteria of the International English Language
Testing System (IELTS). The components are:

1 Course instructor: Maia Rogava

Academic English Autumn, 2018

1. A variety of reading and writing assignments to practise these productive skills

2. Supplementary material from a range of academic English books and internet resources to
introduce and practise academic vocabulary
3. Discussions - case study-style problem-solving activities within a range of academic topics
4. Peer-review – reviewing writing assignments of your fellow students done at home or in class

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Attend regularly. Make sure you are prepared for the class which guarantees your active
involvement in all in-session activities. A lot depends on your attitude; if you work consistently
on your own, have a serious, learning-focused attitude and are fully committed, you will
successfully complete this course.
2. Practise writing. All writing assignments should be done electronically and submitted to meet the
deadline. Homework assignments in writing are marked by your teacher at least twice, i.e. the
first draft and then the revised one.
3. Develop vocabulary. You will be exposed to a wide range of academic and general vocabulary
during this course; therefore, it is important to acquire good learning skills from the start. These
skills are:
 organizing vocabulary into categories rather than simple alphabetic lists
 understanding the context of vocabulary and whether it is a key word needed for
production or for comprehension
 defining or paraphrasing a word or phrase rather than just translating it into Georgian
 watching out for word formation, collocation and spelling peculiarities and examples
 checking and learning the pronunciation of a word or phrase
All these skills are brought together in the Personal Learning Dictionary (PLD).
4. Master your presentation skill. You will be asked to give presentations on a variety of pre-defined
topics or topics of your interest. You can also record some of your presentations and submit for
teacher’s feedback.
5. Do out-of-class reading. You are encouraged and strongly advised to regularly read articles in
online newspapers and magazines in your field of study and bring them to sessions for discussion.

COURSE MATERIALS
The course material will be selected based on a range of resources (printed or electronic) listed in the
syllabus. Some of the material will be uploaded in the Study Materials section in Argus or provided as
handouts.

LOGISTICS
Dates: Thursdays and Fridays 19:00 - 20:50

Location: Ilia State University, building D, room D 206

2 Course instructor: Maia Rogava

Academic English Autumn, 2018

INSTRUCTOR CONTACT
Maia Rogava
e-mail: maia.rogava@iliauni.edu.ge, mobile: 577 450 516; building E, room E220

Office hours for your course will be agreed at the first session

More detailed information about the course, its scope, objectives, terms and conditions,
assessment criteria, recommended printed and electronic resources, etc. is given in the syllabus
uploaded in Argus.
You are kindly asked to access the uploaded syllabus, read it attentively and come to the first
class with a (hard or soft) copy of it if some issues are not clear and need further clarification.
Your questions are always welcome!
You are also advised to make sure:
a) your decision to attend this course is firm and well-thought through
b) you are prepared to work hard and contribute enough time to the tasks assigned
c) you always do background reading or research
d) you have a folder or binder to collect all the materials offered during the course
e) you have the necessary stationery to get involved in the activities offered in class

I hope you will benefit from the course and enjoy each and every activity offered.

Thank you for reading this welcome note! I look forward to meeting you in class.

Best regards,
Maia

3 Course instructor: Maia Rogava