Course Regulations (Teaching foreign languages to full-time students)

Teaching foreign languages at Warsaw University of Technology is conducted by the Foreign Language Centre. The final examination (B2) in a foreign language is conducted by the Foreign Language Centre Examination Board of Warsaw University of Technology. The work of the Board is managed by the Head of the Board .

1.  Foreign Language Centre runs courses in English, German, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish.

2.  A student is obliged to take final examination in a foreign language at Level B2, as specified by the Council of Europe (cf. Table of Language Competence Levels).

3.  A student is entitled to enter for the examination as early as the 1^st semester of studies examination session. The latest possible date is the examination session that closes the 6^th semester of studies. A student is entitled to take the examination twice (cf. paragraph 6 of Course Regulations). In case of failure, a student may be allowed to sit for an extra session, for which approval of the Head of Foreign Language Centre Examination Board of WUT is required

4.  The date for the examination is fixed: it is scheduled on the first day of the examination session for students of the entire WUT, who officially enrolled for the examination, a month prior to the date.

5.  Criteria, procedures, examination papers, and the timetable are the responsibility of the Foreign Language Centre Examination Board of Warsaw University of Technology.

6.  Upon request, the Board can accept an external exam passed by the student that meets the criteria set by the WUT. The grade and signature in a student’s book are entered by the Head and the members of the Examination Board.

7.  Students are encouraged to follow language courses preparing them for their final examination. The courses aim at providing practice of language skills at the examination requirements level; students are strongly advised to choose courses that build up on students’ previous learning and knowledge.

8.  Students can either use the entire 210 hours of their language learning “voucher” before they take their final examination, or they have an option of partly reducing it and sitting for the examination earlier. After they have passed their examination, they can sign up for the technical language courses, or take up a new language, within the remaining limit of language instruction hours.

9.  Language classes are available to all students. If all course requirements are met, students are allocated credit points for their work at the discretion of their Faculty.

10. When a student passes the B2 examination, he / she gets up to 14 credit points which are allocated to semesters 1-5. The number of points received for the exam cumulates with the points previously gained for the credited courses.

11. In case of unsolved matters in the above Course Regulations, the Rules of Study ( Regulamin studiów) at the Warsaw University of Technology are applied. 

Guidelines for Students

1.  Foreign language classes are run in accordance with the curriculum and syllabi approved officially by  the Foreign Language Centre. Details are available on the information boards and the FLC website.

2.  Each student is entitled to follow a maximum of 210 hours of language instruction; they are structured in 7 modules of 30 hours each.

3.  Before  students are assigned to a group (courses start from 1^st to 3^rd  semester), they are obliged to participate in the entrance placement test. Students are enrolled for a course of language study on the basis of the placement test results.

4.  To change the group, a student has to seek approval of the Foreign Language Centre Director, her deputies, heads of language sections or teachers responsible for work organization at each faculty

5.  The size of the class ranges from 15 to 30 students.

6.  The number of groups is approved of by the FLC director and heads of language sections.

7.  In case of unsolved matters in the Course Regulations, the Rules of Study at the Warsaw University of Technology are applied [www.pw.edu.pl].

Language course ticket/voucher:

It has been decided that each student is granted a foreign language course ticket to follow a standard programme leading towards the final examination at the level of B2. The courses are available in semesters I through VI in the amount of 30 or 60 hours per semester (see the table above).  If a student passes the final examination at an earlier date (can be as early as winter exam session in their Year One), he/she can use the remaining hours of the granted 210 –hour ticket to follow “technical” courses in the same language or a range of courses offered in German, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish. If the amount of 210 hours is not sufficient to achieve the appropriate language level to pass B2 exam, students are encouraged to follow payable courses to enhance their chances to reach the required examination level.

To find out more about the Curriculum and the final exam consult www.sjo.pw.edu.pl

To Get a Credit 

When given credit, a student gets a grade on the scale from 3.0 to 5.0 and credit points: 2 (for a module of 30 hours per semester), and 4 or 3 ( the Faculty of Materials Science) (for a module of 60 hours per semester).

Detailed requirements:

1.      Consistent attendance and active participation (2 absences allowed per module).

2.      To obtain a positive grade, a student needs to fulfill all prescribed tasks according to syllabus.

3.      Students are assessed according to the level of their performance in the form of:

•    class participation

•    oral presentations

•    short quizzes

•    progress tests

•   homework assignments

•    other assignments

If a student fails to satisfy the requirements, he/she is not awarded a positive grade, yet the amount of 30 or 60 hours (out of the total of 210) is taken away.  The student is obliged either to do the class again the following year or pass additional tests after having arranged the terms with their teachers.

EXAMINATION

B2 LEVEL FINAL EXAMINATION REGULATIONS

General Regulations

By the resolution of the Senate of Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) no 33/XLV/2003 dated 26.03.2003, new principles of foreign languages teaching are introduced for full-time studies at Warsaw University of Technology. Each student is entitled to participate in classes (210 hours) preparing for the examination. The classes are organised in seven teaching modules, 30 hours each. The student has to take the final examination in a foreign language not later than by the end of the 6^th semester. The level of the final examination is defined as B2 established in accordance with language competence levels of the Council of Europe  [www.coe.int/portfolio/levels].  In brief, B2 level translates as the ability to communicate in everyday situations, job related issues and the ability to present work results and/or scientific achievements.

The Level of Language Input (“I can” statements)

In order to assess the level of language input, all students are tested around the middle of the term before they start their language tuition. All students are recommended to take up the foreign language that they studied at school. The Council of Europe has prepared useful tools to define the language input such as Global table of achievements and self-assessment table. Based on them, a student can   easily define the examiner’s expectations and their own skills in the area of four basic language skills: listening comprehension, reading, writing and speaking. A B2 examination candidate is described as “an independent user” of a foreign language.

NB. Recommended level of grammar is at upper intermediate level.

Examiners 

The final exam is organised and carried out by Foreign Language Centre Examination Board at Warsaw University of Technology and supervised by its head.  The examination consists of two parts: the written one and the oral one. The written part is held on the first day of examination session each semester. The oral part is scheduled on a later date over the subsequent fortnight. When a student passes the examination, he/she is awarded up to 14 points. Semester grades and examination results will be inserted on pages 76 - 79 in a student’s credit book and in the Supplement to the Diploma.

Information on Examination Content

The examination tests the following language skills:

1.      listening comprehension – monologues, lectures, dialogues and discussion  based on current events, social and popular science 

         matters

2.      reading – newspaper/magazine articles, reports, scientific and literary articles

3.      writing – formal / informal letters, compositions or reports

4.      grammar – upper- intermediate level

5.      speaking – interests, hobbies, studies or job related issues, politics, etc.

Outline of the Examination

1. Written part (120 minutes)

-        listening / reading / grammar and lexical structures / writing

2. Oral part (15 minutes)

-        warm- up questions asked by the examiner

-        a conversation between candidates based on students’ interests, hobbies, and current events, etc.

STANDARD EXAMINATION COURSES SYLLABUS

for continuing students preparing for B2 exam

(in accordance with the criteria set by the Council of Europe)

Objectives and syllabus content of foreign language courses

in the four language skills:

1.     listening comprehension

a)     Improving communicative skills acquired earlier and shaping new ones:

-        “listening for gist”- to understand the general sense of the listening material,

-        extracting the required information,

-        selecting overall meaning of the whole passage and its parts, following the plot of events,

-        defining relations between particular parts of the listening material,

-        defining the intention of the passage,

-        defining the author and recipient of the listening text,

b)     Improving and shaping language abilities:

-        recognition of linguistic elements (new and acquired before),

-        recognition of new and acquired earlier words, word groups, sentences,

-        distinguishing between words which sound alike,

-        defining meanings of words by studying the context or basing on similarities with the Polish language or any other foreign

         languages,

-        recognizing differences between the information given in the listening material and its illustration or between the listening 

         passage and the written text,

-        distinguishing between various kinds of intonation.

2.     speaking

a)     Improving communicative skills acquired earlier and developing new ones:

-        appropriate choice of lexical items, phrases and sentence structures to express the author’s intention in various 

         communicative situations,

-        producing utterances where different language elements are used in diverse situations in harmony with socio-cultural

         standards,

b)     Shaping and improving language abilities:

-        active control of sentence structures and patterns,

-        ability to create new sentences and utterances basing on words and word compounds acquired earlier,

-        formulating new utterances by combining words, sentences and sentence patterns,

-        formulating longer utterances.

3.     reading

a)     Improving skills acquired earlier and shaping new abilities connected with reading comprehension tasks:

-         defining a topic and extracting an overall idea of the whole text and its particular parts,

-         selecting the required information,

-         generalizing about the whole text and its parts,

-         distinguishing between opinions and facts,

b)     Shaping and improving language abilities:

-         recognizing and distinguishing between grammatical forms,

-         recognizing words basing on their forms or meaning,

-         working out meanings of unknown words by means of word formation analysis or the context.

c)     Shaping and improving reading techniques abilities:

-         forming associations between graphic signs and sounds (correct pronunciation),

-         intensifying the speed of (silent) reading,

-         getting learners into the habit of using a dictionary.

4.     writing

a)     Shaping and improving communicative abilities:

-         producing diverse types of written texts on a particular subject,

-         using suitable linguistic devices and style consistent with a particular type of writing to express the purpose of this text    

          and the author’s intention,

b)     Shaping and improving language abilities:

-         active control of sentences and sentence patterns,

-         creating new sentences from words, word compounds and sentences acquired earlier,

-         ormulating written texts by combining words, sentences and sentence patterns.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

Curriculum

                                     The number of modules  in each  semester