English Language 1

The students shall develop all four types of their foreign language skills: speaking, listening, writing and reading – with the purpose of improving their knowledge of general English, as well as their ESP* knowledge. Above all, the students shall develop their communicative competence.

*ESP = English for Specific Purposes

Prerequisite secondary-school knowledge of the English language on the Matura Examination level.

The students revise and upgrade their knowledge of the general English language, previously acquired at secondary school, especially by practising the following grammatical structures:
• grammatical tenses,
• conditional clauses,
• the active and the passive,
• articles.

They learn the basic English terminology in the fields of language and literature and acquire the relevant vocabulary in the field of humanities (language, linguistics, literature, history, art, education etc.). They are acquainted with the bacis text types and practise writing shorter texts.

The students learn about the culture of English-speaking countries. Moreover, they learn to identify cross-cultural differences and take the latter into account when communicating in a foreign language.

They develop all four linguistic skills – speaking, writing, reading and listening. In addition, the course focuses on developing the students' communicative competence.

Knowledge and understanding:
The students shall be able to appropriately use the grammatical structures discussed, as well as the basic English terminology in the fields of language and literature. They shall also enrich their vocabulary in general. The students shall be able to compose an essay or other forms of shorter literary texts on a selected topic. They shall be able to express themselves appropriately within their professional fields, taking into account the cross-cultural differences.

The general objective of the course:
B2 level (according to CEFR – the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

• Murphy, R. 2004. English Grammar in Use for Intermediate Students. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Catalogue E-version
• O'Driscoll, J. 2003. Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (selected chapters) E-version
• Swan, M. and C. Walker. 2004. How English Works: A Grammar Practice Book. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Catalogue
• Šabec, N. and D. Limon. Across cultures: slovensko-britansko-ameriško medkulturno sporazumevanje/Slovene-British-American Intercultural Communication. Maribor: Obzorja 2001. (selected chapters)E-version Catalogue

• seminar assignment (20%) • grammar test (10%) • final examination (70%)

Veronika Piccinini, English language lecturer, holds a BA (Hons) in English Language in Literature. Since 2005, she has been working at the University of Nova Gorica, where she has been teaching English (especially ESP – English for Specific Purposes) at various study programmes. She has gained her professional experience by teaching at various institutions on different levels of the educational system. She has received further professional training also in the U.K. and Austria (ECML – European Centre for Modern Languages, part of the European Council). She is particularly interested in the research of the methodology of teaching English as a foreign language, especially in creative language teaching. She has been presenting her work at conferences and published articles in Slovenia and abroad.

PICCININI, Veronika. Project work as a tool for enhancing the transfer of ESP knowledge into practice. Humanising language teaching, Jun. 2012, year 14, iss. 3.
[COBISS.SI-ID 2416379]

PICCININI, Veronika et al. The linking verb be in English technical and literary texts and its equivalents in the Slovene translations. Vestnik, 2006, vol. 40, no. 1/2, pp. 109–120.
[COBISS.SI-ID 618747]

PICCININI, Veronika et al. The Cambridge grammar of English in the ELT classroom: teaching selected features of spoken English. Humanising language teaching, Apr. 2012, year 14, iss. 1.
[COBISS.SI-ID 2153979]

PICCININI, Veronika. Creative poetry writing. IATEFL newsletter: Slovenian branch, spring 2007, vol. 11, no. 41, pp. 9–10.
[COBISS.SI-ID 631547]

PICCININI, Veronika. Exercise book for English practice sessions: English for undergraduate students of viticulture and enology. Nova Gorica: Založba Univerze, 2013.
[COBISS.SI-ID 265623296]

PICCININI, Veronika. The importance of giving oral presentations in English. Proceedings of the International Language Conference on the Importance of Learning Professional Foreign Languages for Communication Between Cultures 2010, Faculty of Logistics, Celje, 23 and 24 September 2010.
[COBISS.SI-ID 1677563]