Prepare to Teach with Confidence in English: Optimizing Use of English as a Medium of Education

Particularities
This course is offered jointly by the University of Fribourg and the University of Bern and includes 3 pre-semester workshops and 3 workshops at the end of the semester. During the AS26, all six sessions take place on site at the University of Bern. Unifr participants are required to travel to Bern at their own cost. 

Target audience
Any member of Unifr staff currently teaching or planning to teach classes in English. 

Course contents and teaching method
Mastery of English as a medium of education (EME) is essential to international and academic careers.

This practical course comprises three presemester workshops (13:15 to 17:30 on 1, 8, and 15 September), in-semester individual coaching, observations, and teaching practice, and three in-semester evening workshops (16:15 to 18:45 on 3, 10, and 17 December).

At the end of this course, participants can

• efficiently prepare and confidently deliver lectures, seminars, and tutorials in English,
• confirm student uptake and understanding in frontal teaching situations such as lectures,
• quickly identify and repair misunderstandings in English dialogue with students,
• distinguish students’ problems with language from problems with subject understanding,
• deliver instructions for active learning tasks of varying complexity,
• practice a range of microteaching and active learning techniques in English,
• understand cultural differences in discourse structure and expectations,
• apply AI tools, especially LLMs, to help prepare for teaching, and
• evaluate their own and others’ pronunciation, vocabulary choices, speech patterns, and discourse structures.

Evaluation
Pass / Fail

Lecturers
Dr. Simon Milligan (UniBe) & Andrew Hart (UniFr)

 Registration