English skills development for faculty

The courses described here are open either to faculty members from different departments or to specific groups of staff from within individual departments of the Faculty of Humanities. The scope and content of courses can be tailored to the needs of participants. We also offer courses and workshops specifically designed for groups with needs which are not met by any of the courses already on offer.

Humanities faculty members who would like to participate in a workshop or individual consultations are encouraged to contact Language Services. New classes are started on demand. When enough participants have signed up, meeting times will be set by mutual agreement.

Sign-up and inquiries:

sprogservice@remove-this.hum.au.dk, 8942 6905.

Academic Writing Workshop

(workshop dates spring 2010: 23 marts, 13 April, 7 & 21 May)

The purpose of the workshop is to improve participants’ academic writing styles and skills in English based on their current writing projects.

The elements we will focus on will depend on the issues facing the individual participants. These may include but are not limited to

• identifying and improving problem areas in grammar and usage,
• cohesion and coherence,
• stylistic clarity, and
• editing strategies

Each participant is expected to submit at least 4-5 pages of an English-language paper or article prior to the first session.

Peer feedback is an essential component of the workshop and therefore participants must plan on attending all four sessions, reading each others’ drafts, and offering constructive criticism on each other’s work.

Number of participants: 4-6

4 x 3 hours

Presenting and Discussing Research

For researchers/teachers with little or no experience presenting their research in English.

The purpose of the workshop is to improve participants’ academic speaking skills in English in a supportive atmosphere with their colleagues.Participants will practice presenting and discussing their own research and listening to and discussing the presentations of the other participants.The focus will be on fluency, pronunciation and intonation, as well as on individual language difficulties.

Number of participants: 8-12

4 x 3 hours

E-mail Writing Workshop

For faculty members who would like to improve their e-mail writing skills in English.

We will primarily consider style and tone in e-mail communication, focusing on issues of effectiveness and politeness in requests, replies, apologies and reminders.

Number of participants:10-16

Half-day workshop  

Teaching in English

For university teachers with or without experience teaching in English.

The purpose of the workshop is to create dialog and raise awareness about some of the linguistic, pedagogical and cultural conditions that may influence the teaching of courses in English.We will focus some of the challenges of teaching, supervising, conducting exams and otherwise communicating in academic English, drawing on the participants’ own previous experiences to the extent possible and considering various alternative ways of addressing these issues.

Number of participants: 8-12

One-day seminar

Individual language consultations

Open to full-time lecturers/researchers at the Faculty of Humanities who feel a need for individual English skills guidance to improve their performance of academic job functions. The individual consultations are designed to provide participants with techniques and strategies that will enable them to develop their own English skills actively and independently.

The faculty’s language consultants offer up to five individual forty-five minute consultations focussing on oral and written work with concrete and immediate relevance to the participant. Topics include:

• Teaching
• Lectures and talks
• Articles
• Other work related to research and teaching in English

The focus of the individual consultations depends on the individual participant’s linguistic strengths and weaknesses and on his/her specific professional responsibilities and needs.

• Feedback and guidance on a particular piece of written work (focus on improving grammar, punctuation, style, vocabulary).
• Feedback on English-language teaching/lecturing performance - sound and/or video recordings integrated if desired.