PHUV9410 Professional Practice and Language Barriers Course description

Approved by the Doctoral Committee 28.03.2019. Minor changes approved 27.04.2020.

This PhD course is open for PhD candidates who are working on research projects in which linguistic diversity, language barriers and professional practice are topics of relevance.

The course will be offered in English.

The course will focus on research topics such as linguistic diversity and communication in institutional settings within education, health and the remainder of the public sector. The PhD candidates will become acquainted with a variety of empirical and theoretical approaches to linguistic diversity, interpreting and professional practice. Relevant topics include the importance of power, roles, rights, and duties. Students will especially be encouraged to reflect critically upon challenges related to language barriers and communication in their own research projects.

Knowledge

The candidate has in-depth knowledge of:

• language as a tool in encounters between professional practitioners and their clients, with and without interpreters
• communication challenges in situations with language barriers
• relevant theories on dialogical and monological understandings of language, and on oral and written communication in encounters with language barriers
• the relationship between language and power in situations with language barriers

Skills

The candidate:

• can critically analyze their own material in terms of language, communication and interpreting
• can identify and analyze how language barriers and interpreting affect communication and professional behavior

General competence

The candidate:

• can use theories on language and communication to elucidate their own research material
• can select and apply appropriate methods for analyzing language barriers and communication challenges

The teaching takes place with in-person attendance on campus, and the working methods comprise lectures and student-active sessions for solving assignments. Some of the teaching material may be posted on the learning platform in the form of videos, articles and other relevant material. Self-study is required before and after lectures and seminars.

No coursework requirements or compulsory activities.

The exam in the course is an individual supervised exam of 5 hours.

The following aids are permitted:

• The exam modus of Lovdata Pro.

The exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner. At least 25% of the exam papers will be assessed by two examiners. The grades awarded for the papers assessed by two examiners form the basis for determining the level for all the exam papers.