Abstract:

Starting from the recent developments of the new University Degrees within the European Frame of Reference of Languages, there is a compromise in Spain to adapt the English Studies (before English Philology) to the current needs of students in a highly competitive society. Following from previous work on the curricular adaptation of literary subjects, we will first attempt to bring some light to the different aspects involved in the design and development of the subject “US Short-Story” –objectives, distribution of time, methodology, bibliography and assessment—and its incardination within the course and the new grade “English Studies” at the Universitat de València (Spain). We will later present the distinct competences –generic, technical and specific— required in this course; however, we our focus will be on the generic competences (social abilities) and their implementation with the help of TICS, and their subsequent projection into new strategies and learning results. Finally, we will discuss the assessment strategies we have put into practice in order to evaluate the convenience of this course design and our teaching approach followed so far.

Keywords:

Curricular design, literary courses, English Studies, competences, learning strategies and assessment, European Frame of Reference of Languages.