Course detail

English for Life 2

FEKT-MPC-EFE2Acad. year: 2026/2027

SELF-PRESENTATION AND PROFESSIONAL VISIBILITY

WEEK 1: Introduction

WEEKS 2–5: The Job Candidate

Week 2 – Writing Foundations (Formal Writing & Error Awareness)

Focus: accuracy, clarity, and correctness in formal professional writing

cover letter / formal letter structure
error correction and revision practice
punctuation and clarity improvement

Week 3 – Professional Identity Writing (LinkedIn Bio)

Focus: self-description in professional online contexts

LinkedIn-style bio structure
semi-formal professional language
avoiding clichés and generic phrases

Week 4– Oral Skills (Job Interview Simulation)

Focus: adaptive self-presentation in spoken interaction

Week 5 – Video Self-Presentation

Focus: multimodal professional identity

4-minute self-introduction video

WEEK 6: The Public Thinker

Week 6 – Blog Writing and Public Voice

Focus: communicating ideas to non-specialist audiences

blog/article structure
rhetorical questions
parallelism and stylistic variation
emotional and engaging language in professional context

WEEK 7: The Research Professional

Week 7 – Academic Communication (Abstract Writing)

Focus: concise scientific communication

WEEKS 8–11: The Team Communicator

Week 8 – Audience Strategy and Adaptation

Focus: adjusting communication to different stakeholders

Week 9 – Conflict and Crisis Communication

Focus: communication in disagreement and failure contexts

Week 10 – Communication Under Pressure

Focus: clarity and control in unpredictable situations

Week 11 – Language Transformation and Translation of Expertise

Focus: transforming complex knowledge into accessible communication

WEEK 12 – Portfolio Reflection and Integration

Focus: synthesis of learning and reflective evaluation

Students submit and reflect on:

presentation
LinkedIn bio (final version)
abstract (final version)
self-presentation video
short reflection on communication development

Final Reflection

Students analyse:

How their communication changed during the course
Which identity was most natural/difficult
How they adapt communication across contexts
What professional self-presentation means to them

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Mgr. Agata Walek, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Foreign Languages (UJAZ)

Entry knowledge

The prerequisite for the course is to pass MPC-EFE1 with a minimum of 50% of the total points.
Students wishing to take the course exam and obtain their credits are required to attend a minimum of 75% of the tutorials/lectures.

Note 1: Students who have a bachelor degree in English in Electrical Engineering and Informatics (AJEI-H) must register MPC-EFE1. However, such students will automatically receive their credits and are not required to attend classes or to take any tests or exams that other MPC-EFE1/MKC-EFE1 students must take.

Note 2: Due to the return of the Covid-19 virus, the above class atttendance rules will not be applied in the same way during the 2020/2021 academic year. However, whether it is contact teaching at FEKT, or 'distance learning' from home, all students must complete the requirements given by their individual lecturer in this course.

As for all viruses and the wearing of masks in class, all students attending classes are obligated to respect the rules outlined by the Rector of VUT and the Dean of FEKT.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

EXAM CONSISTING OF A WRITTEN AND ORAL PART, maximum 100 points.

The course is assessed as follows:

ORAL ACTIVITIES:

Presentation or 30 p.

Hybrid Presentation 35 p.

Optional: Video-presentation 20 p.

WRITING ACTIVITIES:

Abstract 20 p.

LinkedIn Bio 10 p.

FINAL TEST: 20 / 40p.

Students who submit a self-presentation video will complete a 20-point version of the final test, while other students will complete the full 40-point version.

To pass the course, students must achieve a minimum of 50% of the available points in each assessment component.

Aims

The course develops students’ ability to communicate their professional competence and personal identity across academic, professional, and public contexts. It focuses on written, oral, and multimodal communication skills required for effective self-presentation in the contemporary professional world.

A central element of the course is the development of four complementary professional identities, which represent different dimensions of visibility and communication in real-world practice:

The Job Candidate – the ability to present oneself in selection contexts such as applications, interviews, and professional introductions. This identity focuses on clarity, credibility, and effective self-positioning.
The Public Thinker – the ability to communicate ideas, reflections, and opinions to broader, non-specialist audiences. This identity emphasizes clarity of thought, stylistic engagement, and accessible expression of complex ideas.
The Research Professional – the ability to communicate academic and technical knowledge in structured, concise, and formal formats. This identity focuses on precision, argumentation, and scientific clarity, particularly in abstract and research-based communication.
The Team Communicator – the ability to operate effectively in collaborative and dynamic professional environments. This identity develops skills in interaction, adaptation to different stakeholders, crisis communication, and real-time negotiation of meaning under pressure.

Through these four identities, students learn not only how to produce different types of professional communication, but also how to shift between communicative roles depending on context, audience, and purpose.

The material outcome of the course is a professional communication portfolio in which students collect selected outputs across the identity areas. The portfolio includes:

presentation
LinkedIn-style professional bio
final abstract
self-presentation video

This portfolio serves as evidence of individual progress throughout the semester and provides a basis for structured self-reflection and evaluation of communication development across different contexts.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

compulsory prerequisite
English for Life 1
compulsory prerequisite
English for Life 1

Basic literature

Not applicable.

Type of course unit

Language exercise

26 hours, compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Mgr. Petra Langerová, PhD.

Syllabus

Elearning

eLearning: currently opened course