English Language, Advanced C1

Abstract

This course is suitable for students who already possess the skills defined in level C1 of the Council of Europe Global Scale. It takes them towards level C2, practising the four skills of speaking, reading, writing and listening comprehension.

Objective

Linguistic targets: Students will work towards the skills listed in level C2 of the European framework, such as reading and understanding literary and linguistically complex texts, and recognising implicit meaning; presenting clear and detailed descriptions of complex subjects, developing a point and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion; writing clear, smoothly-flowing essays, reports and summaries: expressing ideas and opinions convincingly, without searching for expressions, participating actively in discussions and relating their contributions skilfully to those of other speakers. To this end, we shall focus on difficult and ambiguous areas of grammar, phrasal verbs, vocabulary building and word study, idioms, difficult word pairs, collocation, false friends etc.

Content

This course is suitable for students who possess the skills defined in level C1 of the Council of Europe Global Scale, roughly the equivalent of CAE (Cambridge Advanced Certificate). It will offer reading and discussion of authentic and challenging texts from mainly non-literary sources such as the TIME magazine, the GUARDIAN WEEKLY and others, as well as a few samples from contemporary fiction. The carefully selected texts will provide up-to-date information on global issues of general interest, such as lifestyle, education, nature and environment, changing social structures and other cultural interests. There will also be a systematic focus on grammatical accuracy (tenses, gerund, infinitive, linking words and discourse markers, relative clauses), phrasal verbs, vocabulary building, word study and discursive essay writing. The main focus, however, will be on oral participation in class, to improve fluency and accuracy of expression.

Resources