Information on specialist English for Engineering blended courses

What the new specialist English for Engineering blended course is, who it is for, and how it is different from a traditional course | Structure of the course | Prerequisites | Assessment

What the new specialist English for Engineering blended course is, who it is for, and how it is different from a traditional course

The new English for Engineering blended course is a combination of activity in class with a teacher (to improve your speaking skills) and individual activity online.
The course is aimed at students from the Department of Industrial Engineering and the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering who are preparing for the B2 English test for engineering students that is required during the Bachelor’s degree, some Master’s degrees, and during the 5-year degree in Building Engineering and Architecture.

The English for Engineering blended course offers flexibility to meet the diverse needs of engineering students, including
- Working on specific skills
- Improving grammar and vocabulary
- Completing simulations of different types of exercise included in the test.

Responsibility for learning is shared between the teacher and the student.  The time in class is fundamental especially for developing speaking skills, but the work online is equally important.
The course is also useful for all engineering students who wish to improve their knowledge of English used in the field of engineering, whether for study purposes or for professional reasons.

Structure of the course

The course consists of
- Online work, with exercises to complete on the Moodle platform managed by DidatticaOnLine
- Classroom lessons, to improve speaking skills

The blended course is offered in both semesters, with the Type 1 course in the first semester and the Type 2 course in the second semester. The two courses are at the same level, but differ in the topics covered. 
Each course consists of 12 lessons (of 2 hours 15 minutes duration) in each Type, for a total of 36 academic hours per semester. In addition, students are expected to spend approximately 3 hours a week completing online work.
The classroom lessons concentrate on speaking, with students working in pairs and groups to discuss a range of topics and to present information to other students. The topics covered relate to areas of interest for students of Civil, Environmental, Building and Industrial Engineering, but are not highly technical.

In the online part of the course the student will find materials to develop
Listening Skills
Reading Skills
Grammar
Vocabulary
Writing Skills

as well as

Exam Listening Practice
Exam Reading Practice
Writing Tasks

It is important to complete the online work in parallel with the class activities. Students will not gain the maximum benefit from the course if they concentrate all the online work at the beginning, or leave it until the end of the course.
In the online part of the course the student will receive feedback and correction from the teacher, as well as having a guide to which exercises to complete each week, linked to the topics covered in class.
After the course, students retain access to the materials until enrolment opens for the next course so that students can continue studying between courses. This is important as it is estimated that going from B1 to B2 level takes approximately 200 hours of guided study.

Prerequisites

To enrol in the B2 specialist English for Engineering course students must possess a B1 level, or have achieved a result on the CLA placement test that gives access to a B2a course. 
Students who obtained their B1 level on the university admission test should be aware that this tests only the passive skills of listening and reading. Students whose writing or speaking skills are not up to B1 level are recommended to take a B1 course before proceeding to a B2 course.

Assessment

To pass the course students must pass 3 of the four writing tasks, and 3 of the four listening and reading evaluations during the course. These are all assessed at exam level to give students feedback on whether they are ready to register to take the exam. Feedback is also given on how well students’ speaking skills meet the requirements of the exam.

Other requirements to pass the course are a minimum of 75% of attendance at lessons, and completion of a minimum of 60 quizzes of the course (excluding word lists, and in addition to the assessments described above). 

Passing the course does NOT give credits. The course is offered as preparation for the B2 English exam for engineering students, and students must take this exam or an equivalent external exam to obtain the credits required for this degree. 
See the link https://www.cla.unitn.it/en/765/exams for details or to register for the exam.

Students who are interested in the online-only course (without the classroom speaking lessons) can enrol for the Self-Study course.  More details can be found at https://www.cla.unitn.it/en/699/online-courses