course description & study guide

ENGE2F Course Study Guide Siegel Fall 2021

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Engelsk språkteori och språkfärdighet för Grundlärarprogrammet F-3, 7,5 hp

English proficiency and language theory for preschool class and school years 1-3

ENGE2F

Fall 2021

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Course Description & Study Guide

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Joseph Siegel [email protected]


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Quick Guide

Introduction: 3

Contact details: 4

Intended learning outcomes: 5

Grading criteria: 6

Grading percentages: 7-9

Seminar assignments: 10-17

Recommended language sources: 18

Spoken assignments: 18

Written assignments: 19-20

Essay instructions: 21

Essay topics: 22-23

Grammar: 24

Vocabulary: 24

Error trapping exercises: 25

Study groups: 26

Attendance: 27

Course literature: 27


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Introduction Welcome to English proficiency and language theory for preschool class and school years 1-3 and

welcome to the English Department at Stockholm University!

The English Department’s courses within the teacher programme are designed to provide you with the

knowledge about English which you will need to teach English to young learners in primary school within

the Swedish school system. (Note that this module is offered by the English Department and is distinct

from the Institutionen för språkdidaktik (ISD) course that many of you are taking in parallel).

This module consists of four key parts.

• Language proficiency refers to the ability to use English to communicate with other people by

using the language correctly and accurately. Because of this, all our teaching and communication

is in English, to allow you to practice as much as possible. Please speak English with your

classmates.

• Language theory is a broad idea but in this course we focus on how people learn their second

language and what the most effective ways are to teach school children in grades F-3 an additional

language from an early age.

• Grammar is the whole system of a language, including parts of speech (nouns, verbs, etc.),

sentence structure (i.e., sentence patterns), semantics (i.e., vocabulary, word meaning, etc.), and

morphology (i.e., word changes). Every language has grammar and it is important for you as

future English teachers to understand and be able to teach various grammatical points to school

children, particularly through modelling correct language use to young learners. This course

focuses on the important differences between English and Swedish grammar, to help you to use

grammar correctly and understand different ways to teach school children how to express

themselves with grammatical accuracy.

• Vocabulary learning is a vital part of language learning and in this course we address both

ordinary vocabulary for daily use and teaching purposes, as well as the academic vocabulary you

need to read and write documents related to your profession.

The course also includes three lectures related to academic English use in written and spoken

communication. These lectures are given jointly by the English Department and ISD. Check Time Edit for

dates and times.

This course guide is intended to answer all your questions so that you know what you are supposed to do

every week, and how your learning will progress during the course. If you think there is anything missing,

or have any other questions, please contact your teacher or the course coordinator.


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Contact details

There are several people who support you during the course, all of whom have responsibility for different

parts of your education in terms of this course.

Director of Studies responsible for teacher education (studierektor) The Director of Studies plans the teacher education on a broad scale, liaises with other

departments and supervises teachers.

Joakim Wrethed [email protected] E877

Student affairs office (expeditionen) The student affairs office administers courses, registers students for the module and for exams.

Your completed exams can be collected from here.

Student affairs office [email protected] E882

Student counsellor (studievägledare)

The student counsellor helps students to plan their education. Arranges assistance for students

who need particular pedagogical support, such as for dyslexia.

Student counsellor [email protected] E830

Course coordinator (kursansvarig)

The course coordinator organises and develops the content of the course. Suggestions for changes

or developments to the course go here.

Joseph Siegel [email protected]

Teachers Class teachers lead seminars, and set and grade assignments and exams. They are your main point

of contact throughout your time at the English department.

Hanna Salmi [email protected]

Anna Udden [email protected]

Andrew Cooper [email protected]

Teaching assistants

The grammar and vocabulary workshops are lead by teaching assistants from the English

department. Ask your class teacher for details.

mailto:[email protected]








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Intended Learning Outcomes from the course plan for ENGE2F:

Kursens innehåll Kursens syfte är att utveckla och fördjupa studentens skriftliga och muntliga språkfärdighet på engelska.

Dessutom ger delkursen studenten en introduktion till språklig variation inom den engelskspråkiga världen

och övar studenten i att identifiera och förklara likheter och skillnader mellan svenskan och engelskan.

Delkursen har ett tvådelat fokus: dels studentens individuella behov vad beträffar ordförråd och

grammatik, med tonvikt på den egna språkliga säkerheten, dels de generella problem inom dessa fält som

studenten kan förväntas behöva hantera i sin lärarroll. Under kursen diskuteras även vanliga

föreställningar om språk och språkinlärning, och studenten ges tillfälle att kritiskt granska och utvärdera

dessa föreställningar med utgångspunkt i den framtida professionen. Muntliga och skriftliga övningar ger

studenten möjlighet att förbättra sin talade engelska och grammatiska säkerhet. Delkursen syftar även till

att utöka studentens vokabulär.

Förväntade studieresultat För godkänt resultat på kursen ska studenten kunna:

- använda engelska i tal och skrift på ett i huvudsak grammatiskt korrekt sätt;

- uppvisa adekvat grammatisk kunskap för professionen;

- uppvisa ett adekvat ordforråd för professionen;

- tillgodogöra sig och på engelska diskutera sakprosa relevant för professionen i tal och skrift;

- identifiera det engelska språkets vanligaste problemområden i relation till den framtida

lärarprofessionen.

(from the course plan for ENGE2F, 2020-12-04)

Examination ● Skriftlig tentamen (A-F).

● Muntliga seminarieuppgifter (A-F),

● Två skriftliga uppsatser (A-F).


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Grading criteria

Grade A

(Excellent) In their work, the student shows excellent ability to:

● fluently use English in speech and writing in a correct, structured and effective way for everyday and professional communication;

● use relevant professional literature to accurately explain relevant concepts and firmly justify their opinions in English in oral discussion and writing;

● write a coherent text in academic English; ● provide a convincing critical analysis of all of their arguments and concepts; ● find, evaluate and use scholarly secondary sources to support their argumentation;

● follow academic conventions (e.g. referencing). Grade B

(Very good) In their work, the student shows very good ability to:



● write a coherent text in academic English; ● provide a convincing critical analysis of all of their arguments and concepts; ● find, evaluate and use scholarly secondary sources to support their argumentation; ● follow academic conventions (e.g. referencing)

Grade C

(Good) In their work, the student shows good ability to:




● follow academic conventions (e.g. referencing) Grade D

(Satisfactory)

In their work, the student shows satisfactory ability to:



● write a coherent text in academic English; ● provide a convincing critical analysis of all of their arguments and concepts; ● find, evaluate and use scholarly secondary sources to support their argumentation; ● follow academic conventions (e.g. referencing)

Grade E

(Sufficient) In their work, the student shows sufficient ability to:




● follow academic conventions (e.g. referencing) Fx: Fail

(Inadequate) The student has displayed some, but not all, of the skills of the level of the criteria for E.

F: Fail The student’s work does not demonstrate the achievement of the learning outcomes of the module.


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Please Note that if you fail to submit or do not pass your required assignments during the course, you will

not receive a grade at the end of the course. For advise on how to proceed, contact the coordinator.

Grading percentages

Your final grade is made up of four components: (1) Essay 1, (2) Essay 2, (3) Oral Participation,

and (4) a Grammar & Vocabulary Exam Each component is worth a specific percentage of the

final grade. These percentages are the approximate value used to calculate the final grade.

Written proficiency is assessed by two assignments.

Essay 1 (10%) [due on the 3rd working day after your group’s Seminar 2 at 17.00 in

Athena]

Instructions are found later in this study guide. The purpose of this essay is to assess your ability

to write in formal English at the beginning of the course. You will receive detailed feedback on

what aspects of your writing you should concentrate on during the rest of the course. An essay

template is provided on Athena should you wish to use it. The requirements for this essay are

lower than essay 2.

Essay 2 (30%) [due on the 3rd working day after your group’s Seminar 7 at 17.00 in

Athena]

Instructions are found later in this study guide. The purpose of this essay is to show that you can

write a formal, coherent and relevant text for your profession in English, and that you have

learned the things we have dealt with in class. In this essay, you are expected to follow academic

conventions. The grade for this essay is based on the following areas, which are reflected in the

grading criteria above.

1. Language: correct and appropriate grammar and vocabulary for an academic text.

2. Structure: proper essay structure with referencing.

3. Coherence and cohesion: whether the essay can be understood, and whether ideas follow

one from another.

Resubmission date for Essays 1 and 2: Tuesday, 4 January, 17.00 [submit to Athena]

Spoken proficiency is assessed by participation (20%)

Participation involves engaging with the discussion questions from How Languages are Learned,

doing exercises in class and contributing to a spoken presentation on word classes in Seminar 2.

Each seminar includes part of the examination for spoken proficiency. Your participation grade is

assessed according to both your ability and willingness to speak in English, both with the teacher


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and most importantly with your fellow students. Make this a habit in the first week, both inside

and outside class.

In order to encourage you to speak, we apply the following conditions:

• Remaining silent, or not speaking any English during the course, gives a failing grade of

F.

• Contributing to the spoken presentation in seminar 2 gives you a passing grade of E.

• Your grade for spoken participation can’t go down because of anything you say, it can

only go up!

The best possible way to improve proficiency (especially vocabulary) is to speak English all the

time for the duration of the course, especially if you think it is difficult.

Grammar and Vocabulary Exam (40%) [Tuesday, 30 Nov, 09.00-13.00] [Retake 15 Jan]

The exam is divided into four sections:

The exam has 150 points:

• Section 1 – Vocabulary - 30 points,

This section tests your ability to use English words in context. All the words are taken from the

vocabulary book or other parts of the course (see Course Literature below)

• Section 2 – Grammar questions - 50 points,

This section tests your ability to use grammar correctly by picking the right grammatical words or

inflections.

• Section 3 – Grammatical analysis - 30 points,

This section tests your ability to identify and discuss grammatical features.

• Section 4 – “Free production” - 40 points.

This section tests your ability to write a grammatically correct running text.

Example exams are provided on Athena. During the course, there will be two exam workshop

sessions with a teaching assistant from the English department. These prepare you for the format

of the exam and give you ideas for the sort of questions that can come up as well as the sort of

answers that are considered acceptable.


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Exam Grading Scale: You can receive a maximum of 150 points. The exam is divided into four sections.

To pass, you need a minimum of 50% correct in each section.

Grading scale, minimum total points for each grade:

A – 138

B – 124

C – 105

D – 90

E – 75 (15 in section 1 + 25 in section 2 + 15 in section 3 + 20 in section 4)

F – Less than 50% correct in one or more sections and/or <75 total points


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Seminar assignments

Before each seminar, read the relevant chapter from How Languages are Learned, and make

some notes that are relevant to the study questions. HLL is a fairly technical book with

specialised vocabulary in linguistics and education theory; pages 213-225 include a glossary of

these technical terms. Read the study questions first and make notes while reading the chapter.

For each study question, prepare 2-5 points from the text. Use page numbers if you think it will

help.

NB: Most of the first chapter of How Languages are Learned is available via Google Books. If

your copy hasn’t arrived in time, you can use this version to prepare for the first class.

Seminar 1

How Languages are Learned Read chapter 1: “Language Learning in Early Childhood”.

Study questions: 1. What does this chapter tell us about first language learning? What aspects of

language can be learned?

2. What are the three different theoretical perspectives related to language learning

expressed in the chapter?

3. What sort of vocabulary should children in our age group be exposed to? How

should vocabulary items be selected, introduced, practiced and reviewed?

Other

Read the section of Lgr 11 addressing English studies, and consider the following:

● What will I have to teach my students in order to follow Lgr 11?

● What do I have to know myself in order to teach my students?

https://books.google.se/books?id=5PadBgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://books.google.se/


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Seminar 2

Grammar

Complete the exercises in the EGU study guide (pp. 326–335). Compare with the key and make

a note of the areas that you need to work with some more.

Read up on word classes (see links to texts on Athena). What word classes are there? How do

you recognise them? Give at least three examples of each word class.

PRESENTATION

In your study groups, prepare a BRIEF (3–5 mins) presentation of the word class that you were

given in Seminar 1:

● define the word class – what is it?

● How can you tell that a given word belongs to it?

● Give examples of the word class.

● Are there any particular differences between English and Swedish with regard to this

word class?

Before Seminar 2: You will be assigned one of five groups. Each group will make a presentation

for a different word class (nouns, verbs, etc.). Groups meet in Zoom and create their presentations

together. Each group records [in Zoom] their group presentation (i.e., each student speaking for

about 1 minute). One person from the group uploads the recorded presentation to Athena. Each

person in the group should have and keep a digital copy of Powerpoint slides for the presentation.

During Seminar 2: New groups will be created so that each group contains one student who is

an “expert” in each word class. Each student will then make their presentation individually in

Zoom break out rooms. Teacher will drop in to each session. More details will be given in the

Seminar, but ALL students should be prepared to give their presentations with visual aides

individually.

How Languages are Learned

Read ch. 2: “Second language learning”.

Study questions:

1. What learner characteristics are mentioned in the chapter? Why are they important for grades

F-3?

2. What learning conditions are mentioned in the chapter? Why are they important for grades F-

3?

3. How are the conditions different when learning an L1 compared to an L2?


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Vocabulary

Complete EVU units. 1-4 (pp 8-15)

Other

Complete Error Trapping 1. Submit online after Seminar 2. Error Trapping 1 will be discussed

in Seminar 3. Your teacher will give you a specific deadline for your group.

Quiz. Word Classes

Prep Video: Watch Seminar 2 Prep Video: Academic Writing support

HAND IN

Hand in Essay 1 on Athena [due on the 3rd working day after your group’s Seminar 2 at

17.00]. See further down in this guide for the instructions. See Athena for submission date.

Seminar 3

Grammar

Revise EGU Study Guide, section 10: Articles and nouns.

Complete units. 69–81 and appendices 5–6 in EGU.

Read chapters 1–2 in GELT

Prepare an explanation on what nouns and articles are:

● What articles are there in English?

● How do you know if a word is a noun?

● What difficulties do English nouns cause Swedish students? (use GELT)

● Be prepared to identify nouns by their different features (e.g. singular / plural / countable /

uncountable).


Read ch. 3: “Individual differences in second language learning”.

Study questions:

1. What individual differences should language teachers be aware of?

2. How can lesson planning and/or activities account for these differences?

Vocabulary

Complete EVU units. 5, 7-8. 60, 62-66, 81-82, 86.


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Other

Quizzes: Vocabulary 1, Nouns and articles.

Prep Video: Watch Seminar 3 Prep Video on Individual Differences

Seminar 4

Grammar

Revise study guide in EGU, sections 1–3.

Complete units 1–15, 19–25, app. 1-3 in EGU.

Read chapters 8, 13–16 in GELT.

Prepare an explanation on what a verb is:

● what kind of words are verbs?

● how can you recognise a verb (consider things like meaning, endings, forms)?

● what difficulties do verbs cause Swedish learners of English? (use GELT)

● what is subject-verb agreement?

How languages are learned

Read ch. 4: “Explaining second language learning”.

Study questions: 1. What are some of the different theoretical perspectives and hypotheses about language

learning?

2. How can these different theoretical ideas enter the classroom (e.g., via materials, tasks,

expectations, interaction, etc.)?

Prep Video: Watch Seminar 4 Prep Video (hypotheses in language learning)

Vocabulary

Complete EVU units. 9-10, 12-13, 16-17, 21-22, 87.

Other Quizzes verbs 1, vocabulary 2.

Seminar 5

Grammar

Revise study guide in EGU, sections 4, 8–9.

Complete units 26-37, 52-58, app. 4 in EGU.

Read chapters 11-12 in GELT.


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Prepare to answer the following questions:

● what is a modal verb? ● how can you tell if a verb is a modal verb or not? ● What is the difference between a participle and an infinitive verb?


Read ch 5: “Observing learning and teaching in the second language classrooms”.

Study Questions:

1. What does the chapter teach us about correction? Do you agree with what it says? Relate this

to your personal and professional experience (as a student and/or teacher of English and/or other

L2’s).

2. What are the different forms of correction mentioned in the book? When/how should they be

used? Think about the differences between younger and older children.

Vocabulary

Complete EVU units. 32-33, 37, 51-53, 61, 100 (+ Athena quiz, Vocabulary 3)

Other



Quizzes verbs 2, vocabulary 3.

Seminar 6

Grammar Revise study guide in EGU, section 13.

Complete units 98–108 in EGU

Read chapters 4–6 in GELT.

Prepare an explanation of adjectives and adverbs:

● what is an adjective?

● what is an adverb?

● how can you tell if a word is an adjective or an adverb?

● what kind of words do they modify/add information about? Nouns? Verbs? Others?

● how do you know if you should use -er/-est as adjective endings (e.g. early-earlier-

earliest) or more/most (e.g. beautiful-more beautiful-most beautiful)?


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Read ch. 6, “Second language learning in the classroom”

Study questions:

1. Which of the studies mentioned in the chapter are relevant for grades F-3?

2. What approaches and/or methods for language teaching are mentioned?

3. How might those studies / approaches / methods affect classroom practice?

Vocabulary

Complete EVU units. 18, 23-26, 31, 41-45, 49-50.

Other



Quizzes vocabulary 4, adjectives and adverbs.

Prep Video: Watch Seminar 6 Prep Video on ELT Approaches


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Seminar 7

Grammar

Revise study guide in EGU, sections 11-12, 14-15.

Complete units. 82-89, 92-94, 117-128 in EGU.

Read chapters. 3, 7, 27, & page 305 in GELT.

Prepare an explanation of what pronouns and prepositions are:

● what are pronouns for? ● when do you use some-words (somebody, somewhere, something), and when do you use

any-words (anybody, anywhere, anything)? ● what are the main difficulties for Swedish learners of English when it comes to pronouns?

(See GELT) ● when is “there” a pronoun? ● what word class is usually found after a preposition? ● what are the main difficulties for foreign learners of English when it comes to

prepositions? (See GELT)


Read ch. 7: “Popular ideas about language learning revisited” Refer back to the statements in the

introduction.

Study questions:

1. What factors mentioned in the list of statements hinder and support L2 learning for grades F-3

the most?

2. Are some individual factors more/less important for L2 learning in grades F-3? (see statements

3 & 4 specifically).

3. What factors impact a teacher’s choice of teaching/learning materials? (see statement 13

specifically).

Vocabulary

Complete EVU units. 65-69, 75-78, 97.

Other

Quizzes vocabulary 5, pronouns and prepositions.


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Seminar 8

Grammar

Read ch. 9 in GELT.

Vocabulary

Complete EVU units. 70-74.

Grammar & Vocabulary - Preparation for the exam!

Revise the study guide in EGU. Compare to the notes from beginning of term. Is there something

in particular you need to work with more?

Revise word classes. Consider tests for the major word classes – how can we find out whether a

word belongs to a particular class?

Complete the Athena quizzes, if you have not already, or do them again (Voc and Gram).

Complete one or two old exams (see Athena) and revise with the help of EVU, EGU and GELT.

Bring your questions to class.

HAND IN

Hand in Essay 2 [due on the 3rd working day after your group’s Seminar 7 at 17.00 in

Athena] (see further down in this guide for the instructions).


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Recommended Language Sources

There are many sources for grammatical information on the Internet. Most are trustworthy, others

are less reliable for one reason or another. Some can oversimplify questions, particularly for

schoolchildren, others are based on out-dated or automatically generated translations.

• Google Translate is very popular but is unreliable with common Swedish-English

interference problems because it is based mainly on bilingual websites.

• Bab.la is more reliable as it is based on dictionary data and has examples and alternative

translations and the words in contexts.

• The most reliable source for English language data is the Oxford English Dictionary

(OED.com) which you can access via the university library. Longman’s Dictionary is

available online for free without any login. Oxford Learner's Dictionary is another.

• Some American dictionaries use out-dated word class categories which can conflict with

the course content. Merriam-Webster is one, but is ideal for all other purposes.

Spoken assignments

All students will be expected to speak at each seminar, participating actively in discussions and

by commenting and asking questions on the issues under discussion. There is also a group

assignment on word classes:

Group presentation: Word classes (~5 minutes) When: Seminar 2

The presentation will be on one (or possibly two) word classes. During your presentation, please

address the following points. Use the template given on Athena to guide your preparation. Each

member of the group should speak for around a minute.

● What kind of words belong to this word class? Give examples.

● How can you tell that a word belongs to this particular word class? How could you teach

this to children in our age group?

● What can words in this word class do that other words cannot?

● Is there something about this word class that can be particularly tricky to learners of

English, especially those who already use Swedish?

You can find information about word classes for instance in GELT.

https://bab.la/

https://www.oed.com/

https://www.ldoceonline.com/

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/


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Written assignments

General instructions

All texts should have 1.5 line spacing (this can be set under “Paragraph” in Word). Use a blank

line when starting a new paragraph. See the essay template for an example.

All texts should be handed in on Athena > Assignments. Please remember to always state your

name, group number and course as well as your teacher’s name in the header of the document, as

well as in all correspondence with your teacher.

e.g. Spodo Komodo

ENGE46, Group 3, Essay 1.

Teacher: Andrew Cooper

If you upload your essay, please put your name in the file name of the document.

e.g. Spodo_komodo_essay_2.docx

All files and homework should be submitted in .doc or .docx format.

References If you refer to ideas, thoughts, arguments or findings that others have presented you must say

where you have taken them from. Do this by adding a reference to the source (Surname, YEAR)

within brackets (Svartvik & Sager, 2010). If you make a direct citation in “quotation marks”, give

a page number as well (Svartvik & Sager, 2010, p.99). If you refer to a specific idea that is

located on a specific page (even if it is not a direct quotation), you should also include a page

number.

At the end of the essay you must provide detailed information of the references in an alphabetical

list of references (also called a bibliography). These are given in alphabetical order with the

following format:

Surname, Initial. (Year). Title. Location: Publisher. e.g. Murphy, R. (2004). English Grammar in Use – a self-study reference and practice book for

intermediate students of English, with answers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

or

Skolverket. (2011). Läroplan för grundskolan, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet 2011.

Stockholm: Skolverket. Citing videos as academic sources is possible BUT ONLY if you are citing the speaker’s own ideas

(opinions, interpretations, criticisms, etc.). If the speaker is only summarizing another academic source

(like a book or journal article), then you need to CITE THE ORIGINAL SOURCE, not the video.

Videos need to be connected to an academic institution to be considered a potential academic source.


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For more information on referencing please ask your teacher or consult the APA-guide on

Athena.

Plagiarism Plagiarism means using someone else’s words, arguments or ideas, without saying where they

come from, thus claiming that they are your own. Also, using your own text written for another

examination can be considered plagiarism (self-plagiarism) if not properly referenced. Plagiarism

is considered a form of cheating, so please make sure you do not cheat unintentionally. If you

are unsure whether what you have done could be considered plagiarism, please ask your teacher.

We are obliged to report suspected cases and students who are found to have plagiarised can be

suspended from their studies. Students who are found to have plagiarised can be suspended from

their studies.

Extra Support Students with a certificate for particular pedagogic support (intyg för särskilt pedagogiskt stöd)

have a right to additional assistance. In this module, this support usually extends to the following:

• In the exam:

o extra time,

o a separate room,

o computer support.

• For the essays:

o extra time.

For any particular support for the exam, please present your certificate to the study counsellor at

least three weeks before the exam ([email protected]).

The usual amount of extra time for the short essays in this module is one day. If you need extra

time for your essay, please contact your teacher. If there is any other way you think we can make

the module more accessible for you, please contact your teacher and let them know.

Extra Support Lectures Three lectures are included on the course to help with academic English usage:

1. Academic Writing [given by ISD]

2. Finding, Evaluating and Using Sources in Academic Writing [given by English]

3. Oral Presentations [given by ISD]

Check Time Edit for the schedule for these lectures.



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Essay instructions

There are several requirements for an essay. Think about all of them when writing and editing

your text.

Sources: Find two or more academic sources which address your topic and use them to support

the ideas in your essays. These sources can be academic articles or books (for demonstrated

facts or experimental data), newspaper articles (for opinions or reported facts), or official

documentation (for education policy).

Style:

Essays are written in a formal style. This is designed to be precise and concise, to avoid

misunderstandings. The following rules apply to formal writing:

• Avoid referring to yourself or the reader. Avoid using “I”, “you”, or “we” for any reason,

as these can be imprecise or confusing. Stick to the facts.

• Make sure not to repeat yourself and to write exactly what you want to say. Edit carefully.

• Questions and orders are inappropriate, so ? and ! marks are not used.

• Use precise vocabulary. Words like “good”, “big”, “important” and “interesting” come

easily, but aren’t very helpful for the reader. There are lots of good Internet sources for

academic vocabulary, such as:

http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/academic-word-list/

• Avoid phrasal verbs and use single-word verbs from the academic word list instead. This

makes sure your words have only one meaning. For example:

Phrasal verb Single-word verb Phrasal verb Single-word verb

back up support/reverse figure out calculate/determine/

resolve

bring up raise/introduce point at indicate

check out investigate/withdraw

disconnect

put together assemble/combine

come across encounter turn down reduce/refuse

cut off detach/disconnect work out exercise/succeed

Structure:

An essay has a title, and introduction, one paragraph for each topic and a conclusion. At the end

should be a list of references.

References:

Any ideas or words that are not your own, or common knowledge, should be referenced. See an

APA guide for how to use references in the text and build a references list at the end.

http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/academic-word-list/


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Essay topics

Essay 1 (400–500 words)

Due: On the 3rd working day after seminar 2 (see schedule). Submit essay on Athena >

Content > Assignments.

Topic choice: Choose one of the two topics below for Essay 1.

Option 1: Young children are exposed to their first language (L1) through several different

models (e.g., parents, siblings, teachers, etc.). This exposure affects how a child’s language

ability develops. Based on what you have read in How Languages are Learned, what factors

should an L2 English teacher be aware of when modeling language and interaction for young

learners in grades F-3? Support your approach with materials from the English Department

and/or ISD courses. Use other academic sources if you think it is appropriate. Remember to cite

at least two academic sources.

Option 2: Children develop language abilities in their L1 and L2 according to predictable

patterns. Based on your knowledge of these patterns, where do you think L1 Swedish users in

grades F-3 will be helped and/or challenged when learning L2 English? In other words, what 2-3

aspects of L2 English might be easier or more difficult for L1 Swedish users? Support your

approach with materials from the English Department and/or ISD courses. Use other academic

sources if you think it is appropriate. Remember to cite at least two academic sources.

The essay will be marked primarily for its language but also for structure, cohesiveness and

cohesion.

Essay 2 (main written assignment, 500-750 words)

Due: on the 3rd working day after seminar 7 (see schedule). Submit essay on Athena >

Content > Assignments.

Topic choice: Choose one of the two topics below for Essay 2.

Option 1: Consider the role of teacher input (e.g., correction, praise, etc.) on the second language

(L2) development of young learners. What patterns of teacher-student interaction (either with an

entire group of students or with individual students) in the L2 do you believe are most appropriate

and effective for L2 English classes in grades F-3? Support your approach with materials from

the English Department and/or ISD courses. Use other academic sources if you think it is

appropriate. Remember to cite at least two academic sources.


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Option 2: Motivation and language anxiety are two key factors in L2 learning and development.

Discuss these two core issues and suggest how L2 English teachers in grades F-3 can

acknowledge them in classroom practice. Justify your views using theories outlined in How

Language are Learned and in other English course materials. Support your approach with

materials from the English Department and/or ISD courses. Use other academic sources if you

think it is appropriate. Remember to cite at least two academic sources.

Pay attention to the comments your teacher gave you in the first essay, so that the same issues are

not repeated.

The essay will be marked primarily for its language and use of academic conventions but also

for structure, cohesiveness and cohesion.


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Grammar

During the course we will discuss and practise the rules of English, in order to prepare you for the

exam and, of course, for your future careers. A lot of this will be done in the form of self- study

on your own and in your study groups.

For each seminar, you are expected to work with the material (see above in this guide what to do

for each seminar) and prepare explanations, comments and answers to the questions given in this

guide. If you have any questions, please bring them to the seminar as well.

We suggest that you start by completing the exercises in the study guide at the back of the EGU

book and then focus on the things you have difficulties with. Some editions come with a CD-

ROM or website link. These are very handy since with that you do not have to check everything

manually against a key.

During the seminars we discuss various rules in English grammar, and the similarities and

differences between English and Swedish. We also practise spotting and correcting mistakes

through error trapping (see below).

On Athena (under Tests and Quizzes) there will be some additional exercises which are more

similar to the ones on the exam and can also find past exams there (Content/Old Exams). After

each seminar, all the materials including seminar slides and exercises will be available on Athena

(under Content/Seminar Sides).

Vocabulary

It is an aim of this course that you should expand your vocabulary, but also to make sure that you

use English as idiomatically as possible. To help you achieve this you will use English

Vocabulary in Use from which the words for the vocabulary part of the grammar exam will also

be taken.

At the second seminar we will discuss ways of learning vocabulary based on your reading. But

for the rest of the semester, vocabulary will mainly be something you do outside class, either

alone or together with your study group, although some aspects of vocabulary will be included in

the seminars. You can always bring any questions about vocabulary up in class between other

activities.


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Error trapping exercises

The error trapping assignments are given in a separate PDF-file on Athena (under Resources).

They are not graded separately, but are considered part of the participation grade for the course,

as they are discussed in the seminars.

The purpose of these exercises is both to identify your own strengths and weaknesses in

grammar, and to develop your ability to detect these same things in other people’s writing. This

ability is entirely individual so, unlike other exercises, please complete these exercises on your

own and without checking anything.

Complete the exercises digitally on the .doc(x) files in Athena and submit to the appropriate

folder. We recommend writing by hand also if possible, but you are only required to submit

electronic versions of the error trapping exercises. For each of the sentences you should:

● Type out the sentence,

● Highlight the mistake, ● Give the correct alternative, ● Explain the error.

In error trapping exercises 1 and 2 there is only one mistake per sentence, just like the exam.

However, in error trapping 3 there may be more than one mistake per sentence.

Your teacher will make notes on the exercises and return them to you via Athena prior to the

following class, before discussing the exercises as a class. After the discussion in class a key with

a detailed explanation for each sentence will be uploaded to Athena.

Make lists of the error types you did and didn’t spot. Use the lists to help you prepare for the

exam and check for errors in your own writing.

Marking Key:

OK = correct, (OK, in yellow highlight)

Strikethrough = incorrect, (line through the word including the mistake)

OK = also correct, but not what I was looking for, (OK, in green highlight)

? = a question mark shows something is missing,

Italics = something else which needs attention.


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Study groups

Nothing helps you learn as effectively as talking to others about the course material. For this

reason, you are encouraged to work together in study groups. Meet in your study groups before

each seminar and work on and discuss the assignments for the next seminar. An hour is a usually

enough but you might want to make it longer. Apart from the assignment(s), the self-study hour is

an excellent opportunity for discussing problems, homework, upcoming issues and so forth with

your fellow students.

Study group assignments:

● Study questions for How Languages are Learned should be discussed. ● Check with others if you have problems with grammar and/or vocabulary. Try to help

each other.

Before you come to study group

Complete the relevant assignments

- Grammar assignments: bring any questions.

- Vocabulary assignments: bring any questions.

- Readings: highlight important/unclear vocabulary items and terms, and be

prepared to discuss them and the study questions.

At the study group meeting

- Help each other by speaking English (friends don’t let friends switch back to

Swedish)

- Discuss the reading(s) in English (questions in Study Guide) and make a list of

useful vocabulary from the readings. Help each other make sure you

understand the meanings of the terms.

- Help each other with questions on grammar and vocabulary exercises

- Prepare any group questions that you would like to e-mail to your teacher for

the next seminar.

- Work together on possible group assignments (e.g. the word class

presentation).

- Plan the next study group meeting (if it’s not already scheduled).

After the study group meeting

One person from the group can e-mail your teacher with questions if necessary.


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Attendance

Attendance means being present, alert and ready to participate. You are expected to attend every

seminar. Since part of your grade is based on participation, attending all seminars will help you

maximize your opportunities to participate. Your teacher needs to hear you speaking over several

classes to assign a grade. All seminars also contribute in some way to the written assignments. As

such, being absent may affect your ability to do well on assessments.

Usually, there are two or more groups taking the course on different days of the week. It may be

possible for you to switch groups for one seminar. Contact your teacher and the teacher of the

other group to arrange this.

If you cannot attend a seminar at all, please complete all the exercises and quizzes to your own

satisfaction. There is no need to send in any complementary assignments, as seminar participation

is part of the spoken component of the course.

If you have to leave a seminar early or arrive late for any reason, please contact your teacher prior

to that seminar.

Course literature

Required:

Lightbown, P & Spada, N. (2013). How Languages are Learned. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford

University Press. (256 pages) (HLL)

Murphy, R. (2004). English Grammar in Use – a self-study reference and practice book for

intermediate students of English, with answers. 4th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

(379 pages) (EGU).

A new edition English Grammar in Use 5th ed (2019) is also available and is suitable for

the course.

Parrott, M. (2010). Grammar for English Language Teachers. With exercises and a key. 2nd ed.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (332 pages) (GELT)

Redman, S. (2017). English Vocabulary in Use. Pre-intermediate and intermediate. 4th ed.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (264 pages) (EVU 2017)

+ articles, web pages etc. as provided by the teacher (if you miss a class check Athena and ask

fellow students if there is any extra reading).


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Recommended:

A modern monolingual learner’s dictionary (Macmillan, Cambridge, Longman or Oxford):

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Online. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. http://www.ldoceonline.com/

Macmillan Dictionary Online. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 8th Edition Online.

http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/

A good English-Swedish dictionary: Norstedts Engelska Ord. http://www.ord.se/ (available in two versions).

NB: Other editions than those listed may be available. Often they have the same content, but the

page numbers are usually different and some sections might be missing.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

http://www.ldoceonline.com/

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/

http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/

http://www.ord.se/

course description & study guide

Documents