English Professional Skills, B2 (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Content scheduling

The aim of the course is to activate and develop the student's field-relevant English language and communication skills. The student gains 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 deals with various communicative situations in English. The course includes the following topics:
- standard English, using correct register
- Making Contact through Email and Telephone
- Companies and Innovations
- Reporting
- Professional Presentation Skills
- Project Meetings
- Discussion Skills
- Technical vocabulary
- The Pump Design Project (in co-operation with Pekka Jukantupa and Antti Meriö: Heat and Electricity)

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

Location and time

Sepänkatu campus, autumn 2018 from September to December

Materials

Online material provided in itslearning.
Field-specific material and sources chosen by the students.

Teaching methods

Self-study, learning by doing, completing tasks, teamwork and project work

Exam schedules

Task-based assessment. No exams or re-sits. No possibility to raise the grade or redo any course tasks (as stated in the degree regulation).

Pedagogic approaches and sustainable development

Pedagogical approaches encourage students to actively learn and apply knowledge through a variety of methods and field-specific assignments.

Completion alternatives

No optional ways to pass the course other than completing the given tasks on time and active participation in the required number of lessons.

Student workload

Contact teaching and students' teamwork. This course is a 5-credit course, which is equivalent to 133 hours of student work.

Weekly lessons (14 lessons)


4 evaluated tasks and pre-class work. Working in teams. Tasks that are completed during or outside of the lessons.

Evaluation methods and criteria

The evaluated tasks (on a scale of 0-5 per assignment):

The scale of 0-5 point per task:
1 Professional Email (written on Jan 27 at the campus)
2 Online meeting (in week 7)
3 Presentation (during March 16-27)
4 Professional Report (by April 15)

5 Pre-class work and 5 other tasks
The student must complete at least 5 of the 10 pre-class and other tasks, anything under this will affect negatively in final evaluation. One of the five tasks must include the final seminar at the end of the course.

Participation in lessons: the student must be present in 9 lessons out of 14 (64%) in order to pass the course. Mandatory lessons have been marked in the course schedule in itslearning. The requirement of attendance is based on the nature of the studied subject. Learning and practicing a language is often done with other people, not alone.

The final evaluation: tasks 1-4 (the average of assignments 1-4) and completion of pre-class work and other course tasks on time (-/ok) + participation in lessons (min. 9 lessons)

NB:
Active attendance is required due to the nature of the studied subject. The student must be present in some specified lessons in order to be able to pass the course. The obligatory lessons will be informed by the teacher in more detail at the beginning of the course.
3 evaluated assignments must be done before any credits can be gained.

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 grade by redoing some of the assignments (as stated in the degree regulation).

Failed (0)

More than one evaluated assignment not completed according to the instructions.
Too many absences from lessons (more than 5 absences).

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

The student:
- produces texts that may fail to follow the standard structuring.
- produces texts that may not be understandable and the style may not be appropriate to the situation.
- produces texts that include mistakes in vocabulary choice and clumsy expressions.
- relies on notes when speaking and pronunciation may not be natural.
- shows little activity in discussions and reacts prompted by another speaker.
- speaks in a way that is not natural and there are problems with correct pronunciation.
- the fluency of the language is often interrupted by regular basic mistakes.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

The student
- can produce texts that are complete, but may lack from the standard structure.
- can produce texts that are understandable, but may contain some clumsy expressions and the style may not be correct all the time.
- communicates in a way that is understandable, but may contain problems with word choices and style.
- speaks mainly in a structured way and may need notes.
- pronounces mainly naturally, but there may be occasional problems with more complex words or sounds.
- participates in the discussion mostly actively, sometimes prompted by another speaker.
- can often rephrase words they do not remember, but may sometimes have problems.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student
- can write fluent, professional texts and use appropriate style and tone for the situation.
- can produce written texts that are well-written and include the use of professional vocabulary of the field.
- can speak fluently and naturally and rarely needs notes.
- participates in discussions and meetings actively and unprompted and is able to present arguments and opinions.
- speaks with largely correct grammar, vocabulary and uses functional language (e.g., signposting).

Further information

The students need a laptop with a working microphone and camera for online lessons.

The teacher can be contacted at piia.pesso(a)turkuamk.fi

The course starts on January 13, 2025 according to the timetable:

PKONTS24A: Mon, Jan 13, 2025
PKONTS24B: Mon, Jan 13, 2025

The lesson starting times are always correct and up-to-date in the timetables. If the starting time is marked at 12.30, then the lesson starts at that time.