Advanced English Programme & Guided Autonomous Study (BA-S1)
Year 2–Part 1: “Informal Spoken English”
UE-L06.01098 (1.5 ECTS) / UE-L06.01099 (0.75 ECTS)
Instructor: Nathaniel Davis (nathaniel.davis@unifr.ch)
Office: MIS 10, 3.09
Overview:
The second year Advanced English Programme (Autumn Semester: “Informal Spoken English”; Spring Semester: “Integrated Skills”) provides practical work to help BA-S1 students refine their speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills to develop advanced proficiency using English in various social and professional contexts. This first semester focuses on informal spoken English and involves activities based around listening, speaking, and analyzing speech. A familiarity with informal spoken English is crucial for social bonding, personal and professional communication, and cooperative learning, and is also necessary for understanding contemporary literature, film, and music. This course will improve your knowledge of idiomatic English, phrasal verbs, and slang, and help you incorporate native-like colloquial phrases into your everyday speech.
The Guided Autonomous Study is conducted parallel to the course and will consist of a critical analysis of an anglophone film or series. The end result will be a multi-part piece of writing that addresses issues of language within the film or series. The GAS project will be completed individually but will also be integrated into the AEP classes, including presentations based on your work.
Learning outcomes:
§ Develop a systematic understanding of informal English speech, including linguistic features and social function
§ Expand your familiarity with English colloquial language, idioms, slang, profanity, and phrasal verbs
§ Improve skills of English listening comprehension
§ Acquire tools to perform a linguistic analysis of a cultural work (here, in anglophone film and music)
§ Reflect on personal strategies for employing informal language features in social and professional contexts
§ Learn and practice vocabulary for specific discursive strategies: agreeing and disagreeing, interrupting, expressing doubt, questioning, using humor, and being polite
- Teacher: Nathaniel Davis
- Non-editing teacher: Shane Bos