GDIC1001K English for University Studies

Academic Year 2023/2024

GDIC1001K English for University Studies is designed for students who have embarked on the first trimester of their dual undergraduate degree programme in Horticulture, Food Quality and Safety, or Biological Sciences at Guangzhou-Dublin International College. The module aims to help students develop their English language proficiency in the context of university study and prepare them for the tasks they will face while doing an English-medium higher education degree.

The content is organised around themes which reflect key aspects of university life in the early stages. The core skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing are integrated and linked around each theme and emphasis is placed on the functions and language required for different communicative purposes.

More specifically, the listening component of the course focuses on the listening comprehension strategies students need when participating in group discussions and attending lectures and gives students practice in concurrent note-taking and listening. The reading tasks expose students to a variety of texts and introduce different reading purposes and strategies, note-taking and summarising and synthesizing information from different sources. The writing classes are designed to help students write definitions, purpose statements, short texts and responses to (exam) questions drawing upon information from a reading passage. Students will have the opportunity to develop their speaking skills by giving oral summaries and short presentations (on topics of social and general academic interest) and through participation in group discussions. The course also helps students to expand the range and improve the accuracy of lexis and grammatical structures they use in written and spoken texts.

In addition to focusing on the above language-related skills, classroom tasks and activities support students’ development of academic study competences, independent language learning strategies and critical thinking skills.

This module will be delivered via small group teaching. Classes with Chinese English teachers will have a maximum of 30 students, and those with international English teachers will have a maximum of 15. Students are expected to work collaboratively as well as to engage in various independent study tasks throughout the course. They will be strongly encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and use strategies for improving specific language skills independently.

Materials and assessments for the module are designed with reference to upper-B1 and B2 descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and The British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP)’s ‘can-do’ framework for EAP syllabus design and assessment.