Graduate Certificate in English for the Global Workplace

This subject is designed for graduate students who would like to improve their spoken English skills for professional contexts. It is aimed at speakers of English as an additional language.

Students who complete this subject will become familiar with Australian English pronunciation, will develop confidence and self-awareness, and will improve the clarity and fluency of their speech for use in professional communication. The content covers various aspects of pronunciation, such as individual sounds, sound combinations, syllables and word stress, rhythm, sentence stress, connected speech processes and intonation. Students will also improve their listening-discrimination skills, develop an understanding of the basic processes involved in speech production and gain practical knowledge about the communicative nature of sentence stress and intonation, especially as they apply to workplace settings.

The subject aims to improve students’ ability to edit their written texts in order to produce grammatically accurate and stylistically appropriate texts for professional purposes. The subject begins with a review of the most frequent errors in the writing of students who speak English as a Second Language, including errors in morphology, syntax, cohesion, and punctuation, and then considers the impact that such errors may have on meaning. In the second half of the subject, students engage in linguistic analysis of a range of work-place texts (e.g. short reports, media releases). The aim of this analysis is to identify the most salient grammatical and stylistic features that contribute to the clarity of the texts. Throughout the subject students will engage in identifying areas of concern in their writing (annotation), self and peer editing exercises, keeping logs of their progress, and using available online grammar resources.

This subject aims to develop effective written communication skills for use in professional workplace contexts. It is designed for graduate students, who are speakers of English as an additional language. Given the wide range of professional workplaces and modes of writing found within these, this subject aims to help students reflect on the different contexts and interactions that are at stake in professional reading and writing. It will do this by teaching students techniques of text analysis to assist them in identifying the conventions of a variety of genres encountered in the workplace. Students will also develop skills in structuring and writing texts that respond appropriately and flexibly to a range of communicative purposes and audiences. Particular attention will be paid to workplace modes of writing (including promotional and hortatory text types), and to the processes of collaborative professional writing.

This subject enhances students’ ability to communicate effectively and strategically in English-speaking professional settings in Australia and internationally. Students will acquire research-based discourse analytic tools to understand workplace cultures and norms of interaction, and develop practical skills in advanced spoken and email-based workplace interaction. Topics include opening and closing conversations, engaging in small talk, raising sensitive issues with peers and superior, making and responding to requests, complaints, and refusals from a position of strength and weakness, structuring short ad hoc speeches, participating in job interviews, and understanding cultural norms of humour, sarcasm and non-literal language use. There will be an emphasis throughout on intercultural differences and awareness raising of how cultural norms impact interaction.

Note: This subject is aimed at speakers of English as an additional language. It is not suitable for native speakers of English.