Curricula

Objectives

In the course English for Working Life you will learn to operate in English in situations related to international working life.

You will also increase your self-confidence in speaking and writing in professional contexts. In addition, you will learn to follow the developments in your field locally and globally.

After taking the course, you will have learned to write texts related to your future profession in an appropriate style. You will also have gained confidence in spoken interaction and acquired vocabulary that will benefit you later in your career.

Communication and Team-working: You are able to function effectively in a national and international context and you are able to cooperate effectively with specialists in your own field as well as with other groups of professionals.

Content

The central contents of the course are:
- telling about your studies and looking for employment
- oral and written communication in working life, for example meetings, small talk, customer service, telephoning and emailing, and expressing your own opinion
- producing formal text, such as reports, instructions or summaries
- field-specific terminology
- presentations, workshops, group discussions

Learning materials and recommended literature

Study material and assignments in Moodle.

Teaching methods

This is an online implementation in Moodle starting on 20 May and ending on 14 June 2024. There will be a compulsory Zoom-meeting in the beginning of the course (Mon 20 May at 14.30~16.00). You will need a microphone and a camera to participate. In the webinar, you will need to be able to take active part in discussion. Attendance is compulsory, there will be no video recording of the session.

In addition, there will be one group meeting during the first week of the course (this is for the group members to schedule themselves), and another group discussion and written exam at the end of the course (Exam Studio or in the classroom, times TBA later). The course is scheduled and the students are expected to work mostly independently on Moodle on the course materials and assignments following the timetable.

NOTE: this is a very intensive summer course that is intended for students with strong B2 level language skills who are able to use English in their everyday lives outside the scope of the course. Also, you need to have time for the course, around 20 hours per week, and be good at scheduling your time.

An online implementation is suitable for you if

- your language skills are sufficient to manage the given assignments independently (B2)
- you are able to schedule and manage your own work
- your ICT skills are sufficient (e.g. screen recordings and sharing them through a cloud service or some other third-party service)

Independent work, group assignments, final group discussion and written exam

Exam dates and retake possibilities

Group discussion & written exam during week 24. Two resit opportunities in August-September 2024.

Student workload

4 ECTS credits = 108h of student's work

Content scheduling

Evaluation is based on the written and oral assignments in Moodle, group discussion and final exam. In written production, most emphasis is placed on the final exam.

Evaluation scale

0-5

Evaluation criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

1 The students are able to communicate understandably both in speech and writing in simple and routine work tasks and other situations. They can understand the central content of speech and writing dealing with familiar topics. They have a sufficient command of the basic structures of the language for the delivery of their message. The level of their pronunciation is sufficient for the delivery of the main content of their message. The students act responsibly and abide by established agreements.

2 The students are able to communicate understandably both orally and in writing in routine and familiar work duties and situations although their language use is at times slow and incoherent. They understand clear speech and writing with familiar content. They have an adequate command of the basic structures of the language. Their vocabulary is sufficient for every-day situations and reasonably adequate for basic field-specific situations. The level of their pronunciation is sufficient for the delivery of content.The students act responsibly and abide by established agreements.

Evaluation criteria, good (3-4)

3 The students can manage well both oral and written situations in working life and every-day life. The students can write a text with coherent content. They understand speech with a normal tempo, but unusual topics and language deviating from standard use cause difficulties. They can understand demanding written content related to their own field, although some details may remain unclear. They can use the grammatical structures of the language in a versatile way, and their mistakes do not hinder communication. The students’ command of the vocabulary of the language is sufficient for communicating the central content even in demanding tasks and situations. Their pronunciation is adequate. The students act responsibly and abide by established agreements.

4 The students are able to communicate fluently in different situations and produce clear and fluent language with adequate style. They have no difficulty in understanding and producing speech and writing needed in working life although expressions deviating from the standard use of the language cause problems to some extent. The students have a good command of the language and its use, but occasional problems may arise. The students act responsibly and abide by established agreements.

Evaluation criteria, excellent (5)

5 The students are able to communicate with great fluency and active participation in a wide variety of situations. They also portray considerable versatility and an appropriate sense of style in their ability to apply the learning content of the course to demanding working life situations. They have no difficulties in understanding different kinds of language users although fine nuances and speech deviating significantly from standard language can sometimes be challenging. The students can understand and produce demanding content in both speech and writing. Their language use is practically flawless. The students act responsibly and abide by established agreements.

Prerequisites

The course is on level B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. If the course Improve your English was recommended to you at the beginning of your studies, please take it before enrolling for English for Working Life.

In this course you will need the basic ICT-skills, such as word processing and creating audio and video files.