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English for Communication Science
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:4.00
Study Course Accepted:02.02.2024 12:29:06
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | VC_084 | LQF level: | Level 6 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 4.00 | ECTS: | 6.00 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Linguistics | Target Audience: | Sociology | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Zita Goldšmite | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szf rsu[pnkts]lv | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 0 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 0 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 0 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 20 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 40 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 40 | ||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.2 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 0 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 0 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 0 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 20 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 40 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 40 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Knowledge of English at the level of secondary school programme. | ||||||||
| Objective: | To develop the English language skills for study and further work purposes in the chosen specialty and to promote the acquisition and practical use of specialised professional terminology. | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Definition of Sociology, work assignments and activities. 1.1. Course overview: objectives, tasks, learning outcomes, requirements, tests and examinations. 1.2. Different definitions of sociology. Words from general English with a special meaning in sociology. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Academic English. 2.1. Using an English-English dictionary: entries, definitions, synonyms, antonyms, word collocations, set expressions. (www.macmillandictionary.com; www.merriam-webster.com) Word building: roots, prefixes and suffixes. The most common suffixes for a noun, a verb and an adjective in English | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | Academic English 2.2. Presentations. Structure of presentations: an introduction, a main body, a conclusion. Signposting language. Presentation evaluation. 2.3. A lecture. Note taking during the lecture. Different types of lecture organisation: a tree diagram, a flowchart, headings and notes, a spider gram, a table, a timeline, two columns. Speaking from notes. | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Researching careers in sociology using technology 3.1. Understanding computer jargon. Abbreviations and acronyms. Verb and noun suffixes. 3.2. Job advertisements for sociology professionals. Analysing Internet search results. Reporting research findings. | Classes | 4.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Writing summaries: Summary principles. A topic sentence and supporting ideas. Editing, removing examples, ellipsis, joining clauses and paraphrasing. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Technology development and sociology. The role of social media in sociological research. Research reports and their sections; data description; writing a reference list. | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Sociology research 5.1. Research terminology. Quantitative and qualitative research. Research methods and main sources of data. Data collection techniques. 5.2. Designing a questionnaire: introductory part, main body. Types of questions in questionnaires: closed and open questions. Rating scales (Likert-type scale) 5.3. Reports: Assessing positive and negative aspects; structure of a report (introduction, main part, conclusion), headings and sub-headings. Reporting information using narrative. | Classes | 5.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Print media and sociology 6.1. Newspaper sections. Editorial. Articles: types of articles; structure; planning an article; topic sentence and supporting information, use of link words. Formal, informal and neutral language. 6.2. Magazines: content, the role of pictures and photos. Vocabulary used to speak about celebrities. Celebrity profiles. Press releases. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 10 | Radio, television and sociology People working for radio and television. Radio channels and programmes. Television broadcasts. Interviews on radio/ television. Different types of questions (open and closed questions). | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | Formal and informal letters 9.1. Letter layout, most often used set phrases in letters; formal/neutral/informal language; writing and checking e-mails. 9.2. CV. Principles for a good CV. Instructions for filling in the Europass CV 9.3. Letters of application. Set phrases. Describing most recent education, relevant experience and positive personal qualities. | Classes | 4.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 12 | Non-profit organisations 10.1. Types of non-profit organisations, logos, profiles. 10.2. Describing trends: describing change, degree of change, speed of change (line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, tables). The most common adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs for describing changes. | Classes | 4.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 13 | Crisis situations 11.1. Crisis communication. Role of PR practitioners in effective crisis management. Types of crisis. Phases in managing crisis. 11.2. Crisis management. Management plan. Understanding and writing complex sentences in English. Identifying Subject-Verb-Object in complex sentences. 11.3. Communication strategy in a crisis situation. Finding the main information in the text. Reporting findings. | Classes | 4.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 14 | Sociology and marketing 12.1. Budget marketing. Marketing strategy. Word building: nouns from verbs. Synonyms. 12.2. Sociology and Marketing in the 21st century. Marketing process. Terminology used. Complex sentences with passives. 12.3. Promotional material and advertising. Texts for advertisements. Slogans. | Classes | 4.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | Students prepare individual and group presentations on topics covered during the course, they do written vocabulary tasks, read authentic texts on topics covered during the course and finish comprehension tasks; work independently with English-English dictionaries and prepare their word lists. The students write letters, summaries, short reports, etc. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | 1) Active participation in classes; timely submitted written assignments of high quality; presentations made in accordance with the topics covered during the course; vocabulary tests – 25% 2) Assessment of the 1st semester written examination – 25% 2) Written part of the end-of-course examination consisting of tasks on the use of terminology, reading comprehension tasks and a written task – 25% 3) Spoken part of the end-of-course examination – an individual presentation on one of the topics covered during the course – 25% | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | |||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | Upon successful completion of the course the students will be able to: • recognise, translate and explain terminology related to sociology; • find and reproduce main information from authentic texts both in spoken and written English; • determine and report the speaker’s point of view. | ||||||||
| Skills: | Upon successful completion of the course the students will be able to: • use the relevant terminology both in spoken and written English; • prepare and give presentations on issues related to sociology; • express and defend their own opinion using the appropriate vocabulary; • prepare questions of different types to interview people; • write a summary, formal and informal letters, a profile, etc.; • design a questionnaire. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | The students will be able to work as a team, express and defend their point of view both orally and in writing, using the professional terminology. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Marie McLisky. Series editor: Terry Phillips. English for Public Relations in Higher Education Studies. Garnet Publishing Ltd. Reading, 2011. | ||||||||
| Additional Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Ceramella, Nick & Lee, Elizabeth. Cambridge English for Media. Cambridge University Press. 2008. | ||||||||
| 2 | Santiago Remacha Esteras, Elena Marco Fabre. Professional English in Use. For Computers and the Internet. Cambridge University Press, 3rd printing, 2010. | ||||||||
| 3 | Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman. Oxford Word Skills. OUP, 2009. | ||||||||
| 4 | Michael McCarthy, Felicity O'Dell. Academic Vocabulary in Use. Cambridge University Press, 2014 | ||||||||
| Other Information Sources | |||||||||
| 1 | http://www.uefap.com | ||||||||
| 2 | http://www.macmillandictionary.com | ||||||||
| 3 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise | ||||||||
| 4 | http://www.britishcouncil.org/professionals-business.htm | ||||||||
