BUSINESS ENGLISH
cod. 1005837

Academic year 2022/23
3° year of course - Second semester
Professor
- Fraser Harris BRESNAHAN
Academic discipline
Lingua e traduzione - lingua inglese (L-LIN/12)
Field
Attività formative affini o integrative
Type of training activity
Related/supplementary
42 hours
of face-to-face activities
6 credits
hub: PARMA
course unit
in ENGLISH

Learning objectives

Overall spoken interaction
• Interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes interaction with speakers at a similar or higher level possible.
• Take an active part in discussion in familiar contexts, accounting for and sustaining personal views and opinions.
• Present clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to business management, marketing, and other topics.
• Explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
Overall listening comprehension
• Understand speech and presentations of moderate length and follow lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar.
• Understand the important points of a short TV news and current affairs feature with standard British or American pronunciation.
• Develop strategies for difficult communication situations—phone conversations, strong accents, unfamiliar topics, etc.
Overall reading comprehension
• Read short to medium-length articles and reports on business management and marketing in which the writers adopt particular attitudes or viewpoints.
• Understand the overall meaning of more complicated texts—particularly articles regarding business and marketing topics.
Overall written interaction
• Write clear texts on subjects related to the business marketing and communication.
• Write a short report or analysis, passing on information or giving reasons in support of or against a particular point of view.
• Write emails to make arrangements or to provide updates or information on a topic.

Prerequisites

Course unit content

Reading and writing for communication (Business emails
and newspaper articles)
Speaking and Listening (Presentation skills)

Full programme

Bibliography

“Principles of Marketing” -- The University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing.

Creative Commons license https://bit.ly/2xa3eYR
Strategic Management: https://bit.ly/2LsdWod

Teaching methods

This course integrates all core language skills—reading, writing, speaking, pronunciation, and listening—in a balanced and clear series of units all of which are centered on the work, life experiences, and communications needs of the participants.

Assessment methods and criteria

Students are expected to participate in class and can raise their grades through active participation. Sudents should complete all readings and be prepared to discuss, analyze, and give their own opinion verbally or in writing.
At the end of the course, a written exam will be administered that tests grammar, vocabulary for business, and writing skills through a situational analysis essay.
The final exam has 21 grammar multiple choice questions that cover the topics studied in class, followed by a fill in the gap section where students must put in the correct words to complete a paragraph, and there is a section of technical terms terms that must be matched to their definitions.
Students will then write an analysis or opinion essay with a minimum length of 200 words.
During the exam, no support materials are to be used by the examinees. Exercises are provided to prepare for the final exam.

Other information