English for Professional Communication (Cert. Proficiency) (30 credits)
Offered by: Global & Strategic Comm.
Degree credit weight: 30
Program Description
This award-winning certificate program focuses on the English oral and written communication skills necessary to function effectively in a professional environment. The program is the equivalent to one year of full-time university study.
The program begins at the low-intermediate level. Students with a basic or an elementary knowledge of English will need to complete prerequisite courses before entering the program. The prerequisite courses do not count towards the program’s 30 credits.
Students who begin the program at the Intermediate-2 or Intermediate-3 levels may take courses from the list of approved substitutions to complete 30 credits.
Students wishing to take extra courses may take courses from the list of complementary elective courses.
The program is offered three times a year: in Fall, Winter, and Summer for a period of 13 weeks. Courses are offered during the week and on Saturdays.
The program leads, under certain conditions, to the Certificate in Proficiency in English for Professional Communication.
Preparatory Courses (0-15credits) 1
Course List
| Course |
Title |
Credits |
| CEEN 102 | Basic English. | 3 |
Basic English. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Instruction in listening, speaking, reading and writing English at a basic level. The basic communicative skills required to operate in simple social contexts. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 111 | Elementary English 1: Reading and Writing. | 3 |
Elementary English 1: Reading and Writing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction in English as an additional language at a low elementary level. Focus on reading and writing.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 112 | Elementary English 1: Listening and Speaking. | 3 |
Elementary English 1: Listening and Speaking. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction in English as an additional language at a low elementary level. Focus on listening and speaking.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 121 | Elementary English 2: Reading and Writing. | 3 |
Elementary English 2: Reading and Writing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction in English as an additional language at an upper elementary level. Focus on reading and writing. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 122 | Elementary English 2: Listening and Speaking. | 3 |
Elementary English 2: Listening and Speaking. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction in English as an additional language at an upper elementary level. Focus on listening and speaking.
See course page for more information |
Required Courses 2 (30 credits)
Course List
| Course |
Title |
Credits |
| CEEN 211 | Intermediate English 1: Reading and Writing. | 3 |
Intermediate English 1: Reading and Writing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in reading and writing at a low-intermediate level of English as an additional language.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 212 | Intermediate English 1: Listening and Speaking. | 3 |
Intermediate English 1: Listening and Speaking. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in listening and speaking at a low-intermediate level of English as an additional language. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 221 | Intermediate English 2: Reading and Writing. | 3 |
Intermediate English 2: Reading and Writing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in reading and writing at a mid-intermediate level of English as an additional language. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 222 | Intermediate English 2: Listening and Speaking. | 3 |
Intermediate English 2: Listening and Speaking. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in listening and speaking at a mid-intermediate level of English as an additional language. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 331 | Intermediate English 3: Reading and Writing. | 3 |
Intermediate English 3: Reading and Writing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in reading and writing at a high-intermediate level of English as an additional language. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 332 | Intermediate English 3: Listening and Speaking. | 3 |
Intermediate English 3: Listening and Speaking. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in listening and speaking at a high-intermediate level of English as an additional language.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 411 | Advanced English 1: Reading and Writing
. | 3 |
Advanced English 1: Reading and Writing
. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in reading and writing at a low-advanced level of English as an additional language. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 412 | Advanced English 1:
Listening and Speaking. | 3 |
Advanced English 1:
Listening and Speaking. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction in listening and speaking at a low-advanced level of English as an additional language.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 421 | Advanced English 2: Reading and Writing
. | 3 |
Advanced English 2: Reading and Writing
. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in reading and writing at a mid-advanced level of English as an additional language level. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 422 | Advanced English 2:Listening and Speaking. | 3 |
Advanced English 2:Listening and Speaking. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Instruction and practice in listening and speaking at a mid-advanced level of English as an additional language.
See course page for more information |
Complementary Courses (0-30 credits)
Approved Substitutions (0-12 credits) 3
Course List
| Course |
Title |
Credits |
| CEEN 401 | English Vocabulary in Context. | 3 |
English Vocabulary in Context. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Focuses on English communication through the study of vocabulary and its function in discourse. Broadens the field and mode of oral/written communication by developing "lexical competence". Identifies the nature and role of words, phrasal verbs and idioms through the study of semantics and intense practice of vocabulary in context./ Ce cours se concentre sur la communication par le truchement de l'étude du vocabulaire et de ses fonctions dans le discours. Il cherche à développer une véritable « compétence lexicale » tant à l'oral qu'à l'écrit. L'enrichissement du vocabulaire se fera par l'identification de la nature et du rôle des mots, des locutions ou des expressions figées, par l'étude des champs sémantiques et par une pratique intensive favorisant le réemploi en contexte.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 402 | English Communication and Cultural Patterns. | 3 |
English Communication and Cultural Patterns. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Examines the impact of cultural patterns in communication in English. Intended for those visiting/working abroad, and/or dealing with international associates. Explores the fundamental cultural differences and business practices in the different regions of the world, and how the English language should be used in specific situations./ Destiné aux personnes qui séjournent ou travaillent à l'étranger, ou encore qui traitent avec des associés de divers pays, ce cours étudie l'effet des modèles culturels sur la communication en langue anglaise. Il inclut l'exploration des différences culturelles fondamentales et des pratiques commerciales en usage dans diverses régions du monde, de même que les différentes façons dont la langue anglaise devrait être utilisée dans des cas bien précis.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 403 | Strategic Communication in English. | 3 |
Strategic Communication in English. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 This course will prepare ESL/EFL students for specific types of strategic communication in organizations and interpersonal relationships at work. Students will develop discursive and pragmatic competence in oral and written communication as well as learn about factors that influence group communication in professional and social situations. /
Ce cours préparera les étudiants en anglais langue seconde (ESL) ou étrangère (EFL) à élaborer des types précis de communication stratégique au sein d'entreprises et lors d'échanges interpersonnels au travail. Ils y acquerront des compétences discursives et pragmatiques en communication orale et écrite et ils en apprendront sur les facteurs qui influent sur les communications de groupe, tant professionnelles que sociales. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 404 | English Creative Non-fiction Writing. | 3 |
English Creative Non-fiction Writing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An exploration of creative non-fiction writing for ESL students. Students will read, write, and respond to creative non-fiction. An emphasis will be on narrative and
descriptive forms. See course page for more information |
0-18 credits from the following: 4
Course List
| Course |
Title |
Credits |
| CEEN 201 | Vocabulary and Reading Strategies. | 3 |
Vocabulary and Reading Strategies. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Further opportunities, beyond those provided in the core courses of the low-intermediate level, for students to increase their English language vocabulary and develop their reading skills. The course is designed to help students develop strategies for extrapolating meaning from context at both the sentence and paragraph level. Students will develop techniques for using sentence level and paragraph level clues to understand word meaning, sentence meaning, and paragraph meaning. See course page for more information |
| CEEN 202 | Introduction: English Pronunciation System.
| 3 |
Introduction: English Pronunciation System.
Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Further opportunities, beyond those provided in the core courses of the low-intermediate and mid-intermediate levels, for students to develop their English pronunciation skills, with a goal of increasing their comprehensibility. The course is
designed to help students develop a knowledge of the segmental sounds of the English language and the method and location for producing these sounds. In addition, students will be introduced to word stress.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 266 | Introduction to Creative Writing. | 3 |
Introduction to Creative Writing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Further opportunities, beyond those provided in the core courses of the intermediate-mid level, for students to develop their English writing skills. The course is designed to encourage students to further develop their English writing capabilities by developing an understanding of different styles of creative writing
through reading and analyzing short texts, and by developing creative ideas and expressing them through paragraph writing.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 267 | English Study Topics: The Story of Canada. | 3 |
English Study Topics: The Story of Canada. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Practice of English skills at the intermediate-mid level by reviewing material focused on the history of Canada, from pre-colonial Indigenous history to modern times.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 301 | English Grammar in Context. | 3 |
English Grammar in Context. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 This course is intended for ESL students who need further training in grammatical accuracy, applied grammar, and syntax. They will review the metalanguage necessary to facilitate their learning, review important grammatical structures and apply them in different professional and social contexts. /
Ce cours s'adresse aux étudiants en anglais langue seconde (ESL), qui doivent en apprendre davantage au sujet du choix grammatical, de la grammaire appliquée et de la syntaxe. Ils y passeront en revue le métalangage nécessaire pour simplifier leur apprentissage et réviseront les structures grammaticales d'importance afin de les utiliser dans différents contextes professionnels et sociaux.
See course page for more information |
| CEEN 302 | English Pronunciation: Stress and Intonation. | 3 |
English Pronunciation: Stress and Intonation. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Further opportunities, beyond those provided in the core courses of the intermediate-high level, for students to hone their English pronunciation skills, with a goal of increasing their comprehensibility. The course is designed to encourage students to develop a knowledge of English pronunciation at the suprasegmental level. Students will further investigate word stress, and will be introduced to sentence stress, and intonation.
See course page for more information |
Notes:
- 1
Students who place lower than Intermediate-Low on the required placement test have the option to take 3 to 15 credits of the preparatory module (depending on their placement test score) to reach the entry level of the program.
- 2
Students who begin their studies with courses CEEN 411 Advanced English 1: Reading and Writing
./CEEN 412 Advanced English 1:
Listening and Speaking. are not eligible for admission to the Certificate of Proficiency – English for Professional Communication. However, these students may register as "Special Students" and may be eligible to receive the McGill Attestation of Proficiency in English if they successfully complete all four (4) courses of the Advanced module (CEEN 411 Advanced English 1: Reading and Writing
., CEEN 412 Advanced English 1:
Listening and Speaking., CEEN 421 Advanced English 2: Reading and Writing
., and CEEN 422 Advanced English 2:Listening and Speaking.) with a minimum grade of B- (65%).
- 3
Students who begin their studies with courses CEEN 221 Intermediate English 2: Reading and Writing./CEEN 222 Intermediate English 2: Listening and Speaking. and who would like to be admitted to the Certificate of Proficiency – English for Professional Communication must take two approved substitutions (CEEN 401 English Vocabulary in Context. or CEEN 402 English Communication and Cultural Patterns. or CEEN 403 Strategic Communication in English. or CEEN 404 English Creative Non-fiction Writing.), or equivalent courses as approved by the Director, to satisfy the requirements of the program. These courses may be taken as part of the advanced module of the program. For more information, please contact the Global and Strategic Communication domain.
Students who begin their studies with courses CEEN 331 Intermediate English 3: Reading and Writing./CEEN 332 Intermediate English 3: Listening and Speaking. and who would like to be admitted to the Certificate of Proficiency – English for Professional Communication must take four approved substitutions (CEEN 401 English Vocabulary in Context. and CEEN 402 English Communication and Cultural Patterns. and CEEN 403 Strategic Communication in English. and CEEN 404 English Creative Non-fiction Writing.), or equivalent courses as approved by the Director, to satisfy the requirements of the program. These courses may be taken as part of the advanced module of the program. For more information, please contact the Global and Strategic Communication domain.
- 4
Students who would like to take extra courses to increase their target language contact hours may take courses from the list of additional electives.
