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Situational English I (One) – A Short Outline of the Course
1. Organizational and methodological issues
The aim of the course
The course Situational English I (One) offered to the third-year students of the
Mathematics Department is aimed, first of all, at developing communicative skills and acquiring
the relevant vocabulary in/of everyday situations, such as Asking the Way, Booking Airline
Tickets, Ordering Meals in a Restaurant, etc.
Objectives of the course
Upon successful completion of the course, the students will be able to communicate in
certain everyday situations.
They will know the main words and collocations necessary for everyday transactions and
communication, as well as the polite forms of addressing people, and the like.
They will learn and be able to use in practice certain structures, expressions and phrases
used by the English native speakers in the situations chosen for and studied in this course.
Methodological approaches used in the course
There are two main principles underlying the course: first, the communicative approach
to teaching English as a foreign language; second, the integrated skills approach.
Classroom activities will involve students’ practising dialogues, participating in roleplays, discussing the situations, analysing the lexis and grammar structures, and the like.
Home assignments will be mostly devoted to practising and memorizing the expressions
and phrases of the given situations, watching videos, reading topic related materials.
It is worth noting that the course is intended mainly, but not only, for Russian speaking
students of mathematics studying the English language.
2. The syllabus
The following version of the Syllabus is tentative and subject to some alterations.
The blocks of the material can be taken in practically any order depending on the interest of the participants
of the seminar.
The amount of hours devoted to each block or situation can/will be adjusted to the participants’ needs.
No
Sections and Topics
Module 1
1
Greetings
Introductions
Opening Conversation Gambits
New Year, etc. Greetings
Saying Good-bye
Thanks for Hospitality
2
Transport
Asking the Way
Taking a taxi
Going by Train
Booking a Ticket
Classroom
Hours
Homework
Hours
Total
hours
2
4
6
4
10
14
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3
Food and Drink
At Lunch
Tea-time
In a Café
In a Restaurant
Shopping for Food
4
10
14
4
In Town
At a Hotel
Finding a Room
At a Bank
In a Post Office
At a Barber’s Shop
Shopping for Clothes
Everyday Services
6
14
20
Module 1
16
38
54
Module 2
5
Health & Emergency
Asking about Health
At a Doctor’s Surgery
At the dentist’s
At a Chemist’s Shop
The Hospital Emergency Room
Fire and Robbery
4
10
14
6
Entertainment
At the Theatre/Cinema/Concert
Doing the Sights and Museums
At a Variety or Circus Show
4
12
16
7
Communication & Finding a Job
Telephoning
Communicating by e-mail
Making an Appointment
Writing a Resume
At a Job Interview
6
16
22
8
Examination
Module 2
2
16
38
2
54
Total hours
32
76
108
3. Prerequisite
The students should have mastered English at the Intermediate level (B1 by the CEFR).
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4. Author
Luchkina, Tatyana V., senior lecturer
Faculty of the English language for economics and mathematics
Department of Foreign Languages
5. Examination type
At the end of the course students are to take an exam:
Speaking format – Dialogues.
Books and Materials:
 Hargreaves, Roger; Fletcher, Mark (1979, 1994). The New Making Polite Noises (with
audio cassette);Hythe (UK), Hythe Printers Ltd.;
 Jones, Leo (1991). Communicative Grammar Practice: Activities For Intermediate Students
Of English: Student's Book (with audio cassette); Cambridge: Cambridge University Press;
 Jones, Leo (1996). Let's Talk: Speaking and Listening Activities for Intermediate Students:
Student's Book (with audio cassette); Cambridge: Cambridge University Press;
 Ockenden, Michael (1986). Situational Dialogues (with audio cassette); Revised edition.
London: Longman;
 Walter, Elizabeth; Woodford, Kate (2011). Collins Easy Learning: English
Conversation. Book 1 (with audio CD). Glasgow: Harper Collins Publishers.
Video and audio Internet resources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/lower-intermediate
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english
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