ENGLISH LANGUAGE (B2.

2): FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FOR DIRECTED ACTIVITIES

Prfa. Marta Peinado

Aim of the course:

The aim of this course is to improve the student’s communication skills, oral and written, at
a B.2.2 level. The course is mainly focused on the development of all language skills (reading,
writing, use of English, listening and speaking) with a special emphasis on writing and on topics
related to language and linguistics. In order to do so, a wide variety of activities (essays, pair-
correction, readings, listening, dialogues, debates, exercises, pair-work, presentations, videos,
interactive activities, etc.) will be carried out by the student, some individually and others in pairs
or groups.
The course combines language competence and learning autonomy and has a two-fold objective.
 To improve the students’ communicative competence and their command of the communicative
skills.
 To make students effective and autonomous learners who can take responsibility for their own
learning process. To achieve the objectives of the course, it is essential for the student to work at
home since two sessions a week is not enough to learn a foreign language at a B.2.2 level.

Directed Activities and participation (30%):

As the syllabus states, your directed activities and participation make a 30% of the final course
average mark. In order to obtain this percentage, students will have to complete the following tasks:

A. THREE ORAL PRESENTATIONS (10%): Students will be required to do three oral

presentations along the course that will be progressively longer. These count as part of your
directed activities. Accordingly to their length, they will be evaluated using a weighted
average.
a. One-minute presentation (2%)
i. On a random topic you will be given on the date of the presentation.
ii. To be delivered on a date in November appointed by the lecturer
(Wednesday 6th or 13th November).
iii. No visual aids will be allowed.
b. Three-minute presentation (3%)
i. On one of the topics in any of the lessons (both in the Language and
Linguistics book and in the Delta Academic Writing) so far studied in class.
The student won’t be able to repeat the topic chosen for the first
presentation.
ii. To be delivered on a date in November or December appointed by the
lecturer (Wednesday 20th or 27th November/4th December).
iii. No visual aids will be required.
c. Five-minute presentation (5%)
i. On a topic related to the English language or to some linguistic issue.
Students can choose the topic (no topics are to be repeated).
ii. To be delivered on a date in December or January appointed by the lecturer.
(Wednesday 11 or 18th December / 8th or 15th January).
iii. The presentation must have visual support.
A detailed scheduled will be closed with the lecturer before the 23rd of October and no
changes are to be made unless there is an official excuse. If you are ill or working you must
be able to justify it.

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 Remember any good presentation has an introduction, body and conclusion. You will be
graded on accuracy of language and pronunciation as well as on organization, preparation,
use of visual aids, presentation skills, etc. Try to make the audience interested in what you
are saying by making it enjoyable. Students who ‘read’ the presentation will get a 0 as this
is not a reading exercise. After the presentation, you should introduce 10 useful key words
related to your topic, along with a definition in English. That should also be included in the
course portfolio.

B. TWO ESSAYS ON DIFFERENT TOPICS (10%). The first essay will be handed on 27th of
November and will be on a topic from one of the lessons in the Delta Academic Writing book.
The second one will be handed on the 8th of January and will be on a topic related to
language and linguistics. Students hand in a first version on the dates established and not
later. In a week time, the lecturer will highlight the errors and hand them back to the
students. Those students who are willing to improve their mark, have the chance of handing
in a second corrected version in the next session. These essays will be included in a portfolio
together with any other class activities the teacher may ask to enclose.

C. MOCK EXAM EXERCISES (10%). Use of English, listening and/ or reading activities. In class,
at several points, we will do some “mock exam exercises” that will count for your “directed
activities” mark. This will also enable the lecturer to give an objective mark for participation
and attendance. You will not be told about the dates for these mock exercises in advance.

D. OTHERS: Other class activities such as role-plays, pair speaking activities, etc and tasks
uploaded on the online campus, will also be considered for your directed activities mark.

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INSTRUCTIONS TO CREATE YOUR PORTFOLIO

The course portfolio must include some of the work done during the
year.

To create your portfolio, just follow these steps:

1. Collect the summaries/essays done:

 Short and long summary: original and commented version

 Essay 1: original and corrected version

 Essay 2: original and corrected version

 Sheets for presentations 2 and 3

 Any other exercises required by the teacher

2. Create a cover page with your personal data.

3. Put them in a folder or staple them.

4. Hand your portfolio in on the 22nd January in class.