Course syllabus

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FSP046 English for engineers lp1 HT20 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Communication and Learning in Science

Contact details

Course purpose

English for Engineers is an optional English language course open to Chalmers students from any discipline. To take the course, a grammar diagnostic test (in EngOnline (Links to an external site.)) must be taken prior to the start of the course and a score of at least 60% attained. Session slots occur on Thursday afternoons, in study periods 1 (Part A of the course) and 2 (Part B of the course). An outline of each week’s activities and assignments can be found in the Schedule Overview. The Canvas Calendar function is also useful for keeping track of these.

The aim of the course is to enable students to reach an academic level of proficiency in English. This means developing students' ability in English for academic studies at the Master's level as well as in professional life.

Participation

Active participation in all assignments including related compulsory in-class tasks is expected. Please speak to or email the teachers if you have problems with schedule conflicts or issues meeting specific deadlines.

Schedule

(TimeEdit)

To see topics and activities for each session, course deadlines, and more accurate timings of sessions than given in TimeEdit, consult the Schedule Overview. Your 'Calendar' area in Canvas should also keep you organised (you'll see assignments and zoom meetings set-up there as long as the course FSP046 is selected). Anything in the Calendar will appear in your to-do list on the home page.

Please note too that the timetable slot we have is 13.15-17.00, but it is rare that our sessions will fill those four hours, and that much zoom time is a bit much. The sessions are planned to be either 2 or 3 hours long at most. If this changes, you will be notified. However, we strongly recommend that you utilise the time of the session slot not in use each week to do some of the reading/watching that you are expected to do (either what you didn't have time for the previous time or what is coming next) or even start an assignment.

Course literature

Course design

Online

Due to the coronavirus situation, this autumn 2020 run of the course is given digitally. This means that lecture input is provided either live in Zoom (synchronous activities) or via screencasts or recorded live lectures (asynchronous activities). Some synchronous activities include workshops.

Working with Canvas

For some of you, working in Canvas, the learning management platform in Sweden, might be new, and therefore, I recommend taking a looking at the following pages for tips and guidelines:

It is important to be aware that every teacher may utilise the Canvas learning platform differently. The links above provide good guidelines in general. But there may be some deviations. Note that the modules in this course have been divided up by the weekly sessions. We have set it up so that you should go chronologically through each module and its pages. At the bottom of each module page, there are two buttons, "previous" and "next", which have been utilised to organise the order you should access the content. Of course, you can also go directly to a particular module page when you view all pages via the main Modules page.

Finding motivation

During the spring of 2020, when extensive online learning of courses that usually are not online courses kicked in, it became clear in discussions with students how in this new situation it is tough to be motivated to get things done, especially with the possibility of physical lab work gone. And even if motivation has previously been stronger for preferred subjects, even there, motivation has been reduced. We recognise this ourselves. We teachers also lack motivation sometimes in these strange times and miss the real-life contact with students and colleagues. Below are a few links that you may or may not find useful. But just thought we would provide something, as we know how you feel!

Teaching and assignments

  • Teaching and assignment marking are shared equally between the two teachers, Carina and Kathy. 
  • All queries can be sent via email here in Canvas (via Inbox). You can also of course ask questions during sessions in Zoom. 
  • All writing assignments go through at least one draft and one round of peer response (Peer Reviewing: A Brief Guide).
  • Deadlines: it is important that you keep to the deadlines. If you have any issues with meeting the deadlines, please speak to or email the teachers. 
  • Revisions: should assignment requirements not be met, revisions will be requested. See instructor comments on individual assignments for revision instructions.

Changes made since the last occasion

The main changes involve the adaption of material and sessions to online teaching instead of classroom teaching.

Learning objectives and syllabus

The successful student is able to use English effectively and appropriately in advanced academic studies as well as in professional settings. This includes the following:

    • write and revise a variety of texts, both academic and professional.
    • select and structure information in paragraphs, sections, and chapters, keeping the audience in mind (audience awareness).
    • adapt and present information for different oral communication contexts and different audiences (such as meetings and presentations).
    • analyse sentences from a grammatical viewpoint and revise for effective communication.
    • give and receive constructive criticism on written and oral work (peer response).
    • process reading material to use in academic texts.
    • use references appropriately and correctly.

Link to the syllabus on The Study Portal: Study plan

Examination form

Final grade

One final grade is given at the end of this 7.5 credit course, on a 3 to 5 Chalmers scale, with 5 being the highest mark. The final grade is based on: (1) the grade from Part A, (2) the final oral presentation in Part B, and (3) the written proposal in Part B. Each of these parts is worth one-third of the final grade. In order to receive the final grade, all assignments, including those that do not receive U-3-4-5 grades, must be completed. Some tasks may require revision before a task is complete. Please note that some tasks are compulsory because they are vital to the process-oriented approach that we use.

 

PART A

For the criteria for the graded assignments, see here.

The first part of the course focuses more on general English language skills including written proficiency and some grammar. Subject-specific writing is the focus of the lectures, using a step-by-step process of structuring and editing texts with peer response as well as feedback from your teachers, to help you develop some useful writing strategies. You also draft a CV, and engage in oral language practice and activities. To make your language training not only effective but individualised and team-oriented, we often work in small groups in sessions.

Writing concepts form the basis of most in-class input as well as prepare students for follow-up workshops and seminars. The oral proficiency training includes individual presentations and group discussions.

Grammar support is provided through our web-based tool EngOnline, which you are encouraged to use for self-study. There are some lectures that discuss typical problem areas of some specific grammar categories. Most grammar training though will happen through feedback and revision of writing assignments during both study periods.

The assessment during the first part of the course comprises

  • all pass/fail assignments (summary, CV, source list, topic presentation, reflections)
  • a literature review assignment (which has been through the writing process – drafts and peer response), assessed as U (fail)*, 3, 4 or 5

*A grade of U will trigger a mandatory revision, uploaded through Canvas (the same portal as the initial submission). Note that more than one revision of a text may be required before a passing grade is achieved.                                     

 

PART B

Part B focuses a little more on professional English, including proposal writing, emailing, and further oral practice in the form of meetings, and other situations that you are likely to encounter in your professional lives. 

The assessment during the second part of the course comprises

  • all pass/fail assignments (business meeting, email, reflections)
  • an oral presentation assignment, assessed as U, 3, 4 or 5
  • a written proposal assignment (which has been through the writing process – drafts and peer response), assessed as U, 3, 4 or 5

Note that both part A and part B must be completed to earn the final course grade.

Course summary:

Date Details Due