English Language and Communication

Knowledge of English at the level of linguistic performance corresponding to the end of secondary education.

In order to achieve the objectives of the course unit and the acquisition of the intended competences, the process of learning and teaching encompasses the carrying out of exercises and activities that will allow to: develop the capacity for reading and comprehend texts of the scientific and technical fields of reference; develop the capacity to present orally and produce written text in a scientific and technical context; practise oral skills in contexts that presuppose time and space management requirements as well as the whole communication set; enrich the lexicon with specific terminologies.

The students recognize the specificities of the technical-scientific speech in Portuguese and English; identify and use the syntax and rhetoric of the technical-scientific speech creatively in the production of written texts; identify and use the adequate grammatical resources; present and explain orally topics and issues of their field of knowledge, collect, process, use and produce information in both languages.

1) Review of general vocabulary and main grammatical structures of the English language.

– Exercises and activities to develop the ability to read, understand and write texts.

2) Literature search on specific topics.

– Writing texts of different levels of difficulty.

3) The concept of English for Specific Purposes: the language at the service of the subject it conveys.

– The scientific-technical discourse: specifics and application.

– Exercises to review the linguistic and grammatical structures of the English language.

– Writing of definitions and short texts.

4. Communication practices in an academic context.

– General notions for oral presentations.

– Preparation of printed and electronic bibliography according to the Portuguese standard and the APA standard.

– Structure of the technical-scientific report: essential parts and optional parts.

The Course Unit has the following assessment instruments:

Continuous assessment

1 written test (60%)

1 oral presentation of research work (40%)

A student is approved when he has fulfilled a minimum value of two thirds of attendance in classes and obtained a classification equal to or greater than 9.5 values, provided that he has obtained a minimum of 7.5 values in each of the components: oral and written .

Final exam assessment

Written exam (60%), complemented with an oral presentation of research work (40%), in English.

The alternatives are those provided for in the law and in the Student Evaluation Regulation.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is not permitted under any circumstances.

NAO