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 the field
- becoming professional, autonomous language users in working life

Materials

The course material is in ITSlearning. The students are advised to use laptops or tablets to access the material during the course.

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 meetings are used for guidance, practice and testing.

Student workload

The students will be tested on their skills with spoken and written assignments on the course topics:

1. Email message
2. Online meeting
3. Report
4. Presentation
5. Group discussions

Content scheduling

The course will run from 26 October to 14 December.
The course consists of contact lessons, online meetings and independent work/ teamwork.

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. Upon completing the course, the students should have acquired skills to communicate at level B2 according to European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Spoken communication

The students
- discuss field-related topics using related terminology
- present a field-related topic in a structured way
- express themselves in their own words
- express themselves in a spontaneous way
- express themselves in a clear way
- participates actively in discussions by commenting, asking and reacting

Written communication

The students
- follow the structure and language of report writing
- follow the structure and language of professional e-mail
- write in their own words using sources correctly
- consider the appropriate style for the situation
- express themselves in a clear and logical way

The content:
- Professional emails
- Presentation skills
- Discussion skills
- Reporting
- Meetings

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Task-based evaluation with the scale of 1-5 per assignment:
1. Email message
2. Online meeting
3. Report
4. Presentation

Group discussions will be evaluated pass/ fail.

The final evaluation is based on the average of assignments 1-4. Group discussions affect the final evaluation either positively or negatively.

All assignments must be completed within the given deadlines. Uncompleted assignments will affect the final evaluation.
Late assignments will fail; they cannot be done again or replaced by other assignments. Failed assignments will affect the final evaluation.
Any problems meeting the assignment deadlines MUST be informed well in advance.