Like a Pro! – Professional English Communication (6cr)

Evaluation scale

0-5

Content scheduling

Example timetable for the Like a Pro! course

First day of the course: Welcome e-mail

Week 1:

DL 1a. Video introductions

DL 1b. Work-life situations

Week 2:

DL 2. Negotiations - My experiences

Week 3:

DL 3. Essay on World Englishes

Week 4:

Online class 1: Group discussions1- World Englishes

DL: 4. Negotiations- lecture notes

Week 5:

DL 5. Styles and patterns of negotiations

Week 6:

Online class: Group discussion 2- Reliability of information ->
Groups for Negotiations formed NB! Only the students who have been active until here can continue on the course with the student groups

DL 6. The pros and cons of virtual teams

Week 7:

DL 7. Sustainability in my field of studies, a podcast

Week 8:

DL 8. Career anchors

Week 9:

DL 9. Recording: Sim 1 / Negotiation / Updates or…?

Week 10:

DL 10. Recording: Sim 2 / Negotiation / The new factory

Week 11:

DL 11. Memos on filmed simulations

DL 12. Spoken test, filmed answers

End of course, all assignments should be submitted

Objective

Students who have taken this course are able to co-operate and work in multicultural virtual teams. They are able to communicate efficiently and fluently in work-related interactive situations with emphasis on meetings and negotiations. The students can write texts and written messages demonstrating the control of communicative professional situations.

The students can also efficiently understand and summarize texts. They are able to use academic style and use references properly in their written production. The students are ready to develop their professional identities through self-reflective tasks during the course.

This course corresponds to the CEFR language levels C1-C2. (CEFR = Common European Framework for Languages).

Content

This six-credit course focuses on professional communications, virtual team and project work, multicultural co-operation, academic and professional writing, and professional self-development.

The course includes two mandatory online sessions at the beginning of the course and online group simulations later during the course. The two online sessions will be held in the late afternoons/ early evenings with the teacher and the whole group present.

After the online sessions, the students will be divided into groups. Each group will do two-three online group simulations organized according to the students’ own schedule. Furthermore, the students complete twelve individual assignments related to the different course topics supporting the online group simulations.

The assignments are tailored based on the findings of language needs studies and are based on real working life communication situations. For example, the case company of the negotiation simulations is a local, existing company.

Location and time

Course implementation is 100% online.

The course is studied in Centria's learning platform which you have access to starting on the first day of the course.

There are a total of two mandatory online classes.
The schedule for the online classes are found on https://lukkarit.centria.fi/ using the course name or course code.

Materials

Learning material and additional links are found in the learning environment.

Teaching methods

The course implementation uses learning methods like studying learning material, information search, assignments, writing, discussions, negotiations, making videos and podcasts, simulation meetings and participating in online workshops.

Exam schedules

The course includes a spoken exam that is recorded at the end of the course.

International connections

The course is taught in English and the course prepares students for international careers.

Student workload

6 credits course requires approximately 162 hours of work, which is divided fairly equally on the 11 weeks of the course (about 14h/week). Every week there will be one or two learning assignments to complete.
On this course you must advance according to the given timetable and halfway through the course there is a check-point from where on only active students are allowed to continue with the work in student groups.

Qualifications

The course is meant for students who have completed their compulsory English courses in their degree programmes. The students on this course should have control of their basic field-specific vocabulary in English and seek to develop their confidence further in communicative situations.

Please notice Like a Pro is an updated version of the previous Moving on, so if you have completed that Averko course, do not register to Like a Pro!