| Semester 2, 2022 Online | |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | USQ College |
| School or Department : | USQ College |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
| Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Examiner:
Overview
Students from non-English speaking backgrounds can struggle to participate in the oral and aural academic life at an Australian university, due to lack to knowledge of the spoken and aural elements of Australian academic culture. This course aims to enable these students to gain skills in English for academic and professional purposes in order to equip them for successful university studies.
Students entering this course will possess an IELTS of 5.5 or equivalent, and will exit with the equivalent of an IELTS of 6, enabling entry to a range of USQ Bachelor degrees.
This course will develop speaking and listening skills in an academic context, focusing on three typical university activities; oral presentations, group discussions, and listening to lectures. It will build on the skills gained by these students in prior English studies, generally at O Level. Students will develop their abilities to give oral presentations to the academic standard required by USQ, improve their ability to discuss academic readings in a group situation, and expand their ability to give an oral presentation using academic structure. There is a focus on skill acquisition within the contexts of English-language development. Learning opportunities involve online group discussions based on academic readings, online presentations, and the chance to practise note-taking to online academic lectures.
Course learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course students should be able to:
- Actively listen to an academic lecture, determine the relevant points conveyed and take appropriate notes which can be used for revision purposes
- Use those lecture notes to respond to exam-style questions
- Prepare and present an academic presentation
- Work effectively and cooperatively in functional groups by using appropriate active listening skills.
- Reflect upon and review their own work and use self-awareness to foster independent and sustainable learning.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Notetaking main points, supporting points and examples in an academic lecture, and use these notes to answer exam-style questions | 30.00 |
| 2. | The functional and logical organisation of a lecture. | 10.00 |
| 3. | Applications of abstract discussions on thematically linked questions | 10.00 |
| 4. | The functions of questioning, checking understanding, expressing an opinion, agreeing and disagreeing, making suggestions, comparing and contrasting, and expressing cause, purpose and/or effect. | 10.00 |
| 5. | How to structure and develop ideas in an extended spoken text, incorporating structures for developing academic tone and style. | 15.00 |
| 6. | Using visual aids, notes and planning processes for an academic presentation | 10.00 |
| 7. | Academic vocabulary and pronunciation, and comprehension skills | 15.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
| Description | Weighting (%) |
|---|---|
| Listening Comp & Pron | 15 |
| Group Discussion | 20 |
| Oral Pres & Crit Reflec | 25 |
| Listening Test | 40 |