English

Mgr. Martina Vránová, Ph.D.

Institute of Foreign Languages

Minimum necessary CEFR level of English is B2.

The exam has a written and an oral part.

Written part:
1 Submission of glossary of discipline-specific and academic vocabulary selected from at least three impact-journal articles with a minimum extent of 50 items. Assessment criteria: ability to study a foreign language independently.
2 Submission of research paper (minimum 9,000 characters) based on the student's master's or doctoral thesis. Assessment criteria: compliance with pre-set article structure, stylistic and grammatical correctness, use of discipline-specific vocabulary.
3 Short written assignment (150--200 words) on a general academic topic. Assessment criteria: general academic vocabulary and writing used in every-day academic contexts.

Oral part:
1 Presentation of conference contribution and follow-up discussion. Assessment criteria: compliance with pre-set structure of presentation, level of language skills, follow-up discussion.
2 Interview on doctoral study (research, teaching, participation in conferences including international ones, mobilities in abroad). Assessment criteria: fluency and interaction.

Students must pass all parts of the exam.

Students' participation in seminars is voluntary and the extent of instruction (one to three semesters) may be assessed by students themselves by taking a placement test in the e-learning.

The goal of English for Doctoral Degree Study is to provide students with language skills suitable for academic and professional areas, and prepare them for practical output of the acquired academic skills in the form of independent oral and written discourse at the C1 level of CEFR.

Skills: The skill to comprehend a scientific text, to reproduce it, and to compile a discipline-specific glossary. The skill to properly use the acquired grammar and academic style in both oral and written professional discourse. The ability of critical thinking, independent communication, and argumentation prevalent in the academia.
Output: independent written and oral performance.

Programme D-IME-P: Applied Mechanics, Doctoral, compulsory

Programme D-STG-P: Manufacturing Technology, Doctoral, compulsory

Programme D-KPI-P: Design and Process Engineering, Doctoral, compulsory

Programme D-ENE-P: Power Engineering, Doctoral, compulsory

Programme D-MAT-P: Materials Sciences, Doctoral, compulsory

Programme D-ENE-A: Power Engineering, Doctoral, compulsory

Programme D-FIN-P: Physical Engineering and Nanotechnology, Doctoral, compulsory

Programme D-APM-P: Applied Mathematics, Doctoral, compulsory

60 hours, compulsory

Academic Skills 1

Week 1: Demands on doctoral students and appropriate skills
Week 2:  Accidental discoveries (role of narraive in the sciences)
Week 3: Extended definitions (technical vocabulary, paragraph structure)
Week 4: Teamwork
Week 5: Describing visual information I (Writing)
Week 6: Describing visual information II (Presenting)
Week 7: Goal setting and assessing progress
Week 8: Role of passive constructions 
Week 9: Inspiring innovation 
Week 10: Effective teaching

Academic Skills 2

Week 1: Adulting skills
Week 2: Process description (connectors)
Week 3: Modern cities (planning, advantages and disadvantages)
Week 4: Modals 
Week 5: Applications of hard science
Week 6: Comparison and contrast (writing and grammar)
Week 7: Work and fun (mental health)
Week 8: Non-technical aspects of technology (conditionals)
Week 9: Consequences of progress  
Week 10: The world of work


Academic Skills 3

Week 1: The writing process: heuristics, evaluating sources, references
Week 2: Compiling glossary, General, academic and technical vocabulary
Week 3: Introduction to rhetoric; Title, abstract, key words
Week 4: Introductions and body paragraphs
Week 5: Methods, Results and discussion
Week 6: Cohesion, thematic progression, referencing
Week 7: Conclusions
Week 8: Articles and punctuation
Week 9: Giving conference papers
Week 10: Giving conference papers