A Fast Track to Professional English (5cr)

Objectives (course unit)

Students
-can communicate within multi-professional work communities in their own special field
-understand and can make use of texts related to their own professional field
-can develop language skills of their own professional field utilizing a variety of learning tools
-understand the significance of communication as part of professional skills
-can instruct various clients/patients/colleagues in field-specific situations

Content (course unit)

Key terminology and communication of one’s own professional field
Field-specific texts
Different registers

Prerequisites (course unit)

Upper secondary school courses (A-level) or an equivalent level (health care and other fields)
Working English for Engineers or equivalent skills (engineering)

Location and time

17.9.-4.11.2018 (Tabula-course)

Exam schedules

Oral presentation 22nd November.

Assessment methods and criteria

The student
-can communicate within multi-professional work communities in THEIR OWN SPECIAL FIELD
-understands and can make use of articles related to THEIR OWN professional field
-can develop language skills of THEIR own professional field utilizing various instruments of learning / A VARIETY OF LEARNING TOOLS
-undestands the significance of communication as part of professional skills
-can instruct various clients/patients in field-specific situations

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

Independent and collaborative online studies.

Learning materials

Tabula

Further information

For whom?
For an engineering / a health care student who wants to study at an accelerated pace to complete his/her studies and who has the ability to study English of one’s special field both independently and with students from different professional fields.
Prerequisites:
Upper secondary school courses (A-level) or an equivalent level (health care students)
Working English for Engineers* or equivalent skills (engineering students)
Write an email application containing the details mentioned below by
minna.metsaportti@tamk.fi (health care students)
kirsi.saarinen@tamk.fi (engineering students)
Write a free-form email application containing the following:
How do you intend to use English in your process of becoming a professional in your special field. Give concrete examples of the role of English in your current studies. Describe your development in English skills. What are your aims i.e. what do you intend to achieve during this process and beyond.
Time:
Further information:
Minna Metsäportti tel. 050 311 9662, minna.metsaportti@tamk.fi (health care students)
Kirsi Saarinen tel. 040 800 4326, kirsi.saarinen@tamk.fi (engineering students)

Assessment criteria - satisfactory (1-2) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student

-can interact in a simple way provided the other person is prepared to repeat or rephrase things at a slower rate of speech and help formulate what is being said.

-can write memos, reports, summaries and other texts related to his/her field such as manuals.

-can understand texts in his/her field with some help e.g. dictionaries.

-can follow standard speech in everyday conversation provided he/she can ask for repetition.

-pronounces mostly comprehensibly.

-can express him/herself with somewhat clarity.

-uses basic grammatical structures

-has sufficient vocabulary to express him/herself so that essential message is understandable.

-can find and understand relevant information in texts on familiar matters.

Assessment criteria - good (3-4) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student

-can give a presentation fairly effectively and fluently.

-can write memos, reports, summaries and other texts connected to his field such as instructions and manuals.

-can understand texts on subjects related to his/her field.

-can discuss and interact with some confidence.

-can understand interlocutors who use different accents if the topic is familiar.

-pronunciation is fairly intelligible even if a foreign accent is somewhat evident and occasional mispronunciations occur.

-can express him/herself fairly clearly and precisely in writing.

-shows a relatively high degree of grammatical control. If he/she makes mistakes he/she can correct him/herself if mistakes have led to misunderstanding.

-can understand the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.

Assessment criteria - excellent (5) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student

-can give an effective and fluent presentation.

-can write clear, well-structured memos, reports, summaries as well as other texts on subjects related to his/her field such as instructions and manuals.

-can understand in detail texts related to his/her own area of specialty.

-can discuss fluently and spontaneously.

-can understand relatively effortlessly people who use different accents.

-has acquired a clear, natural pronunciation and intonation.

-can express him/herself with clarity and precision in writing.

-has a good grammatical control and accuracy. Occasional slips or non-systematic errors and minor flaws in sentence structure may still occur.

-has a good command of a broad lexical repertoire.

-can understand in detail a wide range of lengthy, complex texts.