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English Language as a Language of Business Communication

2019/2020
Academic Year
ENG
Instruction in English
8
ECTS credits
Course type:
Elective course
When:
4 year, 1, 2 module

Instructors


Орехова Екатерина Андреевна


Terentieva, Irina

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Business English Course is for those who want not only to further improve and develop their linguistic and communicational skills but also for people who desire to broaden and deepen their knowledge in the business sphere. Obviously, business skills would be of great use to people who are willing to make a career in business, but the course is not limited only by that. Those who see their future in cross cultural communication, teaching, interpreting or translating will find the course useful and efficient as well. For cross cultural communication specialists practical business skills might prove to be or great importance. For teaches it is, first of all, after finishing the course, the capability to teach Business English in future 2 as it is a very popular and promising course. For interpreters and translators it is an opportunity to gain knowledge of a new sphere which could undoubtedly come in handy.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • The main objective of the course “Business English” is to master various language, social and business skills. Therefore, students are to obtain different competences, such as linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence and pragmatic competence.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • - Describe cross-cultural experience
  • - Report back on research
  • - Use tenses appropriately
  • - Introduce yourself to a group
  • - Know advanced business vocabulary
  • - To communicate efficiently with other people and understand social roles of other participants;
  • - Develop business communication skills
  • - Talk about career paths and choices
  • - Manage the discussion and share ideas in a meeting
  • - Express attitudes to the past
  • - Getting your point across
  • - Know business communication skills
  • - Be able to discuss and respond to the issues in the articles
  • - Discuss working practices
  • - Give a formal presentation
  • - Speculate about future changes
  • - Show understanding of material
  • - Know basic research skills
  • - Be able to use business skills (giving presentations, negotiating, telephoning, giving teleconferences, etc.)
  • - Talk about different kinds of risks
  • - Take part in a teleconference
  • - Reference using pronouns
  • - Establish rapport and showing interest
  • - Be able to read and understand messages, letters, etc. and to respond appropriately;
  • - Be able to make summary;
  • - Be able to use lexical and grammatical resources.
  • - Can explore team relation in the context of business communication
  • - Negotiate – dealing with conflict
  • - Add emphasis, using fronting, cleft sentences, adverbs, and phrases
  • - Be able to respond and to give feedback
  • - Know how to use language skills to get necessary information from various sources;
  • - Know social and cultural differences.
  • - Discuss factors for success
  • - Solve problem and brainstorm ideas during meetings
  • - Use adverbs to qualify attitudes, vague language
  • - To use business vocabulary appropriately;
  • - Different language skills useful in business communication (listening, reading, speaking).
  • - Talk about training and learning
  • - Use communication strategies on the telephone
  • - Use particle clauses and ‘the future in the past’
  • - Be able to express dissatisfaction
  • - To use modern technologies and devices to solve communicational problems;
  • - Discuss employer /employee expectations
  • - Give an impromptu presentation
  • - Use questions deal with difficult questions
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • 4th year. 1st module. Business English. Unit 1. Connections.
    Working with words (Describing cross-cultural experiences) Business communication skills (Meetings – reporting back on research) Language at work (Tenses review) Practically speaking (Introducing yourself to a group) Case study (Planning for expansion)
  • 4th year. 1st module. Business English. Unit 2. Career
    Working with words (Comparing career paths and choices) Business communication skills (Managing the discussion and sharing ideas) Language at work (Expressing attitudes to the past) Practically speaking (Getting your point across) Case study (Establishing a career review process)
  • 4th year. 1st module. Business English. Unit 3. Change.
    Working with words (Discussing working practices) Business communication skills (Giving a formal presentation) Language at work (Speculating about future changes) Practically speaking (Showing understanding) Case study (Planning office space)
  • 4th year. 1st module. Business English. Unit 4. Risk
    Working with words (Talking about different kinds of risks) Business communication skills (Taking part in a teleconference) Language at work (Referencing using pronouns) Practically speaking (Establishing rapport and showing interest) Case study (Tackling risks)
  • 4th year. 2nd module. Business English. Unit 5. Teamwork.
    Working with words (Exploring team relation) Business communication skills (Negotiating – dealing with conflict) Language at work (Adding emphasis, using fronting, cleft sentences, adverbs, and phrases) Practically speaking (Responding to feedback) Case study (Developing a teamwork ethos)
  • 4th year. 2nd module. Business English. Unit 6. Progress.
    Working with words (Discussing factors success) Business communication skills (Meeting – problem solving, brainstorming ideas) Language at work (Using adverbs to qualify attitudes) Practically speaking (Using vague language) Case study (Handling rapid growth and progression)
  • 4th year. 2nd module. Business English. Unit 7. Learning.
    Working with words (Talking about training and learning) Business communication skills (Telephoning – communication strategies) Language at work (Using particle clauses and ‘the future in the past’) Practically speaking (Expressing dissatisfaction) Case study (Tackling the skills shortage)
  • 4th year. 2nd module. Business English. Unit 8. Performance.
    Working with words (Discussing employer / employee expectations) Business communication skills (Presenting – giving an impromptu presentation) Language at work (Using questions) Practically speaking (Dealing with difficult questions) Case study (Increasing staff and customer satisfaction)
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Speaking
    The overall module grade consists of four parts which have equal share 25%. The first part, assessment of speaking proficiency is made up of two parts: a monologic speech and pair/group discussion. Two formative assessment tests are summed up and divided by two. the formula for this is the following
  • non-blocking Writing
    Assessment of the writing performance is comprised of four main types of writing in the course, i.e. essay, report, article and review. The Final written work is to be submitted by the due date stipulated by the teacher. The formula for this area of assessment is the following
  • non-blocking Continuous grade
    In this case all the grades are summed up and then divided by the total number of lessons conducted done during the course.
  • non-blocking Exam
    The exam held in winter consists of speaking assignment. Students are given spoken instructions, and/or texts and/or are provided with visual stimuli (one or several diagrams or charts) to form the basis for a task which they carry out individually or in pairs/groups of three. The task gives candidates the opportunity to show their range of language (speculating, evaluating, comparing, giving opinions, eliciting, negotiating, etc.) and their ability to manage a discussion. This task type tests the Students’ ability to develop and sustain discourse, and to engage in discussion on the topics of the course. They also need to be able to organise their thoughts and ideas, and express themselves coherently in appropriate language in the given time.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (2 module)
    0.25 * Continuous grade + 0.25 * Exam + 0.25 * Speaking + 0.25 * Writing
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • English for business : a functional approach, Chilver, J., 2001

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Longman business English skills: meetings and discussions, , 1997
  • Longman business English skills: presenting facts and figures, , 1996