Anglais II

Course content

TOPICS COVERED (examples):

First term: elections, rights and freedoms, media
Second term: immigration, globalisation and conflict

The course is based on the following material:

a series of texts (typically current events / media / newspaper articles) worked on in class or to be prepared by the students
exercises on political lexis (including keywords, collocations, etc)
group activities and presentations based on politics / current events
exercises / practice on writing (including sentence structure, text cohesion, discourse markers, key vocabulary for political discourse, etc.

Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)

The main objectives of this course are as follows:

to improve political fluency and ability to express political ideas in English
to improve political vocabulary and terminology in English
to improve writing skills in English
to facilitate the comprehension of specific texts in the field of political science in English
to improve presentation skills on the topic of politics / current events in English
to improve grammar skills related to political discourse in English

Prerequisites and Corequisites

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

A pre-requisite for this course (LANG D203 - Anglais II) would be the material (vocabulary, grammar, theme-based knowledge) from the Anglais I course (LANG D 103).

General knowledge of political science topics, with a focus on EU and international politics.
General knowledge of the English language
Poli 1 vocabulary (Poli D 103 - Anglais I)
Interest in current affairs (EU and international level)
Willingness to stay informed during the academic year, in order to bring ideas and knowledge to classroom activities (conversation, debates, questions, short presentations, etc.)

Required and corequired courses

Courses requiring this course

Teaching methods and learning activities

The course is organised into 2-hour weekly sessions.

It attempts to establish and foster language-learning strategies, which are, by definition, learner-oriented.

Hence, students are required to:

participate regularly in class sessions
to prepare the vocabulary found in different texts / newspaper articles / etc.
to "recycle" vocabulary as much as possible, and, of course, to revise regularly
to speak and share their political opinions / ideas on given topics

Teachers will:

ask questions
organise debates and presentations
organise round table discussions
organise excursions (possible to an EU institution) or guest speaker visits
organise the "Flipped Classroom" - student-led classroom instruction / conversation / learning session

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

English-language websites / newspapers / magazines focusing on international politics.
English-language podcasts / vlogs / video series, etc. focusing on international politics.
English-language news programs (TV, radio, etc.) focusing on international politics.

(NOTE: Students are expected to stay up-to-date with current events and political happenings in the EU and the world.)

Course notes

Syllabus
Université virtuelle

Contribution to the teaching profile

This course will allow students to develop their English-language skills in:

listening (learning from teachers and classmates)
speaking (weekly contributions)
reading (texts / news stories)
writing (lexis, grammar and structures)

Other information

Contacts

Andrew Edgel
andrew.edgel@ulb.be
+32 2 650 2505
Office: P3.3.214
Université libre de Bruxelles
Av. Paul Heger (Préfabriqué 3)
1050 Bruxelles (Belgium)

Campus

Solbosch

Evaluation

Method(s) of evaluation

Personal work
written examination
Project
Oral presentation
Group work
Other
Written report

Personal work

written examination

Out-of-session examination

Open question with developed answer
Closed question with Multiple Answers (MAQ)
Open question with fill-in the blanks text

Project

Oral presentation

Group work

Other

Written report

written examination (vocabulary tests, essay writing exam)
oral presentation (short group presentations and "round table" discussions)
group work (short group presentations)
weekly vocabulary exercises

NOTES:
Written / oral / vocabulary exams marked out of 20 → ( _ / 20)
(CEFR scale, applied to the B2 target level for Lang D 203)

First session:

Vocabulary tests / exercises, oral ‘presentations’, writing exam, class attendance (participation)

Second session:

Vocabulary exam, writing exam and oral exam (and class attendance or 'participation' in Term 1 - carried over from Sept 2025-May 2026)

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

In both May/June (First Session) and August (Second Session) the final grade is calculated as follows:

Term 1:

Vocab quiz 1 & 2: 15% (7,5% each)

Vocab exercises on UV = 5%

Paired presentation (no. 1): 10% (November)

Paired presentation (no. 2): 15% (January)

Term 2:

Vocab quiz 3 & 4: 15% (7,5% each)

Vocab exercises on UV = 5%

Group ‘assessed discussions’ (no. 3): 20% (April/May)

Attendance: 5% (Terms 1 & 2)

EXAMS (1st session)

Writing exam (December) = 10%

(1st Session TOTALS: Speaking - 45% // Vocabulary (test/UV exercises/exam) - 40% // Writing (essay) - 10% // Attendance – 5%)

EXAMS (2nd session)

Oral exam = 45% (new exam)

Writing (essay) exam = 10% (new exam – not carried over from January)

Vocabulary exam = 40%

Attendance: 5% (carried over from Terms 1 & 2)

(2nd Session TOTALS: Speaking - 45% // Vocabulary (test/UV exercises/exam) - 40% // Writing (essay) - 10% // Attendance – 5%)

Language(s) of evaluation

english