Department: DH
Scientific area: Language
Total contact time: 15
This course develops students’ communicative competence at the B1 level through the integrated study of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and the four language skills. Organised around engaging real-world themes such as relationships, storytelling, media, creativity and everyday life, it promotes the use of English in personal, social and professional contexts. The course adopts a communicative, task-based approach that encourages interaction, critical thinking, mediation and the practical application of language.
- Personal Development, Relationships & Identity;
- Stories & Memories;
- Future Possibilities & Decision-Making;
- Goals, Ambitions & Success;
- Digital Media & Social Media;
- Creativity & the Arts.
- Communicate effectively in English, both orally and in writing, by producing and interpreting texts appropriate to different purposes, contexts and audiences with linguistic accuracy, clarity and communicative effectiveness.
- Produce and interpret texts in English that are appropriate to a range of genres and communicative situations in academic, professional and workplace contexts.
- Critically analyse social and cultural issues related to the English language, considering its communicative functions, contexts of use and wider social implications.
Key themes and vocabulary
- Personal identity and relationships; work and study; experiences and storytelling; everyday communication; media and current affairs; creativity and culture. Vocabulary is developed through lexical fields and collocations related to these themes, enabling learners to communicate confidently in familiar personal, social and professional contexts.
Grammar
- Revision and consolidation of core B1 grammatical structures, including present, past and future verb forms, narrative tenses, question forms, modal verbs, relative clauses, comparatives and superlatives, reported speech, verb patterns, and the present perfect.
Required
- Clare, Antonia & JJ Wilson. Speakout B1. 3rd ed. Pearson, 2022.
Recommended
- Murphy, Raymond. English Grammar in Use. Cambridge University Press.
- Longman Active Study Dictionary. Longman.
Learning takes place primarily online and asynchronously through the Universidade Aberta virtual learning environment, combining independent study with collaborative activities, discussion forums, practical language tasks and regular feedback from the teaching team. The teaching methodology promotes learner autonomy, collaboration, flexibility and inclusion, enabling students to develop the B1-level communicative competences progressively through meaningful communicative contexts.
The course adopts a communicative approach based on Project-Based Learning (PBL), with a collaborative semester-long project serving as its central learning experience. Through research, communication, the creation of digital content and reflective activities, students integrate the grammatical, lexical and functional components of the course while applying English to authentic, real-world communication tasks.
To learn more about Universidade Aberta’s Virtual Pedagogical Model, visit:
Portal UAb-Modelo de Ensino.
Assessment follows the principles of continuous assessment and is aligned with the Project-Based Learning (PBL) methodology. Throughout the semester, students work in small groups to develop a collaborative project involving different stages of research, planning, digital content creation and presentation. Assessment considers both the learning process and the final product and is complemented by individual reflective activities. In addition, students complete an individual knowledge test at the beginning of the course.