Syllabus Information

1.1. Introduction

Brief presentation of the subject Specific English is an elective subject of 6 ECTS credits in the Technical Architecture degree, equivalent to 150 hours of work, corresponding to 60 hours onsite (theory, practice, laboratory ...) and 90 offsite classes (exercises, , investigation,...). The objective of the course is to provide the student with the necessary tools to be able to get on in the English language in an international and multidisciplinary context, as, undoubtedly, both society and the labor market will demand in the future.

1.2. Recommendations to take this course

In order to take this course, students should have a B1 level of English according to the Common Reference European Framework for languages.

1.3. Context and importance of this course in the degree

Taking into account the role that the English language represents today in the international context, its knowledge and use is essential in the overall formation of the student. Since English is the lingua franca of communication, congresses and publications, the subject offers a tool that will allow students to access academic and technical information about any other subjects of their Degree. This will result in a more complete training that will make them better professionals.

1.4. Activities and key dates

They will be published in a timely manner through the means provided by the Institution and / or the teacher responsible, whether these are the Notice Board, ADD (or moodle) of the University of Zaragoza and/or the classroom. The dates of the final assessment tests will be those published officially at http://eupla.unizar.es/index.php/secretaria/informacion-academica/distribucion-de-examenes

2.1. Learning goals

The student, to succeed in this subject, must demonstrate the following results...

1: Consolidating the competences at B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

2: Using the essential vocabulary necessary for the development of professional activities related to the Professional Training and the planning and management of English Language operations and processes.

3: Understanding and interpreting texts in English with specific content related to the field of Building, Engineering and Management.

4: Writing documents relevant to their professional field, both formal and informal, using lexicon, structures and appropriate rhetorical and textual techniques.

5: Making oral presentations on subjects of their degree (With fluency and grammatical and terminological correctness)

6: Communicating orally in the English language, with special emphasis on the use of the lexicon and procedures In multinational settings and participating in other oral interactions in their professional environment, such as negotiations and telephone conversations, understanding their interlocutors, although sometimes with effort, and expressing themselves clearly and with reasonable accuracy.

2.2. Importance of learning goals

The convergence towards a European Higher Education Area and the labor market that future graduates will have to face requires students to be able to use English in various social and professional contexts. They will need access to specialized English material (for example, written information, talks, presentations and conferences); Participate in mobility programs and international projects related to their discipline and participate in academic activities (such as attendance at conferences, publication of articles or preparation of oral presentations) not only during their university studies, but with continuity once completed. On the other hand, being able to use the English language as it is used by the professionals in the discipline leads to a clear competitive advantage for the engineer who must look for his/her first job, and permits his/her integration in the current labor market, In a globalized technological environment, while giving access to labor markets outside Spain.

3.1. Aims of the course

The subject and its expected results respond to the following approaches and goals:

The subject of Technical English for Technical Architecture lies within the framework of teaching English for Specific Purposes, which integrates the teaching of the English language and the specific contents of the profession with a student-based approach. The course is taught in English and starts from level B1 (European framework). Tasks are practiced in class, most of them in pairs or small groups to encourage collaborative work. The activities are corrected in class or delivered for later correction.

The specific goals of the subject are:

• Introducing English through the discursive, rhetorical and linguistic functions of the scientific-technical record.
• Getting Familiar with the genres, techniques and academic conventions used by the Engineering scientific-technical community which reflect the future needs of the profession
• Developing linguistic competence in written and oral English in contexts of communication linked to the academic environment.
• Improving reading comprehension skills to understand and critically interpret technical texts of medium difficulty.
• Writing different types of text, which respond to various needs and are used in professional communication of the discipline.
• Promoting the expression of ideas, opinions, agreements and disagreements in formal situations, in professional and academic contexts.
• Extending the oral expression of the student to communicate in an academic and professional exchange environment
• Extending the oral expression of the student to communicate in an academic and professional exchange environment
• Promoting self-learning and continuous training.

3.2. Competences

Upon passing the subject, the student will be more competent to ...

1: Read and understand different types of English texts needed in their professional activity, for example, reports and technical documentation, specialized articles, instructions.

2: Write different types of English texts that respond to different needs and that are used in the Professional communication in the career: informative texts, texts describing processes and procedures, evaluative texts, argumentative texts.

3: Use communicative strategies to participate in conversations in work situations.

4: Read and understand specialized literature in English related to the career.

5: Maintain business correspondence in English.

6: Recognize the type of language appropriate for different types of technical communication texts in their career.

7: Understand oral presentations of projects in English.

8: Plan, prepare and deliver oral presentations of projects in English. 9: Develop strategies for finding information and reading online texts.

4.1. Assessment tasks (description of tasks, marking system and assessment criteria)

Assessment activities The student must demonstrate that he / she has achieved the expected learning outcomes via the following assessment activities

1: Continuous assessment.

The credits of this subject can be obtained in a double way: on the one hand, via continuous assessment and on the other, via a final exam. To access the continuous assessment, the following points must be taken into account:

* Attendance is required for a minimum of 80% of the lectures. If this percentage is not reached, the right to continuous assessment will be lost.

* Absences will only be excused for medical reasons with presentation of the corresponding official certificate.

* Participation in class is obligatory to access the continuous assessment system.

* It will be necessary to hand in some activities * Opportunities for extra credits will be offered on a voluntary basis.

* The continuous assessment program will be validated by conducting a series of tests on thbe four basic language skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking) throughout the course. Students must show their proficiency at B1 level in all previous skills.

* Assessment tests will be held every two weeks, during class time.

* The listening and speaking marks will be taken from the activities done during the lessons.

* The assessment tests can be done in different times or dates in case of absence due to illness or other reasonable reasons

* The final grade will be obtained from the marks in the different tests carried out, as well as the activities handed in.

* Students will have the right to take the final exam if they have not passed the tests during the course, as well as at the June or September calls.

2: Final assessment.

Students who do not follow the continuous assessment, or the ones who have not passed, or who wish to improve their grades, may take a final test that will take place in the official calls. There will be a final written exam to assess the student in the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students must demonstrate their proficiency at B1 level in all previous skills.

5.1. Methodological overview

The learning process that has been designed for this subject is based on the following:

In the learning process, the student's role will be mainly active in either group work (by working in pairs or small groups, in which they should solve a problem, make a report, comment on a text or listen to specific or general information, etc.) or individually, all that under supervision of the teacher and using online resources.

5.2. Learning tasks

The program that the student is offered to help him achieve the target results includes the following activities...

On-site generic activities:

• Theoretical and practical classes: Theoretical concepts of the subject will be explained and practical examples to support the theory developed
• Conversation Practices: Students will be divided into pairs or small groups and will be supervised by the teacher.

Off-site generic activities:

• Study and assimilation of the theory presented in the lectures.
• Organization of seminars, solving suggested problems, etc.
• Scheduling  written continuous assessment tests and final examinations.

Supervised autonomous activities: Targeted mainly to seminars and tutorials under the supervision of the teacher.

Support activities: Mainly, through a virtual learning portal (Moodle) different activities that reinforce the basic contents of the subject will be made. These activities can be customized or not, being monitored through the above mentioned virtual portal.

5.3. Syllabus

Essential Contents of the subject to achieve the target learning outcomes.

1.  Management Engineering Degrees: Vocabulary: Branches in engineering. The timetable.Course descriptions.Theory: Present simple v Present continuous. Definite and indefinite article.Writing: Describing university courses and their contents. Writing an application letter. Oral Practice: The university interview.

3. Manufacturing materials: Vocabulary: Materials. Properties of Materials.Theory: Comparative and superlative adjectives. Opposites.Relative clauses.Writing: Writing a recommendation text. Explaining laws of nature.Oral Practice: Explaining the difference between materials. Comparing and contrasting.

4.  Manufacturing tools and machinery: Vocabulary: Construction Tools. Theory: Type 0 conditionals. Purpose: used for -ing, used to, can, enable. Writing: Writing a description of construction tools. Oral Practice: Defining new words. Explaining how something works.Classifying.

5. The manufacturing process:Vocabulary: Parts of a factory. Personnel (Who does what?)Theory: Active v Passive. Present andPast passive forms.Writing: Writing a project brief. Oral Practice: Describing a manufacturing process.

6. Welcoming visitors:Vocabulary: Measurements, quantities and numbers (dates, fractions, money). Theory: Quantifiers, Countable/Uncountable nouns. Prepositions of time.Perfect tenses.Writing: Writing emails to arrange a company visit. Oral Practice: Welcoming visitors and showing them around the factory.

7.  Solving problems:Vocabulary: Identifying faults. Troubleshooting and repairs.Theory: Time clauses. Cause and effect.Prefixes.Past simple/Past continuous.Writing: Writing a report. Reporting defects and accidents.Using the problem-solution pattern.Oral Practice: Explaining what happened.

8.  Rules and Regulations: Vocabulary: Hazards and safety precautions. Security threats.Theory: Modal verbs used to express rules: can/can’t, should/shouldn’t, must/mustn’t, ought. Noun phrases. Writing: Writing safety signs. Warning expressions.Oral Practice: Giving instructions. Giving directions.Explaining rules.Making suggestions.Making recommendations.

9. Company Communication:Vocabulary: Charts, reports, memos, schedules. Theory: Modal verbs to express degrees of certainty: may, could, might, will, won’t. Prepositions of place and movement.Writing: Writing reports. Oral Practice: Holding a meeting. Explaining a diagram.Interpreting charts, graphs, diagrams and tables.

10. Information and Communication Technology: Vocabulary: Email addresses and urls. Cyber space.Theory:Conditional Sentences. Punctuation.Writing: Technical writing. Oral Practice: Telephoning across cultures.

11. The future of engineering:  Vocabulary: Future developments. Theory: Tenses used to express future time. Multi-part verbs (phrasal verbs).Writing: Making predictions. Presenting a schedule.Oral Practice: Presenting a Project.

12. Management engineering jobs: Vocabulary:Job and work. Careers in Management Engineering. Internet resources for job search. Writing: Writing a CV. Writing a cover letter. Oral Practice: Talking about jobs. Talking about requirements.The job interview.

5.4. Course planning and calendar

On-site  Sessions Schedule and presentation of tasks

The classes are held according to the schedule established by the Institution, which is published prior to the start date of the course. A more specific calendar with the activities of the subject may be scheduled and published in the ADD of the University of Zaragoza.

The teacher will inform the students of the tutorials schedule also through the ADD or other means of communication set up by the Institution.

5.5. Bibliography and recommended resources

"THE UPDATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SUBJECT IS CONSULTED THROUGH THE LIBRARY WEB PAGE http://psfunizar7.unizar.es/br13/eBuscar.php?tipo=a

Resources

Textbook, Internet and Audiovisual support material (sound equipment, computer, and projector.)

Internet provides a vast amount of resources for all levels and activities, from grammar or vocabulary review to dictionaries, listening skil activities, etc.

Some of them:

http://www.everydayenglish.com     
http://www.quia.com                                   
http://www.freeenglish.com
http://www.yellowallet.com              
http://www.englishclub.com            
http://www.tefl.net
http://www.esl-images.com             
http://www.esl-lab.com                   
http://www.esl-lounge.com              
http://www.english-to-go.com          
http://www.eslflow.com                   
http://www.a4esl.org                                   
http://www.babelfish.altavista.com
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk         
http://www.longman.com                
http://www.flo-joe.co.uk                              
http://www.eslcafe.com                              
http://www.englishlearner.com         

online dictionaries

http://www.open-dictionary.com      
http://www.onelook.com                                         
http://www.babylon.com
http://www.wordreference.com

In the course written and audiovisual materials will be used. Written documents necessary for the development of the course will be provided well in advance via personal or via ADD through the Moodleplatform, http://moodle.unizar.es.