Abstract:

This article illustrates an approach centered on principles of Pluriliteracies Teaching for Deeper Learning (PTDL) for an English workshop on a postgraduate Course in Management and Preservation of Digital Documents, here interpreted as English for Professional Purposes (EPP). Course management is oriented to learner needs for language and desired outcomes for aspiring Document Managers. English can be considered as a language “vehicular” to the Document Management profession in Italy because of its strong imprint in technical use and terminology, but also because it is often essential in communicative contexts involving writing and speaking competencies across a range of in-work activities, but also, in our case, for analysis of career opportunities, self-presentation, and job-seeking. Focus is on identification and alignment of necessary skills and competencies, evaluation of work opportunities, and comparison of general course preparation and internships with training and modern job requirements. Students are engaged in negotiation of course activities related to areas of focus to facilitate the acquisition of a pluriliterate subject-specific repertoire adapted to today’s pervasively technological and digitized world which influences sociocultural and working practices, and which requires linguistic, technical, and cross-cultural skills and competencies. Acquisition of subject literacy involves mediation and development of content knowledge in tandem with focused identification of necessary skills and competencies related to the profession and working practices of the document controller. Course materials are proposed for a blended learning solution using Moodle on the University of Calabria eLearning platform. Lessons are conducted both in class and simultaneously online using the Microsoft Teams platform. In the course Moodle, four modules are organized thematically to cover themes and topics considered pertinent to the profession in its various aspects. Topics include self-presentation and personal brand, job seeking and careers, Information and Communication Technology, presenting and understanding information, the language of document management and its processes, giving presentations, and writing skills including emails, memos, and report writing. There are additional Moodle course content tiles devoted to English Language Learning Resources, Reading Skills, and Document Management, as well as an auto-linked Glossary function. An important feature of the approach is to seek practical and useful connection of course content and activity with identifiable requirements of the profession in real terms, so learners are encouraged actively to mediate this relationship throughout the course. One of the aims of this approach, geared to analysis of the concrete realities of the profession, is to provide an accepted and shared rationale for honing learners’ attention and focus to the themes and topics proposed, with a view to developing and increasing conceptual understanding and stimulating active participation in the learning process.

Keywords:

Blended learning, deeper learning, EPP, PTDL, subject-specific literacy.