Work placement (468 h)

Teacher(s)

De Cock Sylvie (coordinator);

Language

French

Main themes

The work placement is a first experience in the working world and is directly linked to the Master in Multilingual Communication.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The work placement module obliges students to contact companies in Belgium and/or abroad in order to find a three-month work placement in a public or private company. By the end of the work placement, students will have learned a lot about the business world and will have applied in a practical way the concepts and theories learned in their language and business courses.

Content

The objective of the work placement is to enable students to participate in a company's activities, thereby applying the theoretical concepts acquired in their language and business courses in the Master in Multilingual Communication. During their work placement, students should also use at least one of their two major languages on a daily basis. Students must write and orally defend a report on their work placement (see Evaluation). The report must respect the scientific and bibliographical conventions in this regard.

Evaluation methods

Evaluation : The work placement will be evaluated by means of a detailed report (6,000-8,000 words) and an oral defence of 15 to 20 minutes (a 7-10-minute PowerPoint-style presentation and a 10-minute question and answer session). The report and oral defence must be in one of the student's major languages and will be evaluated by a tutor (teacher) appointed by the master committee.
The evaluation focuses on :

• the ability to produce a well-strucutred, relevant and well-documented description of the company in which the placement was carried out and discussion of the objectives of the placement and the various activities or projects in which the trainee participated
• the critical/reflective dimension of the report / oral defence: this means being able to take a step back from the company's practices and from their own practices, drawing on concepts from linguistics and communication literature, highlighting the strategic dimensions of these practices, analysing what they have gained from the internship, making connections with the training, etc.
• the quality of the oral presenation and the relevance of the answers provided during the oral defence
• the quality of the oral and written language
• the appropriateness of the written formulation and oral presentation.

The final mark for the work placement is the weighted mean of the following three marks: a mark out of 20 given by the work placement supervisor, a mark out of 30 for the written report and a mark out of 50 for the oral defence. 
/!\ Students who get a fail mark for the report or for the oral defence will get a fail mark overall. Students who get a fail mark overall need to redo the part(s) they failed.
Rules governing the use of generative artificial intelligence tools
In all the tasks and activities related to the assessment of the internship, students are required to comply with the guidelines for the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools established by ELAL  (https://cdn.uclouvain.be/cdn-osis/ppe/2027/fial/documents/Lignes_directrices_IAG_ELAL.pdf). More specifically, any GenAI use within the framework of the assessment of the internship must be limited to the moderate level (Level 2) defined in the Grille des usages de l’intelligence artificielle générative (https://cdn.uclouvain.be/cdn-osis/ppe/2027/fial/documents/Grille_IAG_ELAL.pdf), which complements the ELAL guidelines.
As scientific integrity requires that sources be properly cited, any use of artificial intelligence must always be explicitly acknowledged. A declaration of the use of GenAI tools must be submitted together with the internship report.
Any work that does not comply with the guidelines for the responsible use of GenAI tools established by ELAL may result in a failing grade.

Other information

The work placement must be carried out in the academic year in which it is included in the student's annual programme.
 
In the workplace, the ban on wearing religious symbols also applies to interns, if it is stipulated in the work regulations, .

Online resources

Information documents and forms:  
https://www.uclouvain.be/fr/facultes/fial/restricted/stages-elal

Faculty or entity

> ELAL