A Fast Track to Professional English (5 cr)

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

The course starts in Moodle on 6 October 2025. The DL for the introductory video is 2.10.2025 at 12.00 (noon).
The duration of the course is 6 or 8 weeks.


Independent and collaborative studying on tuniMoodle platform.
There's a chance to study 5 ECTS credits as well. (Contact the teacher.)

Exam schedules

- Exam in the EXAM facilities in November 2025.

-Oral presentations on Zoom /Teams, the students choose one of these times:
Tue 11 Nov, 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Thu 13 Nov, 8:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Fri 14 Nov, 8:15 AM – 12:15 PM

Assessment methods and criteria

3 credits:

- Pre-recorded video interview (20%) This assignment determines whether you can take this course (4-5 needed).
- News assignment (pass/fail), submit the recording of the video
- Oral presentation (in classroom) (30%)
- Academic writing task (pass/fail)
- EXAM including two parts 1) Reporting the instruction session 2) Learning Diary (50%)

5 credits:

Prerecorded video interview (20%)
News assignment (pass/fail), submit the recording of the video
Oral presentation (in classroom) (30%)
Academic writing task (pass/fail)
EXAM including two parts 1) Reporting the instruction session 2) Learning Diary (50%)
Job hunting: job ad, CV, job interview (pass/fail, the minimum grade for a pass is 3)

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

For whom?
For an engineering / a health care/ BBA / forestry student who wants to study at an accelerated pace to complete their studies and who has the ability to study English of one’s special field both independently and with students from different professional fields.
To join this course, enroll via Pakki and join the Moodle area of the course. Film the video interview according to the instructions in Moodle, and if you receive a grade 4-5, you are allowed to continue on the course. The DL for the pre-recorded video interview is 2.10.2025 at 12 (noon).

The course is mainly conducted on Moodle / online.
The oral presentation will be held at an agreed time via Zoom or Microsoft Teams (see times below), and the exam will take place in EXAM facilities.
It is also possible to take the exam as an exam visit at another higher education institution.

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

Level B2.

Learning materials

Material on Moodle

Student workload

The course runs for six/eight weeks and consists of a variety of scheduled oral and written assignments. The students will usually have one week to work on given assignments, with the exception of the final oral presentation. The teachers' support is available in the form of weekly instructions and reminders via Moodle.

Except for the oral presentation sessions, THERE WON'T BE ANY CONTACT LESSONS. Do reserve time, however, for three group work assignments (news assignment on the first and second week, instruction session on the third, and the oral presentation assignment on the last two weeks.) Apart from the abovementioned group activities your schedule is flexible (and you can work independently) as long as you comply with the weekly deadlines.

Content scheduling

The course lasts six or eight weeks.

International connections

Also for exchange students

Further information

Teachers:
Petri Tuohimäki petri.tuohimaki@tuni.fi
Anne Kopperoinen anne.kopperoinen@tuni.fi
Minna Metsäportti minna.metsaportti@tuni.fi

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 their field such as manuals.
-can understand texts in their field with some help e.g. dictionaries.
-can follow standard speech in everyday conversation provided they can ask for repetition.
-pronounces mostly comprehensibly.
-can express themselves with somewhat clarity.
-uses basic grammatical structures
-has sufficient vocabulary to express themselves 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 their field such as instructions and manuals.
-can understand texts on subjects related to their 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 themselves fairly clearly and precisely in writing.
-shows a relatively high degree of grammatical control. If they make mistakes they can correct themselves if mistakes have led to misunderstanding.
-can understand the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their 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 their field such as instructions and manuals.
-can understand in detail texts related to their 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 themselves 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.