Course detail

English for Life 1

FEKT-MPC-EFE1Acad. year: 2020/2021

An English course with a focus on the acquirement and practice of advanced skills within practical verbal and written communication. The seminars include not only a wide variety of functional aspects of the English language, but also different forms of interaction, namely active discussion, presentation, interpretation of audiovisual materials, and production or analysis of texts. The topics are outlined in such a manner as to enable the students to use English more effectively in dealing with everyday social and professional situations.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

2

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Learning outcomes of the course unit

The ability to orientate oneself in the cultural and professional maze of present-day Euroamerican civilization.
The ability to use English in a wide range of everyday situations.
The knowledge of various writing techniques plus the rules of team work and business communication in English.
The ability to understand natural spoken English.
The ability to give an oral English presentation in front of many people.
The ability to ask different oral presenters pertinent questions in English on a variety of presentations.

Prerequisites

The fundamental prerequisite consists in a good command of English as defined by the current XAN4 exam.
Students wishing to take the course exam and obtain their credits are required to attend a minimum of 75% of the tutorials/lectures.

Note 1: Students who have a bachelor degree in English in Electrical Engineering and Informatics (AJEI-H) must register MPC-EFE1. However, such students will automatically receive their credits and are not required to attend classes or to take any tests or exams that other MPC-EFE1/MKC-EFE1 students must take.

Note 2: Due to the return of the Covid-19 virus, the above class atttendance rules will not be applied in the same way during the 2020/2021 academic year. However, whether it is contact teaching at FEKT, or 'distance learning' from home, all students must complete the requirements given by their individual lecturer in this course.

As for all viruses and the wearing of masks in class, all students attending classes are obligated to respect the rules outlined by the Rector of VUT and the Dean of FEKT.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, audiovisual presentations, business and technical conversation and student presentations. Each student is obliged to give an oral presentation in front of their peers during the course.*

*Note that due to return of the Covid virus in the winter semester of 2020/2021, there will be changes in the way MPC-EFE1 is conducted.
As of 23 September, 2020, contact teaching, where students and their lecturer are present in class, has been suspended for the immediate future.
Whether or not this is temporary, no one can say for sure. Therefore, the teaching of this course will be roughly divided in the following way:

90% E-learning via slides, exercises, homework, etc., and/or classroom teaching if the lockdown will only be temporary and we can all return to FEKT
10% Online Lectures (to be decided at a future date by your class lecturer)**

**Online lecture(s) are linked to the length of the lockdown, equipment used, etc

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

Classified Credit:

Graded assessment based on the material discussed in the course of teaching, including grammar (see "osnova").
Students must earn a minimum of 50% of the total points in order to pass MPC-EFE1.

Course curriculum

1. Week 1 Introduction
2. Week 2 Grammar I
3. Week 3 Grammar II
4. Week 4 Introduction to EuroAmerican Culture
5. Week 5 Vocabulary Review and Sentence Structures
6. Week 6 Technical/Cultural (Hoover Dam)
7. Week 7 Englishes of the World
8. Week 8 Technical/Cultural (CN Tower and technical texts)
9. Week 9 Professional English
10. Week 10 Giving Presentations I: Learning how to give a good presentation.
11. Week 11 Giving Presentations II: Practicing how to give a good Introduction.
12. Week 12 Semester Review
13. Week 13 Semester Test

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The development of knowledge and skills related to both the general and professional use of English.
The abilility to communicate in areas of interest related to present-day Euroamerican civilization.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

The content and forms of instruction in the evaluated course are specified by regulations issued by the lecturer responsible for the course and updated for every academic year.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

R. MacNeil and W. Cran, Do You Speak American? 2007 (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

eLearning

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme MPC-AUD Master's

    specialization AUDM-TECH , any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
    specialization AUDM-ZVUK , any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional

  • Programme MPC-BIO Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-BTB Master's, any year of study, winter semester, elective
  • Programme MPC-TIT Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-KAM Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-EVM Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-EEN Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-EKT Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-IBE Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-MEL Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-SVE Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
  • Programme MPC-EAK Master's, any year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional

  • Programme EEKR-M1 Master's

    branch M1-BEI , 2. year of study, winter semester, general knowledge

Type of course unit

 

Language exercise

26 hours, compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

eLearning