Hi there!

This is me: Tony Jolley and my ‘chorus line‘:

Katy and FeeBee, the best looking pair of  blonde-bombshell backing singers  in the business! [Well, they were until, sadly we lost them to old age and cancer last year].

  And this is the  Introduction to your Professional English unit.

This is, in other words, the ‘base page‘ for your  GEPSAC unit which will give you an idea of the course content and the assignments relating to this Applied English programme.  When you hover your cursor over the GEPSAC item under the main FLSH tab on my www.tonyversity.com/students  website, you will also find that there is a ‘spring out menu‘ that appears automatically.  This is where you will find such things as:

• detail of ‘Blocks’ of work (subjects we will treat usually over a two/three week period) and the associated assignments.
• materials I may put up for you in the form of ‘Thinkpieces’,  mini-lectures or other resources
• general feedback upon the work you are doing / have done.

Between the first slot you have on your timetable for this unit and before the next one a week later, I would like you to look closely at the material (links and videos) provided below IF we didn’t manage to cover them, face-to-face, in class.

YOU CAN IGNORE THIS BIT….skip down to ‘Introduction to the unit’).

BUT FIRST: a word about Rentrée.

Well we survived Rentrée 22 without having to resort to distance learning, so, in fact, you don’t need to watch this video which I left ‘just in case‘…

 Introduction to this unit

What it entails and  what I am trying to do on this course to help you with your confidence in using your English in your chosen career context.   I will cover this in class, but if ever you need a re-cap, then you can watch this!

Learning English for GEPSAC: principles and practices:-

 ———————————————————————————

GROUP TASK FOR OUR FIRST WEEK

1. Reflect upon / calculate how many years you have each been learning English. Record the maximum, the minimum and the average figure for the group.
   
2. Then in the two situations below, calculate the highest, the lowest score and the group average on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 = no confidence at all and 10 = fully confident.
   • SITUATION 1. what is your level of confidence of giving a VIP a tour of your organisation’s premises, people and processes: in English.  Record th highest and lowest score and alculate the group average on this scale: /10 where:
     • 0/1 = no confidence whatever: ‘find someone else!!’;
     • 2/3 = confidence far too limited to do it;
     • 4/5 = OK, if you can’t find anyone better, I’ll try, but I’m bound to make a lot of mistakes;
     • 6/7  = Yes, I think I can do it, but it will fall far short of perfect;
     • 8/9 = Yes, fine, I’ll do it and it should be pretty good with a few minor errors only; 
     • 10 = no worries!  Trust me: it’ll all be fine…I’m fully confident..
   • EXAMPLE 2. what is your level of confidence in communicating complicated and precise instructions in English in a fluent, easily-understandable written form in the context of arranging travel and accommodation for your boss on a business and cultural events tour in the USA?   Record the highest and lowest responses and calculate the group average on the scale above.

THEN:

… in this, our first week, would you please find a way to combine and feedback your results – hopefully in class. 

 Tasks to do before our second class together.

• Look at this list of FREE English learning resources and ideas. If you are serious about developing confidence with your English, engaging with some of these resources might well help you.  Have a look!  In terms of improving your English assignment marks, I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you familiarise yourself with two key items on this list:
  • Grammarly: DO download it and set it up to operate in English: it helps with spelling, grammar and even the ‘tone’ of your language.
  • Word Reference: a fabulous online dictionary which also gives you the contexts in which a certain word might (or should not!) be used and synonyms if you are in danger of over-using it and need an alternative. Bookmark this and use it.

• Bookmark the website address www.tonyversity.com/students    Don’t forget the ‘/students’ bit!  Bookmark it on your university browser profile and it should appear every time you log on and open the browser.  Saves time and memory.  There is no login and no password for the site for your ease of access.

• Log my email address: tjolley@gmail.com  OR  anthony-ian.jolley@uha.fr  This latter UHA address defaults to my gmail address anyway.   NB. When writing to me, please give me your surname and the course / year you are on.  I have about 300+ students every year and ‘Hello, it’s Jean’ doesn’t help me very much!

• The ‘spirit’ of the unit and some helpful material for you in video form.   I have written about this under several headings on my site – see the links and watch the short videos on:  This Page: (which also has a copy of the first video above).  The link above has short videos on a number of topics.  [Where I have put ‘E‘ after the title, then it is Essential for you, rather than optional]:

• my website : background
• how I like to work (two vids on principles )
• the concept of ‘Blocks and Bridges’  E
• understanding and answering the question.  E
• using academic sources E
• citation and attribution E
• plagiarism 1 & 2  E
• deadlines  E

At Degree and Master’s levels, I hope most of this goes without saying, but we will go over this nevertheless!

I guess what I am aiming for is what I would best term: ‘Professional Informality’:  a way of working which is respectful, motivated, dedicated and having more to do with the working world than the classroom but which dispenses, for the mostpart, with the need for suits and ‘they way it must always be done’.  For example, I don’t have to be standing immobile on a podium, dressed ‘to the nines’ (do you recognise that expression?) to be able to relate to you  with a classic Powerpoint support… I could be in jeans and open-necked shirt perching upon the edge of a desk in my office speaking to you all via the internet rather than in full-on, presentation mode…BUT…that doesn’t mean for a minute that I will be being any less professional at all: we’ll just dispense with some traditions to be more relaxed and comfortable, which I believe to be more in keeping with the sort of work environment into which you are likely to be going. 

You are also being prepared for a world and a career (especially the English-speaking world) where deadlines are deadlines: putting back a performance/event date on a whim with little or no notice is simply NOT a possibility.  You have to get used to this NOW.  The same goes for your work.  If I set a deadline, unless you have a medical certificate or a reason admissible under Course Regulations and approved by Mme Komur herself as Programme Manager for GEPSAC, then you will find penalties applied you your work. Depending upon the circumstances it may receive 0/20 (but you will get feedback) or the bare passmark of 10/20 even if the content might have been worth more had it been submitted on time.  This is only fair to your colleagues who hit the deadline as I am sure you will appreciate.

I won’t go on, but you get the picture I am sure…..

Aims and Objectives

1. To develop your confidence to USE effectively the English you already possess after years of study.  There is little point in giving you more vocabulary and more grammar and syntax if you don’t have the confidence to actually USE it!  My first position is to say to you that I am first of all looking for you to be clear what you mean even if you make glaring errors.  Have the courage to make some mistakes…. if you are trying your best, not only do I permit it – I want to encourage it!  This gives you the opportunity to take risks without fear of ‘punishment‘ and it gives me the opportunity to actually help you.  You are not doing a Master’s in English.  You are not going to be perfect (unless you are already virtually bi-lingual!) even after 25 hours with me….SO you are going to have to get used to making the odd mistake when you are operating in English, but as long as you can be clear as to what you mean then no-one gives a damn!  You will also find people, your interlocutors, are very generous (they know you are trying); very helpful (sometimes they throw you the word you need) and very grateful (otherwise they’d have to speak your language – which they don’t!).
2. To apply the English you are using and developing to your chosen career context.    You are not engineers or nuclear physicists: you have your own specialist context and I will endeavour to set our blocks of work, projects and assessments specifically around these areas, at times giving you lots of opportunity to tailor things specifically and very personally to your career aspirations.

Where do we go from here?

The answer is that we need to start!

Q. What do we start with?

A. Block 1:  The Personal/Professional Profile

Follow the link and you’ll see the task that I am about to set you.  You will need to follow the Block 1 instructions and start drafting a personal/professional profile or PPP…. The link above explains it all.

Why am I asking you for this?

1. I want to get to know you and your English capabilities better and early on in the programme.
2. you are very likely indeed to be asked for something akin (like) this in your career to come
3. the PPP is NOT a cv/résumé and neither is it a covering letter / lettre de motivation – the style and the language are different: less formal, but no less professional.
4. your métier is all about presentation…. and this is you presenting the most precious thing in the world to you: YOU!  You should be able to do this brilliantly as you are the world expert on you!  Also it is not all about your expression in English: you will also be judged by your readers on the quality of your presentation: style, setting on the page, character, humour, attention to detail.

So.  Take the link to Block 1 above.  Follow the instructions and present me with something that you can be really proud of.  Make sure you use all the ‘legal‘ tools available to you (like Grammarly and Word Reference, but NOT DeepL, GoogleTranslate et. al.)

PLEASE: The finished PPP is to be submitted in hard copy in class. Date to be advised.

I will mark this as soon as I can (normally within a week) and give you both individual and group feedback.

And Thereafter….

We will be looking at:

• Block 6 (Website analysis) and
• Block 9 (Putting Sustainability on Centre Stage)  …

I just haven’t made my mind up for the moment in which order we are going to address them!  I’ll tell you!

So, in terms of assessment, I am trying to offer you a balance of:

• One piece of individual written work
• One piece of individual oral work
• A team/group project with oral and written dimensions (base marks moderated for individual performance)

All the best!

Tony