English Professional Skills, B2 (3 cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

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 goal of this course is to understand and apply into practice the vocabulary and style of professional English. The goal will be reached by studying the language of

- e-mail
- technical writing
- meetings
- presentations

The course will run from 13 January to 30 April 2020.
The course consists of contact lessons (28h) and students' independent work (105h).
The students are required to attend the contact lessons at the minimum of 50% (14h).

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

Teaching methods

contact lessons
online study (Optima)

Exam schedules

The evaluation is assignment-based and no exams will be organized.

Student workload

The students will be tested on their skills with spoken and written assignments on the course topics.
The students are also required to work regularly on self-study tasks to prepare for contact lessons.

Evaluation methods and criteria

The criteria for evaluation: the European Framework of Reference for Languages

5 - C1/C2 (proficient user)
4 - B2 (independent user)
3 - B1 (independent user)
2 - A2 (basic user)
1 - A1 (basic user)

The final evaluation is based on the spoken and written course assignments and the self-study tasks in the following way:
- students will receive an evaluation on each assignment
- full completion of self-study tasks will affect the final evaluation positively and poor/no completion negatively

Feedback, evaluation and guidance on the assignments will be given in class.

NOTE!
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.

Active presence in contact lessons has a positive effect on the final evaluation.
More than 50% of absence from the contact lessons will drop the final evaluation.
Absence cannot be compensated by extra work.

Failed (0)

most assignments and self-study tasks uncompleted or failed
more than 50% of absence from the contact lessons

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

A1-A2 (basic user)
some assignments or self-study tasks uncompleted or failed
not active presence in contact lessons

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

B1-B2 (independent user)
assignments and self-study tasks completed
relatively active presence in contact lessons

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

C1-C2 (proficient user)
assignments and self-study tasks completed
active presence in contact lessons