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 course focuses on professional communication skills in English.
The course includes the following topics:
- Communicating with Style, using correct register
- Professional emails
- Companies and Innovations
- Professional reporting
- Professional Presentation Skills
- Meetings
- Discussion Skills
- Work Safety
- Field-specific terminology and vocabulary

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

Teacher's material
Material chosen by the students

Teaching methods

Learning by doing, individual work and groupwork

Exam schedules

No exams, no re-sits.
The evaluation is task-based.

Pedagogic approaches and sustainable development

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

Flipped classroom > students complete pre-class work and in this way are prepared for the lessons.

Completion alternatives

No optional ways to complete the course. The student is required to attend a certain number of lessons and complete the given assignments and tasks on time in order to pass the course.

Student workload

Pre-class work
Evaluated tasks 1-4
Other small tasks (pass/fail)

The course is equivalent to approximately 81 hours of student work. This includes contact teaching and preparing and completing of the course tasks individually and in pairs and groups.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Task-based assessment, no exams. The course is assessed on a scale of 1-5 based on the following criteria:

The scale of 0-5 per assignment:
1 Professional Email (in week 38)
2 Meeting (in weeks 40 and 41)
3A Professional Report and 3B a test* (in week 44 and 45)
4 Presentation (in weeks 47 and 48)

The final evaluation: the average of assignments 1-4 and active participation in lessons + completion of pre-class work and other course tasks on time (min. 50%).
*The average of assignment 3 is calculated as follows: the report is assessed pass/ fail and the test result is converted to a grade. If the student does not submit the report or the report is not accepted, this will be converted to grade 0 and the test result is half of the grade for part 3.

Active attendance and participation in lessons is required (min. 7 out of 10 lessons) due to the nature of the studied subject (some lessons are obligatory). During the lessons, the students practice spoken communication, which requires participation in group work. 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 score (and the grade) by redoing some of the assignments (as stated in the degree regulation).

Failed (0)

More than one of the four evaluated assignments not completed on time or at all.
Absences from the lessons and/ or small course tasks not completed.

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 teacher can be contacted by email: piia.pesso@turkuamk.fi (during office hours 8-16 on weekdays) or through itslearning.

The students are expected to take part in the lessons by answering questions, asking and commenting. Active participation is required.

The course starts in the first week of September according to the timetable. Participation in the opening lecture is highly important.