Universidad de Jaén

This subject has an essential practical component, intended to develop the students' communicative skills in the oral domain (listening, speaking and interaction). The contents will then be divided into two blocks, one theoretical and one practical, where we will concentrate on the following topics:

THEORY:

1. THE GRAMMAR OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

2. CURRENT SPOKEN ENGLISH

3. DEVELOPING VOCABULARY AND FUNCTIONS IN ENGLISH

4. SPOKEN ENGLISH: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

PRACTICE:

• Political and economic issues
• News about differences and cultural features
• Multilingualism and plurilingual education
• Ecology and the environment
• Weapons and violence
• Respect to minorities
• Political systems
• Migrations
• A history of natural languages
• Privacity in the internet era
• Etc.

The methodology suggested for this subject intends to combine teacher-centred and student-centred activities (for the first, the theory sessions; for the second, the practical block). In this last block, we will combine work on more receptive (activities having listening comprehension as a basis) and more productive areas (oral production and interaction).

Students with special educational needs should contact the Student Attention Service (Servicio de Atención y Ayudas al Estudiante) in order to receive the appropriate academic support

Global assessment  in this subject will be done by considering both main working areas.

1.  Speaking and oral interaction: 50% of the final mark. This will be assessed through two oral presentations in class, one on a non-academic subject, and one on an academic subject. The elements considered for assessment will be grammatical and pronunciation correctness, intelligibility, the students' ability at presenting concepts clearly, and interaction with other students present. The level intended in this block will be B2.1 or B2.2 of the  Common European Framework.

2.  Listening comprehension: 50% of the final mark. This concept will be assessed through three listenings. on an audio or audio-video format, about current and semi-academic topics of interest. The British, American and International English varieties will be used. The level intended in this block will be B2.2 or C1.1 of the  Common European Framework.