Staff Training in CeLCS

In this section you find all you need to know about staff language and communication teaching.

What courses are on offer?

Each term the Centre for Language and Communication studies organizes a number of courses in a variety of languages to help staff in their daily working life. Central to our offerings are our Finnish for Beginners 1-3 courses (soon to be followed by Finnish for Beginners 4), and in addition we offer a variety of courses in presentation, writing and speaking skills. Communication skills, working life skills and intercultural issues are also covered.

The list below shows the courses we run, but not all are available now.

Courses that are currently available are shown on the staff training pages.

Examples of CeLCS' language and communication courses for staff

Finnish for Beginners 1

Goal

The general goal of the course is to learn survival Finnish and to get encouraged to start to use Finnish in everyday contacts.

to learn to survive in simple everyday communication situations
to learn some basic grammatical structures in Finnish
to learn about the Finnish culture and the Finnish way of life.

Content

pronunciation
spelling of one's name and address the Finnish way
telling about oneself
greetings
politeness phrases
making questions in order to find information
numbers, time of day, weekdays, months
expressing location and direction
expressing ownership
telling about events.

Finnish for Beginners 2

Goal

The general goal of the course is to learn basic Finnish and to get encouraged to continue the use of Finnish in everyday contacts.

to learn to survive in everyday communication situations
to learn more grammatical structures in Finnish
to learn more about the Finnish culture and the Finnish way of life

Content

Revision of verb types
Telling about home
Telling about places and directions
Travelling
Hotel phrases
Word types
Celebration days

Finnish for Beginners 3

Työelämän englanti

Parlons français

Academic Writing for Staff

Goal

After the course the students should
- be aware of the style and approach to writing in their discipline
- have knowledge of how to write academically
- be able to recognize and produce academic text
- be aware of the internal structure of research articles
- have a greater understanding of the mechanics of writing a research paper
- be able to write and punctuate accurately in English
- be able to assess themselves as writers
- be more familiar with Anglo-American academic writing conventions
- be more aware of style and appropriateness in writing
- be able to construct a research paper in English in terms of unity, focus and coherence
- be more certain about use of sentence structure, connectives, punctuation, articles
- be more critical and able to ask questions about academic writing, own writing in particular

Content

- elements of academic writing as a researcher
- discourse approach
- Anglo-American writing conventions
- style and appropriateness
- handling references and avoiding plagiarism
- organising text; constructing a research paper
- coherence and cohesion
- sentence structure
- academic vocabulary
- grammar; use of articles; punctuation
- format and structure of academic articles

Group Discussion Skills

The goal of the teaching and other activities of the Centre for Language and Communication Studies is to develop the language, communication, and business communication skills of university undergraduate and postgraduate students and personnel, and to promote intercultural understanding and facilitate the internationalisation process within the university.

After the course the participants should

- be able to develop their confidence in their use of English;

- know about the norms of English-language conversational interaction;

- be able to improve their pronunciation, intonation and accuracy;

- have widened their range of vocabulary and the array of phrases available to them in a debate or discussion.

Presentation Skills

By the end of the course the participants should:

- be able to competently give a presentation on a topic related to their own research or work

- have a greater level of knowledge about the structure of presentations

- be able to signpost a presentation to improve the flow and clarity for the audience

- will understand the importance of visual aids and be able to use them effectively

- be able to design visuals to ensure the key message is clearly presented

- be aware their own body language in presentation situations

- will be able to use language effectively

- will be aware of differing presentation tools e.g. Powerpoint, Prezi

- be able to evaluate peer presentations based on the elements of an effective presentation

Teach in English

The aim of the course is to develop effective skills for teaching in English. The course focuses on the language of instruction for online, blended and classroom environments. Participants actively give micro-lessons in English and create materials that can be immediately transferred to their teaching situations.

The course emphasizes:

Language Awareness
Language and Culture
Language Learning Processes
Teaching Content through the Medium of English

Objectives

to consider the challenges for students when learning content that is taught in English and to identify the principles underlying effective practice;
to consider the qualities and skills required by teachers involved in teaching their subjects in English;
to develop confidence in teaching in English by giving micro-lessons as well as giving and receiving feedback.;
to explore in practical ways the key issues of materials and methodology involved in a CLIL approach (Content and Language Integrated Learning);
to raise participants' language awareness and linguistic competence at word, sentence and discourse level;
to identify and explore key issues in syllabus/course design;
to consider the modes of delivery and types of classroom interaction most appropriate to CLIL;
to consider language of feedback and assessment in CLIL contexts with different language levels and content areas.

Course Content

Participants complete a pre-course questionnaire, which should be returned prior to the course. Based on the results of the questionnaire, the course is designed to ensure that the most relevant areas are covered.

Common topics are:

personal language development
presentation skills
language for managing the classroom
basic discourse analysis in key content areas
materials development for classroom settings as well as on-line environments (task design, working with texts, visuals etc)
subject-centred vocabulary-building
language support for content learning
the place of thinking skills
code-switching and working bilingually
creating a language-rich classroom environment
review of a range of internet and print resources for
participants' selected content areas
types of questions and questioning techniques to encourage classroom interaction.

Customer Service in English

The goal of this course is to help Turku University staff develop their English language skills for customer service purposes.

Special emphasis will be placed on email English, however a variety of areas will also be covered with the aim of improving the participants’ speaking and listening skills as well.

Some of the topics which will covered in class:

Polite phrases: greetings and introductions
Dealing with misunderstandings
English for international gatherings
Checking for understanding
English for meetings

Intercultural Communication

10 hrs / Bridget Palmer

Target participants: researchers in multicultural teams (research groups), staff counseling international students, teachers teaching multicultural groups of students, supervisors for multicultural teams, supervisors for thesis work

Goal: By the end of the course, students should have developed a greater understanding of the complexity of culture and its influence on language, communication, and interpersonal relationships, and be able to relate the issues presented in the course to their own life experiences.

Content: This course is an introduction to Intercultural Communication, a 21st-century skill that supports learning from and working with people from other cultures in different contexts. The course is organized around five themes:

What is Culture? (cultural similarities and differences, frameworks such as Hofstede, WVS)
Intercultural Conflicts (different conflict styles, resolving conflicts)
Culture and Language (direct/indirect, high/low context, nonverbal codes, etc.)
Cultural Appropriation (cultural sensitivity, ethnocentric vs. ethnorelative attitudes)
Migration and Identity (culture shock, assimilation styles, majorities and minorities)

Methods: During the five lessons, participants will participate in small-group discussions in a supportive and interactive environment, with topics based on ICC themes introduced by the teacher. In addition, participants may choose to write an initial letter of introduction and a final letter of reflection in order to frame their learning experience.