This course unit aims to consolidate and further develop students’ language skills to B1+ or B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), depending on the skills targeted. Learning is based on an action-oriented approach: students use English to carry out concrete tasks as part of a team project.
Reading comprehension: students will be able to read a range of documents related to university life, teamwork and project management with a good degree of autonomy, identify relevant information, distinguish between facts, opinions and arguments, and summarise the key points.
Listening comprehension: students will be able to understand the main ideas in talks, interviews, meetings, presentations and audiovisual materials on familiar or project-related topics, including when the argumentation is relatively developed.
Spoken production: students will be able to present a problem, an approach, a solution or a project clearly, structure their speech, highlight key information, develop and justify an argument, and respond appropriately to questions from an audience.
Spoken interaction: students will be able to participate actively in discussions and meetings, ask questions and follow up on an interlocutor’s responses, conduct an interview, express agreement or disagreement appropriately, make suggestions, negotiate, defend a point of view, seek compromise and contribute to collective decision-making.
Written production: students will be able to produce clear and well-structured documents related to the different stages of the project, including professional emails, interview or questionnaire questions, summaries, meeting minutes, project proposals, executive summaries and other forms of writing adapted to the intended audience and purpose.
Mediation: students will be able to reformulate, summarise and convey information, make content accessible to non-specialists, and help a group build a shared understanding by connecting the ideas and viewpoints expressed.
The priority is to enable each student, by the end of Block 2, to consolidate a B1+ or B2 level in the targeted skills in line with the graduate profile of the degree programme, while developing their ability to use English in communication situations that reflect academic and professional contexts.
The year will be structured around a simulated entrepreneurial journey. The aim is not necessarily to create a business, but rather to learn how to identify a need, imagine a value-creating response, work collaboratively, and gradually turn an idea into a project. The shared challenge will be: “How can we improve student life on campus?”
Students will work in teams on a project of their choice, either fictional or potentially suitable for real-life implementation. The project may take the form of a service, a digital tool, an event, a campaign, a support initiative, an improvement to a physical space, or any other proposal addressing an identified need on campus.
The targeted language skills will include the ability to:
clearly present a team, a problem, an idea, a proposal, or the progress of a project;
ask relevant questions, conduct a semi-structured interview, ask for clarification, and practise active listening;
reformulate and summarise an interlocutor’s comments or the results of a survey;
make suggestions, respond to a proposal, compare different options, and justify a choice;
express agreement, disagreement, reservations, or concessions in an appropriate and nuanced way;
argue a case, persuade, negotiate, and seek compromise;
take, hold and yield the floor, invite others to contribute, and move a discussion forward;
chair a meeting, clarify responsibilities, summarise decisions, and identify next steps;
adapt communication to the audience, particularly when presenting content to non-specialists;
use storytelling and pitching techniques to make an idea clear and convincing;
respond to questions, objections, and requests for clarification;
produce functional and professional written documents suited to the different stages of the project.
From a linguistic perspective, particular attention will be paid to vocabulary related to campus life, user needs, teamwork, and project management; logical and chronological connectors; the expression of cause, consequence, purpose, hypothesis, condition, concession, and contrast; modal verbs and structures used to qualify or nuance a point of view; as well as pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, and the appropriate use of register.
The course will offer an entrepreneurial learning journey structured around the challenge: “How can we improve student life on campus?” Communication activities will be integrated into the different stages of the project so that language is used as a genuine tool for inquiry, collaboration, reflection and action.
The journey draws on the European EntreComp framework, which defines entrepreneurship as the ability to act upon ideas and opportunities in order to create value for others. EntreComp identifies three broad competence areas — Ideas & Opportunities, Resources, and Into Action — encompassing fifteen competences. The course does not aim to assess all fifteen competences comprehensively, but rather to draw on a selection of them as a cross-cutting framework supporting both the project and language learning.
The entrepreneurial competences particularly developed will include the ability to:
spot opportunities and identify needs or problems experienced by students on campus;
use creativity to generate, develop and compare a range of possible solutions;
assess the value and relevance of an idea for the people concerned;
take into account the ethical, inclusive and sustainable dimensions of a proposal;
develop self-awareness, confidence in one’s ability to contribute, and perseverance;
mobilise others through clear and convincing communication;
take initiative and turn an idea into concrete action;
plan, allocate tasks, set priorities and monitor the progress of the project;
deal with uncertainty and adapt the project on the basis of the information gathered;
work with others, negotiate decisions and manage disagreements;
learn through experience, feedback and reflection on the process.
The entrepreneurial journey may be organised around the following stages:
1. Explore and observe: identify aspects of student life that could be improved, gather information, observe current practices and formulate initial hypotheses.
2. Understand needs: prepare and conduct interviews or questionnaires, ask follow-up questions, listen actively and summarise the information collected.
3. Define the problem: clearly formulate a need or problem to be addressed, distinguish essential from non-essential information, and present the main findings from the research phase.
4. Generate and select a solution: develop several ideas, compare them, build arguments, express disagreement, negotiate and reach a collective decision.
5. Structure the project: define the value proposition, objectives, roles, stages and priorities; draft a project charter and organise the team’s work.
6. Test and improve: present an initial proposal or prototype, gather feedback, respond to objections, reformulate ideas and refine the solution.
7. Persuade and communicate: develop a coherent narrative, prepare a pitch, write an executive summary, and present the project to an audience while responding to questions.
8. Reflect and review: evaluate both the project and the team’s way of working, identify what has been learned, and formulate areas for improvement.
See Webcampus
POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS
The activities offered on WebCampus and in class will follow the different stages of the project. They may include:
presenting one’s profile and potential contributions within a team;
drafting and presenting a team charter or project charter;
preparing an interview guide or questionnaire focusing on student life on campus;
conducting an interview and producing a summary of the needs identified;
presenting a problem statement and explaining the evidence supporting it;
taking part in an ideation session and defending a proposal;
simulating a team meeting involving agreement, disagreement, negotiation and decision-making;
presenting a concept or solution to a non-specialist audience;
producing a short communication resource or teaser;
writing an executive summary;
preparing and delivering a final pitch, followed by responses to questions and objections;
writing an individual reflection on the language and entrepreneurial competences developed.
The activities will be supported by writing modules, vocabulary resources, grammar activities, pronunciation exercises and self-assessment tools available on WebCampus.
English 1 (level B1+) [ICDLB112]
The teaching methods are based on five key principles:
Entrepreneurial and project-based learning: learning activities are organised around an open-ended, concrete challenge. Students are encouraged to identify a need, propose a value-creating response, and develop their project in response to constraints, feedback and collective decision-making.
The CEFR action-oriented approach: language is used to carry out tasks that are not exclusively linguistic. Reception, production, interaction and mediation activities are integrated into communication situations related to the different stages of the project.
Collaborative learning: teamwork is considered a learning environment in its own right. Students learn to distribute roles, develop ideas together, negotiate, manage disagreements and make decisions in English.
Differentiated learning pathways: activities and resources may be adapted to students’ linguistic needs. Self-assessment tools and feedback will help each student identify their priorities and make progress from their current level.
The combination of face-to-face learning, independent preparation and digital tools: some resources and preparatory tasks will be completed independently, while face-to-face sessions will focus on interaction, feedback, negotiation, speaking activities and tasks for which the teacher’s guidance adds genuine value.
For the first examination period, this learning activity is assessed on the basis of three complementary components: continuous assessment throughout the academic year (20%), a written project report submitted for the June examination period (40%), and a group oral examination held during the June examination period (40%).
At the end of the first semester, a provisional mark will be communicated during the January examination period. This mark will reflect each student’s progress based on the work completed during the first part of the academic year, including preparatory work, completed tasks, active participation and involvement in the initial stages of the entrepreneurial project.
The purpose of this mark is to provide students with interim feedback on their progress and to help them identify any areas that may need further improvement during the second semester. It represents a temporary snapshot of their achievement at that stage of the year and does not constitute an additional component of the final assessment.
20% of the overall mark is awarded on the basis of continuous assessment carried out throughout the academic year. This takes into account attendance and active participation in class, the completion of required preparatory work, and regular involvement in the different stages of the entrepreneurial project.
Students will be expected to prepare for and complete a range of tasks designed to progressively develop the language skills required for the project. These may include preparing interviews or questionnaires, researching and summarising information, formulating a problem, participating in team meetings, arguing a point of view, negotiating, giving interim presentations, completing written or spoken production tasks, and reflecting on their learning.
40% of the overall mark is awarded on the basis of a written project report related to the entrepreneurial project, to be submitted as part of the June examination period.
This report will enable students to document the process followed throughout the project and present the main stages of their work in a clear and structured way. It may include:
a presentation of the identified need or problem;
a summary of the information gathered during the research phase;
a presentation and justification of the selected solution;
the project’s value proposition;
the main stages in the development and evolution of the project;
a summary of the decisions made and any adjustments introduced;
an executive summary or any other relevant written production related to the project.
The report will include a group component, directly related to the work carried out by the team, as well as a compulsory individual component. The latter will take the form of a personal reflection in which each student analyses their contribution to the project, the language skills they used, the difficulties they encountered, the strategies they applied, and the progress they made throughout the year.
This individual component will also make it possible to distinguish the learning outcomes and achievements of each member of the team.
40% of the overall mark is awarded on the basis of a group oral examination held during the June examination period.
The examination will be based on the project developed throughout the year. Each team will be expected to present its project in a clear, structured and convincing manner and to interact with the teaching staff and/or other members of the group about the choices made during the project.
The examination will assess students’ ability to:
clearly present a problem, an approach and a solution;
structure and organise a presentation effectively;
justify choices and develop an argument;
explain the value and relevance of a proposal;
interact with other members of the team;
express and qualify a point of view;
respond to questions, objections and requests for clarification;
reformulate and clarify an idea when necessary;
use persuasive and negotiation strategies;
use clear, fluent and appropriate language for the communication context.
Although the examination is conducted as a group, the assessment will take into account the individual performance of each student, including the quality of their contribution, their ability to interact and argue a point of view, and their ability to respond to questions.
During the resit examination period, each student will retake the assessment component or components for which the required learning outcomes were not considered to have been achieved, in accordance with the arrangements specified by the teaching team.
As continuous assessment is based on work completed throughout the academic year, it will not be reassessed during the resit examination period. The written and oral assessment formats will be adapted as necessary to allow for an individual assessment of each student’s skills and learning outcomes.
Important: during assessments, the use of artificial intelligence tools (such as ChatGPT or equivalent tools) is prohibited whenever students are required to submit entirely personal work that reflects their own skills and learning outcomes.
Outside assessment contexts, however, artificial intelligence may be used as a tool for practice and learning support. When used thoughtfully, it can help students deepen their understanding of specific language points, practise their skills, or receive feedback on their work.
Throughout the academic year, time will also be devoted to exploring and sharing good practices for using these tools appropriately and responsibly in order to support progress in language learning.
The course documents can be found on Webcampus.
Michael McCarthy and Felicity O'Dell. English Vocabulary in Use Upper-Intermediate 4th edition. Cambridge Unviersity Press (2016)
| Training | Block | Credits | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor in Computer Science | 2 | 3 | Yes |