Advanced English for Academic Purposes: Oral Communication for Researchers – Spring 2020

Course start:   February 04, 2020

Class time:      Tuesday 17:00-20:15

Room: A -306

Course Description: This class will focus on developing essential public speaking skills primarily for graduate and post-graduate students and faculty. Participants will develop and practice speaking skills needed to be successful in an academic and professional environment. A variety of materials will give the students the opportunity to participate actively in exercises, improve their listening skills and their own public speaking delivery, and prepare academic presentations. The class is designed to meet the needs and demands placed on scholars and faculty to listen to and present formal, academic material.

Prerequisites: 

Students who wish to enroll in this intensive, 9-week course must demonstrate the following:

• high-level critical thinking skills to comprehend, analyze, evaluate, and respond to academic lectures
• vocabulary knowledge and the ability to pick up context clues to make inferences
• understand the main ideas and details of complex academic listening sources
• take organized notes on academic lectures
• communicate accurately and fluently using effective presentation skills on academic topics and participate in active discussions

Objectives: 

Participants will be able to:

• Expand academic vocabulary to increase class participation and comprehension of academic lectures at the graduate level.
• Employ various listening and speaking strategies to improve comprehension and expression for academic purposes at the graduate and post-graduate level.
• Create and deliver well-structured and complex presentations of academic material.
• Use online and campus academic resources and support services.

Successful Completion:

Students will be awarded a 36-hour certificate of completion when they meet/fulfill the following requirements:

• Complete all presentation assignments as scheduled on the syllabus (4 audiovisual presentations—details will be provided in the syllabus)
• Actively participate in classroom discussions and in Discussions on CANVAS (details will be provided in the syllabus)
• Maintain satisfactory attendance at or above 75% (keep in mind that we are required to meet once a week—Wednesdays—from 17:00 to 20:15.