Course syllabus

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Welcome to FSP046 English for Engineers!

Are you looking to develop your communication abilities in English for academic studies at the Master's level as well as in professional life? Then FSP046 English for Engineers (EFE) is the course for you! Here's what previous students have said about it:

"This is by far the best course I've taken during my stay here at Chalmers. I have increased my English level, especially in writing. I'm very pleased with this course"

"I learnt many things from writing a good summary, literature review...to drafting a good proposal and finally learning how to prepare for a professional presentation."

To be sure that this course is for you, I strongly recommend that you read the rest of this syllabus page. Other course pages will be available closer to the first week of studies (some a little later into the course).

Course-PM

FSP046 English for engineers HT22 (7.5 hp)

  • English for Engineers is an optional English language course offered by the Department of Communication and Learning in Science and open to Chalmers students from any discipline.
  • To take the course, a grammar diagnostic test (in EngOnline) must be taken prior to the start of the course, and a score of at least 60% attained (if you get lower, or just above, you might be more comfortable with the course, FSP055). A Chalmers ID is needed to log in. To sign in at EngOnline, use this step-by-step guide.
  • This course runs over both study periods 1 and 2, which means that this 7.5 credit course runs between 29 August 2022 and 15 January 2023, with sessions occurring almost every Thursday afternoon, on campus.
  • An outline of each week’s activities and assignments can be found below under "Schedule". The Canvas Calendar function is also useful for keeping track of these.

Contact details

Ideally, please use your Canvas Inbox as the main channel of communication for personal questions. For course questions that all students can benefit from knowing the answer to, please use the discussion forum. For general course updates or information, the teacher will communicate via Announcements.

Course purpose

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.

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.
  • adapt and present information for different oral communication contexts and different audiences.
  • analyse sentences from a grammatical viewpoint and revise for effective communication.
  • give and receive constructive criticism on written and oral work
  • process reading material to use in academic texts.
  • use references appropriately and correctly.

Course design

The course participants meet once a week. These meetings usually consist of some lecture input, class discussion, and other relevant activities.  There is some focus on the different genres covered in the different assignments in the course, some input related to general English proficiency in the academic setting, and there is individual response to the student's own work. The course aims to use the time in class for active learning. In other words, more reading-type activities are expected to happen outside of class time.

Teaching and assignments

  • Teaching and assessment: shared equally between the two teachers. 
  • Process-oriented approach: 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. Further details under each assignment.
  • Participation: active participation in the course and attendance in the meetings are expected. Please speak to or email the teachers if you have schedule issues.

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 look 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. For example, on FSP046, there are just two modules: Course Information and Sessions. To help you navigate this course's Canvas pages, we have created a guide: Navigating FSP046's Canvas pages. 

Schedule

TimeEdit only gives you an indication of the date, time, and room. For more details, there is the schedule overview below, which indicates which sessions are compulsory. There is also a page for each session accessible via Modules. Your 'Calendar' area in Canvas should also keep you organised (you'll see assignments and meetings there as long as the course FSP046 is selected). Anything in the Calendar should also appear in your to-do list on the Canvas home page. 

The schedule overview

The course has a teaching slot on Thursdays 13.15-17.00. Most weeks, the sessions will not be this long, as you will see in the schedule overview below. Please note that since we may not always be in class until 17.00, we strongly recommend that you utilise the time of the session slot not in use each week to do some of the reading/watching of the material 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/work on an assignment.

We are aware that this course can sometimes clash with other courses, so it is important to check session and assignment dates and times carefully. There are quite a few sessions that involve compulsory attendance due to assignments happening during class: those are highlighted in orange in the schedule above. Any issues with attending these, please email Carina via Inbox here in Canvas sooner rather than later (there may be a workaround, there may not).

  • Session 1 is on 1 September. Before that day, there are a few small tasks to do. Take a look at "To do before class" in the first session page.

Course literature

  • Course literature consists of session material and other recommended materials. You should find what you need by looking under the section Course literature/materials in the module Course Information. This includes a link to the page called "Master list of materials", where all session material has been divided up into logical topic categories to make searching for specific course content more easily.
  • Some study support resources

Changes made since the last occasion

  • Very few changes as students and teachers alike have been satisfied with the run of the course.
  • One slight change is the involvement of a librarian to talk about the use of sources in a couple of sessions.

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 (study period 1),

(2) the final oral presentation in Part B (study period 2), 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, and so are just pass/fail, must be completed. Some tasks may require revision before a task is complete. Please note that these tasks are compulsory because they are vital to the process-oriented approach that we use.

Here is the page for the criteria for three graded assignments.

PART A (study period 1)

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 skill 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 touch upon typical problem areas of some specific grammar categories. Most grammar training though happens 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                               

PART B (study period 2)

Part B focuses a little more on professional English, including proposal writing, emailing, and further oral practice in the form of a meeting. 

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 (fail)**, 3, 4 or 5
  • a written proposal assignment (which has been through the writing process – drafts and peer response), assessed as U (fail)*, 3, 4 or 5

Note that both part A (study period 1) and part B (study period 2) must be completed to earn the final course grade.

*A grade of U will trigger a mandatory revision, uploaded through Canvas (the same portal as the initial submission). The highest grade for a revision is a 3. Note that more than one revision of a text may be required before a passing grade is achieved. 

**A grade of U will trigger a mandatory revision, to be scheduled with the instructor. The highest grade for a revision is a 3. Note that more than one revision of a presentation may be required before a passing grade is achieved.

 

Remember, Session 1 is on 1 September. And before we meet, there are a few small tasks to do. Take a look at the "To do before class" column on the first session page.

Course summary:

Date Details Due