Communication and language (English) skills (5 cr)

Objective

On completion of the course, the student will be able to communicate professionally and use the English language both in architectural studies and in the construction architect´s profession.
The student will be able to work constructively, independently and actively in all situations of interaction in his/her studies, e.g. in group work.
The student will master the presentation and reporting process of his/her own Final Thesis. The student will be able to argue for his/her point, and reflect upon his/her learning process. The student will have a critical approach to source material, master the use of sources and be able to write a summary and abstract in English. The student will follow research literacy relevant to his/her own
profession actively and be familiar with expert publications.
The student will be able to use professional English in the profession of a construction architect in both theory and practice.
The student will communicate fluently and effectively in English in his/her studies and in the professional discourse of the field. The student will also be able to apply his/her English skills to develop his/her professional competence. The student will communicate naturally in multicultural contexts, taking into account the special demands of different communication situations and the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the participants.
The students will be able to acquire, process, and convey information necessary in his/her own field both orally and in writing using various sources.
The student will have formed a realistic view of his/her linguistic and communicative competence and a positive attitude to developing this competence as a part of his/her professional expertise. The student's oral and written communication skills correspond to the skills level B2 as defined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Content

The course combines competences of construction architecture and communication and language studies. The theme of the studies will be found in the course implementation plan.
Project and thesis reporting both orally and written:
- teamwork skills
- reporting and presenting research and development work relevant to the student's profession
- presenting expertise through thesis and articles
- expert terminology and concepts
- research data management, outlining and structures
- critical approach to source material, use of sources and argumentation
- professional literacy
The contents of the English studies focus on the following themes with a field-specific emphasis:
• key interactive communication situations: individual and group communication
• key concepts and terminology
• textual conventions and documents
• acquisition, processing, application and conveyance of information
• organisations, working environments, tasks, processes and tools
• education and career planning
• self-assessing one’s language and communication skills and developing learning strategies
The course content will be tailored according to each Degree Programme.
The description of the detailed course contents can be found in the course implementation plan.

Location and time

According to published timetable

Materials

Finnish Communication: Teacher's material, texts chosen by students according to instructions.
English: Teacher's material, study book Engineer Your English (License paid by Metropolia)

Teaching methods

Contact teaching

Exam schedules

Finnish Communication: Written exam 30th Oct 2024. First re-exam 12th Nov 2024. Second re-exam in EXAM, electronic exam room, second week of January 2025.
English: Written examination 13 November 2024. Re-take exams via Exam-system.

Student workload

Finnish Communication (2cr): Contact lessons and exams 40 %, tasks 60 %, 54 hours in total.
English (3cr): Contact lessons and exams 40%, lesson tasks 60%, 81 hours in total.

Content scheduling

Finnish Communication:
Information search
Writing with sources
Thesis writing
Argumentation
Presentation
Peer review
English:
Strengths and weaknesses as a communicator
Academic writing - formal and informal English
Summary writing
Meetings
Presenting as a professional
Construction fair
Applying for a job

Further information

Required attendance 80% (both Finnish and English), see course Moodle for more information.

Evaluation scale

0-5

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

To pass the course, the student must fulfil the requirements specified in each course implementation.
The student can identify some typical features of his/her own communication on the basis of instructions and feedback. He/she can identify the components of a communication process. The student participates in interactive situations, and receives and gives feedback. He/she recognizes the characteristics of interactions within different situations.
The student writes messages according to instructions, retrieves information when guided and is able to use it for his/her own output.
In field-specific communication situations in English the student:
• trusts his/her communication skills to manage professional communication events using inquiries and relatively short speech acts
• understands the communication partner enough to be able to act and verbalize in accordance with the task in question
• expresses his/her thoughts simply, mainly coherently, and relatively understandably, even if there maybe deficiencies in the professional terminology and structural inaccuracies which may interfere with full understanding
• draw up simple, formatted texts independently and extensive texts using linguistic aids

Assessment criteria, good (3)

The student can evaluate his/her own communication skills and form communicative development
goals. The student is goal-oriented in interactive situations and is familiar with the role of internal and external communication of the community. He/she listens, observes and interprets messages appropriately.
The student communicates as an expert in a structured, understandable and interesting way and targets his/her messages to the recipient according to the situation. The student can justify his/her views. The student can acquire information on his/her own field of study and can use it critically. The student is able to prepare a goal-oriented written, oral or visual presentation for a target audience. The student takes advantage of his/her knowledge on text types and language.
In field-specific communication situations in English the student:
• trusts his/her communication skills to manage in a professional context in line with the objectives set for the task
• exchanges ideas as an equal partner with independent language users
• takes initiative in professional discourse and can, to some degree, take into account other participants’ cultural and language backgrounds and the demands of the context
• expresses him/herself promptly in a clear and detailed manner
• uses professional terminology to the point
• pronounces English clearly with matching stress and intonation
• produces texts for different purposes where linguistic inaccuracy does not interfere with understanding

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student is willing and able to develop his/her language and communication skills as a part of his/her expertise and is able to communicate in a meaningful, creative and personal way. The student can use means of communication in a creative and appropriate way, and takes advantage of different channels and tools. The student argues his/her point with skill and shows, shares and develops his/her expertise in the community.
The student retrieves information independently and competently in order to produce new knowledge or new perspectives. The student uses language creatively and according to field practices.
In field-specific communication situations in English the student:
• trusts his/her communications skills to allow him/her to take initiative in communication events following the discourse practice of the field
• interacts clearly and fluently as an equal partner with a proficient speaker
• takes initiative also in demanding professional communication situations where the participants’ cultural and language backgrounds need to be taken into account
• expresses him/herself effectively and accurately
• uses professional terminology to the point
• pronounces English clearly, with stress and rhythm matching the total message
• has the ability to produce several genres, which are clear, well structured, and effective

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

To pass the course, the student must fulfil the requirements specified in each course implementation.
The student can identify some typical features of his/her own communication on the basis of instructions and feedback. He/she can identify the components of a communication process. The student participates in interactive situations, and receives and gives feedback. He/she recognizes the characteristics of interactions within different situations.
The student writes messages according to instructions, retrieves information when guided and is able to use it for his/her own output.
In field-specific communication situations in English the student:
• trusts his/her communication skills to manage professional communication events using inquiries and relatively short speech acts
• understands the communication partner enough to be able to act and verbalize in accordance with the task in question
• expresses his/her thoughts simply, mainly coherently, and relatively understandably, even if there maybe deficiencies in the professional terminology and structural inaccuracies which may interfere with full understanding
• draw up simple, formatted texts independently and extensive texts using linguistic aids

Assessment methods and criteria

Finnish Communication: Satisfactory performance in the course exam and mandatory tasks. Sufficient attendance. See course Moodle.
English: evaluation will be covered in the beginning of the course.

Qualifications

The acquisition of professional English language and communication competence requires the starting level B2 as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Further information

The student's oral and written communication skills correspond to the skills which are required for the profession and it's development. (Decreed by Finnish statutory regulation 352/2003, 8 §)