Duration
English for Engineering : 30h Pr, 20h Proj.
Company visit : 1d FW
Number of credits
| Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Engineering | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
English for Engineering : Clara Brereton, Véronique Doppagne, Pascale Drianne, Stéphane Ghijsen, Philippe Jeukenne, Martin Polson, David Vanmanshoven
Company visit : Clara Brereton, Véronique Doppagne, Pascale Drianne, Stéphane Ghijsen, Philippe Jeukenne, Martin Polson, David Vanmanshoven
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
English for Engineering
This B2-C1 CEFR level ESP course continues the development of reading, data gathering, and note-taking using texts or text extracts and videos (as started in the English Level One course).
It also focuses on research and writing capacities, oral understanding and presentation skills.
Company visit
Company visit compulsory for all the students who have not already made TWO company visits.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
This course contributes to the learning outcomes II.1, II.2, V.2, VI.1, VI.2, VII.2, VII.3, VII.4, VII.5 of the BSc in engineering.
English for Engineering
By the end of this course,
General Learning Outcomes:
- Students will be able to communicate effectively in both written and oral English in a range of professional engineering contexts.
- Students will have developed an increased awareness of the linguistic and cultural norms of English-speaking engineering environments, which will make their future professional interactions easier.
1. Critical Thinking
- Students will be able to critically evaluate and analyse engineering-related material from various types of media sources, identify key arguments, assumptions, and biases.
- Students will be able to articulate well-reasoned arguments and counterarguments.
- Students will be able to accurately describe and interpret various types of engineering-related graphs, charts, and data visualizations.
- Students will be able to clearly explain technical processes, both in writing and verbally.
- Students will be able to structure and deliver clear, coherent, and engaging oral presentations on engineering topics, incorporating visual aids effectively.
- Students will be able to respond confidently and accurately to questions and feedback during presentations.
- Students will be able to paraphrase and summarize complex engineering texts, ensuring clarity and accuracy while retaining key information.
- Students will be able to incorporate paraphrased and summarized information into their own writing, avoiding plagiarism and maintaining academic integrity.
- Students will be able to effectively listen to and understand spoken English in various engineering contexts, such as lectures, presentations, and discussions.
- Students will be able to take organized and concise notes that capture the main ideas and details from spoken sources, and use these notes to support their learning and study.
Company visit
Better understanding of engineers' work environments which should help the students make a choice from the wide range of compulsory and elective courses.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
English for Engineering
English Level One (taught in the first year of the Bachelor's Degree in Engineering - B1-B2 CEFR level) or equivalent (for example: IELTS 5.5-6 or Cambridge Advanced English A-C).
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
English for Engineering
The course features weekly classes (duration: 2 hours) all year long.
Each class requires a long preparation which is essential and mandatory. There are no ex cathedra lectures but rather learning sessions in which students will be asked to take part actively.
Company visit
The visit is organised in the second quarter.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
English for Engineering
Face-to-face course
Company visit
Compulsory attendance.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
English for Engineering
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
Further information:
Except for the book you will have to read for the exam, all the compulsory material for this course is to be found on eCampus:
- the 5 units and related material
- the self-study vocabulary workbook (which you can also buy in paper version from the CDC)
- a collection of "Ted Talks"
- pronunciation guidelines and exercises
- advice for further training (garmmar)
- this course presentation and a detailed calendar of class activities and compulsory assignments
1) How Big Things Get Done, by B. Flyvbjerg & D. Gardner.
2) To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design, by H. Petroski.
Both books can easily be ordered from any book shop; both are available on Amazon.
They can also be borrowed from ULiège Library (but there's only one copy of each).
English for Engineering
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
Continuous assessment
Out-of-session test(s)
Other : Oral presentation in Q2
Further information:
Together, preparation and active participation, the "Ted Talk" informal presentation, the 5 vocabulary tests, the 2 end-of-term in-class tests and the Q2 oral presentation account for 50% of the final grade, distributed as follows:
- Preparation, active participation and Ted Talk informal presentation: 5%
- Vocabulary tests: 5 x 2% = 10%
- End-of-term in-class tests: 2 x 10% = 20%
- Q2 oral presentation: 15%
Students who fail to do their presentation or don't take one or both end-of-term in-class tests without any valid justification will get 0/50 for their class work (regardless of the grades they got for the other assignments).
Exam in May/June: oral exam.
The oral exam accounts for the other 50% of the final grade, distributed as follows:
- General, small talk questions: 10%
- "Ted Talk" summary + questions: 15% (as part of their exam preparation, students will have to watch and summarize 5 more "Ted Talks" (different from those discussed in class), already available on eCampus.)
- Different types of questions on the book: 25%
4 types of questions:
1) Why that book rather than the other one?
2) General and detailed content questions
3) Technical/Engineering vocabulary questions
4) Personal opinion on topics addressed in the book
Students will be allowed to have their* annotated book at the exam, to consult it (for technical/engineering vocabulary translations, for example) but not to read extended passages from it.
*The student's full name will have to be written on the inside front cover/the first page of the replicated copy and shown to the teacher at the beginning of the exam.
Company visit
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam ( open-ended questions )
Out-of-session test(s)
Further information:
There is no exam on the company visit.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
English for Engineering
Students can also train online.
Regarding the use of language-generating artificial intelligence:
Unless specific instructions are given by the teacher within the framework of well-defined activities, the ULiège Charter on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Academic Work applies.
Contacts
English for Engineering
Teachers:
C. Brereton - C.Brereton@uliege.be; V. Doppagne - V.Doppagne@uliege.be; P. Drianne - P.Drianne@uliege.be; S. Ghijsen - S.Ghijsen@uliege.be; P. Jeukenne - P.Jeukenne@uliege.be; M. Polson Martin.Polson@uliege.be; D. Vanmanshoven David.Vanmanshoven@uliege.be
Coordination : V. Doppagne - V.Doppagne@uliege.be