ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Hours of tutorials: 3 Expository Class: 21 Interactive Classroom: 30 Total: 54
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Center Faculty of Business Administration and Management
Call: First Semester
Teaching: Sin Docencia (En Extinción)
Enrolment: No Matriculable (Sólo Planes en Extinción)
This course has been designed for students with little or no previous experience in the business world and with a pre-intermediate level of English, which corresponds to the A2 level on the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR).
The main objective of the course is to improve students’ communicative skills so that they can interact in everyday work situations. At the end of this course students should reach level B1 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
To reach this general objective, students will have to develop their Business English language skills, with a focus on technology, and work on reading, writing, listening and speaking. This will allow them to improve their fluency, and to gain confidence when using English in work situations as a means of communication, both written and spoken.
The specific objectives of this course are the following:
• To introduce students to basic concepts of business, with a focus on technology
• To stimulate students’ interest in the subject
• To develop students’ reading, listening, writing and speaking skills
• To focus on language functions and structures particularly useful in business life
• To increase the students’ knowledge of specific vocabulary and idioms used in a business context
• To give students practice in writing business communication documents
• To give students practice in listening to and extracting information from recorded material containing natural speech in business situations
The course has three modules:
1.- Business environment,
2.- Business organizations
3.- Managing people and operations
Each module is divided into three main sections:
BUSINESS THEORY: this section presents different business topics through reading texts and documents and includes comprehensive exercises, vocabulary, listening activities, speaking and writing tasks. Some of the main topics dealt with in this section are: Production, commerce and trade, types of business: private and public sector, technology and business, organizations and their structures, human resources, supply chain management, quality management, …
The material presented in this section will provide students with appropriate and relevant vocabulary in various contexts in the field of business and technology.
BUSINESS PRACTICE: this section contains practical examples and authentic documents related to the topics dealt with in the theory section (financial documents, notes, emails, phone calls, letters, orders, invoices, etc.) It presents various aspects of written and oral business communication, principally focusing on phraseology and functions, completed with a series of consolidation exercises (completion, reordering, matching, True/False) as well as a large variety of exercises for oral and written business communication, with a gradual progression from guided to free production. The aim is to improve students’ communicative abilities in order to allow them to communicate effectively in English both in social and professional situations within a business environment. Students must also actively strive to develop their linguistic ability, build their confidence, and improve their fluency in order to better prepare themselves to employ spoken English, as well as written English, in whatever situation they are likely to face in the future. These situations can be divided into five core subjects: Socializing, Telephoning, Dealing with business correspondence and Exchanging information
BUSINESS LANGUAGE AND SKILLS: this section focus on lexis (vocabulary and phraseology), functions, and grammar. It contains different types of exercises to help students develop and consolidate the specific business vocabulary from within the module. To deal with the situations mentioned in the previous section, it is necessary to master different skills and learn how to perform different functions in English, such as:
• Introducing yourself
• Greeting and introducing people in formal and informal situations
• Offering to help, making requests and asking for permission
• Making and receiving phone calls
• Exchanging phone messages
• Exchanging information over the phone
• Spelling names and saying abbreviations
• Breaking bad news over the phone
• Writing business letters with a correct structure and layout
• Replying to correspondence
• Writing e-mails
• Writing a short report
• Breaking bad news in an e-mail, fax or letter
• Exchanging information about a schedule
• Exchanging information about specifications and numbers
• Discussing an organizational chart
• Explaining how to do things
• Describing processes and procedures
• Introduction to the world of e-commerce
• Describing the impact technology has had on the business environment and business processes
• Discussing the role of social media in business
The Grammar content briefly illustrates and tests the principal grammatical structures using examples taken from the corresponding module or in the same context. This theoretical part has been designed to provide students with the opportunity to review basic grammar points and prior grammar knowledge as well as an introduction to new key aspects of grammar which will allow them to confidently express themselves in relevant contexts.
1. VERB TENSES 1: PRESENT
2. VERB TENSES 2: PAST
3. VERB TENSES 3: FUTURE
4. THE PASSIVE
5. CONDITIONALS
6. COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
7. ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS (COMPARATIVES & SUPERLATIVES)
8. QUANTIFIERS, and other relevant grammar points
COMPULSORY:
• Text book:
SKOESTER, A., PITT, A., HANDFORD, M. & LISBOA, M. (2012). Business Advantage (Intermediate). Cambridge University Press
• Any grammar practice suitable for intermediate and upper intermediate level (see below: 1 GRAMMAR AMD PRACTICE section).
• A bilingual English-Spanish, Spanish-English dictionary and a good Business English dictionary (see below: 2 DICTIONARIES section).
COMPLEMENTARY:
1 GRAMMAR AND PRACTICE
ALEXANDER, L.G. (1990). Longman English Grammar Practice. Longman
BRIEGER, n. & SWEENEY, s. (1994). The Language of Business English: Grammar and Practice. Prentice Hall
CUDER DOMÍNGUEZ, P. y R. LÓPEZ (2005). Gramática Oxford para estudiantes de inglés: Bachillerato. Oxford U.P.
DUCKWORTH, M. (2003). Business Grammar and Practice. Oxford U.P.
EASTWOOD, J. (1999). Oxford Practice Grammar. Oxford U.P.
MURPHY, R. (2002). English Grammar in Use. Intermediate. Cambridge U.P.
SWAN, M & C. WALTER (1997). How English Works. Oxford U.P.
2 DICTIONARIES
____________ Cambridge International Dictionary of English. Cambridge U.P.
____________ Diccionario Oxford Inglés Español, Español-Inglés. Oxford U.P.
____________ Oxford Dictionary of Business English. Oxford U.P.
____________ Longman Business English Dictionary. Longman.
____________ Diccionario Oxford Business Español-Inglés Inglés-Español. Oxford. LOZANO IRUESTE, J.M.; Diccionario Bilingüe de Economía y Empresa. Pirámide
3 VOCABULARY
FLOWER, J. (1990). Build your Business Vocabulary. Language Teaching Publications
HORNER, H. & P. STRUTT (1996). Words at Work. Cambridge U.P. LEWIS, M. (Ed.) (1987). Idioms at Work. Language Teaching Publications MASCULL, B. (1996). Key Words in Business. HarperCollins Publishers
MASCULL, B. (2002). Business Vocabulary in Use: Intermediate. Cambridge U.P. REMACHA, S & MARCO, E (2007). Professional English in Use ICT. Cambridge
4 BUSINESS ENGLISH
ASHLEY, A. (1984). A Handbook of Commercial Correspondence. Oxford U.P. BRUCE, K. (1992). Telephoning. Longman
ELLIS, M. & N. O'DRISCOLL (1987). Socializing. Longman
FARRAL, C. & M. LINDSLEY (2008). Professional English in Use: Marketing. Cambridge U.P. KERRIDGE, D. (1988). Presenting Facts and Figures. Longman
NATEROP, B.J. & R. REVELL (1997). Telephoning in English. Cambridge U. P. O'DRISCOLL, N. & A. PILBEAM (1987). Meetings and Discussions. Longman PRODROMOU, L & LUCIA BELLINI (2012). Flash on English for Commerce. ELI SMITH, A. (2013). Best Commercial Practice. ELI
STRUTT, P. (1995). Longman Business English Usage. Longman
5 PRONUNCIATION
HANCOCK, MARK (2003). English Pronunciation in Use. Cambridge ONLINE RESOURCES
http//www.elionline.com
1 DICTIONARIES
https://www.oed.com
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/ http://www.ldoceonline.com/ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ http://thesaurus.reference.com/ http://www.wordreference.com/
2 GRAMMAR
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/index.cfm http://www.englishpage.com/grammar/
3 PRACTICE
http://www.english-test.net/ http://esl.about.com/od/intermediateenglish/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/ http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/
BASIC AND GENERAL COMPETENCIES
Students who take this module must…
CG4 – Develop critical thinking, including ethical reflections on fundamental issues of a business and economic nature in the digital age, and communicate them effectively, both in their own languages and in English
CB1 – Be able to demonstrate that their knowledge and skills are in development, building on and improving the basic skills learnt at high school, and that they are up-to-date with the latest information related to their field of study
CB2 – Be able to professionally apply knowledge gained at university to their work and vocations, including the ability to defend arguments and solve problems
CB3 – Be able to gather and interpret significant data (relevant to their degree programmes) they can reflect on from which they can draw valid and justified conclusions
CB4 – Be able to pass on and communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences
CB5 – Develop their learning skills and be able to independently apply these skills in order to carry out subsequent studies independently
TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCIES
CT3 – Exchange information in English
CT7 – Oral and written communication adapted to the needs of participants
CT9 – Learning to learn
SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES
CE9 – Students must be able to manage communicative strategies for a digital and globalized environment and be able to use English effectively in the fields of business and technology
N/A
I. ORDINARY EXAM PERIOD (January)
Final oral and written exams
• Final written exam 80%
• Oral exam 20%
II. EXTRAORDINARY 2nd SITTING (July)
The same system which is outlined for the ordinary January exam opportunity applies for the July resit.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
In the event of fraudulent or plagiarised work or submissions in tests or exercises, the terms stated in art. 16 of the “Normativa de avaliación do rendemento académico dos estudantes e de revision de cualificacións” will be applied.
The workload for students should be around 150 hours.
Antonio Alvarez Rodriguez
- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- antonio.alvarez [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Lecturer
| 01.10.2025 16:00-19:00 | Grupo de examen | Seminar 1 |
| 06.13.2025 16:00-19:00 | Grupo de examen | Seminar 1 |