Useful language

• Types of assessment
• Grading system
• Mark and grade
• Percentages
• Types of class
• ECTS credits
• Use of the present tense
• The student or students
• Stative and dynamic verbs

Types of assessment

• Make clear and specific reference to the type(s) of assessment students receive for the subject. Below is a list of terms that are useful when discussing assessment.
  
  

  Catalan	Recommended English translation
  avaluació contínua	continuous assessment
  avaluació en línia	online assessment
  avaluació final	final assessment
  avaluació formativa	formative assessment
  avaluació sumatòria	summative assessment
  examen escrit	written exam
  examen oral	oral exam
  examen parcial	mid-term exam mid-semester exam
  prova d'opció múltiple	multiple-choice test

Grading system

• In universities in the Xarxa Vives d'Universitats, Catalan academic grades are translated in the following way.
  
  
  

  Catalan	Recommended English translation
  aprovat	pass
  apte	pass (pass/fail grading system)
  excel·lent	excellent
  matrícula d'honor	distinction
  no apte	fail (pass/fail grading system)
  no presentat	absent
  notable	good
  suspens	fail
  pendent	pending

   

Mark and grade

• The terms mark and grade are often used interchangeably but note the following differences between them.
  
  

  Mark	Grade
  UK English	US English
  Numerical	Alphabetical
  Individual assessment task	Overall assessment of a subject

  
  Because of the third difference above, use grading system for the sistema de qualificació section of a course guide.
  
  

Percentages

• In course guides, indicate percentages numerically, with the per cent sign closed up to the value (75% not 75 %).
  
  

Types of class

• The following terms may be useful when discussing types of class.
  
  

  Catalan	Recommended English translation
  classe magistral classe teòrica	lecture
  pràctica de laboratori	laboratory practical
  pràctica en empresa	work placement internship
  tutoria	tutorial
  seminari	seminar
  classe presencial	face-to-face class on-campus class on-site class
  classe virtual classe en línia	virtual class online class
  classe híbrida	hybrid class
  classe semipresencial	blended class

ECTS credits

• The acronym ECTS means European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. So, when indicating the number of credits awarded to a particular subject, be sure to use the word credits after the phrase ECTS. Therefore, not
  
  Victorian Literature (10 ECTS)
  
  but
  
  Victorian Literature (10 ECTS credits)
  
  

Use of the present tense

• In any section where you describe the content of the course or of one of its topics in more general detail, use the present simple.
  
  In this course, students write a placement report using the templates and guidelines provided by the Faculty.

  In this part of the course, students use the software package SPSS Statistics for Windows to perform interactive or batched statistical analysis. Specifically, they learn to use the SPSS 'Transform' command to compute new variables from existing ones.

The student or students

• Generally speaking, use the plural students.
  
  Students should buy all the books on the reading list by the second week of classes.
  In the second semester, students will be required to submit a ten-page report.
  
  However, when you want to emphasise the individual nature of the learning, such as in course guides that describe the end-of-degree project, use the singular.

  
  Each student will be asked to prepare an outline of the second assignment, which must be presented to the rest of the class.

  In this case, if you need to use pronouns, use they, them and their. This is more concise and inclusive than using expressions such as he or she, him or her or his or her.

  Therefore, not

  The student will present his or her assignment to the rest of the class. When he or she has finished, the rest of the class will have twenty minutes to ask him or her questions about anything that seemed unclear.

  but

  The student will present their assignment to the rest of the class. When they have finished, the rest of the class will have twenty minutes to ask them questions about anything that seemed unclear.

Stative and dynamic verbs

• When you describe the learning objectives and learning outcomes of your course use dynamic verbs rather than stative verbs: in other words, use verbs that describe the objective in question as a specific, observable and therefore measurable action, like explain, classify, define, analyse or discuss, rather than as a general state or condition that cannot be easily evaluated, like know, understand, have experience of or be familiar with.

  
  Consider the following list.

  Objectius d'aprenentatge
  Comprendre el sistema que regula la seguretat pública.
  Familiaritzar-se amb les bones pràctiques de màrqueting.
  Conèixer la història de l'anàlisi biològica.
  
  The literal translation of the above list would be

  Learning objectives
  To understand the system regulating public safety.
  To be familiar with good practices in marketing.
  To know the history of biological analysis.

  However, these verbs are neither measurable nor dynamic, so a more appropriate and grammatically correct translation would be

  Learning objectives
  To explain the system regulating public safety.
  To identify good practices in marketing.
  To discuss the history of biological analysis.

  The above is particularly true of the Catalan verb conèixer, often used in lists of learning objectives. To translate this verb, do not use the stative verb know, which is neither measurable nor dynamic and cannot combine grammatically with the verbs can or be able to. Instead, use a dynamic verb. The table below offers some common-sense options.

  
  

  Catalan	Recommended English translation
  Conèixer el procediment legislatiu així com la resta d'instruments normatius...	Identify the legislative procedures and legal instruments...
  Conèixer la importància de l'organització administrativa...	Explain the importance of administrative organisation...
  Conèixer la importància del rol del govern multinivell de la UE...	Discuss the role played by the European Union's system of multi-level government...
  Conèixer el rol de l'Administració i del poder judicial com a actors...	Describe how the government and legal authorities enact the law...
  Conèixer els factors de l'estructura d'oportunitat política...	List the factors in political opportunity structure...

  
  For an extensive list of such verbs, see the Appendix.