Course detail

English for Life 2

FEKT-MPC-EFE2Acad. 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 prerequisite for the course is to pass MPC-EFE1 with a minimum of 50% of the total points.
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.

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-EFE2 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% Distance 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, equipments used, etc.

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

The exam is both written and oral:

- The written exam is divided into two parts: a written formal letter and a writen answer to a question on cultural studies.

- The oral exam is based on a class presentation in class during the semester.

The maximum points possible on the exam is 100 (50 points on the written part and 50 points on the oral part). The student must receive a minimum of 50% on each part of the exam in order to pass.

Students must attend approximately 75% of the classes each semester (i.e. not miss more than 3 classes), unless they have a legitimate reason for not attending,
in order to receive credits for the course.

Course curriculum

1. Week 1 Cultural Studies I (EU)
2. Week 2 Cultural Studies II (USA)
3. Week 3 Cultural Studies III (a British Commonwealth country)
4. Week 4 Communicating across Cultures I
5. Week 5 Cultural Workshop (student presentations)
6. Week 6 Letter Writing I
7. Week 7 Letter Writing II (e.g. CVs, covering letters, etc.)
8. Week 8 Communicating across Cultures II
9. Week 9 Cultural Workshop (student presentations)
10. Week 10 Cultural Workshop (student presentations)
11. Week 11 Potpourri (e.g. study stays, business English, letter writing, vocabulary, etc.—decided by the individual lecturer)
12. Week 12 Semester Review
13. Week 13 Written Exam

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

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

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

  • Programme EEKR-M1 Master's

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

Type of course unit

 

eLearning