Level 4: B1+ CEFR

AUDIENCE: This course is intended for learners who demonstrate developing ability to use English independently. 

GOALS: The course focuses on developing language skills and strategies that enable learners to understand, talk about, and exchange information on familiar, concrete topics (e.g. topics of specific personal or professional interest) as well as on some unfamiliar or more abstract ones (e.g. culture, art). 

OBJECTIVES: Students are exposed to extended, factual, as well as propositionally and linguistically more complex written and listening texts (e.g. articles, opinion papers). They train to identify their overall structure, specific details, main points, and the interrelationships between ideas. Through individual or group work, students learn to participate in interactions on a wide range of familiar and other topics, listen actively, and express their opinions in a structured way (e.g. personal storytelling, discussions). Also, they continue to engage in controlled and semi-controlled pronunciation activities and speaking tasks (e.g. presentations, discussions) to review English sounds, recognize natural speech phenomena and intonation patterns. Students practice multi-paragraph writing (e.g. reports, product reviews) with emphasis on enhancing clarity, coherence, and prominence of the main points. In addition, they work on developing vocabulary depth (e.g. collocations, synonyms/antonyms), expanding thematic vocabulary (e.g. education, science) and clause repertoire, practicing reported speech, and new uses of modal verbs. 

ASSESSMENT: Students’ performance in this course is assessed through graded homework assignments, quizzes, unit tests, midterm and final level exams.  

Student Learning Outcomes

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

1. Use varied clause structures, as well as formal and informal vocabulary to share and react to a story or the news, offer and respond to an apology or a recommendation, and structure and support opinions.

2. Identify the overall structure, specific details, main points, and the interrelationships between ideas in authentic, factual, as well as thematically and linguistically more complex written and listening texts.

3. Write multiple-paragraph text types, such as a report, a product review, or a response to a post by clearly and coherently foregrounding the main point/s.

4. Expand in-depth knowledge of concrete and abstract thematic vocabulary to describe, talk about, and discuss a wide range of everyday or more formal topics.

5. Review main verb tenses; learn and practice reported speech, special uses of modal verbs, as well as relative and conditional clause structures.

6. Review how to perceive and produce English sounds; recognize natural speech phenomena (reductions and some linking) and intonation patterns in controlled and semi-controlled pronunciation activities and assessed speaking tasks (e.g. presentations, discussions).