Title: Fostering human-centred soft skills in a faculty-specific English course
Name of presenter: Sarah Mattila
Affiliation and academic title: University teacher of English, Åbo Akademi University
Email address: sarah.mattila@abo.fi
Keywords: generative AI, language learning, EAP, soft skills, classroom practices
Abstract:
The emergence of generative AI has reshaped the landscape of language learning, raising important questions about how educators can preserve and promote the human dimensions of communication. This presentation/workshop examines a faculty‑specific English course for students at the School of Business and Economics at Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), designed to cultivate soft skills as a deliberate pedagogical response to AI‑driven change.
As part of their degree, students at Finnish universities are required to take a level 4 course in a foreign language and for many students, this means English. The faculty-specific English course offered at ÅAU focuses on professional, academic, and field-related language proficiency and covers such content as academic communication and vocabulary development.
Students at the School of Business and Economics at ÅAU increasingly rely on AI tools for their course work. My English course intentionally cultivates soft skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, ethical reasoning) as a counterbalance to AI‑assisted learning. Use of generative AI is not banned on the course, but a conscious effort is made to help students critically evaluate, ethically apply, and responsibly integrate AI outputs. My aim is to raise students’ awareness of soft skills and allow them to develop their soft skills through lesson activities that require communication, human judgement and reflection. Course assignments are designed to allow for the use of AI tools, while promoting the development of human (cognitive, emotional, and ethical) skills.
By sharing classroom practices and student reflections, this presentation/workshop provides insights into integrating soft‑skills training in EAP and practical takeaways for other language teachers who strive to balance AI use with human‑centered learning.