BASIC OBJECTIVES

(Corresponding to the Council of Europe's Vantage Level)

Being able to read articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in which the writers adopt particular stances or viewpoints; understanding contemporary literary prose.
Understanding extended speech and lectures and following even complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar; understanding most TV news and current affairs programmes; understanding the majority of films in standard dialect.
Writing clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects related to your interests; writing an essay or report, passing on information or giving reasons in support or against a particular point of view; writing letters highlighting the personal significance of events and experience.
Presenting clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to your field of interest; explaining a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options. Interacting with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible; taking an active part in discussion in familiar contexts, accounting for and sustaining your views.

SYLLABUS

GRAMMAR
Noun Phrase
Adjectives: order, adjectives as nouns
Countable, uncountable and plural nouns; common mistakes with plurals, common uncountable nouns
Quantifiers (every{body}, all, every, each, no, none, any{body} etc.)
The use and non-use of the definite article
Verb Phrase
Question formation
The tense system: consolidation and extension: present perfect simple vs. present perfect continuous; future perfect vs. future continuous; past perfect vs. past perfect continuous
Modal verbs: consolidation and extension: must have, might have, can't have; shouldn't have
Gerunds and infinitives: consolidation and extension; verbs taking both forms with differences in meaning (She remembered doing it vs. she remembered to do it)
Reported Speech: consolidation and extension, especially with reporting verbs such as suggest, deny, etc.
Passive Voice: consolidation and extension; introducing more complex structures e.g. verbs with two objects (He was given the job/The job was given to him), reporting with passive verbs (It is said that he is a hooligan)
Causative have (He is having his flat painted)
Usually vs. used to vs. be used to
Sentence Patterns
Adverb position and meaning
More complex comparative structures (The easier it is, the more I like it; she's getting more and more tired)
Conditional forms: (0, 1, 2 and 3) consolidation and extension (and use of unless)
Use of present form in future time clauses (I'll ring you when I get home)
Mixed conditional forms (If she had left him before, she'd be a lot happier now)
Wishes about the present, future and past with I wish/if only (...I knew/you had told me/you wouldn't do that)
Clauses of reason and result (so...that, such {a/n} ...that)
Clauses of purpose ( to, in order to, so as {not} to, so that)
Contrast expressions (although, even though, in spite of, despite, however, nevertheless)
Relative clauses: defining and non-defining; omitting the relative pronoun (Is this the channel you were looking at?)
Other
Word building: prefixes and suffixes -ed/-ing endings
Phrasal verbs: main types and patterns verbs of the senses
As vs. like would rather/would prefer to do
whenever/whatever/etc.

TOPICS

Personal Information
Personality
Health
Clothes and Fashion
Travel
Storytelling
Crime and Punishment
Weather
Taking Risks
Feelings
Giving Advice
The Body
Music
Sleep
The Media
Public Speaking
Towns and Cities
Science
Wishes and Regrets
Business and Advertising
Words

MATERIALS

Coursebook: Your teacher will tell you which coursebook you will be using.
Supplementary materials:

A good dictionary English-Castilian/Catalan : Castilian/Catalan-English (for example: the Diccionario Oxford or the Cambridge Word Selector: Anglès-Català)
An English monolingual dictionary: Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Cambridge International Dictionary of English, Collins COBUILD Dictionary or Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.
Readers:

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH READERS Levels 4 and 5
EXPRESS PUBLISHINGREADERS Level 5
MACMILLAN GUIDED READERS Upper
OXFORD BOOKWORMS Stage 4 and 5
OXFORD PROGRESSIVE ENGLISH READERS Grades 3 and 4
PENGUIN READERS Level 5

EVALUATION

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.

100-HOUR COURSES

(a) Continuous Assessment - 40%
10% based on participation in class and other work done during the course.
20% based on written work done during the course.
10% based on Oral level shown during the course.

(b) FINAL EXAM - 60%

50-HOUR COURSES / MÒDUL 4.1

(a) Continuous Assessment - 50%
20% based on attendance and participation in class and other work done during the course.
20% based on written work done during the course.
10% based on Oral level shown during the course.

(b) FINAL EXAM - 50%

50-HOUR COURSES / MÒDUL 4.2

(a) Continuous Assessment - 40%
10% based on participation in class and other work done during the course.
20% based on written work done during the course.
10% based on Oral level shown during the course.

(b) FINAL EXAM - 60%