The English Language I course aims to help medical students master the basics of English for specific purposes (LSP), i.e., the English language of medicine. Advanced knowledge of the English language, specifically medical English, is necessary for medical students and medical professionals alike. To successfully complete this course, students should already be sufficiently competent in general English (GE). During the course, students are expected to master medical terminology and grammar in the medical context. Proficiency in GE does not necessarily imply proficiency in medical English. Thus, all our students are considered beginners in medical English. The course focuses on strengthening grammar, reading, writing, listening, comprehension, and vocabulary skills. The course combines group and pair work with work in the larger group and consists of short lectures, numerous exercises, short activities, tasks, mini projects, discussions, roleplay, debates, written assignments, and other forms of coursework. The course covers a set of medical topics (presented in the textbook and the syllabus), which are the basis for all course activities. The grammar sections focus on those aspects of grammar that are especially relevant in the context of medical English.
Members of Department
English language Medicine and Society
Professor Sofija Mićić Kandijaš Associate Professor Danijela Tiosavljević
Assistant Professor Danka Sinadinović Assistant Professor Vida Jeremić Stojković
Lecturer Biljana Vukčević Lacković Assistant Professor Smiljana Cvjetković
Teaching Assistant Tamara Tošić Assistant Professor Pavle Piperac
Teaching Assistant Andrija Pavlović
Curriculum
English Language I is an obligatory course lasting 30 weeks (60 classes) - 15 weeks in the fall and 15 weeks in the spring semester. The classes are organized in groups, once a week. They last 90 minutes. Attendance is recorded in student sign-in sheets.
FALL TERM
- week Introduction to the Course
- week
lecture: Introduction to Medicine and Health
practicals: Articles (1)
- week
lecture: Ethical Issues in Medicine
practicals: Articles (2)
- week
lecture: Insights into History of Medicine
practicals: Articles (3), Prefixes
- week
lecture: Types of Illness
practicals: Suffixes
- week
REVIEW I
- week
lecture: Key Concepts and Terms in Social Medicine
practicals: Prefixes in Medicine
- week
lecture: The Role of Hospitals in Health System Reforms
lecture: Suffixes in Medicine
- week
lecture: Medical Statistics and Informatics
practicals: Nouns (Countable and Uncountable), Quantifiers
- week
REVIEW II
- week
lecture: Structures and Systems in the Human Body
practicals: Uncommon Plurals
- week
lecture: DNA, Gene Expression and Cell Reproduction
practicals: Adjectives and Adverbs
- week
lecture: The Science of Genetics
practicals: Comparatives and Superlatives
- week
REVIEW III
- week
Exam practice
SPRING TERM
- WEEK
lecture: Describing Relations between Body Parts
practicals: Locative Adjectives and Adverbs
- week
lecture: The Musculo-Skeletal System
practicals: Locative Verbs and Prepositions
- week
lecture: The Integumentary System and the Immune System
practicals: Compound Adjectives
- week
REVIEW IV
- week
lecture The Nervous System
practicals: Verb Forms
- week
lecture e: The Endocrine System
lecture: Noun and Verb Structures
- week
lecture: The Reproductive System
practicals: Word Building
- week
REVIEW V
- week
lecture: The Respiratory System;
practicals: Present Tenses, Active and Passive; Passive Forms of the Past Tenses
- week
lecture: The Circulatory System
practicals: Past Tenses, Active and Passive
- week
lecture: The Digestive System
practicals: Future Tenses, Active and Passive
- week
lecture: The Urinary System
practicals: Passives and Impersonal ‘It’
- week
REVIEW VI
- week
Sample Test
- week
Exam practice
Course material
COURSEBOOK:
1. Mićić Kandijaš, S. (2019). English in Medicine and Related Sciences, LIBRI MEDICI, Medicinski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Beograd.
ADDITIONAL LITERATURE:
DICTIONARY
Mićić, S. (2011). Medicinski rečnik (englesko-srpski/srpsko-engleski), 2. dopunjeno izdanje, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, Beograd.
GRAMMAR
Vukčević Lacković, B. (2017). Concise English Grammar for Students of Medicine and Related Sciences I. Available online.
Grading policy
The final written examination is organized in June. It is a multiple-choice test that consists of several segments covering grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and language in context. If a student does not take or pass the test in June, he/she is required to take and pass the test no later than the October examination period of the current academic year, in order to enroll in the second year of studies. The English I exam is graded with points, i.e., with a PASS or FAIL grade, which are both entered into the student record/file (student index booklet). In order to pass, a student must have a minimum of 51/100 points.
Contact
English Language Course Director: Prof. Sofija Mićić Kandijaš, e-mail: sofijam@gmail.com