English Proficiency II

6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1023600BNR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

1st and 2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

Students must have taken ‘English Proficiency I’, before they can enroll in this course. If you are enrolled in a preparatory programme you can register this course without restrictions.

Taught in

English

Faculty

Academic Language Centre

Department

Academic Center for Language Education

Educational team

Katrien Camps
Nancy De Ryck
Kevin Bonnez
Voorzitter ACTO (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

52 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
128 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

English Proficiency II is in many ways a continuation of English Proficiency I, which laid the foundation for this course in terms of writing skills, vocabulary and grammar. EPII focusses mainly on the development of more advanced writing and speaking skills.

Over the course of two semesters, EPII will focus on expanding students’ grammar and vocabulary knowledge – as acquired in EPI – as well as their formal writing and speaking skills. Students will tackle the former (mainly) independently, whereas the latter skills will actively be tapped into in every class.

As regards formal writing, the features characteristic of argumentative essays will be tackled, e.g. syntactic structures and cohesive devices, and additional focus will be put on structure and argumentation. Frequently made mistakes and formulation errors due to interference from other languages will also be addressed. The students will be challenged to expand their lexical and grammatical range and required to demonstrate these newly acquired skills in their writing.

Students will be encouraged to put the theory into practice not only in argumentative essays but also in speaking activities assigned during the academic year. Analysis of source materials drawn from a range of English-language sources (including –although not limited to– academic and media sources) will form the basis for both tasks. The analysis includes a focus on more advanced features of formal English but also (subject-specific) vocabulary, content, and argumentation. The texts and topics will be of direct relevance to the students’ studies or/and have a more general socio-cultural focus. We want students to apply their critical reading skills to analyse content with the goal to discuss these topics in class and to write an argumentative essay on said topic.

Feedback will be provided by their peers and/or the tutor and will include self-assessment and/or self-reflection.

Course material

Handbook (Recommended) : Practical English Usage, Michael Swan, 4de, Oxford University Press, 9780194202435, 2016
Digital course material (Required) : Handouts and slides, L. Holtzem, K. Camps
Handbook (Required) : MyGrammarLab Advanced C1/C2, Without key, Mark Foley, Diane Hall, 9781408299128, 2012
Handbook (Required) : Academic Vocabulary in Use, Michael McCarthy, Felicity O'Dell, 2de, 9781107591660, 2016

Additional info

More specifically this means that the course is comprised of four core components in the development of English proficiency:

• Grammar knowledge

• Vocabulary expansion

• Writing skills

• Speaking skills

Learning Outcomes

LOs EPII

For successful completion of this module, the student must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the following learning objectives at the CEFR B2+ level:

The student is able to apply language and text features typical of argumentative essays.
The student is able to clearly voice their own opinions with clear argumentation in both writing and speaking.
The student can integrate ideas from printed and non-printed source material in their essays and discussions to support their opinion with the appropriate acknowledgement.
The student is able to apply cohesive devices successfully in both writing and speaking.
The student is able to write and speak with a high level of formality and accuracy.
The student is able to apply the grammar theory both in speech and writing.
The student is able to use (independently) learnt vocabulary in speaking and writing assignments, even in new contexts, with a particular focus on formal collocations.
The student is able to demonstrate their lexical and grammatical range in their writing and speaking.
The student takes active part in speaking tasks relating to the source material, accounting for and conveying their view(s) in a coherent, concise, precise, fluent, and accurate manner.
The student demonstrates ongoing reflection on their spoken and written language proficiency, and listens/scans drafts for errors (content, grammar, word choice, style, pronunciation, punctuation and spelling) and self-corrects/revises their work.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 35% of the final mark.
PRAC Practical Assignment determines 25% of the final mark.
PRAC Paper determines 40% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Schriftelijk examen with a relative weight of 35 which comprises 35% of the final mark.

Within the PRAC Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Mondeling examen with a relative weight of 25 which comprises 25% of the final mark.

Within the PRAC Paper category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Schrijftaken with a relative weight of 40 which comprises 40% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

- In the first exam session, assessment is on the basis of four assessment components: written assignments (40%, continuous assessment), a speaking task (25%, continuous assessment), and a grammar and vocabulary exam (35%).

- Generative AI cannot be used to complete the writing tasks. Use of AI to generate content in any way is prohibited.

- Students who want to pass the course in the first exam period need to have participated in / timely completed all assessment components, i.e. students need to have completed at least one of the written assignments, the assessed speaking task, and both the grammar and vocabulary part of the written exam.

- Students who do not participate in any of the written assignments, and/or the assessed speaking task, and/or the written exam will receive the final score of ‘absent’ (AFW).

- Students need to score at least 50% on all assessment components to be able to pass the course. In other words, an overall pass score is only possible when they achieve an overall score of at least 50% on the written assignments, at least 50% on the speaking task, and at least 50% on both parts of the written exam, more specifically at least 50% on vocabulary and 50% on grammar.

- The maximum final score for the course as a whole which can be awarded to students who have participated in all assessment components but did not achieve at least 50% for each of the assessment components mentioned above is the score for the assessment component for which they received the lowest score.

- In the second exam session, assessment is on the basis of four assessment components: a written assignment on a new topic (40%), a speaking task (25%) and a grammar and vocabulary exam (35%).

- Students who fail the course in the first exam session (a score of 9/20 or lower) or were marked as absent (AFW) and who wish to be examined and pass the course in the second exam session are required to retake the assessment components for which they receive an overall fail (lower than 50%) or AFW score.

- Generative AI cannot be used to complete the writing task. Use of AI to generate content in any way is prohibited.

- In the second exam session, students need to score at least 50% on all assessment components to pass the course. In other words, they need to score at least 50% on the writing assignment, at least 50% on the speaking task and at least 50% on both parts of the written exam, i.e. at least 50% on vocabulary and 50% on grammar, to pass the course.

- Students who do not participate in one or more of the assessment components for which they received a fail or absent score in the first semester will receive the final score of ‘absent’ (AFW).

- The maximum final score for the course in the second semester as a whole which can be awarded to students who have participated in the required assessment components but did not achieve at least 50% for each of the assessment components is the score for the assessment component for which they received the lowest score.

- The score for an individual assessment component cannot be carried over to a subsequent academic year.

- Please note that passing ‘English Proficiency II’ is no way implies that the student has acquired the unique learning outcomes of ‘English Proficiency I’.

- In de eerste examenperiode worden studenten geëvalueerd op basis van vier deelcomponenten: schrijftaken (40%, permanente evaluatie), een spreekopdracht (25%, permanente evaluatie), en een grammatica- en woordenschatexamen (35%).

- Generatieve AI mag niet worden gebruikt voor de schrijftaken. Het is niet toegestaan om generatieve AI te gebruiken om output te genereren.

- Studenten die willen slagen voor het vak, moeten hebben deelgenomen aan alle deelcomponenten / alle deelcomponenten tijdig hebben afgerond. Met andere woorden, de studenten moeten hebben deelgenomen aan op z’n minst één van de schrijfopdrachten, de geëvalueerde spreekopdracht en zowel het grammatica- als woordenschatonderdeel van het schriftelijk examen.

- Studenten die niet hebben deelgenomen aan op z’n minst één schrijftaak en/of de geëvalueerde spreekopdracht en/of het schriftelijke examen zullen als eindscore ‘afwezig’ krijgen (AFW).

- Studenten moeten ten minste 50% scoren op alle deelcomponenten om te slagen voor het vak, meer bepaald ten minste 50% op de totaalscore voor de schrijftaken, minstens 50% op de spreekopdracht, en minstens 50% op beide onderdelen van het schriftelijk examen, d.w.z. tenminste 50% op woordenschat en ten minste 50% op grammatica.

- Een student die heeft deelgenomen aan elke deelcomponent maar niet slaagt voor één of meerdere deelcomponenten (minder dan 50%) behaalt voor het studieonderdeel het cijfer van de deelcomponent met het laagste resultaat.

- In de tweede examenperiode worden studenten geëvalueerd op basis van vier deelcomponenten: een nieuwe schrijftaak (40%), een spreekopdracht (25%), en een grammatica- en woordenschatexamen (35%).

- Studenten die in de eerste examen zittijd niet slaagden voor het vak (een score van 9/20 of minder) of afwezig waren (AFW) en willen slagen in de tweede examenzittijd moeten de deelcomponenten waarvoor ze een score van minder dan 50% of AFW kregen opnieuw afleggen.

- Generatieve AI mag niet worden gebruikt voor de schrijftaak. Het is niet toegestaan om generatieve AI te gebruiken om output te genereren.

- In de tweede examenzittijd moeten studenten tenminste 50% scoren op alle onderdelen om te slagen voor het vak, dus ze dienen minstens 50% te scoren op de schrijfopdracht, tenminste 50% op de spreekopdracht en ten minste 50% op beide onderdelen van het schriftelijk examen, namelijk 50% op woordenschat en 50% op grammatica.

- Studenten die niet hebben deelgenomen aan één of meerdere deelcomponenten waarvoor ze in het eerste semester niet geslaagd waren of AFW kregen, zullen als eindscore ‘afwezig’ krijgen (AFW).

- Scores voor individuele examenonderdelen kunnen niet worden overgedragen naar een volgend academiejaar.

- Het slagen voor ‘English Proficiency II’ impliceert niet dat de student de unieke leerresultaten voor ‘English Proficiency I’ heeft verworven.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context