NA-ENGL v.1 General English Course

Course CRICOS Code: 081750B

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Course Overview

The General English course develops students' confidence in using English when living, studying or working in an English-speaking environment. Students should choose this course if they would like the enjoyment and stimulation of improving their English in a modern university environment. General English is offered at four levels from an Elementary to an Upper Intermediate level. Students will be placed in an appropriate level suited to their current English ability. This is achieved by taking our placement test or providing English language proficiency results upon application. After completing the following levels, a graduate of this can: 1. General English 2 (GE 2) - Understand simple conversations and short texts, participate in conversations in a range of situations, and use a limited range of vocabulary and basic grammatical structures to write paragraphs on a range of familiar topics. 2. General English 3 (GE 3) - Listen for specific information, skim and scan simple texts, produce simple speech with some fluency, and write a short, structured paragraph with basic sentence patterns and spelling and punctuation that is generally correct. 3. General English 4 (GE 4) - Listen for gist and specific details, use contextual clues to guess the meaning of words in longer texts, maintain a flow of speech using an appropriate range of vocabulary, and organise ideas logically using paragraphs. 4. General English 5 (GE 5) - Use a text as a basis for critical thinking, demonstrate basic note-taking skills and predict information using contextual clues when listening. Express reasons and explanations for opinions when speaking and write about a topical issue, giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

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Course Entry and Completion Details

Entry requirements for each level within the General English course are as follows: GE 2 - IELTS 3.0 overall or equivalent; GE 3 - IELTS 3.5 overall or equivalent; GE 4 - IELTS 4.0 overall or equivalent; GE 5 - IELTS 4.5 overall or equivalent. Students are required to purchase a course book for their level. It is also recommended they purchase a language learners dictionary.

Credit for Recognised Learning

Applications for Credit for Recognised Learning are not considered within this course.

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Course Organisation

Each 10 week General English level is split into two 5 week modules. The ‘a’ module covers weeks 1 to 5 of the syllabus, and the ‘b’ module covers weeks 6 to 10. Students may complete the modules in either order. Assessments are held in the final week of each module.

Duration and Availability

Each General English level comprises 200 hours scheduled over a 10 week period plus an additional 120 self-study hours scheduled over a 10 week period. Intakes are every 5 weeks.

Course Organisation Note

Students in General English are assessed in five equally divided areas: two equally weighted writing tasks, a reading test, a grammar and language test, a listening test, and a speaking assessment.

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Further Information

Prospective students should consult with Curtin English at http://english.curtin.edu.au

Course Structure Disclaimer

Curtin University reserves the right to alter the internal composition of any course to ensure learning outcomes retain maximum relevance. Any changes to the internal composition of a course will protect the right of students to complete the course within the normal timeframe and will not result in additional cost to students through a requirement to undertake additional units.

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Handbook