Abstract:

This course is intended for intermediate students who have studied English previously but need further practice in understanding everyday conversational language. These students must have a B1 level in “The Common European Framework”.
Each unit features a topic that relates to the everyday life and experience of students. The topics have been chosen for their frequency in conversation and their interest to learners. A wide variety of useful activities are included to give students graded practice in listening and speaking.
The course is based on blended learning using the virtual platform Moodle
The syllabus contains a variety of listening based on short recordings and texts, as well as reading and writing tasks, which are thematically linked to the listenings. The dialogues are improvised so that they resemble English as it is actually spoken in a variety of realistic situations.
The approach and methodology is based on both current research and practical experience with blended learning . Students are taught to be active participants in the development of their skills using background knowledge and context, students learn to be active participants by downloading their own material from Moodle, responding appropriately to questions, making inferences, recognizing information and identifying things. This interaction teacher-student prepares the students to function in authentic situations in the classroom and outside of the classroom.
Students are always given a clear purpose in appropriate listening strategies such as listening for key words or listening for information.
Students are taught that the aim is not to remember specific words or phrases the speakers use but to extract the main ideas or information for themselves.
The listening activities are put into context through internet and Moodle. This support acts as a bridge between the classroom and the real world.
The exercises are best accomplished in pairs or small groups.
The course is divided in 20 units. The basis for each unit is a short recording (in mp3 format) of unscripted English spoken at normal speed in a variety is situations. The topics have been chosen to aid the student whose goal is to use English in an international context: travel, sightseeing, meetings and shopping are among the topics covered. A variety of accents (America, British, French, Japanese…,) are also included to mirror real life use of English as an international language.

Keywords:

blended learning, erasmus students, moodle.