Study Guide

Objective

Competence goals:
The student
- develops and accumulates health care work related professional English vocabulary
- applies English language to health care/ public health care/ midwifery work and situations
- learns and reviews basic English structures and grammar in the assigned tasks and via teacher feedback
- learns to tackle scientific articles in English by using the skimming technique

Content

English for Student Nurses focuses on health care related professional vocabulary. Professional English language is practiced online and demonstration of competence within each theme is demonstrated by written and oral assignments. Students develop their competence in reading scientific articles in English by using the skimming technique, enhance their vocabulary knowledge of anatomy and medical language. Students learn the English appropriate for patient medical history and writing an anamnesis in English and reporting it. The student also compiles a nursing care plan in English. Students are encouraged to be innovative and creative in their tasks both in speaking and in writing based on their own level of competence and the motivation to develop it.
English for Student Nurses has five modules all related to work in the health care branch. Each module has a module assignment that will be graded. The modules include the following themes: Me as a health care student, Scientific article reading skills, human anatomy and medical terminology, patient anamnesis and report, nursing care plan and report.

Qualifications

This study unit is aimed at students who have studied nursing, public health nursing or midwifery for at least one semester. In addition, the student must have studied English language minimum on an upper secondary school level or in a vocational school level.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Grade 2
Student communicates in English with shortcomings in the use of professional terminology and concepts. The use of variable grammatical forms and structures is limited. Grammatical errors occur but the main message can be understood. Student has major challenges in correct pronunciation, word and sentence stress and intonation and they may impede intelligibility of the main message. Student fails to communicate clearly and the language produced may be hard to understand. Student may fail to comprehend the given learning tasks independently. The English language the student produces lacks individual flavor and there are often visible, evident and obvious traces to the use of digital language aids present. Spoken and written competence correspond in some of the assignments.

Grade 1
Student communicates with difficulties in words choices, grammar and structures. Grammatical structures are very basic and most of the time incorrect. Communicated sentences are short and simple making the speech fragmented and difficult to understand. There are major problems in pronunciation, word and sentence stress and together with intonation challenges the language produced may be very difficult to understand. The student is able to complete tasks with others and to demonstrate coping in a professionally in English. The English language the student produces lacks individual flavor and there many visible, evident traces to the use of digital language aids present. Spoken and written competence do not correspond in the assignments.

Fail / Redo
Student’s performance is below the requirements for Grade 1. The content is not correct for the situation because the student does not know the correct words and expressions or how to use them. Student is unable to understand the instructions to the various assignments independently. The language used and the grammatical forms are incorrect to the extent that the output is incomprehensible. Vastly incorrect pronunciation makes it impossible to communicate in English. There is no interaction on any level in English and the student is not able to demonstrate his/her competence in the assignments. The English language the student produces totally lacks individual flavor and it is evident that the assignments have been completed by using merely digital language aids (direct translation etc.). Spoken and written competence do not correspond at all.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Grade 4
Student uses English with ease in all modules and assignments. He/she is able to communicate using professional language and terminology both orally and in writing with no misunderstandings. Student has a wide vocabulary knowledge in use and he/she produces language in a clear and well-structured manner. Professional terms and concepts used are appropriate and for the most part correct. There are some shortcomings in grammatical forms and structures but they do not impede comprehension. The content of communication is correct for various situations. Pronunciation, word and sentence stress and intonation are mostly correct. The English language the student produces has an individual flavor and there are no visible, evident traces to the use of digital language aids present. Digital means (such as dictionaries and translators) have been used in a clever, moderate manner. Spoken and written competence correspond.

Grade 3
Student communicates in a comprehensible manner in all modules and assignments, using also professional language and terminology. The language is appropriate for the situation and the terms and concepts used are mostly correct. All expressions used in English are not exact to convey the message but the student can communicate the main ideas intelligibly in her/his own words. The basic grammatical forms are correct. Occasional errors in grammatical forms and structures are not systematic, and they do not impede interaction. There are shortcomings in pronunciation, word and sentence stress and intonation but they do not for the most part obstruct intelligibility of communication. There are some challenges, and yet the student is able to complete the given tasks to demonstrate coping in English. The English language the student produces somewhat lacks individual flavor and there some visible, evident traces to the use of digital language aids present. The use of digital means (such as dictionaries and translators) is sometimes too obvious. Spoken and written competence correspond in most of the assignments.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Grade 5
Student uses English with ease in all his/her assignments. He/she communicates professional language and idiomatic expressions naturally and fluently. The terms and concepts used are appropriate and correct for the situation. Grammatical forms and structures are versatile and for the most part flawless. Student communicates clearly in the context of the modules both in terms of writing and speaking. Pronunciation, word choices, sentence stress and intonation are natural. The English language the student produces has an individual flavor and there are no visible, evident traces to the use of digital language aids present. Digital means (such as dictionaries and translators) have been used in a clever, moderate manner. Spoken and written competence correspond.

Materials

Moodle materials, Student generated materials.

Further information

Student must have access to appropriate IT technology for online study.