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United Arab Emirates University

University General Requirements Unit

Communications Programme

English Level 3

Integrated Strand

Students’ Handbook

Page:

2. Level 3 in a Nutshell

Assessment

CGEs

3. Coursework Grades

Mid and Final Exams

Course books and other materials

How to pass Level 3!

4. How to pass IELTS!

How to pass Everything!

5. Level 3 Calendar

7. Vocabulary and Grammar for your first

test

VTL1

9. VTL 2

11. VTL 3

13. Grammar Syllabus 1A

16. Application for IELTS Exam

17, Frequently Asked Questions

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Level 3 in a Nutshell

Welcome to Level 3!

This document show you the main things you need to know for success in Level 3.

Aims In Level 3 Integrated we have two aims:

1. To prepare you for university

E.g. by helping you to:

understand academic written and spoken texts

take notes

take part in discussions,

teaching you important vocabulary (taken from two word lists: the

General Service List of 2000 words and the Academic Word List)

improve your ability to use grammar.

Target: Intermediate; EFR B1/B2; modest to competent user

2. To prepare you to do the IELTS International English Language Testing System

exam.

Target: Academic Band 5 and above

Assessment There are twelve grades given in Level 3: eight Integrated and four Writing.

Integrated Strand Total value: 70%

4 CGE tests of Vocabulary and Grammar (and a little

reading)

30%

2 course work grades allocated by teachers (CWGs) 10%

2 exams of Listening and Reading (Midterm and Final) 30%

Writing Strand Total value: 30%

1 Writing Project 7%

1 Alternative Graphs course 3%

2 Writing Exams 20%

Computer Generated Exams (CGE Tests) There are four of these. You will take them in the Computer Lab about every four weeks.

They get more important as you go through the semester: CGE 1 to 4 are worth 3%, 6%,

9% and 12% respectively. In each one there are 35 vocabulary questions, 20 grammar

questions and 5 preview reading questions.

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Course Work Grades You will get two Course Work Grades (CWGs), one for Module 1, and one for Module 2.

Each is a mark out of 20, and each is worth up to 5% of the total English grade - that’s

10% for the two grades. These are given by your Integrated teacher for work that s/he

will tell you about. This is continuous assessment – it is for work you do for your teacher

week by week.

Mid and Final Exams There are two major paper-based exams and they have increasing importance: the

Midterm Exam is worth 10%; the Final Exam is worth 20%.

Some parts of these exams are ‘previewed’ and others are ‘unseen’. This means that you

get to see some of the things in these exams before the exam. We give you three reading

passages and four listening passages before the exam. Two of the reading passages and 2

of the listening passages will be in the exam. This means you can revise better for them.

Other parts will be new to you and you will only see them on the day of the exam. About

45% of each exam is previewed and about 55% is new. You must work on the Preview

passages independently – that is, out of class.

1. A previewed Listening Dialogue (7 qs)

2. A previewed Lecture (10 qs)

3. An unseen Dialogue (8 qs)

4. An unseen Lecture (10 qs)

5. An unseen ‘Understanding Graphics’ exercise

6. A previewed reading passage (15 qs)

7. An unseen reading passage (15 qs)

Course Books and other materials Your course books are:

Focus on IELTS Foundation, S. O’Connell

Developing Grammar in Context, Nettle and Hopkins

Your teacher will give you lots of other work, particularly on Vocabulary and Grammar.

How to Pass Level 3

Work hard!

Don’t take days off! Every semester most students who are absent 6 or more

times fail Level 3. About half of the students with 5 absences fail. Most students

with 4 absences or less, pass!

Work hard on Vocabulary! Students who get poor grades on vocabulary almost

always fail.

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Work hard on Grammar! Students who get high grades on Grammar almost

always pass.

Work hard on the Preview Listening and Reading! Some of these will be in your

Mid and Final exams.

How to Pass IELTS

Work hard!

Speak! Many students who fail IELTS in Listening, Reading or Writing end up

passing IELTS overall because they get better marks in Speaking. Speaking is the

thing that most students are best at. So work hard on Speaking to make sure of

getting those extra marks! Read! Many students fail IELTS because they do badly in the Reading Test. For

the last two semester Reading has been the biggest problem for our students in

IELTS. Almost all students who do well in reading, pass IELTS with a high

grade. Listen! Watch TV, listen to L3 lectures and conversations. Work hard on Writing! Our writing results get better every year. This is because

of the excellent Writing course you are given by the L3 Writing Strand. With this

course you have a chance to do very well, so make sure you pay attention and

work hard in it.

How to Pass Everything

Work Independently and Be Interested

The most important thing is to get better. You do this by working away from class as

well as in class. And you do it by being interested in what you are learning. You do not

do it by taking exams over and over again and hoping to be lucky. In the IELTS exam,

for example, you get better grades by having better English. If your English is not good

enough for a Band 5, you must make it better.

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Level 3 Integrated Calendar Fall 2012

Week (Beginning)

Pacing Example

Integrated Events (Dates are Provisional)

Writing + Other Events

1 (9

th Sept)

Distribute: Integrated Syllabus, and Students’ Handbook Focus on IELTS Foundation U1 (Vocabulary to Learn) VTL List 1

Grammar Syllabus 1A

IELTS ‘Mock’ 1 (sometime in first two weeks

if possible)

2 (16

th Sept)

Distribute Module 1 Preview Readings and Listenings Focus on IELTS Foundation U2 VTL List 2

3 (23

rd Sept)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U3 VTL List 3

4 (30

th Sept) Focus on IELTS Foundation U4

VTL List 4

CGE (Computer Generated Exam) 1 VTL Lists 1 – 3, Grammar

Module 1A (3%), Preview Reading 1

Writing Project Final Draft (7%)

5 (7

th Oct)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U5 VTL List 5

Grammar Syllabus 1B

Deadline for students to submit IELTS photos and passport copies

to teachers

6 (14

th Oct)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U6 VTL List 6

7 (21

st Oct)

Revision VTL List 1-6 Mid-term Practice Exam

Timed Writing Exam 1 (10%) T1 Bar/Line Graph, T2 Adv/Disadv.

8 (28

th Oct)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U7 VTL List 7

CGE 2 Vocabulary Lists 1 – 6, Module 1A + 1B Grammar, Preview Readings 1-3 (6%)

CWG 1 (5%) L3 Mid-term exam (10%)

Assessments in pink

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Week (Beginning)

Pacing Example

Integrated Events (Dates are Provisional)

Writing + Other Events

9 (4

th Nov)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U8 VTL List 8

Grammar Syllabus 2A

Writing Alt Charts (3%)

10 (11

th Nov)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U9 VTL List 9

11 (18

th Nov)

Revision

12 (25

th Nov)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U10 VTL List 10

CGE 3 Vocabulary Lists 1 – 9, Module 1A, 1B, 2A Grammar,

Preview Reading 4 (9%),

13 (2

th Dec)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U11 VTL List 11

Grammar Syllabus 2B

14 (9

th Dec)

Focus on IELTS Foundation U12 VTL List 12

IELTS ‘Mock’ 2 (Optional)

Midwinter Break (16th Dec to 5

th Jan inclusive)

15 (6

th Jan)

Revision Final Practice Exam

Grammar Syllabus 2B

CGE 4 ALL Vocabulary Lists: 1 – 12; ALL Grammar: Module 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, and Preview Readings 4-6

(12%)

Timed Writing Exam 2 (10%) T1 Pie + Table, T2 Prob. Solution

16 (13

th Jan)

CWG 2 (5%) L3 Final Exam: Mon Jan 14

th (20%)

IELTS Written Exam: Sat Jan 19th

17 (20th Jan) IELTS Speaking Exam

18 (27th Jan)

Level 1, 2 and faculty Final Exams: 26th

- 31st Jan

19 (3rd

Feb)

Last official day of Fall Semester Monday, 4th Feb 2013

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Vocabulary and Grammar for your first official

test: CGE 1 (Week 4)

Vocabulary

These are words you need to learn for your first graded test: CGE 1 They are all high

frequency words that you will probably meet again in your studies. Use this chart to

build your knowledge of these words – their other forms, synonyms, antonyms,

collocation (words that go with them), etc. Use a dictionary to help you. In the space

below each word write an example sentence (your own or from the book). One row is

already done for you (advice). Notice: the word with the asterisk is the one that is

testable in Task 1 and 2 of the CGE exams.

VTL 1

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb Notes

*abroad ing + abroad

verb + abroad

*advice

advisor

advise advisable advise

*advice

advisable

advisor

Go to your teacher if you want advice. *

+ profit

*annual

annually

opposite=disappearance

* + full infinitive

+ on / in + noun

opposite=disappear

appearance

*appear

* black

black

*blacken

* commit a +

criminal

criminal

*crime

criminally

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*

+ photography, image,

technology etc

*digital

digit

digitally

*

+ for something

+ to do something

eligibility

*eligible

* extract

*extract

*field + academic/ field of study

xXx xXx xXx

primary

primarily

*

*

*prison

*prisoner

imprison

*

+ by + noun

punish

*punishment

punishable

* the +/the + of

+ visit / capital etc

state

*state

thief plural =

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VTL 2

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb Notes

* absolute

*absolutely

*

+ text, year etc

*academic

academic

opposite=

*

opposite=

opposite=

accuracy

*accurate

accurately

by someone/something

assistant

assistance

*assist

*

+ ing

*avoid

avoidance

avoidable

*colleague xXx xXx xXx

* *construct

construction

* exact

*exactly

* frequent

*frequency

frequently

an indication of

something

*

of something

*indicate

indication

indicative

indicator

*

lecture

*lecture

lecturer

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* *link

link

*

+ reason, result etc

* *logically

logic

*logical

* mistakenly

mistake

mistaken

*mistake

* obtainable

*obtain

* *remove

removable

*

+ to

*respond

response

* retention

*retain

* + for something

substitute

substitution

*substitute

*technique

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VTL 3

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb Notes

* *afford

affordable

*aspect + of something

xXx xXx xXx

* + line / + line worker

assembly

*assembly

*career xXx xXx xXx

xXx xXx xXx xXx *despite

+ ing

+ noun

*

exam

examine

examiner

*examination

*factor xXx xXx xXx

*

be/get involved in

something

*involve

involvement

involved

* journey

*journey

* manage

managerial

*manager

* *mention

mention

*pattern stress/grammatical

xXx xXx xXx

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quality

quality

recommend*

*role xXx xXx xXx

*

job/quality/material etc

+

opposite=

opposite=

satisfactorily

satisfactory

satisfied

*satisfaction

satisfying

satisfy

dissatisfaction

dissatisfied

* word +

stress

*stress

*

+ payer

income/value added etc

+

plural=

taxed

*taxation

tax

tax

taxable

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Grammar

Module 1A Level 3 Grammar Syllabus (Fall 2012)

Module 1A

Note: Words in bold italics are GRAMMAR FORMS and may be tested with many different words. For example, studies = present simple tense; this may be tested with

other words such as play, watches and many others. Words in bold underlined italics are SPECIFIC GRAMMAR ITEMS and can only be tested as they are. For example,

in contrast is a specific grammar item that may not be changed. These grammar items may be tested in CGE Exam 1 and in later CGE exams.

(A) Verb Forms

A1 General verb forms (+/-) Present simple:

Maitha studies vocabulary every day.

Some people do not like watching football.

Past simple:

Khaled went to Japan last summer.

Alya did not finish her essay yesterday.

Future time: (for simple future events without premeditation)

Ahmed will be here tomorrow.

The class will not begin until 3:30.

(B) Cohesive Devices

B1

Linkers

Grammatical Form

Conjunctions Connectors Prepositions

Addition Maryam loves cooking. She often cooks Lebanese food.

In addition, she likes cooking

Indian food.

In addition to fantastic hotels, there are many great shopping

malls in Dubai.

Contrast Khaled likes playing tennis,

while Ahmed likes playing

football.

Khaled likes playing tennis.

In contrast/On the other

hand, Ahmed likes playing

In contrast to Ahmed, Khaled

likes playing tennis.

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football.

Example There seems to be a lot of

evidence to support the

theory of global warming.

For example, the weather is

getting hotter in many

countries.

Khaled has many hobbies, such

as playing football, watching

movies, and reading stories.

B3

Pronouns and

determiners

Pronouns Subject / object pronouns

I / me, you / you, he / him, she / her, it / it, we / us, they / them

Pronouns / determiners this / that, these / those

(C) Parts of Speech

C1

Verbs

(1) in clauses: Khaled is a student, but Ali is a policeman.

(2) after helping verbs in negative clauses: Shaikha does not like fish.

(3) after modal verbs: Ali can speak French.

(4) after ‘to’ in full infinitives: Faisal wants to be an engineer.

Nouns (including

gerunds)

(1) as subjects: Japanese is a difficult language to learn. Swimming is good for your health.

(2) as objects: Khaled plays football every day.

(3) after prepositions: Eiman lives in an apartment. In contrast to Al Ain, Dubai is near the sea.

(4) after articles: The teacher is in her office.

(5) after possessives: Her name is Noura.

(6) after quantifiers: There are many books in the library.

(7) after adjectives: He is a new student.

Adjectives (including

-ed/-ing forms)

(1) before nouns: She lives in a large house.

(2) after linking verbs, especially ‘to be’: Football is interesting.

(3) in comparatives with ‘as…as’: Muna is as old as Reem.

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C1

C1

(cont.)

Adverbs

Adverbs

(cont.)

(1) adverbs of frequency: Amna usually goes to work by car. Moza is sometimes late for class.

Ali gets a pay increase annually.

(2) adverbs of manner (describing how something is done): Shamsa speaks English well.

(3) adverbs of degree (describing how much something changes): The price of oil decreased

considerably last week.

(4) before adjectives: Driving fast is extremely dangerous.

(5) showing a speaker’s/writer’s opinion or attitude: Obviously, pollution is a serious problem.

(6) as linkers: Ali was very tired yesterday evening. Consequently, he went to bed early.

(7) in comparatives with ‘as…as’: Saad does not write as quickly as Mohammed.

C2 Word forms: common

prefixes and suffixes

e.g., verb + -ion = noun: action, conclusion, connection, contribution, etc: verb + -er = noun

(describing a person who does the action): designer, lecturer, teacher, etc.

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IELTS Application Information

1. Photographs:

Your photographs must follow these rules:

The two photographs must be the same

You can NOT use portrait style photographs where you look to the side. You

MUST sit straight and look straight at the camera.

You MUST NOT be wearing glasses in the photo.

The photos MUST have a white background.

Write your name, ID number and section number on the back of both pictures.

2. Passport / National ID Card copies:

This must be the photo page of your passport or the photo side of your National

ID card.

The passport / ID card must be current on the date of the exam, not the date you

hand the photocopy to your teacher. If your passport or ID card is or will be out

of date, you must get a new one.

Write your name, ID number and section number on the back of your passport /

National ID copy.

3. Application Forms:

Use black or blue pen and sign the form in pen, not pencil

Make sure that your name is spelt the same way as on your passport.

Don’t forget to date and sign the back of the application form.

You must give your photos and passport copy to

your teacher by Sunday,7th

Oct, 2012

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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions Read these questions and answers carefully. They can help you understand everything

you need to know about theLevel 3 course and the IELTS exam.

1. What will happen if I fail Level 3?

You have to repeat Level 3

2. What will happen if I pass Level 3 but fail IELTS?

You will be out of Level 3 but not yet in faculty. You will have to go to the ILC,

Writing Centre and Speaking Centre on your own to get practice. UGRU may

give you a short IELTS course to help you get the Band score you need. If you get

the Band Score you need when you do the exam a second time, you will continue

your studies in the University. If you don’t get the Band score you need, then you

can try again for a third time, but you will have to pay for the exam. It costs

850 dhs.

3. If I pay for an IELTS exam myself and get a Band 5 IELTS independently –can

I leave Level 3 and enter faculty?

Yes, usually. But you MUST tell your teacher. He will find out if your IELTS

certificate is considered valid by the university. However, you should finish your

Level 3 course – you cannot enter Faculty until next semester, the English lessons

are free and you might as well improve your English! It’s not just about pieces of

paper (exam certificates) it’s about education! And anyway, why not wait for the

Level 3 IELTS exam and save yourself the money!

4. I have failed Level 3 twice; what will happen if I fail again?

You will have to leave the university or get Band 5 IELTS independently; i.e. pay

for the exam yourself.

5. Where can I find IELTS practice material?

There is a lot of practice material in the ILC.

6. What practice material is in the ILC? There are extra exercises for grammar, vocabulary and reading in the ILC. Do these

on your own. If you copy off someone else or just fill in the answers from the answer

key, then you really won’t know what you are good at and where you need extra

practice. You can also practice writing. Get a writing task from the ILC, finish it,

then take it to the Writing Centre to get it marked.

7. How will I know what I am good at and what I need extra practice in?

In week 1 or 2 you will do a practice exam. Don’t worry about this. This exam is

only to give you a chance to see what the real exam is like. It is not part of your

marks for the semester, but it will help you to do well in the IELTS exam. It will also

tell you what you are good at and what areas you need extra practice in.