One Step Beyond: Expanding Academic English, Spring Workshop is for students who already use English very well in most situations, but who desire to refine their knowledge and use of English for current and future purposes via critical and lively engagement with challenging material. We will work on developing arguments, orally and in writing, on various topics, including topics that matter to you. A strong emphasis is placed on building lexical resources due to the crucial role that an accurate, productive vocabulary plays in creating cohesive texts. As such, the language we focus on in the Spring Workshop – to present and discuss information, to describe change, and to emphasize, comment on and evaluate particular points and relationships – should ultimately help you to connect ideas and make them flow more logically and/or compellingly. We will also look at idiomatic language in some detail, since this type of language gives you greater verbal dexterity and allows you to enliven and put a personal stamp on your communication. Narratives – recounting events and experiences for reporting purposes and/or story-telling appeal, but also to place content into (historical) context – are also part of the course. To make progress and to complete the course, you will have to attend every class and do a number of assignments which require (varying degrees of) research, revision, and evaluation. Classwork and assignments/project are in lieu of a final exam and are commented on and evaluated, in detail, by you, your peers, and your lecturer.
- Enseignant·e: Frances Cook