About This Course

This 12-unit course is produced by the Foreign Languages Department, Medical College, Shantou University. Although it was initially designed for medical students, we believe it will be equally useful for students from other disciplines who are seeking to improve their language and cognitive skills to meet their academic goals.

We aim to help learners develop academic literacy through the mastery of three basic skills: academic language skills, critical thinking skills, and information management skills. We will not only teach learners how to get access to and search for academic information, but also how to understand and evaluate the information for their own purposes. And most importantly, we encourage learners to become information creators to produce and share the information in specific academic contexts.

Prerequisites

Intermediate level of English

Course Staff

Miao YANG (Ivy)

Miao YANG (Ivy), Master (Leeds University), PhD (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Professor and vice director of the Foreign Languages Department, Shantou University Medical College. She has published research articles and books/chapters on second language writing, content-based learning, and ESP/EAP curriculum development. She is an invited reviewer for System, Asian-Pacific Education Research, and Linguistic and Education. She is also the main investigator of several research projects granted by Ministry of Education and Department of Education of Guangdong Province.

Xiaoling LI (Sally)

Xiaoling LI (Sally) is an Associate Professor in Foreign Languages Departmen, Shantou University Medical College. She was granted a Bachelor's degree on English language and literature (South China Normal University) in 2003 and a Master degree on English language and literature (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies) in 2010. She has been engaging in college English teaching for more than 15 years. Her research interests focus on EFL learning & teaching, EFL classroom interaction and web-based English autonomous learning in particular.

Peifang Lai (Annie)

Peifang Lai (Annie) received her MA in Foreign linguistics and Applied Linguistics from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in 2005. She has been teaching English as a member of the Foreign Languages Department at Shantou University Medical College since 2007. Her main research interests lie in applied linguistics and English language teaching. She also has gained proven experience in translation and interpreting as well as editing for renowned employers/freelance clients including world famous publishing groups and multinational companies. Her publications come in papers, books on English learning (co-authored), supplementary books, translation of textbooks and leisure books.

Fan Yu (Ellen)

Fan Yu (Ellen) is a Lecturer in the Foreign Languages Department, Shantou University Medical College. With the Master degree of Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages from Sydney University, she has years of teaching experience in Academic English writing, general English reading and writing and College English Test training.

Lijia Xie (Angel)

Lijia Xie (Angel) is a Lecturer in Foreign Languages Department, Shantou University Medical College. She holds a Bachelor's degree on English Education (South China Normal University) and a Master degree on English Language and Literature (Sun Yat-Sen University). Her current research interests include English for Specific Purposes, blended learning, Computer-assisted language learning (CALL), and second language acquisition. She is now responsible for the teaching of General English and Academic English to students of different language proficiency.

Heng Cai (Estella)

Heng Cai (Estella) holds a MA degree in Language Learning and Education from the University of York, UK and a BA in English Language and Culture from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Learning and teaching Language has always been her greatest passion. She joined the SUMC in 2013. Prior to that, she taught various ESL courses at the English Language Center of Shantou University for 3 years. Her research interests include intercultural communication, speech anxiety, and teaching English for Academic Purposes.

James Young

I have a Master's degree in applied linguistics and am currently a PhD candidate with the University of Leicester, UK. I have been at SUMC for one year teaching medical English. I worked as a journalist in the UK before training to become a teacher and going on to work in Italy and South Korea. I have been in China for about four years at the time of writing and have enjoyed it here. I am looking forward to assisting students with their academic English at SUMC and hope that I can help develop their skills and confidence.

Shuqiong Gong (Moon)

Hi, my name is Shuqiong (Moon) Gong. I started teaching at SUMC in 2015, shortly after I earned my Master's of Arts degree in Foreign Language Education from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. After spending six years living and studying in the United States, my passion for teaching foreign languages and exploring different cultures grew much stronger. As the famous movie director Federico Fellini once said, “A different language is a different vision of life.” I truly hope my passion will help medical students open a door to a whole new world.

Xiaodong Cai (Sharon)

Xiaodong Cai (Sharon) is a teaching assistant/technician in Foreign Languages Department, Shantou University Medical College.