The library
A PC with MS Office and Internet
Individual and group study space
A good advanced learner's English dictionary such as The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary or The Oxford Student's Dictionary
Multimedia equipment (DVD player, listening station)

You need to purchase the following class book with CD Rom to undertake this module:

Haines, S. & May, P. (2008) IELTS Masterclass Student's Book Pack and Multi Rom Oxford:OUP

IN CLASS - PARTICIPATION
This is a course where you'll be actually practising the skills you're learning in class. You need this practice to succeed in becoming a proficient user of English. You can only learn a language fully if you use it actively by listening, speaking, reading and writing yourself. So you'll be using English a lot during this module, sometimes working on your own (e.g. reading or listening to a text), sometimes collaborating with a partner (e.g. discussing ideas or drawing up a plan for an essay or report) and sometimes working as part of a team (e.g. preparing a team presentation or having a seminar discussion). Your teacher will help you to carry out these activities as a facilitator and class room manager. S/he will also provide tutorial support. However, the learning on this course will be student led, so you need to be prepared to participate as fully as you can.

OUTSIDE CLASS - AUTONOMOUS STUDY PLAN
There will also be an emphasis on self-managed study and autonomous learning. Language learning is an ongoing process, which requires regular study; a `little and often' approach is better than an occasional block of several hours study. So, you also need to be prepared to undertake an individual learning programme of study, which will require you to take responsibility for your learning in your time outside of class.

The assessment for this module consists of two parts. Here are the details:

PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT - 30%:
You will be required to make an individual autonomous learning plan, which will include (1) goals you set yourself in agreement with your tutor, based on an initial needs analysis and your preferred learning style, and (2) a reflective journal of your progress both in class room participation and performance, and in your out of class language learning experience. The portfolio will be designed to act as a support tool for your subject specialist modules.

END OF SEMESTER TEST - 70%:
This is in four parts, which all carry equal weighting. They are as follows -
Listening (40 minutes. Learning Outcome 1)
Your listening test will last about 40 minutes. It will comprise a variety of comprehension questions on four listening passages. They will include (1)a social or transactional conversation between two people, (2) a talk on a general interest topic, (3) a conversation taking place in an educational setting between two to four speakers, and (4) a talk or lecture on a broad academic topic.
Task types: completing notes, table, sentences, diagram, flow chart or summary, short answer and multiple choice questions, labelling parts of a diagram, matching lists, sentence completion.
Speaking Assessment (15 minutes. Learning Outcome 2 & 5)
This test lasts about 10 minutes in all. Your performance is based on five aspects: how grammatically you speak, how appropriate your vocabulary is, how well you manage the speaking situations, how good your pronunciation is, and how well you interact with the person you are speaking to. There are three parts: (1) a conversation with the examiner on familiar and personal topics; (2) a monologue on a given topic followed by answering the examiner's follow - up questions (3) interaction between yourself and the candidate on more abstract issues connected to the topic in part 2.
Reading Assessment (1 hr. Learning Outcome 3)
The reading test comprises three parts; these include topics of general and broad academic interest and are taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. At least one text has detailed and logical argument in it. Task types: various kinds of multiple choice and short answer questions, sentence completion, classification, matching headings with paragraphs or sections of text, completing notes, sentences, tables, summary, diagram or flow chart, matching lists or phrases, locating information in paragraphs, answering true / false / not given in text information, or yes / no / not given for writer's views
Writing Assessment (1 hr. Learning Outcome 4 & 5)
There are two parts. In the first part, you'll write about 150 words, presenting information based on data, a process at different stages and an object, event or series of events. In the second part, you'll write a discussion or argument essay of about 250 words on a general interest topic.

You should have an IELTS score of 6.0 for the first module. (Your acceptance by the university onto a degree course counts as recognition of your level being IELTS 6.0). For the second module you should have IELTS level 6.5. (A pass in the first module will count as an IELTS 6.5 score).

The level of language practised in this module is advanced level (for students who are currently upper intermediate or IELTS 6.0, and wish to progress to 6.5 for the first semester module, and from 6.5 to 7.0 in the case of the second semester module). This level of language achievement is demonstrated by a competent non-native speaker (at IELTS 6.0) and a good speaker (at IELTS 7.0) across a variety of academic and professional situations in the four language skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking), and appropriate techniques are included in the course content to facilitate this.
N.B. Although these modules will not focus solely on the IELTS examination, they will offer good preparation opportunities for students wishing to sit it.

Language skills and language in use
You'll be able to listen to English in a variety of contexts, use general and academic speaking skills to enable you to interact orally with confidence, read a number of different text types, and produce coherent and cohesive general and academic written discourse. In addition, you will be able to recognise and use a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical structures, and address individual weaknesses in pronunciation.