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Professional English I

Code: 102762
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Computer Engineering OP 4

Contact lecturer

Name :
Sonia Oliver Del Olmo
Email :
sonia.oliver@uab.cat

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

It is essential to have a minimum level of Intermediate B1 to register for this subject as all classes are taught in English.

It is compulsory to attend all sessions. In case a student enrolls in another subject causing an overlap, he/she will have to choose only one subject.

Objectives

At the end of the semester, each student should be able to express and communicate ideas, both orally and in writing, about technical themes, as well as about themes of general interest.

Emphasis is placed on understanding and synthesizing information, on argumentation and on the expression of ideas and opinions. Each student is expected to work on their own improvement of English grammar and vocabulary at a level of Upper-Intermediate (B2). For this purpose, they will be using an error correction book throughout the whole semester.

Learning outcomes

  1. Use English as the language of communication and professional relations .

Contents

  1. Summary of general and of technical information
  2. Grammatical structures and linguistic expressions at a level of Upper-Intermediate (B2)
  3. Terminology acquisition and grammar practice
  4. Technical descriptions of objects and of processes
  5. Synthesis of information from texts and videos of a general and technical nature
  6. Acquisition of specific vocabulary through readings and specific exercises
  7. Correction of language errors
  8. Expression of judgment, argumentation and evaluation of contents in public

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Exercises done individually or in small groups, outside of the classroom. 75 3 1
Students will have to develop certain activities supervised by the teacher, which will aid in the development of critical thinking and the capacity to synthesise. 10 0.4 1
Communicative and group activities guided by the teacher in order to develop all the related competences. 40 1.6 1
  • Directed activities (30%): The teacher presents the basic concepts and techniques related to this subject. There will be two sessions per week, each one of a duration of two hours. Great emphasis will be placed on communicative activities, as well as on group work. Active participation in class will be highly appreciated by the teacher. Class attendance is compulsory to pass this subject.
  • Autonomous activities (30%): These activities are mainly exercises that must be carried out individually and their completion will be controlled regularly by the teacher.
  • Supervised group activities (10%): Some activities have been designed for students to work with their peers in a cooperative way. Group work is, thus, one of the objectives of this course.
  • Evaluation activities (30%): These are the different tests which the students will have to take in order to show that they have acquired the desired level. The evaluation activities will test the guided, the autonomous, and the supervised activities.
Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Participation in debates and forums 10% 5 0.2 1
4 error correction exercises based on the Guided Error Correction Book, Level B2 30% 8 0.32 1
Homework 35% 4 0.16 1
1 exam at the end of the semester 25% 8 0.32 1

a) Continuous assessment: procedure and programmed activities.

Students' performance in this subject will be assessed by continuous assessment. The assessment is based on the following activities:

  • 4 error correction exercises, based on the book Guided Error Correction B2, 30% of the final mark.
  • 1 written paper to be done individually, plus regular homework done individually and in group, 35% of the final mark.
  • Participation in debates and forums (in person and online), individually and in groups, 10% of the final mark.
  • 1 final exam at the end of the semester, based on the lessons taught in class, 25% of the final mark.

The final mark for the subject will be calculated according to the information in the section called ‘assessment activities.’

The minimum mark to pass this subject is a 5.

b) Schedule for assessed activities.

The exam dates, the dates of delivery of any activities, the reassessment dates of any exam, as well as the exam revision dates will be established in class and will be published on the ‘Campus Virtual,’ but may be subject to changes in programming if necessary.

c) Reassessment procedure.

4 error correction exercises and final exam:

Students may retake these exams if they obtained a minimum mark of a 3.5 or above. The maximum mark given to a reassessment exam will be a 5.

d) Procedure for reviewing submitted work.

For every assessed activity, a place, date and time for revision will be indicated, during which students will be able to revise each activity with the lecturer. In this context, students might voice complaints about their mark, which will be taken into consideration by the lecturer responsible for the subject. If students fail to be present at the appointment, the revision will not take place at a later time.

e) Grades.

  • Special distinction. Students with an average mark of 9.00 or above will be the only ones eligible for a special distinction (outstanding performance). Since the number of distinctions cannot be above 5% of the number of registrations per subject, they will only be given to students who obtained the highest marks.
  • If students miss 10% of classes and do not deliver any of the compulsory papers throughout the course, their mark will be ‘not assessable’ (NA). Only on exceptional occasions (justifying the reasons of absence or lack of fulfilment of deadlines) will a student be able to retake any activity after the specified assessment dates.

f) Copying, plagiarism, use of AI…

Without affecting any other disciplinary measures and according the current academic regulations, if students commit any of the following irregularities, they will be given a zero for the activity concerned, which may affect the resulting mark in the general assessment. If students copy or allow other students to copy their work or any assessable activity this will immediately imply the failing of that activity, with a zero. Thus, it will not be possible to pass the subject, if one of the requirements is to pass the activity, and no retake of the subject will be possible during the same academic year. These irregularities include, among others:

  • The total or partial copy of any assessment activity
  • Allowing others to copy
  • Presenting a group work activity not entirely done by the members of the group (this is applicable to all the participants, not only to those who have not done their work)
  • Presenting material as genuine, when done by a third party. This includes translations, adaptations and any work that has not been carried out entirely by the student;
  • Having access to communication devices (such as mobile phones, smart watches, pens with cameras, etc.) during theoretical and/or practical assessment activities (exams);
  • Speaking to classmates during theoretical and/or practical assessment activities (exams);
  • Copying or trying to do so during any theoretical and/or practical assessment activities (exams);
  • Using (or trying to use) written documentation related to the subject during any assessment activity, without explicit permission to do so.

If a student has incurred any of the above-mentioned irregularities, the numeric mark of their academic record will be the lowest value between 3.0 and half of the average weight of their marks (thus, passing the subject by compensation will not be possible). In future editions of this subject, students who have committed irregularities in an assessment activity will not be allowed to validate any of the assessment activities he/she’s taken part in.

To sum up: copying, allowing to do so, plagiarising (or trying to do so) in any of the assessment activities is equivalent to a FAIL, which is not compensable. The subject will, therefore, not be validated in future courses.

Restricted use of AI: in this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed exclusively for academic support tasks, such as bibliographical research, finding information or creating images and/or videos, but NEVER to produce texts that appear in any of the work to be handed in. Students will have to show clearly which parts have been generated by AI, specify which tools they have used and include a critical reflection on how these tools have affected the process and the final result of the task. Non-transparency about the use of AI in homework and classwork will be regarded as a lack of academic honesty and may result in a partial or total penalisation in the mark of the task, or greater sanctions in severe cases.

g) Assessment for students who repeat the subject.

Students who have enrolled in the subject for the second time, will have to do all the activities required in the course.

h) Single assessment.

Single assessment is not contemplated for this subject.

Bibliography

Throughout the course, students will use the following book:

  • Kennedy-Scanlon, Michael; Pladevall, Elisabet; and Juli Cebrián. (2012). Guided Error Correction: Exercises for Spanish-speaking students of English. Level B2. Bellaterra: Servei de Publicacions UAB.

If needed:

  • Murphy, R. (2019). English Grammar in Use : A Self-study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Learners of English with Answers (5th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Software

We do not use any special programmes, however, it is recommended that students bring a laptop or tablet to class, since many of the proposed activities are done virtually.

Teachers mainly use PowerPoint during class. All class material (such as class slides or exercises), links and messages for students will be put up on 'Campus Virtual' (Moodle). In addition, students might be asked to upload their work to 'Campus Virtual'.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(PAUL) Classroom practices 410 English first semester morning-mixed