MA in English language teaching Pázmány Péter Catholic University *** List of courses and course descriptions ***

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1 MA in English language teaching Pázmány Péter Catholic University *** List of courses and course descriptions *** Code Course title Contact hours per term Number of credits BMNAT10100 Applied linguistics (lecture course) 30 3 BMNAT00200 Language development: General language practice 60 4 BMNAT00300 Language development: Academic English 30 2 BMNAT00400 Language development: Classroom English 30 2 BMNAT10500 Final language examination 0 2 BMNAT00700 English phonetics and phonology for teachers 30 3 BMNAT00800 English syntax for teachers 30 3 BMNAT00900 Modern British and American literature and the arts BMNAT01000 Modern British and American literature and the arts BMNAT01100 English teaching methodology BMNAT01200 English teaching methodology BMNAT01300 English teaching methodology BMNAT01400 English teaching methodology BMNAT01500 Education in the English speaking countries 30 2 BMNAT01600 Teaching English to young learners 30 2 BMNAT01700 Teaching English for specific purposes 30 2 BMNAT02000 Elective course in language pedagogy 30 2 BMNXXxxxxx Free elective course 2 BMNAT70000 English final examination 0 0 BMNAT10100 Applied linguistics With the help of this interactive lecture course English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students will get acquainted with some major fields of applied linguistics, defined here not as hyphenated linguistics, but as a problem-based approach to language-related issues in life: education, society, etc. Topics will include First language acquisition, Second language acquisition, Bilingualism, Learners in groups, The history of teaching methods, Planning teaching, Teaching the four skills, Teaching grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, translation, Learner characteristics, Language testing and evaluation, Teaching English in Hungary that is, there will be a strong focus on language pedagogy. Topics will cover a wide variety of aspects, ranging from theoretical issues to practical, ready-to-use classroom methods. By the end of the course you will have an initial understanding how language learning takes place, and how language teaching can support learning to actually happen. You will also have learnt the most important technical terms so that you could start to talk professionally about issues in the language teaching profession. Students will be assessed at a spoken exam with questions based on the lectures and the compulsory readings: in the first part of the exam, five randomly drawn terms will be shortly defined and contextualize. In the second part, one randomly drawn topic will be discussed. There will be time for preparation on the topic. Students are allowed to take the exam only if you they are present at least 50% of the lectures. 1

2 BMNAT00200 General language practice The main aim of the course is to strengthen students C1 level command of English, by developing the four language skills, vocabulary and grammar, prioritising speaking (presentation: factual, argumentative, and informal), and writing skill (text length and style modification). We expect you to attend classes and be active. When working on assignments, be ready to experiment with new learning methods. Make sure to work with a partner when possible (or at least when required). We would like you to start developing a new viewpoint on learning and teaching. Your work will be assessed on the basis of class activity, vocabulary quizzes, a presentation, home assignments, and a final mock-exam. Only four absences are tolerated. BMNAT00300 Academic English speaking and writing This is a practical ESP course on Academic English with a content focus on language pedagogy. It has the following aims: 1. to develop your presentation skills, 2. to expand your academic vocabulary, 3. to help you develop your academic writing, including wiki writing and hands-on help with a paper of yours. (Emphasis in the latter will be on text structuring, length and style modification, plus citation and referencing.) Two presentations, three vocab tests and a paper on a topic in language pedagogy (4-5,000 words) will frame the course. Additionally, pairs in collaboration will develop two wiki entries on a term of their choice in language pedagogy, supported by peer-review (length: 500 words). You are required to attend classes and be active in discussions and the wiki writing, prepare home assignments, learn the vocabulary, hold the presentations and write the paper. Your work will be assessed on the basis of class and wiki activity, the three vocabulary tests, one of the presentations, and the paper. Only three absences are accepted. Please, do not be absent when your presentations are due. BMNAT00400 Classroom English This seminar course offers you training in running your classes in English. We will reflect on the use of the L2 in the classroom, practise classroom phrases, and work on the related special teacher skills (for example, giving instructions, asking questions, exploiting situations to use spontaneous language, giving feedback). Your work will be evaluated on the basis of class activity, homework and the two tests on classroom English (CLE). Please, do not be absent more than three times. BMNAT10500 Final language examination This examination is designed to assess the general, academic and pedagogical language proficiency of candidates wishing to graduate from the English language teacher master s programme of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, and prior to that, to start their teacher 2

3 training school practice. The examination is aimed to evaluate both the written and spoken proficiencies of candidates at the C1 level. BMNAT20700 English phonetics and phonology for teachers The aim of the course is to revise and systematise students previous knowledge of English phonetics and phonology, while developing and improving trainee teachers relevant skills (pronunciation-consciousness, self-monitoring, the ability to identify and explain linguistic phenomena). The course provides an overview of the regularities characterising standard English pronunciation and orthography. Main topics: sound inventory of standard British and American English; major pronunciation rules, phonotactics and allophony; regularities of word stress; processes in unstressed syllables; letter-to-sound rules; systematic and nonsystematic pronunciation differences between standard British and American English. Emphasis falls on the major differences between Hungarian and English, and some of the potential difficulties in ELT are also discussed. BMNAT20800 English syntax for teachers The aim of the course is to revise and systematise students previous knowledge of English grammar, while developing and improving trainee teachers relevant skills (grammarconsciousness, self-monitoring, the ability to identify and explain linguistic phenomena). The course provides an overview of the structure of standard English, its grammatical (morphological and syntactic) system. Main topics: language typology; inflection and derivation, allomorphy, productivity, paradigm pressure and irregularity/suppletivism; definition and characteristics of word classes (syntactic categories); some of the problematic aspects of simple and complex sentences (verb forms, multi-word verbs, types of determiners and countability, finite and non-finite clauses, the tenses). Emphasis falls on the major differences between Hungarian and English, and some of the potential difficulties in ELT are also discussed. BMNAT00900 Modern British and American Literature and the Arts 1: High & Low The aim of the course is to introduce teacher trainees to the broad cultural field that lies between high and popular culture, as this is the area that their future students will also move in with confidence, since children s literature and young adult fiction typically occupies this field. Therefore, if a teacher intends to motivate their students, they need to be familiar with this literary layer, and be able to move with confidence among bestsellers and products of contemporary popular culture, since the most significant cultural references students encounter in their language course books in the age of TV and the Internet are typically rooted in popular culture, in Anglo-Saxon countries and Hungary alike. Teachers should be able to point out value systems and analytical approaches in this area as well, also to be able to relate, compare and contrast contemporary popular phenomena to earlier, canonised works of art, particularly if those also started their lives in the popular culture of their own age. The course 3

4 thus wishes to introduce students to the world of popular genres, stylistic and narrative elements, to enable teachers-to-be to find their way around the cultural arena that their students are familiar with, and channel these interests towards an acquaintance with the value systems of canonised high culture, classics of literature and visual arts. BMNAT01000 Modern British and American Literature and the Arts 2: Adaptations The aim of the course is to enable teacher trainees to familiarise themselves with the variety of literary adaptations (mostly visual, cinematic, TV, video, comics, etc), since their students have been brought up on a predominantly visual culture, and therefore find the traditional printed form of literature increasingly alien from their everyday experiences. The task of the teacher is to highlight the connections between the two, and to channel their students attention from visual to traditional literary forms. It is also necessary to discuss adaptation as interpretation, the necessary changes during the process of adaptation (cutting, editing, mutilating, adding to texts, changing contexts, etc), to view concepts such as fidelity and adapting genres with a consciously critical attitude, to enable teachers to fulfil their roles as cultural mediators in their career in education. BMNAT01100 English teaching methodology 1 This seminar course aims to introduce students to the basics of EFL teaching and learning: the what, the how and the why. We will discuss how to manage classrooms, how to observe a lesson, how to plan an activity/lesson, how to develop the four basic skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing all these with the help of tutor demonstration, activity planning, peer teaching, observation of a school lesson, and a few articles. We will reflect upon all these experiences in discussions. Students are expected to participate actively in discussions, read the six assigned articles and hand in their diaries about them, plan and hand in altogether five activities, and peer teach one 20-minute activity. They will be assessed on the basis of class attendance and activity, the home assignments and the peer-teaching. Only three absences are tolerated. Please, do not be absent when your peer-teaching is due. BMNAT01200 English teaching methodology 2 This course continues the work started in BMNAT01100 (Methodology 1), concentrating mainly on the design of lessons and tests, by an understanding of the various pedagogical (linguistic, social, content, etc.) objectives and principles behind it. We will design and compare lessons and classroom tests, collect and analyse activities, discuss coursebooks, dictionaries, resource books and collect information about language examinations. Planning grammar teaching and integrated skills will be given an emphasis. Students are expected to participate actively in discussions, collect information about coursebook families, dictionaries and examinations, give a critical presentation about a coursebook, collect various examples of lesson planning types, plan a grammar lesson (presentation and practice) and two tests, peer assess one of each by another student, and read assigned articles. You will be assessed on the 4

5 basis of class attendance and activity, home assignments, presentations, plans and tests. Only three absences are tolerated. Please, do not be absent when your presentation is due. BMNAT01300 English teaching methodology 3 After having had a first tasting of what teaching is at the previous seminar courses, this course offers a bigger bite: it aims at an intermediate-level teaching experience. We will concentrate more on the how? (teacher behaviour) than on the what? (activity content) of teaching: how to effectively formulate and simplify your instructions, how to use body language and eye contact, how to use presentation and practice techniques, how to decide on group arrangements, what to do on day one, how to fill a five-minute slot, how to handle onthe-spot pedagogical problems, etc. Each student will have two possibilities to try themselves at peer-teaching, and after visiting and discussing a school class, to teach them an activity. We will reflect upon all these experiences in discussions. Students are expected to participate actively in discussions, plan, hand in, teach and reflect upon two peer-teaching (15 minute) and one class-teaching (15 minute) activities, and write two quizzes on the articles to read. You will be assessed on the basis of class attendance and activity, home assignments and peer-teaching. Only three absences are tolerated. Please, do not be absent when your peerteaching or class-teaching are due. BMNAT01400 English teaching methodology 4 Welcome to the advanced level methodology seminar! Its aim is twofold: 1. to support you during your teaching practice, 2. to help you prepare for the final exam and the teacher thesis (portfolio). Students are expected to participate actively in discussions on teaching-related problems they bring from their day-to-day school practice, and present a final exam topic to their fellow students. You will be assessed on the basis of class attendance and activity and the presentations. At this seminar max. four absences are tolerated. Please, do not be absent when your presentation is due. BMNAT01500 Education in the English speaking countries This seminar course aims to introduce ELT majors to the structure and traditions of the educational systems of the United Kingdom and the United States. An overview of the American and the British system, followed by the examination of some of their language policy issues, will include close-ups to some problematic issues, reforms and controversies, with two objectives in mind: 1. to make our future teachers knowledgeable on the topic, 2. to open up their mind to different educational philosophies and processes, practical solutions and their consequences. Students will be required to attend classes and be active, do home assignments (readings, written/oral reflection, data collection, project work) and write two sitin tests. Assessment will be based on class attendance and activity, some home assignments and the tests. Only three absences are tolerated. Do not be absent from the tests. 5

6 BMNAT01600 Teaching English to young learners The aim of the course is to equip you to teach the under-7 age group. Besides practical ideas, background theory will be provided and you will also have the chance to expand your range of classroom English. First and foremost, you will be challenged to use your creative talents in designing and peer-teaching activities. You will be asked to actively take part in group discussions and activities, create, adapt and try out activities, build up a materials file for your own benefit and future, peer-teach and give feedback, Carefully read assigned articles. Assessment will be based on above requirements. BMNAT01700 Teaching English for specific purposes Nowadays ELT professionals are often asked to teach not only General English courses but ESP ones (English for Specific Purposes). To prepare and teach those, the teacher needs not only to get acquainted with the language and content of that specialised field (business, law, medicine, forestry, insurance, etc.) but also to prepare and teach language-related skills specific to that area (taking phone messages, giving presentations, writing memos, etc.) Moreover, the teacher must learn to accommodate to the specific requirements and expectations of the field and the learners. This course will introduce students to these through the example of Business English, the most widely taught ESP field. The aims of this course are to overview a selection of business topics and acquire related vocabulary and to equip trainees with various methods of teaching the language of business. The content will include what is special about business English (the learner, the teacher/trainer, the language, teaching contexts), needs analysis, course design, coursebooks, materials (evaluating coursebooks), resources (websites, methodology books, business vocabulary books etc.), covering a selection of business topics, vocabulary development: company structures, recruitment, retailing, franchising, international business styles, finance etc. Students are required to give a presentation on a business issue (in pairs, based on some research and trusted sources e.g. BBC news, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Independent, etc.), peer-teach an activity on the basis of a lesson plan, and evaluate a business English coursebook. Thorough preparation for each class and the vocabulary quizzes and regular attendance are active participation and sharing of ideas. A short research report ( words) will also be written on the profile of a company/entrepreneur (with the indication of sources). BMNAT70000 Final examination The English final examination serves to evaluate candidates comprehensive knowledge and achievement in the studied fields to become a Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Considering the proportion of the courses in the programme, at the examination each candidate will discuss a randomly picked topic in language pedagogy and either one in English linguistics or one in English-American literature and culture, in front of a committee. Before discussing both topics, preparation time will be granted. 6