Course Description

Integrated Intensive English – Level 1 : is a learner-centered syllabus designed to develop an overall English language proficiency at both the basic and the elementary levels in order to prepare  students for the challenges of the pre-intermediate studies in Level 2. It follows a step-by-step approach with a variety of manageable and stimulating communicative activities, giving the students a clear and steady sense of progression and helping them consolidate their knowledge of English language. It also helps the students build and develop a wide range of high-frequency vocabularies and their pronunciation.

Department Goals Addressed in this Course:

This course addresses the following department goals:

1. To help students acquire adequate proficiency in the English language and prepare them for their undergraduate studies, at the academic departments.
2. To prepare students in their study skills and learning patterns through note-taking, searching for and collecting information from different sources, doing projects and writing assignments that help them in their academic studies.

Department Program Objectives:

By the end of this course, the following program objectives will be achieved:

1. Participate in a discussion on a topic relevant to their studies by asking questions, agreeing/disagreeing, asking for clarification, sharing information, expressing and asking for opinions.
2. Paraphrase information (orally or in writing) from a written or spoken text or from graphically presented data.
3. Prepare and deliver a talk of at least 2 minutes. Use library resources in preparing the talk, speak clearly and confidently, make eye contact, use body language to support the delivery of ideas and respond confidently to questions.
4. Write texts of a minimum of 100 words, showing control of layout, organization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, grammar and vocabulary.
5. Take notes and respond to questions about the topic, main ideas, details and opinions or arguments from an extended listening text (e.g. dialogue/conversation, lecture, news broadcast).
6. Follow spoken instructions in order to carry out a task, with a number of stages.
7. Listen to a conversation between two or more speakers and be able to answer questions in relation to context, relationship between speakers, register (e.g. formal or informal).
8. Read a text of about 300 words and identify the main idea(s) and extract specific information, in a given period of time.

Course Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Grammar:

1. Apply different tense forms appropriately and correctly, in a given context.
2. Relate sentences using various forms of subject, object and possessive pronouns while writing texts, reports and projects and/or delivering talks or responding to questions.
3. Make use of different forms of countable and uncountable nouns while writing texts and/or delivering talks or responding to questions.
4. Utilize different modals accurately in a given context to express ability, make requests, offers etc., while speaking and writing.
5. Use prepositions to join words and sentences in formal writing, like reports, formal letters, essays and assignments.
6. Compare people, places, things and ideas using comparatives and superlatives of adjectives to ask/give clarification/information and/or express/ask opinion.

1. Describe the set of real numbers, all its subsets and their relationship, including closure properties for the four basic arithmetic operations where applicable.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the exponent laws and apply them to simplify expression and manipulate fractions.
3. Understand ratio, decimals, percentages, measurements and conversion from one unit to another.
4. Simplify rational expression and rationalize numerators or denominators.
5. Translate worded problems into mathematical expression and model simple real life problems with equations and inequalities.
6. Understand geometric concept such as equation of circle, perpendicular, parallel and tangent lines.
7. Use the three types of symmetry of an equation to sketch its graph.
8. Perform operation on polynomials and manipulate numerical and polynomial expressions and solve 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree equations.
9. Use the quadratic formula to find roots of a second-degree polynomial.
10. Know the relationship between degree and radian measure of an angle and find the length of circular arc and the area of a sector.

Vocabulary:

1. Expand vocabulary through recognizing nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, collocations and prepositions.
2. Differentiate between words, phrases and expressions needed in social interaction like inviting people, using the phone, etc.
3. Use the newly-learnt vocabulary items, in everyday situations.

Speaking:

1. Paraphrase information from a spoken text.
2. Participate in discussions on a topic relevant to their studies by following and formulating questions, instructions and requests.
3. Give reasons to explain and justify their personal opinions.
4. Produce a clear and confident talk of about 2 to 3 minutes with accurate pronunciation and appropriate fluency, making eye contact and using body language.
5. Use intonation, tone, sequence words and conjunctions in conversations.
6. Demonstrate knowledge of vocabulary and idioms used in everyday situations.

Listening:

1. Identify the gist/main ideas of a spoken text.
2. Show understanding of comprehension questions when listening to formal and informal conversations.
3. Organize information using strategies such as note taking and classifying.
4. Identify the use of intonation, tone, sequence words and conjunctions in conversations which help detect feelings, attitudes and useful information.
5. Infer the meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases from the context of a familiar topic.
6. Follow spoken instructions in order to carry out a task/tasks.

Reading:

1. Identify the topic and main ideas of a given text of around 300 words.
2. Read a given text of around 300 words, for specific details.
3. Identify the meaning of new words from context.
4. Infer ideas not stated directly in the text.
5. Identify basic referents (subject & object pronouns, possessive adjectives and pronouns).

Writing:

1. Recognize differences between fragments and complete sentences.
2. Revise sentences and paragraphs including punctuation, spelling and grammar mistakes.
3. Use conjunctions to connect sentences.
4. Reorder jumbled words to make meaningful sentences.
5. Identify the topic and controlling idea in given topic sentences.
6. Write well-formed pieces of writing, of about 100 words.

Embedded Outcomes Related to General Study Skills

Managing Time and Accepting Responsibility

1.  Work in pairs or groups and participate accordingly.
2. Follow university policies on attendance and punctuality.
3. Show respect for teachers and others and their rights to have a difference of opinion.
4. Use a variety of study techniques.
5. Work to imposed deadlines.
6. Organize and maintain a system of recording vocabulary (keep a vocabulary log)
7. Organize and maintain a portfolio of one’s work.

Research Skills

1. Extract relevant information from a book or article using reading strategies.
2. Use the library system for finding, borrowing and returning library material.
3. Use an English-English dictionary for language learning.
4. Use a contents page and an index to locate information in a book.
5. Find specific information using internet search engines and electronic resources.
6. Classify and sort new information.

Taking Notes

1. Recall and define main concepts.
2. Adopt a note-taking strategy (e.g. mind mapping; Cornell system, etc.)
3. Support key points with relevant additional details.
4. Organize information to enable quick reference at a later date.
5. Use notes to create a summary.
6. Reproduce key information and supporting details from notes in one’s own words.

Giving Presentation

1. Organize and present information in a logical order, at a comprehensible speed.
2. Make use of audio/visual aids when giving oral presentations.
3. Maintain some eye contact with the audience and speak in a clearly audible and well-paced voice.
4. Observe time restrictions in presentations.
5. Address questions from the audience.