ECTS credits ECTS credits: 4.5
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Hours of tutorials: 2 Expository Class: 17 Interactive Classroom: 22 Total: 41
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: English and German Philology
Areas: English Philology
Center Faculty of Business Administration and Management
Call: First Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
This course is a continuation of the subjects covered in Inglés para la Gestión Empresarial I. Students will reinforce the concepts learnt and improve both language and Business English skills. The aim of this course is to raise the proficiency level of students in English with a particular focus on Business English in particular. It aims to prepare students for working in the business sector.
The course combines both theoretical concepts and practical know-how and focuses on the development of reading, listening, writing and speaking skills.
At the end of the course students should reach an English language level between Common European Framework Reference B1 and B2.
This course will help students to:
• gain confidence speaking English in work situations
• learn and use a range of business terms and vocabulary
• become more fluent in terms of expressing, discussing and analysing business concepts and ideas
• improve listening in business and economic contexts
• develop reading comprehension of authentic business texts
• recognise and make effective use of a wide range of business text types
The course has three modules:
1.- International Trade
2.- Transport and Insurance
3.- Banking and Finance
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: Importing and exporting, trading procedures, enquiries and reply to enquiries, types of transport, placing orders, invoices, transport documents, banking services, payment methods, finance, …
The material presented in this section will provide students with appropriate and relevant vocabulary in these fields.
BUSINESS PRACTICE: this section contains practical examples and authentic documents related to the topics dealt with in the theory section (financial documents, emails, phone calls, letters, orders, invoices, transport and payment documents, 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 in relation to International Trade.
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 and skills within the module. To deal with the situations that will be presented, it is necessary to master different skills and learn how to perform different functions in English, such as:
• Making enquiries
• Replying to enquiries
• Placing an order
• Filling in order forms and online orders
• Replying to orders
• Sending goods
• Looking for shipping advice
• Choosing a payment method
• Making a complaint
• Sending a statement of account
• Requesting new payment conditions
• Requesting extension of credit
• Writing payment reminders
• Replying to a payment reminder
I. 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).
II. SUPPLEMENTARY
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 that may arise as part of their degree programme
CB3 – Be able to gather and interpret significant data (relevant to their degree programme) they can reflect on and 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 independent studies
TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCIES
CT3 – Exchange information in English
CT7 – Oral and written communication adapted to the needs of participants
CT9 – Show initiative and demonstrate independent learning abilities and self-assessment
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
The course has a practical and functional approach. The objective from the very beginning is that the students use the type of language that they are going to need during their professional career. Students will have to interact among themselves and take risks in using the language to communicate. Different activities have been developed to help students to communicate effectively in a business environment by exposing them to a specific type of language that is used in this field. The end goal is for students to achieve an effective knowledge of the English language that can be used in real-life situations.
Being a blended learning course, a large autonomous and personal workload is expected. Before starting each module, a teaching guide will be provided with detailed information about the objectives, the activities, the material needed and the schedule of activities and tasks to be carried out, as well as the submission deadlines for the assigned work. The student has to review the material of each module and do the assigned activities, before each face- to-face session
During face-to-face sessions, apart from clarifying doubts and reinforcing key concepts, students will perform interactive work to put into practice what they have learnt on their own beforehand. These sessions will be based on a combination of theoretical explanations, language activities (using oral and written texts from the business world which will allow students to see the language in use) and homework. Extra material will be given in order to complete classwork and is expected to be completed at home. Classes will be primarily practical and, therefore, active student participation is essential and will be evaluated throughout.
Each unit is complemented by a series of theoretical explanations, language activities and homework. Extra material will be given in order to complete classwork.
Practical activities include going over homework activities and clarifying any doubts, practice of grammatical structures and communicative skills, as well as simulation of real-life situations in which spoken and written English will be required. Students are expected to actively participate in these activities, whether in pairs, small groups or class discussions.
Assessment will be based on the continuous evaluation of the students throughout the course, as well as written and/or oral tests according to the following parameters:
I. ORDYNARY EXAM (January)
I.1.- Students who regularly attend classes.
Assessment will be continuous and based on the student’s performance throughout the year. Homework completion, active participation in class alongside written and/or oral tasks done during the year will all be taken into account.
The final mark will be calculated as follows:
a) Continuous assessment (40%) (G4, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, CT3, CT7, CT9, CE9)
• Active participation 10%
• Assigned written tasks and tests 20%
• Homework 10%
b) Final exams (60%) (B1, B2, B4, B5, CT3, CT7, CT9, CE9)
• Final written exam 45%
• Oral exam* 15%
* Depending on the students’ performance in the oral activities, they may be required to take an oral exam to demonstrate their oral skills. The date for the oral exam will be announced in class. The final exam will be held on the official date set by the Faculty.
Students must achieve a minimum of 5 out of 10 in both the final exam and in the oral skills/exam to pass the subject.
I.2.- Students who have special permission not to attend classes
These students must complete and hand in continuous tasks and assignments by the agreed date, which will account for up to 35% of the final grade. The final tests will account for up to 50% and the remaining 15% will be based on an extra activity agreed with the teacher.
The date of the oral exam will be announced at some point during the term. The final exam will be held on the official date set by the Faculty unless stated otherwise for specific cases.
A minimum of 5 out of 10 in both the final and the oral exam is required to pass the subject.
I.3.- Students who redo the course.
The assessment system for these students will be the same as for students in I.1 above.
II. EXTRAORDINARY 2nd SITTING (July)
The same system which is outlined for the ordinary January exam opportunity applies for the July resit. The continuous assessment grade as well as any section passed in the first opportunity will be retained.
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.
Inglés para la Gestión Empresarial II is a compulsory subject taught during the third semester of the Gradoen Empresa y Tecnología and is worth 4,5 ECTS.
The workload for students is 113 hours. 36 correspond to classwork and the remaining 77 are devoted to personal and autonomous work.
Regular class attendance is essential, as well as the completion of the assigned tasks and homework. Students’ active participation in class is an integral part of both their personal development, and that of the course itself. Missing classes, not completing the set tasks or lack of participation in the practical activities will have a negative impact on students’ final grade.
Practical exercises, both those done in class and as homework are intended to consolidate the points explained in class.
Students are strongly recommended to make use of external resources in English, such as films, songs, the Internet and magazines, to increase their degree of exposure to the English language, not restricting themselves to the input provided during class sessions.
It is also recommended that they study on a daily basis, rather than solely relying on one or two sessions per week to revise the entire course content.
Antonio Alvarez Rodriguez
Coordinador/a- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- antonio.alvarez [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Lecturer
Veronika Prokopova
- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- veronika.prokopova [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: Reader
| Thursday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 17:00-19:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | English | Seminar 1 |
| 01.20.2025 16:00-19:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | Seminar 1 |
| 06.16.2025 16:00-19:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | Seminar 1 |