Study Guide

Objective

The student manages professional situations requiring language skills both orally and in writing. The student masters the central vocabulary of his/her own specific field and is able to apply information from sources available in English. The student has the language skills required by the internationalising working environment.

Content

 
The contents of the study module are based on communication situations occurring in working life. Main topics:
- Education and applying for a job: students are able to tell others about themselves and about their education and work experience
- Working environment and business life: students can communicate in a customer-oriented way in the working environment of their own field and pass information on their job, tasks and the field-specific functions as part of the surrounding society.
 
 
 

Materials

Online material available in itslearning.
Field-related material chosen by the students.

Teaching methods

Self-study
Assignments and tasks
Learning by doing

Exam schedules

No exams, no re-sits.
Task-based assessment.

International connections

Flipped classroom method
Learning by doing

Completion alternatives

No options for passing the course.

Student workload

Pre-class work
Evaluated assignments (graded on a scale 0-5)
Weekly contact teaching
Self-study

Content scheduling

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

The course includes the following topics:
- Communicating with Style, using correct register
- Professional emails
- Meetings
- Professional reporting
- Professional Presentation Skills
- Discussion Skills
- Field-specific terminology and vocabulary will be studied in context with the above-listed topics

Further information

The students are expected to take part in the lessons by answering questions, asking and commenting. Active participation is required.

The study material is available in itslearning.

The course starts in January 2025 according to the timetable. Participation in the opening lesson is highly important.

The teacher can be contacted by email: piia.pesso(a)turkuamk.fi.

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Task-based assessment, no exams. The course is assessed on a scale of 1-5 based on the following criteria:

The scale of 1-5 per assignment:
1 Professional Email
2 Meeting
3 Professional Report
4 Presentation

The final evaluation: the average of assignments 1-4 and active participation in lessons + completion of pre-class work and other course tasks on time (+/-)

Attendance in 7 out of 11 lessons (4 absences allowed). Some lessons may be mandatory.

3 assignments must be completed before any credits can be gained.
In addition, active attendance and participation in lessons is required due to the nature of the studied subject (some lessons are obligatory). Absences cannot be compensated with extra work and there are no exceptions to deadlines.
If the student passes the course, it is not possible to raise the score (and the grade) by redoing some of the assignments (as stated in the degree regulation).

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

Evaluated assignments not completed
Many absences from lessons.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

Average 1.5 of the assignments (grade 2) or at least 1 (grade 1).
Pre-class work not completed and/or many absences from lessons.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

The average of the assignments at least 3.5 (grade 4) and 2.5 (grade 3).
Active demonstration of skills in lessons and pre-class work completed (grade 4). Attendance in lessons.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

All assignments completed on time and the average at least 4.5.
Active demonstration of skills in lessons and pre-class work completed on time. Active attendance in lessons.