English for business and economics (2017/2018)

Learning outcomes

This is an optional module covering 3 credits, held by Dr. Paul Filippetto (Centro Linguistico d'Ateneo)

The course is designed to develop all four language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) within the linguistic context of academic business English. The course covers reading comprehension strategies, the development of business-related terminology, listening to authentic presentations of topics coupled with reading passages, paraphrasing academic as well as journalistic articles on Business and Economics, and finally exchanging views and opinions on a variety of Economics issues.

By the end of the course the student should be able to integrate the four language skills in order to comprehend and summarize an article, take notes and summarize a listening passage, and finally express their views on the topics covered in the course.

The course involves 30 hours of lectures.

The main topics of the course are:
- communication and motivation in the workplace
- the future of management and management systems
- marketing
- ethics and decision-making

The textbook used in the course is:
Rogers Louis, Business Result: Skills for Business Studies (Upper-intermediate), Oxord University Press, 2012

The textbook will be integrated with journalistic articles from The New York Times, The Guardian and The Economist as well as audio recordings given by experts in the field.

At the exam the students will first be given a listening passage of about 3 minutes which they will need to take notes on and write a brief one-paragraph summary of the contents.

They will then be given an article of about 700 words on the same topic as the listening passage. The students will need to write a summary of not more than 200 words on the article and briefly explain how the listening passage might confirm or contradict the information found in the article.

The students' work will be marked on:
- the accuracy of the content,
- the ability to paraphrase and summarise,
- the organisation of the writing,
- the coherence and cohesion of the paragraphs,
- the range and accuracy of the vocabulary and grammar structures.

There will also be a speaking exam (10-12 minutes) which the students will do in pairs. The students will give a brief presentation of either one of the articles covered in the course or an article of their choice. The content of the articles will then be used as a springboard for the students to share their views, expressing agreement and/or disagreement with their partner.

The speaking exam will be marked on:
- the accuracy and range of the vocabulary and grammar structures
- fluency and pronunciation
- the interactive ability to effectively communicate one's ideas. 

STUDENT MODULE EVALUATION - 2017/2018