ENGL 2046 - English for Professional Purposes

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2015

This is a course for students who wish to develop their skills in working with frequently used workplace documents and genres in both traditional and electronic formats. Course activities and assessments help students learn to create structurally effective, grammatically accurate and contextually appropriate documents. Target genres will include business letters, emails and job application packages. Additionally, the development of a professional persona in online environments may be covered. Coursework will emphasise the development of grammatical accuracy, effective writing from evidence, and reader-centred business writing.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code ENGL 2046
    Course English for Professional Purposes
    Coordinating Unit English, Creative Writing, and Film
    Term Semester 2
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Prerequisites At least 12 units of level 1 undergraduate study
    Incompatible ENGL 2016 & ENGL 3016, ENGL 2104 & ENGL 3104, ENGL 1104, ENGL 2204
    Restrictions Not suitable for students for whom English is a Second Language. These students are strongly advised to enrol in Professional English (ESL) I or II (ENGL 1104 / 2204)
    Course Description This is a course for students who wish to develop their skills in working with frequently used workplace documents and genres in both traditional and electronic formats. Course activities and assessments help students learn to create structurally effective, grammatically accurate and contextually appropriate documents. Target genres will include business letters, emails and job application packages. Additionally, the development of a professional persona in online environments may be covered. Coursework will emphasise the development of grammatical accuracy, effective writing from evidence, and reader-centred business writing.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Joy McEntee

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes

    On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

    1 Demonstrate skills in working with frequently used workplace documents and genres in both traditional and electronic formats (e.g. business letters, emails, contemporary paper-based job application packages and online job applications, presentations – both in person and online)
    2 Create structurally effective, grammatically accurate and contextually appropriate documents and communications. They will be able to demonstrate these skills working both independently and collaboratively
    3 Demonstrate an appreciation of the effects and importance of reader-centred writing, including writing to meet a defined, instrumental purpose
    4 Demonstrate well-developed skills in writing an array of workplace documents and communications from from evidence
    5 Demonstrate skills in creating effective public presentations and/or mass communications (both/either in face-to-face classes or in online forums; both individually prepared and collaborative). Students will learn to consider “inclusiveness” in communication (meeting the needs of a variety of readers / auditors / spectators), and will demonstrate an awareness of inclusiveness in their work
    6 Demonstrate having acquired specific knowledge relevant to the construction of an effective, appropriate online professional persona
    7 Demonstrate having learned constructive approaches to working on co-authored documents, including effective approaches to editing others’ work
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Cavanor, Natalie. Business Writing in the Digital Age. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 2012. Hard copy or Kindle edition.

    Smith, Edward L. and Stephen A Bernhardt. Writing at Work: Professional Writing Skills for People on the Job. London: McGraw Hill, 1997. Hard copy or Kindle edition.
    Recommended Resources
    To be announced.
    Online Learning
    English for Professional Purposes will make active use of MyUni and Grammar Bytes! (www.chompchomp.com) as well as other web resources to be announced.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes

    Provisional. Teaching and learning modes may include online lectures, seminars and online activities.

    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    Students will commit the equivalent of 156 hours per semester to study in this course. 

    Learning Activities Summary
    Provisional. Learning activities may include online lectures, face-to-face seminars, online activities, instructor-directed and student-directed research and assessment-for-learning tasks.
    Specific Course Requirements
    English for Professional Purposes is suitable for students who want to develop their business writing skills.

    Students who want to develop academic writing skills should enrol in a different course: Academic English.

    English for Professional Purposes is suitable for students whose first language is English or who are completely fluent in English.

    Students who are still developing fluency in English should enrol in Professional English (business writing focus) or Academic English (academic writing focus).
    Small Group Discovery Experience
    Provisional. The small group discovery experience may be provided in week 3, through group textual analysis activities, and in week 11, through peer review activities.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Provisional

    Assessment Task


    Task Type


    Weighting


    Learning Outcome
    Seminar participation and associated preparation Formative and Summative 20% 1, 2, 3, 5
    Job advertisement research Formative and Summative 5% 1, 2, 5, 6
    Formal letters and emails Formative and Summative 15% 1, 2, 3, 5
    Job application package Formative and Summative 25% 1-6
    Plan for a professional online profile Formative and Summative 5% 2, 5, 6
    Exam Summative 30% 1-6
    Assessment Related Requirements
    Students must attempt all assignments in order to pass the course. 

    Other assessment-related requirements will be found in the Department of English and Creative Writing Policies and Procedures Handbook, as well as the English for Professional Purposes course guide.
    Assessment Detail

    Provisional 

    Seminar participation and associated preparation (20%):
    students must attend and prepare for seminars

    Job advertisement research (5%): students will research a job advertisement

    Formal letters and emails (15%): students will submit formal letters and emails

    Job application package (25%): students will submit a job application package which will include covering letter, CV and selection criteria or equivalent as appropriate

    Plan for a professional online profile (5%): students will submit a plan on how they will put together an online profile and will peer review one another's profile plans

    Take-home exam (30%): this will be conducted at the end of the course and will cover key genres and grammar points covered in the course

    Submission

    Information available on enrolment.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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