SYLLABUS

GENERAL COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this course are to develop the necessary skills to perform tasks outlined below and prepare learners C1.2.
It is designed to bridge the gap between level C 1.1 and C1.2, as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

READING: Understand texts from newspapers, magazines, journals, books (fiction and non-fiction), promotional and informational materials, specialised articles and longer technical instructions appreciating detail, opinion, tone, purpose, main idea, implication, attitude, text organisation and structure, cohesion and coherence. Process large quantities of text in a defined time-scale. Deduce the meaning of unknown words from the context and infer underlying meaning.
LISTENING: Understand almost all spoken language without too much effort, whether live or broadcast from monologues or interacting speakers. Understand gist, detail, function, agreement, course of action as well as the speakers' purpose, feelings, attitudes and opinions in short dialogues and longer interviews and discussions.
WRITING: Write extended stretches of discourse using accurate and mainly appropriate complex language which is organisationally sound and of an appropriate style, layout, register and tone in an article, a competition entry, a contribution to a longer piece, an essay, an information sheet, a letter, a proposal, a report, a review. Task focus includes evaluating, expressing opinions, hypothesising, justifying, persuading, prioritising, summarising and comparing as well as recommending, suggesting, advising, apologising, describing and explaining. Varieties of English are acceptable as long as there is some degree of consistency in spelling, punctuation and lexis
SPOKEN INTERACTION: Sustain an interaction by exchanging ideas, expressing and justifying opinions, agreeing and/or disagreeing, suggesting, speculating, evaluating, reaching a decision through negotiation using language flexibly, effectively, fluently and spontaneously for social and professional purposes, with little obvious searching for expressions. Take part, with little effort, in conversation or discussion and have a certain familiarity with idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms.
SPOKEN PRODUCTION: Organise a larger unit of discourse by comparing, describing, expressing opinions, speculating and present clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects integrating sub-themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion. Relevant intelligible utterances form coherent speech arranged logically with no undue hesitation.

SPECIFIC COURSE OBJECTIVES

Listening
Type
Monologues : announcements, radio broadcasts, speeches, talks, lectures, anecdotes etc.
Interacting speakers : radio broadcasts, interviews, discussions etc.
Developing skills of
Identifying feeling, attitude, opinion, purpose, function, agreement, course of action, gist and detail.
Understanding the main points of a text and retrieve specific information and stated opinion.
Inferring underlying meaning, attitude, feelings and opinions.
Recognising relationship between speakers and detecting agreement and disagreement.

Reading
Sources and Genres
Text types: newspapers, magazines, journals, books (fiction and non-fiction), promotional and informational materials.
Developing skills/awareness of
Dealing with a wide range of sources, registers, topics and lexical fields.
Applying linguistic devices to mark logical and cohesive development of a text.
Inferring underlying meaning and deducing the meaning of unknown words from the context.
Dealing with a relatively long and complex text in a defined time-scale.
Skimming and scanning texts.
Finding paraphrases.

Speaking
Activities
General conversation
Individual "long turn"
Two-way interactive conversation
Discussion
Developing usage of
General interactional and social language.
Organising a longer unit of discourse; comparing, describing, expressing opinions, speculating.
Sustaining an interaction; exchanging ideas, expressing and justifying opinions, agreeing and /or disagreeing, suggesting, speculating, evaluating, reaching a decision through negotiation.

Use of English
Task type
Multiple-choice cloze
Open cloze
Word formation
Gapped sentences
Presenting/developing usage of
Collocation
Differentiating shades of meaning in sets of similar words
Complementation (words followed by a certain preposition, gerund, infinitive etc.)
Verb forms, auxiliary and modal verbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, modifiers and determiners
Principles of word formation ( use of positive and negative prefixes, suffixes, internal changes, compounding, class of word, plural forms)
The lexis will be drawn from some of the following fields
Appearance
Approval and disapproval
Behaviour
Childhood
Communication skills
Crime and punishment
Domestic chores
Environment
Expressions with numbers
Family relationships
Feelings
Forms of behaviour
Good/Poor health
Holidays
Jobs and employment
Learning
Leisure
Means of communication
Personal reactions
Personal relationships
Personality
Personality characteristics
Physical description
School
Travel
Unusual phenomena

Writing
Type
Article
Competition entry
Contribution to a longer piece
Essay
Information sheet
Letter (reference letters, letters of application and other formal letters).
Proposal
Report
Review
Presenting/developing usage of
Collocation
Differentiating shades of meaning in sets of similar words
Complementation (words followed by a certain preposition, gerund, infinitive etc.)
Verb forms, auxiliary and modal verbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, modifiers and determiners
Principles of word formation ( use of positive and negative prefixes, suffixes, internal changes, compounding, class of word, plural forms)

MATERIALS

Course book: Your teacher will tell you which course book you will be using.

Supplementary materials:

A good ENGLISH dictionary: Oxford Advanced Learners, Cambridge International Dictionary of English, or Collins Cobuild.
A Spanish/Catalan-English; English-Spanish/Catalan Dictionary: for example, the Diccionario Oxford or the Enciclopèdia Catalana

ASSESSMENT

(a) Continuous Assessment - 40%

(b) Final Exam - 60%

(c) Pass Mark:

In order to pass the course, it is necessary to achieve a minimum mark of 50% in the written and oral examinations and 60% in the overall combination of examination and continuous assessment.