English for Academics Programme Week 1 Day 1

English for Academics

English for Academics

Programme

Week 1

Day 1

Content

Speaking:

• Greetings and Introductions
• Starting and keeping a conversation going

Reading:

• International academic conferences. Conference Announcements

Writing:

• Academic Correspondence; Ready to start

How do you greet people in formal and informal situations in your culture? How do you usually introduce yourself and others?

Look at the pictures How are they different? Which situation seems inappropriate? Why?

Formal and Informal Greetings

Listen to six conversations. They all take place at a conference. How well do the speakers know each other?

Formal and Informal Greetings

Tick the best response (a,b or c) in each situation. Sometimes more than one answer may be correct.

Formal and Informal Greetings

Role-play some conversations

Formal Introductions

Practise introducing yourself to an audience. Use the phrases from the Language Support box below.

Good morning/afternoon/evening, dear colleagues. My name is Igor Petrov. I am an Associate Professor at Moscow State University, Russia. I am honoured to be here.

Language Support: introductions at a conference

Introducing yourself

I`m honoured to be here.

It`s a pleasure to be here.

I`m glad to be here again.

Formal Introductions

Imagine your partner is a guest speaker at your university. Introduce him/her to the class. Use phrases from the Language Support box.

I`d like to welcome San Dines, Marketing Director of ABC Company. Some of you met him last year at the autumn conference. He is a very well-known expert on world financial markets and the author of several textbooks we recommend to our students. It`s good to have you here again., Sam.

Language Support: introductions at a conference

Introducing other people

I am happy to introduce our guest to you

It is an honour to introduce our colleague from …

I`d like to introduce … He/she is our guest speaker from …

Starting and keeping a conversation going

What is necessary to keep a conversation going? Discuss the question.

. “3As” rule of successful communication

Ask+Answer+Add=success

Starting and keeping a conversation going

1. Asking Questions.

2. Role- play the questions using the “3As” rules of successful communication.

The first five minutes of a conversation with someone you don`t know can be rather difficult. The best way to get a conversation going is to ask questions. Start with a question about the other person rather than a statement about yourself. An easy way to keep the conversation going is to ask: And what about you?

Starting and keeping a conversation going

1. Follow-up questions

2. Working in pairs. Asking and answering the questions.

3. Role-Play some conversations using “3As” rule of communication and How-questions.

We often ask follow-up questions to develop a conversation. Many of these follow-up questions begin with the question word How

International Academic Conferences Conference Announcements

1. How often do you take part in international conferences? Have you ever given a presentation at one? If yes, in which language did you present?

2. Where do you usually get information about conferences?

3. When you read a conference announcements, what information do you look for first?

Reading Focus

Reading Focus

Skim the following announcements focusing on the content words and match them with three of the conference titles from Activity 2.

Reading Focus

Skim the following announcements focusing on the content words and match them with three of the conference titles from Activity 2.

Reading Focus

Skim the following announcements focusing on the content words and match them with three of the conference titles from Activity 2.

Reading Focus

Vocabulary Focus

Vocabulary Focus

Writing Corner Academic Correspondence

1. What rules of etiquette do you know?

2. Why is it important to follow these rules?

3. What is email etiquette, in your opinion?

Formal Style

Put the expressions in order to make two letters. What language features helped you complete the task?

Organising an email/ a letter

Writing a formal email