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 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
- e-mail and telephoning
- report writing
- meetings
- presentations, including the following topics: company profile, graphic presentation, discussing problems and processes

The course will run from 1 September to 18 December 2020.
The course consists of online meetings (20h) and online work in Optima (60h).
The students are required to attend the online meetings at the minimum of 75% (15h).

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

Pedagogic approaches and sustainable development

flipped classroom method: the students study the theoretical part independently with help of the provided material, the online meetings are used for practice, discussion, guidance and testing

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. Course assignments: E-mail Message, Telephone Call, Report, Presentation, Meeting.

Evaluation methods and criteria

The evaluation is assignment-based and no exams will be organized. The assignments are evaluated on the scale of 1-5 considering the instructions and learning objectives. The students will receive feedback and guidance on each assignment online.
The final evaluation is based on

1) the spoken and written course assignments
2) the self-study tasks
3) active presence in online meetings

NOTE!
- self-study tasks are not evaluated numerically BUT full completion of self-study tasks will affect the final evaluation positively and
poor (less than half of the tasks)/no completion negatively
- active presence in online meetings has a positive effect on the final evaluation
- more than 75% of absence from the online meetings will drop the final evaluation

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. Absence cannot be compensated by extra work.

Failed (0)

more than 75% absence from the online meetings
most assignments and self-study tasks uncompleted or failed

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

A1-A2 (basic user)
some uncompleted and/or failed assignments and/or self-study tasks
no active presence in online meetings

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

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

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

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