Study Guide

Objectives (course unit)

The course provides the basics of the Finnish language (estimated level A1.2)

After completing the course, the students will be able to:
• pronounce Finnish quite correctly
• understand and use short and simply structured expressions that concern basic
situations related to everyday life (introducing oneself and one’s family, simple shopping and food)
• learn to build up their vocabulary
• learn to use the basic structure of Finnish
• know, use and understand simple spoken and written expressions connected to
everyday life.

Content (course unit)

• study book Suomen mestari 1, chapters 1–4, 8:
o pronunciation exercises
o vocabulary exercises
o structural exercises
o conversational and drama exercises
o listening comprehension exercises
o reading comprehension exercises
o written exercises.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2) (course unit)

Students have been able to complete all the assignments acceptably and attended contact lessons at least 80 %. They can exchange greetings/farewells, introduce oneself and name a few objects. It is hard for them to attend a simple conversation or create a short text. Their pronunciation causes difficulties to understand meanings of produced speech.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4) (course unit)

Students have been able to complete all the assignments acceptably and attended contact lessons at least 80 %. Students have an active attitude towards studying Finnish language showing that by completing tasks according to the schedule. They are able to cope in the most common simple everyday situations. Students can use typical grammatical structures e.g. basic verb conjugation, possessive structure and partitive in simple sentences. They can write brief texts and pronounce Finnish quite clearly.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5) (course unit)

Students have been able to complete all the assignments acceptably and attended contact lessons at least 80 %. They have a positive and active attitude towards learning language. They can pronounce Finnish distinctively and are able to use suitable and varied expressions in everyday situations using grammar almost correctly. Students can participate in a conversation asking and responding to questions about topics studied in the course. They can write simple texts and recombine words and phrases into new sentences.

Location and time

Periods 1 and 2; Sept. 1st - Dec. 9th
2 x 2 classes / week. On Thursdays 12-13.30; on Fridays 12-13.30.

Exam schedules

Mid-term test on Oct 6th
Final test on Dec 8th

Assessment methods and criteria

Continuous assessment based on classwork (activity, presence, completed exercises).
Final exam has two parts:
A Mid-term exam (listening comprehension + reading comprehension + writing + structure tasks) = 1/3 of the course grade
B Final exam (listening comprehension + reading comprehension + writing + structure tasks)
= 1/3 of the course grade
C= Spoken exam (video)
=1/3 of the course grade
Strong class activity can raise course grade at least in borderline cases.

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

On-campus classes, conversations and discussion excercises, activating games, writing excercises, collaborative learning.

Learning materials

Course book Suomen mestari 1 + teachers materials

Student workload

- attending the classes + homework and independent studying between the classes
5 credits equals 135 hours of work, so there is quite a lot of independent work in addition to the weekly four classes.lasses.

Completion alternatives

-

Assessment criteria - fail (0) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

Students have attended contact lessons less than 80 % . They have not completed course assignments because of lack of or activity or gained skills. Their ability to communicate in Finnish is insignificant and limited to make understanding possible.

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

Students have been able to complete all the assignments acceptably. They can tell about few of the achieved course contents, but their expression stays limited: both spoken and written language is partly hard to understand. It is difficult for them to take part to a simple discussion. Also their incomplete pronunciation may cause difficulties to understand their speech.

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

Students have an active attitude towards studying Finnish language showing that by completing course tasks according to the schedule. They are able to cope in most achieved oral course exercises. Students are able to write short texts about their home, travelling or clothes in Finnish and are able to pronounce Finnish clearly enough. Students’ mother tongue may have an effect in pronunciation and/or sentence structure, but it doesn’t cause problems to understand the meaning of messages

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

Students have a positive and active attitude towards learning language. They can pronounce Finnish distinctively and are able to use suitable and varied expressions in achieved course exercises using grammar mostly correct way. Students can participate a conversation asking and responding to questions about topics studied in the course. They can write simple descriptions or stories and recombine words and phrases into new sentences. They understand the importance of good Finnish language skills to get a job in Finland.