English for ICT STUDIES in Higher Education Studies Course Book

Introduction

English for ICTStudies is designed for students who plan to take an ICT course entirely or partly in English. The principal aim of English for ICT Studies is to teach students to cope with input texts, i.e., listening and reading, in the discipline. However, students will be expected to produce output texts in speech and writing throughout the course.

The syllabus focuses on key vocabulary for the discipline and on words and phrases commonly used in academic English. It covers key facts and concepts from the discipline, thereby giving students a flying start for when they meet the same points again in their faculty work. It also focuses on the skills that will enable students to get the most out of lectures and written texts. Finally, it presents the skills required to take part in seminars and tutorials and to produce essay assignments.

English for ICT Studies comprises:

• student Course Book including audio transcripts and wordlist

• the Teachers Book, which provides detailed guidance on each lesson, full answer keys, audio transcripts and extra photocopiable resources

• audio CDs with lecture and seminar excerpts

English for ICT Studies has 12 units, each of which is based on a different aspect of ICT. Odd-numbered units are based on listening (lecture/seminar extracts). Even-numbered units are based on reading.

Each unit is divided into four lessons:

Lesson 1: vocabulary for the discipline; vocabulary skills such as word-building, use of affixes, use of synonyms for paraphrasing

Lesson 2: reading or listening text and skills development

Lesson 3: reading or listening skills extension. In addition, in later units, students are introduced to a

writing assignment which is further developed in Lesson 4; in later listening units, students are introduced to a spoken language point (e.g., making an oral presentation at a seminar) which is further developed in Lesson 4

Lesson 4: a parallel listening or reading text to that presented in Lesson 2 which students have to use their new skills (Lesson 3) to decode; in addition, written or spoken work is further practised

The last two pages of each unit, Vocabulary bank and Skills bank, are a useful summary of the unit content.

Each unit provides between 4 and 6 hours of classroom activity with the possibility of a further 2-4 hours on the suggested extra activities. The course will be suitable, therefore, as the core component of a faculty-specific pre-sessional or foundation course of between 50 and 80 hours.

It is assumed that prior to using this book students will already have completed a general EAP (English for Academic Purposes) course such as Skills in English (Garnet Publishing, up to the end at least of Level 3), and will have achieved an IELTS level of at least 5.