Texts, terms and tasks. Academic english for students of the social sciences

The teaching materials in this volume are intended for use with students of Political Science and related social science studies at intermediate and advanced levels of competence in English. They are the fruit of intensive experimentation overthe lastseveral years by a group of language professors in an Academic English course which prepares undergraduate students in Political Science at the Luiss Guido Carli University for the final English examination. They represent a new type of course based on the innovative educational concept of 'blended learning', and are meant to be taught using a mix of in-class guided learning and autonomous multimedia activities. In this approach, interactive and communicative foreign language learning tasks are combined with the kinds of authentic language and texts that will allow students to learn about and research subjects of real interest to them. The course has been designed for university students who need to develop the academic language and skills which will allow them to broaden their studies and/or to participate in international programmes at home and abroad, which are more and more often taught in English.