CRISTINA FELEA

English for Academic Purposes

First Semester

CFCID - BABES-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Letters & Faculty of Sociology and Social Work
Copyright

© Cristina Felea

© CFCID - BABES-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Letters & Faculty of Sociology and Social Work

CFCID - BABES-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Letters & Faculty of Sociology and Social Work

E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://cursuri.elearning.ubbcluj.ro/moodle/
 English for Academic Purposes

Contents
About this Course 5
How this COURSE is structured ...................................................................................... 5

Course overview 7

Welcome to English for Academic Purposes – First Semester 7

General Course Description .............................................................................................. 7
English for Academic Purposes —is this course for you? ................................................ 7
Course outcomes ............................................................................................................... 8
Timeframe ......................................................................................................................... 8
Study skills ........................................................................................................................ 9
Need help? ...................................................................................................................... 11
Activities and Assignments ............................................................................................ 12
Assessments .................................................................................................................... 12

Getting around the EAP Course 14

Margin icons ................................................................................................................... 14

Unit 1 15
Millennials Go to University. Why Learn English at the Uni? ...................................... 15
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 15
1.1 Welcome to the Uni! ....................................................................................... 16
1.1.1 Presentation ......................................................................................... 16
1.1.2 Skills for Successful learners .............................................................. 17
1.2 Reasons to Learn English ................................................................................ 17
1.2.1 Presentation ......................................................................................... 17
1.2.2 Study Skills: Diagnose your English .................................................. 18
1.2.3 Discussion: Importance of Languages ................................................ 18
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 18
Assignment 1: Digital Nation ......................................................................................... 19
Assessment: Student Survey ........................................................................................... 19
Language Toolbox .......................................................................................................... 19

Unit 2 20
Searching is a Trick You Can learn ................................................................................ 20
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 20
2.1 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ..................................................................... 21
2.1.1 Take Notes and Answer Quizzes ........................................................ 21
2.2 Searching and Evaluating Web Resources ...................................................... 21
2.2.1 Learning How to Search on the Web: Social Work ............................ 23
ii Error! No text of specified style in document.

2.2.2 Learning How to Search on the Web: English Language Resources . 23

2.2.3 Study Skills. Learning to be an Independent Learner ......................... 24
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 24
Assignment 2: Searching on the Web – English Learning Resources ............................ 25

Unit 3 27
Pathways to Success. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. .......................................................... 27
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 27
3.1 What Is in a Career? Steve Jobs’ Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.......................... 28
3.1.1 Presentation: Watch and Listen .......................................................... 28
3.1.2 Reading Comprehension ..................................................................... 28
3.2 The Social Challenge: What Social Impression Do You Make? .................... 29
3.2.1 Creating an efficient resume/CV ........................................................ 29
3.2.2 Study Skills: Managing Your Time .................................................... 29
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 30
Assignment 3: Create a CV ............................................................................................ 30
Self-Assessment .............................................................................................................. 30

Unit 4 31
Academic Reading .......................................................................................................... 31
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 31
4.1 Are You an Efficient Reader? ......................................................................... 32
4.1.1 Presentation ......................................................................................... 32
4.1.2 Text Features ....................................................................................... 32
4.2 Developing Your Reading Strategies .............................................................. 32
4.2.1 How good are your reading strategies ................................................ 32
4.2.2 Reading Tutorials ................................................................................ 33
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 33
Assignment 4: Reading Practice ..................................................................................... 33
Self-Assessment .............................................................................................................. 34

Unit 5 35
Learning (Academic) Vocabulary .................................................................................. 35
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 35
5.1 Learning Academic Vocabulary. Tips and Tricks. .......................................... 36
5.1.1 Presentation ......................................................................................... 36
5.1.2 What are your dictionary habits? - Survey ......................................... 36
5.2 Practice Building Academic Vocabulary ........................................................ 36
5.2.1 Assess your vocabulary....................................................................... 36
5.2.2 Building academic vocabulary ............................................................ 37
5.2.3 Study Skills: Plan your vocabulary study ........................................... 37
 English for Academic Purposes

Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 37

Assignment 5: Working actively your vocabulary ......................................................... 38
Self-Assessment .............................................................................................................. 38

Unit 6 39
Listening Skills ............................................................................................................... 39
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 39
6.1 Are You a Good Listener?............................................................................... 40
6.1.1 Presentation: Academic Listening ...................................................... 40
6.2 Practice Your Listening Skills ......................................................................... 41
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 41
Assignment 6: Listening Practice ................................................................................... 42
Assessment...................................................................................................................... 42

Unit 7 43
Oral Presentations: Are They Such a Headache? ........................................................... 43
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 43
7.1 What’s In a Good Presentation? ...................................................................... 44
7.2 Presentation Tips and Tricks ........................................................................... 44
7.2.1 Presentation ......................................................................................... 44
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 45
Assignment 7: Create an oral presentation ..................................................................... 45

Unit 8 47
To Speak or Not to Speak? ............................................................................................. 47
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 47
8.1 Verbal Communication ................................................................................... 48
8.1.1 Taboo or not taboo? ............................................................................ 48
8.2 Improving Your Conversational Skills – Tips and Advice ............................. 48
8.2.1 Building a list of conversation topics.................................................. 48
8.2.2 Improve your conversational English ................................................. 49
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 50
Assignment 8: Listening and Speaking Practice............................................................. 50
Self-Assessment .............................................................................................................. 51

References 53
Resources to Review Your English ................................................................................ 53
Listening ................................................................................................................ 53
General English ............................................................................................ 53
Academic English ........................................................................................ 53
Reading and Vocabulary ....................................................................................... 53
General English ............................................................................................ 53
Academic English ........................................................................................ 54
Grammar ................................................................................................................ 54
General and Academic English .................................................................... 54
Recommended Dictionaries .................................................................................. 55
 English for Academic Purposes

About this Course

The Course of English for Academic Purposes First Semester has been
produced by the Department of Languages for Special Purposes, Faculty
of Letters and the Department for Distance Learning of Babes-Bolyai
University, Cluj-Napoca. All LANGUAGE COURSES produced for
Distance Learning students are structured in the same way, as outlined
below.

How this COURSE is structured

The course overview
The course overview gives you a general introduction to the course.
Information contained in the course overview will help you determine:

 If the course is suitable for you.

 What you will already need to know.

 What you can expect from the course.

 How much time you will need to invest to complete the course.

The overview also provides guidance on:

 Study skills.

 Where to get help.

 Course assignments and assessments.

 Activity icons.

 Units.

We strongly recommend that you read the overview carefully before

starting your study.

The course content

The course is broken down into units. Each unit comprises:

 An introduction to the unit content.

 Unit outcomes.

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About this Course

 New terminology.
 Core content of the unit with a variety of learning activities.
 A unit summary.
 Assignments and/or assessments, as applicable.

Resources
For those interested in learning more on this subject, we provide you with
a list of additional resources at the end of this COURSE: these may be
books, articles or web sites.

Your comments
After completing the Course of English for Academic Purposes – First
Semester, we would appreciate it if you would take a few moments to
give us your feedback on any aspect of this course. Your feedback might
include comments on:

 Course content and structure.

 Course reading materials and resources.

 Course assignments.

 Course assessments.

 Course duration.

 Course support (assigned tutors, technical help, etc.)

Your constructive feedback will help us to improve and enhance this

course.

Course Format and Course Packet

The course is delivered in a blended learning format; that is, it will consist of (a) two face-to-face
in-class meetings and (b) online activities on the ID e-learning Moodle platform.

Tips

(1) This Course Packet is a document with interactive links that will take you to Internet-based
learning resources. Consequently, to take full advantage of the activities, it is recommended that you
should use it in an electronic format, rather than print.

(2) It is also recommendable you should open the links in browsers Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

(3) In addition to the activities in this Course Packet, you will be required to access and check the ID
Moodle platform for announcements, tasks, forum discussions and supplementary learning materials.

(4) For efficient communication and informal learning activities, you are invited to join the
Facebook closed group English Cafe IDD.

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 English for Academic Purposes

Course overview
Welcome to English for Academic Purposes –
First Semester
General Course Description
Dear students, this is going to be our springboard for learning English,
keeping in touch and, most of all, having fun learning!

This is a compulsory course designed to be used by 1st year students

who attend the English course for the Distance Learning Department of
the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Babes-Bolyai University.

English for Academic Purposes —

is this course for you?
You are welcome whether you are
 forever an elementary (A2 cf. CEFR) student
 a student who intends to sit for the Alpha certificate of linguistic
competence
 a first year student enrolled in the English for Academic Purposes
course
 any learner who believes this course matches their learning needs

Objectives

This course is intended for students who want to develop

1. language competences and skills necessary for study and

communication in their academic life and further for their respective
profession.

2. independent study skills: being aware of the present state of their

language competences and skills, setting realistic goals, selecting
adequate materials from the recommended resources and, last but not
least, self-assess with the help of the instruments provided by the
Common European Framework for Languages.

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Welcome to English for Academic Purposes – First Semester

Prerequisites
It is recommendable to have an entry level B1 (according to the
Common European Framework for Languages. You may check your
level at the following link: Self-Assessment .

Credits: 3/semester

Course outcomes
Upon completion of  Develop and apply extensive and intensive reading strategies of
EAP First Semester specialist text (scan, skim, locate information)
you will be able to:
 Understand the topic, main and secondary ideas, and text organisation
in various texts.

 Understand and develop general academic and specialist vocabulary by

Outcomes using context, Internet resources, glossaries and dictionaries and use it
to express factual information and opinions about topics in specialist
field.

 Recognise various text genres encountered in your specialist field

(textbooks, scientific articles, research reports, prefaces and
introductions to specialist books, book reviews).

 Develop study skills needed in information management and

evaluation (search, evaluate and use electronic learning resources) .

 Know how to avoid plagiarism by summarising and synthesising

information.

 Develop lifelong learning skills such as ICT skills and intercultural

communication.

Click on the links to access more details on the Moodle platform: General
Information about the course and EAP Syllabus.

Timeframe
The duration of this course is 14 weeks.

It consists of two 3-hour face-to-face meetings and independent study

based on course units.
How long? You are expected to work about 3-4 hours on a weekly basis, according to
your level of English.

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 English for Academic Purposes

Study skills
As an adult learner your approach to learning will be different to that
from your school days: you will choose what you want to study, you will
have professional and/or personal motivation for doing so and you will
most likely be fitting your study activities around other professional or
domestic responsibilities.

Essentially you will be taking control of your learning environment. As a

consequence, you will need to consider performance issues related to
time management, goal setting, stress management, etc. Perhaps you will
also need to reacquaint yourself in areas such as essay planning, coping
with exams and using the web as a learning resource.

Your most significant considerations will be time and space i.e. the time
you dedicate to your learning and the environment in which you engage
in that learning.

We recommend that you take time now—before starting your self-

study—to familiarize yourself with these issues. There are a number of
excellent resources on the web. A few suggested links are:

 A check list for online learning success

Taking online programs gives people, often, a false sense of freedom.

Online students tend to struggle more when it comes to completing
assignments. With no, or few, face to face interactions with
professors and peers, it can be too easy for an online student to
procrastinate or perform poorly.

 How to study_Study skills tips

The “How to study” web site is dedicated to study skills resources.
You will find links to study preparation (a list of nine essentials for a
good study place), taking notes, strategies for reading text books,
using reference sources, test anxiety.
 Study skills information
This is the web site of the Virginia Tech, Division of Student Affairs.
You will find links to time scheduling (including a “where does time
go?” link), a study skill checklist, basic concentration techniques,
control of the study environment, note taking, how to read essays for
analysis, memory skills (“remembering”).

 Tips on how to learn online

This is your teacher’s tips and advice for working efficiently in a
blended learning environment (face to face & online).
The above links are our suggestions to start you on your way. At the time
of writing these web links were active. It’s worthwhile taking your time

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Welcome to English for Academic Purposes – First Semester

to also explore the list below.

 Using English for Academic Purposes (one of the greatest resources

for international students learning in an English-speaking
environment, and not only)

 Academic Success Center Getting Started with and Developing Your

Academic Skills (from the University of Southampton, updated
regularly)

 Academic Language and Style (from Newcastle University)

Learning English for Academic Purposes (site in construction from
the University of Warwick. Very good tips and advice!)

 BBC Talk About English Series (A 12-part Academic English-related

downloadable audio files with transcripts)

 The Student Development Center (from the University of Ontario,

plenty of resources for writing with downloadable Word handouts)

 The Online Writing and Learning Link (from Massey University,

New Zealand)

 Skills@Library (University of Leeds amazing tutorials. It's definitely

worth a try. Great stuff! Click on Academic Skills)

 English for Academic Purposes - an extensive list of resources for all

skills compiled by Damian Rivers. It can be used as a starting point
for further search.

 Academic Skills Unit handouts at the University of Portsmouth,

mostly on writing issues.

 Video Lectures playlist from Massey University, New Zealand.

Lectures deal mostly with the writing process but also contain issues
such as time management and preparation for oral examination.

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 English for Academic Purposes

Need help?
The course web site address is the UBB Distance Learning Moodle
platform.

Your course instructor is Associate Professor Cristina Felea, Ph.D.

Help
Her contact address is [email protected]

Office hours will be announced on the platform at the beginning of the

academic year.

Learning resources will be available on the e-learning portal at the

following address
http://cursuri.elearning.ubbcluj.ro/moodle/course/view.php?id=14

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Welcome to English for Academic Purposes – First Semester

Activities and Assignments

All units have a wide variety of activities and assignments meant to offer
you practice in the topics studied.

You are expected to use your selective ability to pick the most adequate
for your level of English and for the goals you set at the beginning of the
course. Select and go through them.
Assignments
Details on the assignments are provided in the course packet. Check the
Moodle platform for practice and assignments. More will be added
during the semester. So, stay tuned!

It is recommended that you create a weekly schedule for working on

your Portfolio (see below, section Assessment) and submitting online
assignments.

Assessments
Learning a language needs time and perseverance. Just think how long it
has taken you to learn Romanian! Therefore, your INDEPENDENT work
is vital to succeed attaining a good level of English, namely B2 (higher
intermediate) by the end of the course.
Assessments
Your activity for the EAP Course will be evaluated as follows.

For Credit – 100 points

Name of Assignment Due Date Point Value

The Independent Language Learning Portfolio Part 1 – end 60

(ILLP) of December
2020

Part 2 - End
of the
semester –
January 2021

Oral Presentation of ILLP Session of 40

exams

The Independent Language Learning Portfolio has a major objective:

to get you to learn how to learn a language. This process consists of

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 English for Academic Purposes

several steps: self-evaluate your English level, analyse your learning

needs, set your learning goals, find resources, plan, organise, monitor and
assess your learning. You will be given support and advice all along the
way.
The Presentation of ILLP will consist of a 5-minute PowerPoint
of your Portfolio and deliver it in class.

For Extra Credit – maximum 20 points

Name of Assignment Due Date Point Value

Graded quizzes, participation in discussion forums End of the 5-10

semester points/item

Discussion Forum threads will be created by your teacher on topics

related to course units. They are meant to develop your argumentative
and language skills. They will be accessible on the Discussion Forums.
Your contribution will be assessed based on criteria such as: timely
postings and timely responses to others’ posts, well articulated
arguments. Consult this rubric for tips, advice and evaluation criteria.

13
Getting around the EAP Course

Getting around the EAP Course

Margin icons
While working through this Course you will notice the frequent use of
margin icons. These icons serve to “signpost” a particular piece of text, a
new task or change in activity; they have been included to help you to
find your way around the EAP Course

A complete icon set is shown below. We suggest that you familiarize

yourself with the icons and their meaning before starting your study.

Activity Assessment Assignment Case study

Discussion Group activity Help Note it!

Outcomes Reading Reflection Study skills

Summary Terminology Time Tip

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 English for Academic Purposes

Unit 1

Millennials Go to University. Why

Learn English at the Uni?
Introduction
"Ideally, and in the popular apprehension, the university is, as it has
always been, a corporation for the cultivation and care of the
community's highest aspirations and ideals." (Thornstein Veblen)

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Name some of the benefits of higher education.

 List some of the characteristics and skills a contemporary learner

should have.
Outcomes
 Identify some of the changes that have affected education.

 List and explain some of the reasons and benefits of language learning.

 Diagnose your strengths and weaknesses as an English language and

online learner.

 Plan and prioritise language learning activities for this course.

English for It is training students, usually in a higher education setting,

Academic to use language appropriately for study.
Purposes:

Terminology Digital native: A digital native is a person who was born during or after
the general introduction of digital technologies and through
interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a
greater understanding of its concepts.

Digital immigrant: A digital immigrant is an individual who was born before

the existence of digital technology and adopted it to some
extent later in life.

Web 2.0: Web 2.0 describes web sites that use technology beyond the
static pages of earlier web sites. A Web 2.0 site may allow
users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social
media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a
virtual community, in contrast to websites where people are
limited to the passive viewing of content.

15
Unit 1

Millennials: Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation is

the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are
no precise dates for when Generation Y starts and ends.
Commentators use beginning birth dates from the early
1980s to the early 2000s.

Lingua franca: A lingua franca (also called a working language, bridge

language, vehicular language or unifying language) is a
language systematically used to make communication
possible between people not sharing a mother tongue.

Life skills: Life skills are behaviours used appropriately and

responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They
are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct
experience that are used to handle problems and questions
commonly encountered in daily human life. Examples
include career planning, communication, daily living, home
life, housing and money management, self care, social
relationships, work and study skills, work life, pregnancy
and parenting.

Career skills Today’s life and work environments require far more than
thinking skills and content knowledge. The ability to
navigate the complex life and work environments in the
globally competitive information age requires students to
pay rigorous attention to developing adequate life and
career skills. Examples: flexibility and adaptability,
initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills,
leadership and responsibility, productivity and
accountability.
Sources: Wikipedia and Partnership for 1 st Century
Skills.

1.1 Welcome to the Uni!

1.1.1 Presentation
Watch* the presentation Welcome to the EAP Course and take notes that would answer to the
following questions:
1. Who are you? What kind of student do you think you are?
2. Where and why have you chosen to continue your education?
3. What are your learning needs in terms of general study skills
and language learning?
4. What is Web 2.0?
5. Why are Web 2.0 tools so important for English learning?

*
You need Chrome or Mozilla to open Google Presentations.

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 English for Academic Purposes

1.1.2 Skills for Successful learners

Reflection
What skills do you need to be a successful learner in the 21st century?

Who are the Millennials?

This video is a short overview of the characteristics
of the Millennial generation (also called Gen Y) and implications
to consider in Education.

Now go to quiz How Millennial Are You? and think about the changes
that affect the way you live and learn.

1.2 Reasons to Learn English

Getting to know better English is not a luxury. Together with computer
literacy, it is by all means a necessity! These two may be the best things
you can do to improve your life. For instance,

 You can have access to information that other people

can't get.

 You can communicate to people, institutions and

organisations that others can't communicate with.

 You can impress people and make big jumps in your academic career
and work, leaving others behind.

1.2.1 Presentation
The following presentation, entitled Reasons for Learning Foreign
Languages, contains a summary of some of the most frequent reasons for
learning foreign languages, particularly English. Use the verbal and
visual cues to reflect on your own reasons.

Now that you have become familiar with some of the reasons people
learn or should learn languages, you are invited to work through the
handout below. Click on the link and follow the instructions.
Activity 1
Handout Unit 1_Reasons for Learning Languages

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Unit 1

1.2.2 Study Skills: Diagnose your English

There are several ways to find out how good your English skills are. For
example, you may take an international exam (Cambridge, IELTS, and
TOEFL), take a simple online test or, simply self-assess yourself using
Study skills
the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

At this moment, you are invited to take a Placement Test and situate
yourself in a CEFR category by means of the key and scores. Keep the
documents and save the links for further reference.

1.2.3 Discussion: Importance of Languages

Discussion In groups, discuss with your colleagues whether you agree or disagree
with one of the statements:

1. If you are travelling around the world, speaking the language is better
than shouting.
2. I think languages just set you free.
3. Languages are an inspiration and it's very interesting to learn about
countries other than your own.
4. Languages are more stimulating than other subjects. There's always
something new to learn.
5. Languages unite people in this stressful international panorama.

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned some characteristics and skills
contemporary learners should have in order to be successful.

Summary

You have also learned about some of the major reasons people should
learn foreign languages, in our case English.

Finally, you assessed your English by means of a Placement Test. This

means you have taken the first step towards setting a plan for learning
English. In the following unit you will have the opportunity to find out
more about what it takes to improve your knowledge.

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 English for Academic Purposes

Assignment 1: Digital Nation

Digital Nation. Life on the Virtual Frontier is the name of a PBS
Frontline comprehensive programme dedicated to the changes brought
about in education by the advance of technology.

Assignment 1

Visit the section Digital Parenting and prepare a brief presentation of this
resource. Highlight at least three new things related to the generation gap,
parenting styles and relationships.

Assessment: Student Survey

Please access the following questionnaire in Romanian: Chestionar
initial to provide some more information on your English and IT skills.
It will be of help for us to be able to provide more personalised
teaching.

Language Toolbox
The following are RECOMMENDED DICTIONARIES you may use
during this course.
Elementary to Pre-Intermediate
 Monolingual: Cambridge Essential Dictionary
 Thesaurus: Collins English Thesaurus; The Free
Dictionary (dictionary, thesaurus and translation)
 Bilingual: EN-RO Word Reference Dictionary; RO-EN Word
Reference
 Picture Dictionary: Merriam Webster Visual, English Picture
Dictionary (photos)
Intermediate to Proficient
 Monolingual: Cambridge Learner's Dictionary
 Thesaurus: OneLook Dictionary Search
 Bilingual: EN-RO Word Reference Dictionary; RO-EN Word
Reference
 Picture Dictionary: Merriam Webster Visual, ThinkMap. Visual
Thesaurus

19
Unit 2

Unit 2
Searching is a Trick You Can learn
Introduction
“Sure, you use the Internet all the time, but you need to wise up to the
web when you use it for your university or college work.”

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Search and evaluate web resources related to English language learning

and their own specialist discipline.

 Create annotated lists of resources.

Outcomes
 Manage new content and vocabulary from various sources.

 Create vocabulary lists.

Internet resources: Links to web sites that are useful for study.

Tutorial: Step by step instructions on how to do something.

Higher Education: The stage of learning following primary and

Terminology
secondary education. It is usually based in
universities and colleges.

Plagiarism: It is using another person’s ideas and words

without clearly acknowledging the source of that
information.

Critical thinking: It is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It

includes the ability to engage in reflection and
independent thinking.

Research skills: Research is searching carefully, with a method, so

that you can answer a question. It is wider than
finding out a fact and more focused than reading
widely around a subject.

Copyright: Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most

governments, giving the creator of original work
exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time.
Generally, it is "the right to copy", but also gives
the copyright holder the right to be credited for the

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 English for Academic Purposes

work, to determine who may adapt the work to

other forms, who may perform the work, who may
financially benefit from it etc.

Citation: Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or

unpublished source (not always the original
source). Citation has several important purposes:
to uphold intellectual honesty (or avoiding
plagiarism),[1] to attribute prior or unoriginal
work and ideas to the correct sources, to allow the
reader to determine independently whether the
referenced material supports the author's argument
in the claimed way, and to help the reader gauge
the strength and validity of the material the author
has used.[2]

2.1 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Before watching the tutorial entitled “The Internet Detective”, try to
answer the questions below. Note down a few ideas then check if you
were right.

 Why do students fail if they use the Internet badly?

 What happens if you use the Internet indiscriminately for research?

What are the potential dangers?

 Why do you need to step up your Internet skills at university and

college?

2.1.1 Take Notes and Answer Quizzes

Open the Google document in a new tab to prepare for and note down
information related to the in-class activities.
Activity 3 Watch the presentation and discuss in class what are "the good", "the
bad" and "the ugly" Part 1: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Now answer the following short QUIZ .

2.2 Searching and Evaluating Web Resources

The Virtual Training Suite is a set of online tutorials from Intute which
support subject-specific use of quality internet resources for learning.
Each online tutorial introduces students to a range of high quality subject
resources through the 'tour', improves their search strategies and
techniques in the 'discover' section, and supports evaluation of resources
as a ‘judge’. They are aimed at students and provide a handy reminder of

21
Unit 2

the information skills that learners need to make best use of online and
open educational resources. (Source: The JISC Design Studio)

Figure 1 Virtual Training Suite Screenshot

By the end of the tutorials you should have a good idea of how to find the
best sites on the Web that are appropriate for university work, and you
will understand how critical thinking can improve the quality of your
online research.

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 English for Academic Purposes

2.2.1 Learning How to Search on the Web: Social Work

Access The Virtual Learning Suite and pick up a tutorial for Social
Work or Sociology (page 8). Go through it and take notes that cover
Activity 4
 Content: What did you already know? Is any information new? If
yes, is it useful? How are you going to use the new information?
Make a list of at least 5 resources you could use now or later for
your studies.

Sample list entry

Link Title
A Sociological Tour through Cyberspace
Author: Michael McKearl
Level of Information College/University
Format mostly text
URL Address http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/index.html
Comment Useful for sociology resources

 Language issues: Create lists of most often used verbs, nouns and
expressions. Use the dictionaries recommended in Unit 1.

Sample vocabulary entry heading

Word Part of Synonyms Antonyms Example
speech sentence

2.2.2 Learning How to Search on the Web: English

Language Resources
Use the new knowledge to search for sites dealing with study skills and
Activity 5 academic English in view of organsing your learning priorities. For
instance, the following sites are very useful for developing your listening
and speaking skills.
 AudioEnglish. Usual conversations
 Elllo English Listening Online (learn English naturally by listening to
speakers from all over the world)
 Luke's Podcasts - 100% British English! It's fun and very interesting!
 ESL English Listening and Adult Literacy - Audio books, TedTalks,
Songs with transcripts. Extremely varied resource for all levels and
interests! Two listening speeds!
 English Speaking Basics, with loads of audio for improving
pronunciation
 IELTS Speaking:
.

23
Unit 2

2.2.3 Study Skills. Learning to be an Independent Learner

The following checklist shows what you should do as an independent
learner. What are the negative consequences of not doing them? Use your
experience to give examples.
Study skills
Checklist: THINGS YOU SHOULD DO AS AN INDEPENDENT
LEARNER

# Checklist 
1 Access learning platform regularly and check your mail for
announcements.

2 Do all the set work.

3 Read background and any other recommended texts.

4 Find out when your assignments are due in.

5 Make sure you hand them in or upload/ mail them on time.

6 Find out when and where your exams are held.

7 Make sure you arrive for exams in plenty of time and are
well prepared.

8 Ask about anything you do not understand. Keep in touch

with your classmates and teachers/tutors.

9 Take care of your health and well-being

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned how to successfully search and evaluate
web resources for your specialist study and English language learning by
means of online tutorials.

Summary

You have also created lists of annotated resources in order to be able to

organise the newly found information.

24
 English for Academic Purposes

Assignment 2: Searching on the Web –

English Learning Resources
Use the new knowledge to search for sites dealing with study skills and
academic English in view of organsing your learning priorities. You may
use key words such as study skills, English for Academic Purposes,
reading skills, writing skills, listening skills, critical thinking, English as a
Second Language (ESL), English+British Council, English exams, etc.

Assignment

Create a topical list of annotated resources. This is a possible template†.

List title: Reading Skills
Link Title Skills@Library
Level of Information College/University
Format text, flash animations, video and audio tutorials
URL Address http://skills.library.leeds.ac.uk/index.php
Comment Excellent resources for developing reading (and other)
academic skills.

†
Model

25
 English for Academic Purposes

Unit 3
Pathways to Success. Stay
Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Introduction
“If today were the last day of your life, would you do what you are about
to do today?” (Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Address)

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Speak about your dreams and career choices by using basic vocabulary
related to education and profession.

 Write correctly a CV that would produce a good social influence .

Outcomes
 Define important aspects of time management.

 Apply reading comprehension strategies.

 Apply listening comprehension strategies.

 Reflect on aspects related to career and time management.

Career: an occupation undertaken for a significant period

of a person's life and with opportunities for
progress

Profession: a paid occupation, esp. one that involves

Terminology
prolonged training and a formal qualification.

Success: the accomplishment of an aim or purpose

CV: The term 'Curriculum Vitae', commonly

abbreviated to CV, can be literally translated as
'course of life'. Sometimes referred to as a résumé,
it's a summary of your career history that is often
the first phase in getting yourself noticed by
potential employers.

Professional Professional certification, trade certification, or

qualification: professional designation, often called simply
certification or qualification, is a designation
earned by a person to assure qualification to
perform a job or task.

27
Unit 3

Europass: Europass is an EU initiative to increase

transparency of qualification and mobility of
citizens in Europe.

Time management: Time management is the act or process of planning

and exercising conscious control over the amount
of time spent on specific activities, especially to
increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.

3.1 What Is in a Career? Steve Jobs’ Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

3.1.1 Presentation: Watch and Listen
Click on the picture to get to the presentation. Do some of the suggested
activities.

Figure 2 What are the most important success factors?

3.1.2 Reading Comprehension

The following handout contains activities based on a selection from Steve
Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address.
Activity
Handout Unit 3_Reading Comprehension_Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

28
 English for Academic Purposes

3.2 The Social Challenge: What Social Impression Do You Make?

3.2.1 Creating an efficient resume/CV

A curriculum vitae (CV) provides an overview of a person's experience

and other qualifications. In some countries, a CV is typically the first item
that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is
typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when
seeking employment. Source: Wikipedia
Activity
Which of the following information do you want to include on your
CV? What order should they go in?
Personal profile; Personal details; Contact details; Education history;
Professional training; Professional qualification; Employment history;
Current employment and responsibilities; Skills; Interests; References;
Memberships of professional organisations.
Practice some basic CV skills with the following handout.

Build your CV by using the traditional Europass or the visual format

Be very careful to avoid mistakes in spelling and grammar. These can
give a bad impression to a potential employer.

3.2.2 Study Skills: Managing Your Time

One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.- Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe
Study skills

Where does your time go?

Time management is vital in keeping on top of the increasing

professional workload and getting the most of your personal life as well.

Access the Time Management Study Guide and explore it for your own
knowledge. Take notes and prepare a 150 word presentation.

Think and comment on the following quotes:

Reflection

29
Unit 3

 “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things
you did not do than the ones you did do.” (Mark Twain)
 If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting
off doing it. (Olin Miller)
 If we fail to plan, we plan to fail. (Anonymous)

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned about factors that influence and help
building up a career and being successful in what you do.

You have also practiced listening and reading comprehension based on

Summary Steve Jobs’s Stanford Commencement Address and learned how to build
an efficient CV.

Assignment 3: Create a CV
Create a curriculum vitae (CV) that describes your educational
background, work experience, and job skills. For a professional look,
consider using Google Drive, Microsoft Word, or another program that
can format fonts, embed images, and so on. To make sure that your
formatting is preserved, please convert the document to PDF format before
submitting it. If you don't have PDF conversion software, try a free online
Assignment
service such as Zamzar.

Submit it to your teacher by the due date. You may ask your peers for
advice on the e-learning platform.

A good place to find extensive information is Career Advice Monster site.

Self-Assessment
Watch and listen again to Steve Jobs’ speech and fill in the following
form: Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Assessment

30
 English for Academic Purposes

Unit 4
Academic Reading
Introduction
Developing your reading strategies is essential for both study and work.
Practicing regular reading activities will help you increase your
vocabulary and self-confidence.

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Define and identify reading strategies such as skimming and scanning.

 Apply skimming and scanning to improve your understanding.

 Plan and priorities reading practice.

Outcomes
 Create a list of reading tutorials and reading materials to develop
your skills.

 Recognise text features and use this for more efficient reading

Skimming: Process of speed reading to get an overall

impression of the content of a reading

Scanning: Process of speed reading to search for specific

information.
Terminology
SQ3R Method: a study technique in which the student surveys,
questions, reads, recites, and reviews course
material

Reading process: Reading is a complex interaction between the

text, the reader and the purposes for reading,
which are shaped by the reader’s prior
knowledge and experiences, the reader’s
knowledge about reading and writing language
and the reader’s language community which is
culturally and socially situated.

Note taking: Note-taking is the practice of recording

information captured from another source. By
taking notes, the writer records the essence of
the information, freeing their mind from
having to recall everything.

31
Unit 4

4.1 Are You an Efficient Reader?

4.1.1 Presentation
Access the presentation on efficient reading and note down new
information. Pay special attention to the elements that influence the
process of reading (slides 3-5) and the SQ3R method.

Presentation: Reading Efficiently

4.1.2 Text Features

When you read something, it helps to know what type of text it is. In
informational texts, text features have different functions.
Activity

For extended practice on text types, go to this Text Type Exercise. Press
see answers button to check your understanding. Think which text types
are related to academic study.

4.2 Developing Your Reading Strategies

The following activities give you the opportunity to develop your basic
reading strategies.

4.2.1 How good are your reading strategies

 Skimming and scanning are two reading strategies essential in all
areas of activity. Read and watch the video on Skimming and
scanning3 and then choose a level to practice and learn more.

 What else would you like to know about reading? Find out about
Activity
reading for pleasure and practice with the activities.

3
BBC Skillswise is a site dedicated to adult learning where you can find lots of
activities for practical literacy English.

32
 English for Academic Purposes

4.2.2 Reading Tutorials

The links below take you to sites aimed at developing reading strategies.
Explore them and save for further reference. Pick one of them and go
through the activities.
Study skills
 Open University Introductory Reading Course
 Effective Reading and Note Taking
 Using English for Academic Purposes//

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned some aspects related to strategies for
efficient reading and how you can improve your reading skills by
learning about text types and text features.

Summary

Assignment 4: Reading Practice

 Read these stories Ready, Click, Spend! and Google It! and do all
activities. Complete the score sheets and send them to your mailbox.
Note the scores for safe keeping and comment on aspects encountered
in the stories.

Assignment  Access the Adult Learning Activities site and select another reading
activity according to your preferences.

33
Unit 4

Self-Assessment
In order to review what you have learned in this unit,

access the site Using English for Academic Purposes and do the exercises
on the pages Efficient Reading and Understanding Texts.
Assessment

34
 English for Academic Purposes

Unit 5
Learning (Academic) Vocabulary
Introduction
Developing vocabulary is complex activity. This unit aims to get you
familiarised with various aspects and techniques that can help you better
organise your learning and boost your vocabulary, especially for
academic study.

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Recognise various aspects related to vocabulary learning such as

dictionary use, collocations, register, meaning.

 Assess approximate number of words in your vocabulary with the help

of recommended sites.
Outcomes
 Acquire vocabulary building techniques.

 Apply vocabulary building to develop your vocabulary (suffixes,

prefixes, compound words).

 Use Internet sites and Web 2.0 tools to organise and expand
vocabulary.

 Use recommended bibliography to develop vocabulary.

Dictionary : A book that lists the words of a language in

alphabetical order and gives their meaning, or that
gives the equivalent words in a different language

Collocation: Words that typically pair with a certain word

Terminology
Thesaurus A book that lists words in groups of synonyms and
related concepts

Register: In linguistics, a register is a variety of a language

used for a particular purpose or in a particular
social setting. Examples: formal, dialect, slang, etc

Synonym: a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the

same as another word or phrase in the same
language, for example shut is a synonym of close .

Antonym: a word opposite in meaning to another

(e.g., bad and good ).

35
Unit 5

Prefix: A group of letters you add at the beginning of a

root word to change its meaning. E.g. mis+fortune.

Suffix: A group of letters you add at the end of a word to

change its meaning. E.g. help+ful

5.1 Learning Academic Vocabulary - Tips and Tricks.

Vocabulary is an important part of reading. Consequently, limited
vocabulary skills can limit vocabulary development.

5.1.1 Presentation
In the presentation below you will find out tips and advice on two major
issues
 What vocabulary to learn?
 Ways to learn new words: how to learn vocabulary more efficiently.
Click on the link to access the presentation Learning (Academic)
Vocabulary . Go through the interactive tasks and take notes on
everything new.

5.1.2 What are your dictionary habits? - Survey

Please fill in the following Survey on Dictionary Habits so that you may
receive adequate help in this direction.
Activity

For a list of recommended dictionaries, see Language Toolbox, in this

course.

5.2 Practice Building Academic Vocabulary

5.2.1 Assess your vocabulary
Find out how many words you know by doing these tests. Then note
down for further reference.
 Level tests online
 Vocabulary size online
Activity

36
 English for Academic Purposes

5.2.2 Building academic vocabulary

 Learn more about academic vocabulary by accessing Andy
Gillet's Using English for Academic Purposes, Vocabulary page and go
Activity through the units on the left-hand menu.

Be sure to visit the following chapters and their corresponding exercises:

Introduction. Selecting Vocabulary, Building Vocabulary (affixes, word
formation), Vocabulary learning techniques, for example:
 dictionary use
 ways of dealing with meaning
 recording and remembering new words
 working out meaning of unknown words

5.2.3 Study Skills: Plan your vocabulary study

Study skills

Levels B1-C1: Go to the following site Academic Word List Tool and
plan your study of the academic word lists. Put the calendar down in a
separate document.

Levels A2-B1: You may use the book Vocabulary Organiser with Key to
revise and learn new basic vocabulary. Click on the link and download
the pdf version. Create a calendar for learning.

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned various aspects of vocabulary learning and
vocabulary building. Now you should have a larger picture on the
strategies needed to boost your vocabulary. Plan your learning for the
semester.
Summary

37
Unit 5

Assignment 5: Working actively

your vocabulary
Working actively with vocabulary is time consuming but in the long run
it pays off. Try to create your own study lists with the help of either

1. Wordsmyth. Once you create an account, you can build targeted word
lists and exercises to help you learn and recall them. Save the links to
your exercises into a Word document that you can upload to the platform.
Assignment

OR

2. Vocabulary.com, an interesting site that displays LESS advertisements

and makes use of artificial intelligence to help users make the most of
their dictionary.

Self-Assessment
You can check on the basics of word formation and other vocabulary
related issues by taking the interactive exercises on BBC – Skillwise site
for adult literacy.
Assessment

Click on the link Spelling, explore and then choose the activities that are
most adequate for your level.

38
 English for Academic Purposes

Unit 6
Listening Skills
Introduction
Listening is one of the most important skills in communication.

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Identify efficient listening skills.

 Recognise various factors that affect listening.

 Apply efficient listening strategies.

Outcomes
 Listen for gist and for detail.

 Recognise text structures that make listening easier.

 Test your listening skills by accessing dedicated online resources.

Fallacy: a mistaken belief, esp. one based on unsound

argument; a misconception

Open questions: a question which cannot be answered with just

'yes' or 'no'. Many of them begin with 'wh': why,
Terminology
where, who, etc.

Closed questions: Questions which can be answered with just 'yes' or

'no'.

Listen: to give attention to someone or something in order

to hear them:

Hear: to be aware of a sound through your ears:

Concentration: the ability to think only about something you are

doing

Attention: the act of watching or listening to something

carefully

Distract: to make someone stop giving their attention to

something:

39
Unit 6

6.1 Are You a Good Listener?

1. Find out how good your listening skills are by taking this Listening
Skills Audit. Calculate your points and compare with the Feedback on
page 4 of the pdf.

2. Read the following fallacies about listening and discuss them with your
teacher/classmates. What is your opinion? What would be the qualities of
a good listener?
 Listening is not my problem
 Listening and hearing are the same
 Good readers are good listeners
 Smarter people are better listeners
 Listening improves with age
 Listening skills are difficult to learn
Source: Listening Effectively

6.1.1 Presentation: Academic Listening

The following presentation contains some basic tips and tricks

concerning listening skills. Watch and use the interactive links to
explore this topic in more depth.

Presentation – Academic Listening

Activity

40
 English for Academic Purposes

6.2 Practice Your Listening Skills

There are plenty of ways to develop our listening skills. The Internet
offers great resources for all levels. Download podcasts on your mobile
devices and make the most of listening while on the go!
Activity

 Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab – excellent resource for listening

comprehension for non-native speakers (all levels)
 Elllo English Listening Online (learn English naturally by listening
speakers worldwide)
 Luke's Podcasts - 100% British English! It's fun and very interesting!
 ESL English Listening and Adult Literacy - audiobooks, TedTalks,
Songs with transcripts. Extremely varied resource for all levels and
interests! Two listening speeds!
 BBC Learning English You Tube Channel listen and watch clips on
various topics.
 BBC Learning English 6 minute English Series – excellent resource
for listening activities,

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned about the importance of listening and what it
takes to become an efficient listener and practice active listening.

Summary

41
Unit 6

Assignment 6: Listening Practice

Level A2-B1: Access listening activity Tell Me About Yourself and go
through all its stages. Then do the post-listening activity.

Level B-C1: Access listening activity University Degree and go through

it. Then o the post-listening activity.
Assignment

Assessment

Check your listening skills and your ability to concentrate by taking this
interactive exercise: Maintaining Concentration.

Assessment

42
 English for Academic Purposes

Unit 7
Oral Presentations: Are They
Such a Headache?
Introduction
Oral presentations are critical in many professional areas, from marketing
to academic life.

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Recognise critical issues related to oral presentations.

 Know how to use Internet resources to improve their presentation

skills.
Outcomes
 Identify features of good and bad presentations.

 Develop a good oral presentation.

To plan: To formulate a scheme or program for the

accomplishment, enactment, or attainment of.

To draft: To prepare a plan or design of

Terminology
To design: To create a detailed plan of something

Layout: a design or plan showing the way things are

arranged

Format: the way in which something is presented,

organized, or arranged

Delivery: the action or manner in which somebody speaks to

an audience

Nerves: somebody's ability to tolerate emotional stress or

excitement

Body language: nonverbal communication

43
Unit 7

7.1 What’s In a Good Presentation?

Watch the following video clips and comment with your classmates
 Expert - Good Presentation clip
 Novice -Bad Presentation clip

Analyse the following image and comment on it.

Activity
What is the current level of your presentation skills?

7.2 Presentation Tips and Tricks

7.2.1 Presentation
Click on the links to get to the presentations

 Academic Presentations Tips and Tricks_Planning

 Academic Presentations Tips and Tricks_Designing
 Academic Presentations Tips and Tricks_Delivery

Now watch the Slideshare presentation on Effective Presentation Skills.

Activity

Note down elements you would like to use in the future for your
presentations.

44
 English for Academic Purposes

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned about what makes a good presentation, from
planning, through designing and finally, to delivery.

Summary

Assignment 7: Create a
presentation
This assignment will be related to the presentation of your portfolio
during the session of exams. Use everything you have learned in this unit
to create a PPT. It is recommended that you use Google Slides in order to
benefit from help from teacher. More details in the tutorial on
Independent Language Learning Portfolio.
Assignment

45
 English for Academic Purposes

Unit 8
To Speak or Not to Speak?
Introduction
“Language gives people a means of interacting with other members of
their culture and a means of thinking. Language thus serves both as a
mechanism for communication and as a guide to social reality” (Samovar
and Porter, 1982:17).

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Recognise various formal and informal speaking situations.

 Recognise formal and informal language.

 Recognise various speech functions (requests, orders, invitations,

Outcomes
asking questions, agreeing, disagreeing etc.).

 Recognise aspects of cultural misunderstandings.

Speak and discuss on a variety of issues related to everyday life.

Speaking situation: the situation depends on the reason for

communicating and the relationship we have with
the person we are communicating with

Formal language: used in serious, official, or public communication

Terminology
but not appropriate in everyday contexts

Informal language: suitable for casual or everyday situation

Speak: to utter words or articulate sounds with the voice,

or communicate something orally

Talk: express something in speaking; communicate,

discuss a particular subject

Discuss: write or talk about subject in detail

Stereotype: an oversimplified standardized image of a person

or group

Cultural A cultural misunderstanding occurs when

misunderstanding something like gestures, a word, social context,
object, almost anything you can think of has
different meanings in two or more cultures.

47
Unit 8

8.1 Verbal Communication

8.1.1 Taboo or not taboo?

Imagine you meet some new people at a conference for the first time.
Which of the following topics are
Activity
● interesting? ● safe? ● conversation killers? ● a bit risky? ● taboo?

Topics: family, the news, your country, religion, clothes, your health,
politics, sex, sport, the weather, food and drink, people you both know,
how work/study is going, the city/town you are in, the hotel/ hostel you
are staying at, your holiday plans

Your answer should take into account the following elements: cultural
differences, education, attitude, gender etc.

8.2 Improving Your Conversational Skills – Tips and Advice

Even if students of English as a second language generally consider
speaking as a difficult task especially because of the lack of real life
opportunities to practice, there are various ways in which we can practice
speaking. The following activities give you a rough idea how you can
prepare yourself.

8.2.1 Building a list of conversation topics

The following is a list of Conversation Topics built with the help of
students. It also includes questions that may trigger conversations.
Activity

Build your own list of conversation topics and resources and create a
working calendar that would match your vocabulary learning plan.

48
 English for Academic Purposes

8.2.2 Improve your conversational English

1. Improve your conversational English with Ted Power's Prepare for
Discussion -
Activity

His Glossary of Ten Discussion Techniques is a great resource.

 Asking someone for their opinion about a topic
 Delaying strategies - fillers
 Presenting a number of arguments - enumeration
 Giving your opinion about a topic - from certain to fair probability
 Agreeing - completely or conditionally
 Disagreeing - completely, using irony, dismissing as irrelevant,
diplomacy, doubt & logic
 Countering through concession followed by antithesis
 Logical argument - questions & deductions based on "if".."then",
strongly argued "why" questions
 Clarification - through Yes/No What/How Why/Why not questions
inviting illustration
 Expressing solutions and alternatives

2. In order to improve your conversation skills, it is vital that you connect

them with listening and vocabulary activities. The Internet is also a
good place to find great teachers. For instance, you can access the
following videos on conversational issues and do the lesson quizzes.
Ronnie and James are really great teachers!

 How to Improve Your Conversation Skills: Learn how to start a

conversation with a native speaker and improve your ability to speak
English fluently.
 How to Keep A Conversation Going: Improve your ability to have a
conversation with ANYONE — even complete strangers! This
English class will show you how to talk to anyone — even that
boy/girl you have a crush on!
 Speak With Confidence: Don’t be shy! Use your English ability to
talk to anyone! If you make a mistake, don’t worry…just keep talking
and you’ll improve your conversation skills!
 Conversation Skills - Hesitation Devices, Uh..., Hm...:This one
simple technique will improve your communication and English
conversation abilities – no matter what your level is!
 Improve Your Conversation Skills with Three Expressions: Improve
your conversation skills in English immediately with these three easy
expressions: as I was saying, speaking of, and if you ask me

49
Unit 8

Mind Your Language is a British sitcom (TV comedy) set in an adult

education college in London and focuses on the English as a Foreign
Language class taught by Mr Jeremy Brown, portrayed by Barry Evans,
who had to deal with a motley crew of foreign students. Three series were
Discussion made by between 1977–79 (Wikipedia)

Watch the first episode in the series and pay attention to cultural/ ethnic
stereotypes. Note them down and discuss in class or in the discussion
forum. Enjoy!

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned some strategies you can use to develop your
speaking and conversation skills. You have also seen how the Internet can
be used to gather resources on this particular skill.

Summary

Assignment 8: Listening and

Speaking Practice
It’s always nice to receive a compliment, but what is the most natural way
to respond?

Assignment

Access the link BBC English – How To – Compliments and do as

required

50
 English for Academic Purposes

Self-Assessment
Recognising formal and informal speaking situations and language is an
important part of getting to speak.

Assessment

Access BBC – Skillswise Formal and informal speaking and go through

the activities. Save the resource for further study and note down any new
information you would like to remember.

51
 English for Academic Purposes

References
Resources to Review Your
English
In addition to the following resources, you may access the Distance
Learning Platform for further tips and references on developing your
language skills.

Listening
General English
 English Online France
 AudioEnglish. Conversatii uzuale
 Elllo English Listening Online (invatati engleza in mod natural
ascultand vorbitori din toata lumea)
 Luke's Podcasts - 100% British English! It's fun and very interesting!
 ESL English Listening and Adult Literacy - audiobooks, TedTalks,
Songs with transcripts. Extremely varied resource for all levels and
interests! Two listening speeds!

Academic English
 Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
 Academic English from the Student Learning Center at Massey
University, Australia: Here you can listen and practice your academic
English vocabulary. Great resource for intermediate/higher
intermediate students.
 University of Reading Academic Lectures: lectures on a variety of
topics, accompanied by lecture notes and comprehension questions
 TedTalk - based activities on ESLTedTalks
 Using online lectures for authentic note-taking practice - tips

Reading and Vocabulary

General English
 English Online France
 Learning Resources - old site - variate exercitii de lectura pe teme
generale preluate din presa/media

53
References

Academic English
 Level tests online (Find how many words you know)
 University Words List Flashcards Practice your academic English
vocabulary.
 Vocabulary Exercises for the Academic Word Lists
 Academic Vocabulary
 Vocabulary.com
 ESL Vocabulary from Ohio University
 BBC Words in the News
 EAP Vocabulary Exercises
 Effective Reading
 Critical Reading Towards Critical Writing from the University of
Toronto
 A collection of English corpora - excellent to find examples of
vocabulary in context
 Note Taking

Grammar
General and Academic English
 Guide to Grammar and Writing - one of the most comprehensive
online English grammars compiled by the late Professor Charles
Darling.
 English Test Net - you can test yourself in a variety of areas; quizzes;
common errors etc
 OWL at Purdue University - comprehensive site that needs exploring
Study Zone at University of Victoria grammar presentations and
interactive exercises
 LearnEnglishFeelGood - grammar, vocabulary, video-based lessons,
etc
 Learn Grammar Movies by the British Council
 Exercises at Grammar Bytes
 BBC World Service Grammar and Vocabulary -
explanations: Confusing words and expressions; Prefixes, suffixes,
spelling and pronunciation; Determiners, nouns and
pronouns;Adjectives and adverbs; Verbs and tenses; Modals and
conditionals; Conjunctions and clauses; Prepositions and
phrases; Learning and exam skills.
 Centre for Independent Learning at Hong-Kong Polytechnic
University
 Grammar Slammer - a very good reference grammar
 Diagnostic Test from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
 Learn English Online all skills, plenty of beginner stuff!

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 English for Academic Purposes

 English Learner (lessons and tests fo all levels)

 Englisch-Hilfen. Learning English - Exercises, Grammar
 AzarGrammar - excellent free materials: worksheets, powerpoint
presentations of grammar topics (beginners, intermediate, advanced)
 ESL Grammar Lessons from Randall's Listening Lab
 ManyThings.org - an interesting site, with a wide variety of exercises

For a good presentation of the English tenses with visual and

contextual aids, you can go here

You may also like this great presentation: Grammar Tenses

Recommended Dictionaries
Elementary to Pre-Intermediate
 Monolingual: Cambridge Essential Dictionary
 Thesaurus: Collins English Thesaurus; The Free
Dictionary (dictionary, thesaurus and translation)
 Bilingual: EN-RO Word Reference Dictionary; RO-EN Word
Reference
 Picture Dictionary: Merriam Webster Visual, English Picture
Dictionary (photos)

Intermediate to Proficient
 Monolingual: Cambridge Learner's Dictionary
 Thesaurus: OneLook Dictionary Search
 Bilingual: EN-RO Word Reference Dictionary; RO-EN Word
Reference
 Picture Dictionary: Merriam Webster Visual, ThinkMap. Visual
Thesaurus

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