ENGLISH B1 (THRESHOLD LEVEL)
cod. 1004418

Academic year 2014/15
1° year of course - First semester
Professor
Academic discipline
Indefinito/interdisciplinare (NN)
Field
Per la conoscenza di almeno una lingua straniera
Type of training activity
Language/Final test
24 hours
of face-to-face activities
3 credits
hub: PARMA
course unit
in - - -

Learning objectives

By the end of the course the students are expected to reach level B1 of the European Frame of Reference.

Prerequisites

None

Course unit content

An introduction to grammar, vocabulary and functions of the English language (basic level).

Full programme

Grammar
articles
demonstratives
possessives and possessive ‘s
personal pronouns
some and any
countable and uncountable nouns
quantifiers
comparatives and superlatives
relative pronouns
main prepositions of place and time
indirect questions
main conjunctions
main phrasal/prepositional verbs
Present Simple and Present Continuous
Past Simple
Past Continuous
Present Perfect Simple
The future (going to, will, Present Simple, Present Continuous)
First conditional
Time clauses and the Present Simple)
The Passive voice (Present Simple, Past Simple, Present Perfect)
Modal verbs (can, could, must, will, would, should)

Vocabulary
* spelling
numbers (prices, quantities, dates, etc.)
family
free time activities
house and furniture
public places and shops
jobs
food and drinks
animals
weather
clothes
parts of the body and health problems
means of transport
everyday objects

Functions
describing people (character and appearance)
telling the time and dates
describing everyday habits and routines
ordering in a restaurant or in a hotel
understanding notices, labels, adverts
road directions
describing holidays, trips, etc.
describing objects (size, colour, shape, etc.)
warnings and prohibitions
obligation and absence of obligations
agreement/disagreement
criticisms and complaints
talking about preferences
describing feelings and emotions

Bibliography

For grammar, functions and vocabulary:
M. Vince, G. Cerulli, Inside Grammar, Macmillan (+ keys)
M. Swan, C. Walter, The Good Grammar Book with answers, Oxford UP
or:
P. Conti, E. Sharman, L. Green, A. Cowan, The Burlington English Grammar, ed.
Burlington Books Le Monnier (+ keys) (grammar only)
M. McCarthy, F. O’Dell, English Vocabulary in Use Elementary (edition with key), Cambridge University Press (vocabulary only)

Textbook
S.A. Hill, M.L. Freeman, Change Up! Intermediate Students’ book & Workbook Pack, ELI (ISBN 978 885 360 4064)

Further practice:
J.Newbrook, J.Wilson, PET Gold Exam Maximer Self-Study edition (with audio CD set), Longma

A. Capel, R.Nixon, PET Masterclass Intermediate Workbook with answers and Audio CD pack, OUP

Graded readers published by BlackCat Cideb (Green Apple Step2 or Reading & Training Elementary/Pre-Intermediate)

Dictionary
Oxford Study Dictionary (bilingual)
Longman Dizionario Compatto (bilingual)
Cambridge Essential English Dictionary (monolingual)

Students can consult pre-intermediate level material for the reading and listening sections of the exam at:
Laboratorio Self-Access del Centro Linguistico
Viale Scienze, 45/A Campus
www.unipr.it/arpa/cla/

Teaching methods

Methodology: presentation of structures, deduction of rule, contrastive use of the language, use of different teaching aids (slides, audioCDs, textbook, etc.).

Assessment methods and criteria

Assessment: final test with multiple choice questions on grammar, lexis, functions, reading and listening comprehension.

Other information

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