Study Guide

Objective

The aim of the course is to activate and develop the students’ field-relevant English language and communication skills. The students will gain professional skills in various spoken and written communicative situations encountered in studies, working life and society. In addition, they will learn to utilize tools and techniques to further develop their skills in authentic, field-specific contexts.
Upon completing the course, the students should have acquired skills to communicate at level B2 according to European Framework of Reference for Languages, which states that at B2-level students should be able to produce clear, coherent and well-structured texts, present detailed descriptions related to one’s field of interest, express and exchange opinions using fluent language, follow complex arguments, and read longer articles and reports.

Content

- Writing academic and professional texts
- Presenting and discussing field-specific topics in academic and professional contexts
- Reading field-specific texts and utilizing the information in academic and professional contexts
- Learning and using key terminology of their field
- Becoming professional, autonomous language users in working life

Materials

The course learning material consists of versatile and field-specific materials supporting learning which can be found on the course's itslearning platform. The material will be discussed in more detail during the course.

Teaching methods

Learning methods are based on active learning and application of knowledge by the student, both independently and in groups.

Learning methods include for example problem-based learning, flipped learning, work life-based learning, peer-assessment, self-assessment, reflection and discussion.

International connections

Pedagogical approaches encourage students to actively learn and apply knowledge through a variety of methods and field-specific assignments.

Student workload

The learning tasks consist of assignments, in-class activities and homework tasks. The assignments are part of the approved completion of the course. The assignments are assessed on the scale 0-5. The assignments are as follows:
- Video CV
- Formal email
- Company presentation
- Learning report

Detailed instructions for the assignments will be given during the course.

Content scheduling

Practising the oral and written skills of English with field-specific and varied assignments.
Writing and reading texts, giving a presentation, discussing, practising vocabulary.

The extent of the course is 5 credits, corresponding to 135 hours of student work. The exact lecture dates can be found in the schedule. In addition, the course includes independent work alongside the lectures.

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

The assessment is based on presence in the lectures (75 % presence is required) as well as approved completion of assignments and submission of assignments by the deadline.

The final grade for the course is based on the assessment scale of 0-5.

The assessment methods include teacher assessment, student's self-assessment and peer-assessment. The assessment criteria are gone through during the course and these are also found on the itslearning platform.

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

The student does not complete the required tasks during the course. The oral and written production and understanding is scarce. The absences exceed the limitation, the student quits the course.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

The student succeeds satisfactorily in the oral and written production. The student is able to communicate even though the communication is inaccurate at times. The lack and inconsistency of the vocabulary repertoire limits the communication. There are deficiencies in the structures of the language

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

The student succeeds well in varied oral and written production situations. The student masters a varied vocabulary repertoire of the field and uses it well but there may be some inaccuracies in the language production. The student demonstrates skills to use structures in a versatile and correct manner but there might appear some mistakes in more demanding structures.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student demonstrates excellent skills in varied and demanding oral and written production situations. The student knows how to communicate in a context-appropriate manner. The student masters to a versatile and excellent extent the vocabulary of the field and in other contexts as well. The student is able to use multiple structures and shows how to use them in an almost impeccable manner.

Objective

The aim of the course is to activate and develop the students’ field-relevant English language and communication skills. The students will gain professional skills in various spoken and written communicative situations encountered in studies, working life and society. In addition, they will learn to utilize tools and techniques to further develop their skills in authentic, field-specific contexts.
Upon completing the course, the students should have acquired skills to communicate at level B2 according to European Framework of Reference for Languages, which states that at B2-level students should be able to produce clear, coherent and well-structured texts, present detailed descriptions related to one’s field of interest, express and exchange opinions using fluent language, follow complex arguments, and read longer articles and reports.

Content

- Writing academic and professional texts
- Presenting and discussing field-specific topics in academic and professional contexts
- Reading field-specific texts and utilizing the information in academic and professional contexts
- Learning and using key terminology of their field
- Becoming professional, autonomous language users in working life

Materials

Will be provided on course workspace. Use of all other relevant material is encouraged.

Teaching methods

Independent/pair work; Applied research, reporting and presenting; Online meetings in groups.

Independent/pair research and reflection

Interactive online meetings
Team discussions and sharing
Reading materials

Exam schedules

No examinations.

International connections

Innovation pedagogy; international and business-life oriented assignment-based individual/pair work

Individual/pair study supported by peer discussions and teacher guidance
Co-creation and co-teaching
Assignment-based and continuous assessment

Completion alternatives

The student can apply for accreditation prior to the course starts.
Alternative ways must be discussed with course teachers.

Student workload

5ECTS, 135 hours student work
-applied research
-reporting
-presenting
-working as pairs
-discussing and sharing in teams

Meetings integrated with Intercultural Communication for Global Work course. Meetings are compulsory even if student takes only one of the courses.

Content scheduling

- Writing using appropriate, professional style
- Presenting and discussing field-specific topics in professional contexts
- Reading field-specific texts and utilizing the information in professional contexts
- Learning and using key terminology of the field
- Becoming professional, autonomous language users in working life

Implementation in autumn 2023, exact dates in the schedule
Kick-off session during orientation days

Further information

Itslearning and email

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Career documents
Professional email
Pair Culture Project Report and Presentation

Activity in meetings (peer feedback, participation in written online discussions, sharing of own expertise)

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

Student did not complete required course assignments that show competence in course topics, did not participate in the online meetings to showcase competence in course topics or take an active part in the course to share expertise and learn from others.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

The student can describe satisfactorily the importance of business communication skills in oral and written business context, and shows some ability to communicate in situations requiring business communication skills.
The student can produce text that shows some only the basic features of professional
writing.
The student knows how to refer to sources. There are clear inconsistencies in the format and style of writing.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

The student is able to describe the communication skills needed in oral and
written business contexts and demonstrates ability to communicate in various
business situations.
The student can produce text that contains some features of professional
writing.
The student can refer to sources and compile a reference list although there are inconsistencies in the format and style.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student is able to analyse different communicative situations in business and suggest ways of improving the communication in challenging situations. The student shows ability to adapt and adjust his/her communication style in various situations requiring professional communication skills.
The student can produce text that contains most features of professional writing, has well-developed elements of paragraph and essay structure.
The student can produce text that displays unity and coherence as well consistency throughout the documents.
The student can refer to sources and compile a reference list in a consistent format and style.

Objective

The aim of the course is to activate and develop the students’ field-relevant English language and communication skills. The students will gain professional skills in various spoken and written communicative situations encountered in studies, working life and society. In addition, they will learn to utilize tools and techniques to further develop their skills in authentic, field-specific contexts.
Upon completing the course, the students should have acquired skills to communicate at level B2 according to European Framework of Reference for Languages, which states that at B2-level students should be able to produce clear, coherent and well-structured texts, present detailed descriptions related to one’s field of interest, express and exchange opinions using fluent language, follow complex arguments, and read longer articles and reports.

Content

- Writing academic and professional texts
- Presenting and discussing field-specific topics in academic and professional contexts
- Reading field-specific texts and utilizing the information in academic and professional contexts
- Learning and using key terminology of their field
- Becoming professional, autonomous language users in working life

Evaluation scale

H-5