ENGLISH LANGUAGE QUALIFYING EXAM B1
Learning outcomes of the course unit
By the end of the course students reach level B1 of the European Frame of Reference, having developed their skills related to grammar, lexis, functions, reading and listening comprehension. Based on the CEFR, at level B1 the user can understand the main points of clear standard written and spoken input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc., and can deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling in an area where the language is spoken.
Prerequisites
The course is aimed at students who already have elementary knowledge of English (level A2) and who can deal with simple communication contexts on familiar topics.
Course contents summary
Main topics
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
Recommended readings
Recommended for Grammar, Functions and Vocabulary:
Vv. Aa., Oxford 360° pack with answer key booklet, OUP
Further practice:
S. Burgess, J. Newbrook, Gold Preliminary Exam Maximer with key, Pearson
Teaching methods
The course consists in online modules focusing on the topics related to the exam syllabus. It can be accessed from the homepage of the "Elly" web learning platform (adopted by UniPR) by using the UniPR access credentials (name.surname@studenti.unipr.it) and following the appropriate links for course name and year. The course includes video lessons and exercises which are automatically corrected. The pass mark for the exercises is 60%.
Methodology: presentation of structures, deduction of rule, contrastive use of the language.
Assessment: final achievement test focusing on grammar, lexis, functions, reading and listening comprehension.
Assessment methods and criteria
Computer-based multiple-choice test on grammar, lexis, and receptive skills (reading and listening) at B1 level. The pass mark is 60%, obtained by adding the number of correct answers. Dictionaries, grammar reference books, electronic devices, etc. are not allowed.
Other informations
VALIDITY OF LANGUAGE CERTIFICATES
For the list of valid certificates and their recognition / validation in place of the in-house test, please see http://www.tlc.unipr.it/vannucci/studenti/IdoneitaDiLingue/index.html
The same information can be found at the Elly page related to this subject https://elly2020.dia.unipr.it/enrol/index.php?id=309
