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 working life and society. In addition, they will learn to utilize tools and techniques to further develop their skills in authentic, field-specific contexts. More specifically, students will focus on developing their language and communication skills in.
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 professional, field-specific texts
- presenting and discussing field-specific topics in a professional manner
- reading field-specific texts and utilizing the information in professional contexts
- learning and using key terminology of their field
- becoming professional, autonomous language users in working life

Materials

The course material is available in Its. Laptops or tablets are necessary to access the material during the course. Microphone and camera must function during the online meetings.

Teaching methods

The course is based on the flipped classroom method; the students study the theoretical part independently with help of the provided material and the online meetings are used for guidance and testing.

Student workload

You will be tested on your skills with spoken and written assignments on the course topics.

The content and assignments depend on the goal you set for yourself at the start of the course.

If your goal is grade 1 or 2, your study topics are: professional e-mail, talking about work, professional presentation.
If your goal is grade 3, your study topics are: professional e-mail, talking about work, professional presentation, group discussion.
If your goal is grade 4 or 5, your study topics are: professional e-mail, group discussion, professional writing, professional presentation.

Content scheduling

The course will run from 11 January to 30 April.

The course consists of online meetings (20h) and online work in Its (60h).

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.

Learning objectives by grades:

Grade 1 or 2 (A1-A2)

The student
- understands simple, basic words and phrases relating to everyday topics
- interacts with help of another speaker in routine situations and answers simple questions
- speaks about everyday topics e.g. work-related topics
- writes simple standard phrases and simple messages
- lacks in spontaneity, logical and clear expression, consideration on style

Grade 3 (B1)

The student
- understands the main points of standard speech or text
- interacts in most standard situations and discussions with some spontaneity or prompted by another speaker
- speaks about topics of personal interest logically and clearly
- writes connected text and standard messages with some consideration on style

Grade 4 (B2)

The student
- understands complex text and speech e.g. lectures, articles
- interacts and participates in discussions spontaneously, actively with familiar topics
- speaks about a wide range of topics logically and clearly
- writes detailed text with consideration on style

Grade 5 (C1-C2)

The student
- understands complex, specialized text and speech without difficulty
- interacts and participates in discussions actively and fluently on a wide range of topics
- speaks about a wide range of topics in a detailed and logical way
- writes complex and structured text with consideration on style

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

The evaluation is assignment-based and no exams will be organized. The final evaluation is the average of assignment evaluations.

The assignments are evaluated considering the instructions and learning objectives, and the goal you have chosen. Note that the key part of the evaluation is the QUALITY of your work, that is, how well you have completed the work.

Grade 1 or 2 (A1-A2): assignments are evaluated 1-2
Grade 3 (B1): assignments are evaluated 1-3
Grade 4 (B2): assignments are evaluated 1-4
Grade 5 (C1-C2): assignments are evaluated 1-5

Note that you must complete all work that is related to topics for full final evaluation. If you leave some work undone, it will affect the final evaluation.

All work must be completed within the given deadlines. Any problems meeting the assignment deadlines MUST be informed well in advance.

Late assignments will fail; they cannot be done again or replaced by other assignments.