ENGLISH LANGUAGE I

Dott. Silé O'Hora

A.A. 1998/99
 

PET English Course
 

Aim of an intermediate 1evel course:

The aim of this course is to develop and consolidate communicative competence and the more complex grammatical structures of the language in order to enable students to interact with greater  confidence in a variety of situations.
 
Course content:

Main structures
1. verbs: revision and extension - present simple and continuous, past simple and continuous, some modal verbs, "going to" for intentions and "will" for offers and spontaneous decisions introduces - present perfect simple, past perfect simple, the passive, reported speech. 1st and 2nd conditionals, verb patterns, further modal verbs, used to
2. other structures: revision and extension - articles, questions with how + adjective/what + noun, quantifiers, prepositions of time and place introduces - subject and object questions, comparative and super1ative adjectives, time clauses

Functions:

    accepting and refusing invitations,  expressing opinions, making suggestions, making travel arrangements, making plans/appointments, talking about past habits, giving news, telephoning,  making requests, asking for and giving personal information

Lexis:

    rail and air travel, common phrasal verbs, make/do, bring/take, adverbs, compound nouns, homophones, word families + revision of lexis from previous levels.

    PET exam The Preliminary English Test or PET, offered by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), represents the "threshold level" for English. i.e. the level at which speakers can make themselves understood when asking for information, can understand information given to them and can maintain a conversation on non specialist topics, as well as express opinions, attitudes, wishes, etc.

    The exam consists of:
1) a written paper which tests ability to understand, read and write (length 1 1/2  hours, 50% of the total mark)
2) a listening paper (length c. 45 mm., 25% of the total mark)
3) an oral test (length c. 10-15 min., 25% of the total mark)
 
    The exam is held towards the end of May/beginning of June in a centre approved by UCLES. For Trentino this centre is the CLM-Bell 1anguage school in Trento.

Bibliography:

Soars, J.& Soars, L., (1991) Headway Pre-lntermediate, Oxford: Oxford University Press (Student's book and Workbook - for general preparation of the level)

Hashemi, L. & Thomas B., (1996) Cambridge Practice Tests for PET l, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (tests for preparing for the exam)