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Personal Development I

Objectives

The objective of the course is to prepare students for work and study by giving them the tools to apply for employment or internships in an English speaking environment. The CU should also help those who are studying CUs that are being taught in English, as students will be exposed to the English language in class and will have the opportunity to practice their English speaking, reading, writing and listening skills. The course is practical and focuses on the PROCESS of completing the tasks outlined in the course objectives. The emphasis is not on theoretical grammar, but students will look at some relevant grammatical and lexical forms that are needed to achieve the learning outcomes. Practical tasks enable the students to practise in meaningful contexts. Classes focus on general and business English requiring active participation from the students. All classes are held in English.

General characterization

Code

100035

Credits

2.0

Responsible teacher

Manuel Esmeraldo Rodrigues

Hours

Weekly - Available soon

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

Portuguese. If there are Erasmus students, classes will be taught in English

Prerequisites

Attendence is not compulsory, but participation contributes to the final evaluation. If the student is absent they are not participating.

Bibliography

Teaching method

The basic methodology is communicative, influced by Task Based Learning and the Lexical Approach. Students learn by completing tasks, such as writing a report or preparing for a job interview, focussing on the process rather than the product. The classes are student centred with an emphasis on pair work and participation. The classes are very practical and no Portuguese is spoken by the Teacher.

Evaluation method

Evaluation is by continuous assessment and is based upon:
Attendance/Participation - 10%
Formally Set Tasks - 90%
There is no Final Exam
The tasks include one formal authentic CV to be prepared in Students`own time. The other tasks will be chosen from formal transactional emails, reports, propsals, covering letters etc. There will also be a speaking test. These tasks (tests) will be taken in class on dates to be found on IMS online.
The level of linguistic expertise required to pass the CU is based on the "Can Do Statements" or competencies at Level B2 of the Common European Framework (CEFR) which can be found here: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf

Subject matter

The course is a practical one focussing on the PROCESS of completing the tasks outlined in the couse objectives. There will not be a lot of theoretical grammar but students will look at some relevant grammatical and lexical forms that are needed to achieve this. Practical tasks enable the students to practise  in meaningful contexts. Classes focus on general and business English requiring active participation from the students. All classes are held in English. Students will learn how to
• write their curriculum vitae,
• reply to job advertisements with an appropriate letter of intent
• talk about their educational and work history and their professional objectives in an interview situation
• write effectively in a variety of formats - proposal/report/email etc