Instructors will collaborate with students in identifying individual learning needs and will facilitate the optimal use of resources to meet these needs. Course topics are addressed through classroom, language/computer lab and online learning activities. Students will reflect on and analyze personal, professional experiences as they relate to course topics.
The instructor will facilitate, observe and evaluate students' participation in class activities. Whole and small group instruction will be combined with individual assistance and student-directed learning. Students will participate in the setting of goals by identifying their communicative and language development needs, and will participate in the selection of learning activities. Students will participate in online discussions of posted reading and listening materials, and submit writing assignments via WebCT.
- Cultural Appropriateness:
- recognizing aspects of professional communication which are affected by cultural expectations
- communicating in accordance with cultural expectations of the Canadian professional workplace
- Conversational Signals:
- responding and initiating
- understanding the forms and roles of social and professional communication in the workplace
- The Language of Meetings:
- turn-taking rules in Canadian meeting culture
- understanding Robert’s Rules
- taking and reading minutes
- Workplace Communication
- giving instructions
- solving conflicts
- negotiating
- Reading Skills:
- extracting information from a variety of texts, such as letters, contracts, brochures, trade magazines, scholarly journals, business newspapers
- developing reading strategies for the above
- developing vocabulary using word analysis and guessing meanings from context
- identifying suitable research material to support reports and proposals
- Writing Skills:
- expressing information in a variety of professional texts, such as letters, memos, contracts, reports, proposals and emails
- developing and combining sentences according to the type of professional text
- developing an idiomatic vocabulary
- using concise and inclusive language
- writing in a positive, action-oriented, reader-oriented business style
- incorporating research sources with proper quoting and citing techniques
- Grammar and Editing:
- refining grammatical elements such as nouns and verbs; plurals; verb tenses and agreement; articles
- refining punctuation and format/layout in a variety of professional texts
- producing high-quality professional documents in a limited amount of time
Within relevant educational and employment contexts in academic, scientific and business fields, students will improve their ability to:
- Understand professional lectures and presentations, such as at conferences, meetings
- Accurately write workplace-related documents, such as emails, letters, memos, reports, proposals
- Read workplace-related documents, such as letters, minutes, reports, proposals and contracts
- Read excerpts from professionally relevant texts, such as journals, legal and financial documents
- Use online databases to research scholarly sources
- Participate in professional discussions and interviews
- Give small and large group presentations, using relevant technology
- Use appropriate registers and vocabulary in workplace-related social situations
Students will be marked on a MAS/NCG basis. Mastery will be granted to students who achieve 70% or higher on the following.
The marks will be apportioned by using the following formula:
| In-class assigned learning activities | 50% |
| Online assigned learning activities | 40% |
| Final assessment | 10% |
Students will be provided with materials. One textbook will be required for purchase.
Acceptance by interview and intake assessment based on Canadian Language Benchmarks guidelines.