Pre-Sessional English

Course Code: K16LIN

Course Name: Intermediate
Pre-Sessional English: Intermediate is an integrated skills course that focuses on building
academic literacy skills to prepare students for tertiary studies. Students will develop key
skills and strategies in academic reading and writing, listening and speaking, academic
language, thinking and research, as well as learning strategies for university studies.
Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on students developing the ability to think,
solve problems and take responsibility for their own learning.

Credit Value 10
Workload 16 contact hours + 4 hours of online study per week
Prerequisites None
Lecturer/ Nur Ili Syazwani binti Mohd. Azhar
Tutor
Campus: Heriot-Watt University Malaysia
Phone: 03-88943900
Email: n.mohd_azhar@hw.ac.uk
Office hours: Monday to Friday 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Consultation Wednesday – 9.00 a.m. – 10.00 a.m.

hours: Thursday – 3.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.

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www.hw.edu.my
 June 2018 cohort
Programme Aims and Objectives

Pre-Sessional English: Intermediate is an integrated skills course that focuses on

building academic literacy skills to prepare students for tertiary studies. Students will
develop key skills and strategies in academic reading and writing, listening and
speaking, academic language, thinking and research, as well as learning strategies for
university studies. Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on students developing
the ability to think, solve problems and take responsibility for their own learning.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Deploy a range of strategies to read, understand and analyse texts, and address
questions
2. Research, draft, revise and refine work in line with academic conventions, clarity
and correctness
3. Understand and respond appropriately to spoken discourse, including lectures
4. Effectively prepare for and participate in oral tasks: tutorials and group
discussions and oral presentations
5. Demonstrate understanding and application of essential grammatical,
phonological, lexical and textual resources for academic tasks
6. Promote and employ a range of strategies for the application of study skills for
university learning

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Assessment Summary

Assessment Task Value Due Date

Final Examination 60% Week 10

Mid-Term Examination 20% Week 6

Coursework is made up of:

 Written assignments 20% Week 3, Week 5

 Summary Writing Week 8
 Essay writing

 Oral Presentation
- Individual Presentation

TOTAL 100%

Teaching Approach

This course will be delivered using tutorials and online study.

Tutorial sessions will allow students to participate in various tasks, focusing on

discussions, assessments, application, practice and analysis of skills development in

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context. The primary focus is practical: students will actively engage in various tasks,
presentations, language enhancement activities and group projects.

VISION is Heriot-Watt University's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and is a web-

based integrated teaching and learning environment. VISION will be used to facilitate
communication, content uploading, assignment workflow, peer assessment, student
group management and assessment, grading and others.

Self-study A considerable part of the learning for this course will be accomplished
through self-study by students. This course is valued at 10 credit points and requires 20
hours of study each week. This includes 16 contact hours and 14 hours of private study
spent for blended learning activities, completing assessment tasks and in general study.

Feedback

Our Feedback to You

In general, you will receive written feedback 2-3 weeks after the submission of your
assignments. Specific marking criteria for each assignment will identify whether your
performance on the assessment tasks is above or below expected levels, and individual
comments will identify areas of strength and aspects of your work that need further
attention.

The marking criteria for each assignment will be made available before tasks are due,
and can also be used as a guide or checklist for you to complete tasks. General
feedback to groups (not identifying individuals) will also be given verbally in tutorials or
during consultation hours.

By Week 8, you will receive interim feedback tutorial performance. This feedback will
help you to work towards maintaining and/or improving your participation in tutorials.

Your Feedback to Us
Heriot-Watt is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from
students, employers and staff. There are several ways we obtain your feedback. One is
through staff-student consultative meetings, and another is through course evaluations
normally conducted at the end of semesters.

Required Resources

The Course Guide – This is the Course Guide. It is designed to provide a framework
and a detailed weekly guide for your studies.

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Textbook:

de Chazal, E. and Rogers, L. (2013) Oxford EAP: A Course in English for Academic
Purposes - Intermediate / B1+. Oxford: OUP.

Recommended Resources

There are additional resources such as printed/electronic books and journals available
from the library that you may find useful in helping you understand the course materials,
prepare for your tutorials and complete your assignments. Therefore, if you are new to
Heriot-Watt, you are strongly recommended to join the library tours and familiarise
yourself with how to find learning resources.

Books you will find helpful include:

Azar, B. S. and Hagen, S. A. (2011) Fundamentals of English grammar. 4th edn. New
Jersey: Pearson Education ESL.

Chandler, K., Cotteril, S., Da Silva, S., O’Dell, F., and Hogan, M.J. (2013) Practise tests
plus with key. England: Pearson Education Limited.

Evans V. and Dooley J. (2002) Upstream: Intermediate workbook. United Kingdom:

Express Publishing.

Hartmann, P. (2007) Reading and writing. 2nd edn. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Langan, J. (2014) College writing skills with readings. 9th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Murphy, R. (1985) English grammar in use. United Kingdom: Cambridge University

Press.

Oshima, A. and Hogue, A. (1997) Writing academic English. 4th edn. New York:
Pearson.

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COURSE SCHEDULE

Week Topics Assessments

1 Reading
 Skimming and scanning
Speaking
 Pronunciation
 Oral fluency
Grammar
 Present tenses
 Past tenses

2 Writing
Writing the essay
 The introduction
opening sentence, information, thesis
statement
 The body paragraph
topic sentence, elaboration example
 The concluding paragraph
paraphrase thesis, summary of ideas,
comment

3 Listening Assignment 1:
 Listening: comprehension of main ideas and
important details Individual essay – 5%
 Note-taking
Reading
 Understanding main ideas
 Identifying main ideas and supporting details

Writing
 Summary writing

4 Speaking
 Descriptive speech
Listening
 Identifying speaker’s purpose and attitude

Grammar
 Future forms

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5 Speaking Assignment 2:
 Summarizing from different sources
 Retell lecture Summary writing – 5%
Listening
 Listening: comprehension of main ideas and
important details

6 Reading Mid-Term Exam:

 Skimming and scanning
 Understanding main ideas and supporting Reading & Listening – 20%
details
Speaking
 Presenting ideas spontaneously

7 Listening
 Listening: comprehension of main ideas and
important details
 Identifying speaker’s purpose and attitude
Writing
 Summary writing
Grammar
 Conditional sentences

8 Reading Assignment 3:
 Skimming and scanning
 Understanding main ideas and supporting Individual speech – 10%
details
Listening
 Listening: comprehension of main ideas and
important details
Writing
 Essay review

9 Revision Week

10 Final Examination Final Examination – 60%

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ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

Assessment Tasks

*Refer to assignment briefs for a more detailed breakdown of the assessments

1. Assignment 1 – Individual essay (Due date: week 3, Friday by 3.00 p.m.)

Details of task:

This is an individual task.

Students will produce a full essay individually. You are strongly encouraged to
use the writing conventions taught in the course.

Value: 5%

Word limit: 250 – 350 words

Estimated return date: 1 week after submission

Marking criteria: refer to marking rubrics

2. Assignment 2 – Summary (Due date: week 5, Friday by 3.00 p.m.)

Details of task:

This is an individual task.

Students will produce a summary from an existing written text. You will be given
3 written texts and you are to produce a summary of key points from the text.
You are strongly encouraged to adhere to the word limit set for the task.

Value: 5%

Word limit: 250 – 300 words

Estimated return date: 1 week after submission

Marking criteria: refer to marking rubrics

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 3. Assignment 3 – Individual Speech (Due date: week 8)

Details of task:

You will need to find a speech by a famous person (you may source the speech
from YouTube or any other websites). Summarise the key points of the speech
and retell the speech in your own words. Your speech should be coherent and
should comprise the main points mentioned from the speech that you chose.

Example of speeches:

a. Steve Job’s commencement address at Stanford in 2005

b. Emma Watson’s speech for the United Nation’s HeforShe Campaign in
2014
c.

Value: 10%

Time limit: 5 minutes per person

Estimated return date: n/a

Marking criteria: refer to marking rubrics

Examination(s)
The final exam for this course is conducted in week 10

Grading
At the end of the semester, you will receive a grade for your course in the range of A –
F. The grades have the meaning specified in the table below.

Grade Description
A Excellent
B Very good
C Good
D Satisfactory
E
Inadequate
F

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Assignment submission

Hard Copy Submission:

Assignments must include a cover sheet. The coversheet template for the Foundation
Programme is accessible through course resources on VISION.

All students must keep a copy (electronic and printout) of all assignments completed
and submitted. Should an assignment be missing, you must be able to reproduce a
copy within 24 hours. Failure to do so will be counted as non-submission.

All written assignments submitted should be word-processed and well-presented. You

should use 12 point Times New Roman. One inch margins should be maintained all
around. Assignments should be double-spaced, with pages numbered consecutively.
For citations and referencing, choose the system used in your discipline and be
consistent.

Coursework submitted late will have a penalty of a 5% deduction of the total mark for
each day (excluding weekends) the coursework is late.

Remember that plagiarism is intellectual theft and is a major offence which the
University takes seriously in all cases. Students must therefore take care to avoid it.
Those who are found to have plagiarised will be subject to the University’s disciplinary
procedures, which may result in penalties ranging from the deduction of credits and
courses already achieved by students to compulsory termination of studies. Students
are advised to refer to Regulation 50 at http://www.hw.ac.uk/ordinances/regulations.pdf
and to the Guidelines for Staff and Students on Discipline at
http://www.hw.ac.uk/registry/Discipline.php for further details of how the University deals
with all acts of plagiarism.

Returning assignments
Assignments are normally returned in class or at a time arranged by the lecturer.

OTHER INFORMATION

Please refer to the Programme Handbook for other important details.

Policies of specific interest and relevance to students can be accessed at:

http://www.hw.ac.uk/committees/ltb/ltb-policies.htm.

A full list of Ordinances and Regulations can be accessed at:

http://www.hw.ac.uk/ordinances/regulations.pdf

The Foundation Programme at Heriot-Watt University Malaysia can be found at:

http://www.hw.ac.uk/malaysia/programmes/foundation-programme.htm

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