16918 - BUSINESS ENGLISH

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

This course introduces students to the use of English in business. By the end of the course students are able to: (a) understand the main ideas of different types of texts on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in the field of economics and management; (b) interact with a good degree of fluency and spontaneity, highlighting the personal significance of events and experiences, supporting their views by providing relevant explanations and arguments; (c) expand their vocabulary range and accuracy to communicate effectively on common, concrete and business-related topics. The course is part of the integrated course “Business English and Cultural Management” that would like to enable students to effectively work in teams both thanks to specific linguistic competences (acquired in the course “Business English)” and cultural ones (in the course “Cross Cultural Management”).

Contenuti

• Company profiles;
• Presentations;
• Language for business meetings, negotiations, cultural implications;
• Customer service;
• Competition;
• Advertising and marketing;
• Networking;
• Leadership;
• Statistics and trends: discussing trends, graphs and charts;
• Small talk;
• Problem solving;
• Business emailing;
• CV.

It is paramount for students to attend both the Business English course and the CCM course, since language and culture are strictly intertwined.

Testi/Bibliografia

No specific textbook will be used. Material coming from the real world, such as company profiles and presentations, articles and videos from economic and financial newspapers and magazines, company performance analyses, etc.

Metodi didattici

Interactive, student-focused teaching methods: students should actively participate in communication tasks, such as role-plays, brainstorming, discussions, text analysis. There will be a combination of grammar with business language together with the cultural implications of the different structures. This method aims at helping students boost their communication skills in multicultural contexts. This course will be strictly connected with the Cross-Cultural Management course. Therefore, attendance to both Business English and Cross-Cultural Management courses is highly recommended.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

The assessment includes three components, all contributing to the final grade with a relative weight indicated by the percentages

Active participation in class: 10%

Company profile project: 30%

Final exam: 60%

The final exam will be made of two COMPULSORY sections:

1. a multiple-choice question test (1 point per correct answer; 0 points for wrong answers or unanswered questions) concerning all of the material available on Virtuale;

2. 2 open question (15 points max.): a business letter (6 points max.) and a graph description (9 points max.)

Remember that Business English and Cross-Cultural Management are part of the same Integrated Course. The final grade for the IC course will be the average of the two grades.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

apps and websites for students to improve their skills in English

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Paola Scalzotto