English for Information Technology professionals

Introduction

English for Information Technology is an online course, consisting of 56 units of English, and providing approximately 60 hours of study for students.

Course aims

To give students at Intermediate, CEFR B1/Upper Intermediate B2 level practice in general and business-oriented language required for business contexts at this level, specifically tailored towards IT. The course blends grammatical structures necessary for this level, with vocabulary, reading, listening, writing, speaking, and pronunciation.

Grammar

By the end of the course, students will be able to

  • Distinguish and be able to correctly describe countable and uncountable nouns.
  • Compare adjectives and adverbs, using comparative and superlative forms.
  • Describe real-life choices using the First Conditional form.
  • Use the passive voice correctly in written and spoken English.
  • Use gerund and infinitive forms to form more complex and accurate sentences.
  • Use the present continuous form to describe situations in the future.
  • Use the present perfect tense to describe situations requiring a link between the present and the past.
  • Use relative pronouns and clauses to link simple ideas into more complex sentences.

Vocabulary

  • By the end of the course students will have learnt approximately 100 lexical items used in an IT setting.

Skills

  • By the end of the course students will have had exposure to and practice in reading and hearing formal and informal English from a variety of accents and IT contexts.

Unit summary

Module 1

  • Introduction to English for Information Technology
  • Grammar: Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Vocabulary: General IT vocabulary 1
  • Reading: A Day in my IT worklife
  • Listening: Dialogue: One person’s experience working in IT
  • Writing: Write about how you started your career in Information Technology
  • Speaking: Are information technology jobs going to be replaced by AI?
  • Pronunciation: Minimal pair: /ə/ and /e/ ; dealing with connected speech

Module 2

  • Common IT Vocabulary and Terminology
  • Grammar: Comparatives and superlatives
  • Vocabulary: General IT vocabulary 2
  • Reading: A constantly changing world
  • Listening: Dialogue: Specialist vocabulary in IT
  • Writing: Write about new vocabulary you have learnt in the last year
  • Speaking: Is it important to learn technical vocabulary, when everything changes so quickly?
  • Pronunciation: Minimal pair: /ts/ and /ʧ/ ; dealing with connected speech

Module 3

  • Writing Effective Emails in the IT Industry
  • Grammar: First conditional
  • Vocabulary: Vocabulary necessary for writing effective emails
  • Reading: A business email
  • Listening: Talk: How to write effective emails
  • Writing: What is your opinion of emails, receiving and writing them?
  • Speaking: Do you write more emails or fewer emails than you did five years ago? Why?
  • Pronunciation: Minimal pair: /e/ and /ʌ/ ; dealing with connected speech

Module 4

  • Describing Software and Hardware in English
  • Grammar: Gerunds and Infinitives
  • Vocabulary: Vocabulary necessary to describe computer hardware and software
  • Reading: Microsoft Powerpoint/Out of date computer hardware: a false economy
  • Listening: Dialogue: Talking about a new software program
  • Writing: Write about your computer hardware set up and what you would like to improve about it
  • Speaking: What’s the best piece of software you’ve ever used, and why?
  • Pronunciation: Minimal pair: /ʊ/ and /ʌ/ ; dealing with connected speech

Module 5

  • Preparing for English Language IT Interviews and Job Applications
  • Grammar: The Passive
  • Vocabulary: Vocabulary necessary for describing the interview process
  • Reading: Interview tips
  • Listening: Dialogue: A sample interview
  • Writing: Write about a failed job interview and what you have learnt from it
  • Speaking: What was it about your last job interview that you think got you your current job?
  • Pronunciation: Minimal pair: /æ/ and /ʌ/ ; dealing with connected speech

Module 6

  • Effective Communication in Cross-Functional IT Teams
  • Grammar: Present continuous with future reference
  • Vocabulary: Vocabulary necessary for describing effective communication
  • Reading: Please let me be understood!
  • Listening: Talk: How to communicate effectively
  • Writing: Write about the issues you have had trying to communicate effectively with those from a different culture
  • Speaking: Are you a good communicator?
  • Pronunciation: Minimal pair: /d/ and /r/ ; dealing with connected speech

Module 7

  • Understanding Technical Reports and Documents
  • Grammar: Present perfect
  • Vocabulary: Vocabulary necessary for the correct understanding of reports
  • Reading: Reporting your worklife
  • Listening: Dialogue: Dealing with reports and technical documents
  • Writing: Write about whether you like or hate reading technical reports
  • Speaking: Do you pay attention to technical reports?
  • Pronunciation: Minimal pair: /f/ and /v/ ; dealing with connected speech

Module 8

  • Using English for Technical Writing and Documentation
  • Grammar: Relative pronouns and clauses
  • Vocabulary: Vocabulary necessary for the effective writing of reports
  • Reading: Website issues and solutions
  • Listening: Dialogue: Writing technical reports in English
  • Writing: Write about how the quality of your technical report writing has changed over the years.
  • Speaking: Are you able to write technical reports without using a translation tool?
  • Pronunciation: Minimal pair: /g/ and /j/ ; dealing with connected speech

Follow-up

Students completing the English for Information Technology professionals course should feel confident in tackling any upper intermediate course, including our Upper Intermediate Business Power course.

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