The course
  • Do you master English rather well already? Are you (to a certain extent) familiar with academic English and do you wish to hone those skills? Then this advanced course in (academic) English suits your needs.
  • The course focuses on broadening your language knowlegde. The focus lies on acquisition and use of advanced lexis and familiarisation with a register suitable for written academic texts. Grammar rules will be revised if necessary, based on the needs of the group.
  • The course offers writing workshops which zoom in on structure and style of academic texts. Possibilities for peer feedback are an added advantage.
  • The course also consists of class discussions in which you have to opportunity to use (academic) English in a real-life context. These discussions will be based on English texts, allowing you to hone your (critical) reading, listening and speaking skills at once.
  • Important: this course requires you to complete significant preparatory work before each class and to participate actively in class.
For whom?

This course is intended for those with a good basic knowledge of English who wish to further develop their English language (academic) skills further. Enrolment is open to VUB students only.

Teacher

Katrien Camps

Where and when?

Click here for the timetable 

Number of hours: this course is a blended-learning course consisting of 20 hours of synchronous on-campus classes and 10 hours of asynchronous online self-study learning (i.e. 3 lesson hours/week in total). It lasts for one semester and is offered in both the first and second semesters (the registration for the second semester will open in January 2023).

Please note: As for any language course, regular attendance in class is important in order to make progress. This is why attendance in class is compulsory. Students who cannot attend one out of two contact hours due to a lesson overlap will not be able to enrol in this course.

Registration conditions

In 22-23 this course is only intended for VUB students who can take this course as an optional course in their study program.

To be sure that this is the right course for you, you first take a placement test. You cannot enrol for the course without passing this test. Participants who have already taken an ACTO Academic English course can continue with the follow-up course without having to sit the placement test again. 

Please note: the placement tests are always scheduled before the course commences. That means that you already have to enrol for this course before the start of the semester. Unfortunately, you cannot join the course once it has started.

Register by 14 February 2023 at the latest. Click here to participate in the placement test.