OEL066 - Business English Stage 6 (2018/19)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2018/19 | ||||||||||||||||
| Module status | DELETED (This module is no longer running) | ||||||||||||||||
| Module title | Business English Stage 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| Module level | Level 4/5/6 (99) | ||||||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||||||||
| School | Guildhall School of Business and Law | ||||||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2018/19(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
This module is intended to support those students who wish to work in a business field related to the English world, as it increases their confidence in making presentations, engaging in business discussions in English and working with documents. Students will study business language and communication to achieve a higher intermediate level of expression (Common European Framework of Reference B2/C1). They will investigate the contemporary business environment, research and discuss business issues, examine intercultural aspects of business communication and prepare business related documents and presentations. The module is adaptable to the language abilities of students and can be taught to students studying in different years.
Syllabus
Notional – functional contexts in which language is investigated include: LO4
• public speaking (employment trends, consultancy, banking);
• project management, training, common company structures and roles, mergers, shares and acquisitions;
• e-business;
• cultural diversity;
• recruitment and staff motivation;
• corporate culture and diversity, business ethics, global brands and sourcing.
Lexical and phrasing – the following will be analysed and used in a variety of contexts: LO2
• business terminology;
• idioms and collocations;
• word building structures: prefixes, suffixes and neologisms;
• multi-word verbs and noun phrases.
Reading and writing – students will study texts from a variety of sources and LO1, LO3
• analyse longer texts;
• establish viewpoint and purpose in texts;
• examine the conventions of letter writing and emails: paragraphing and layout, punctuation and clarity analysing layout, function, purpose and requirements;
• write in a variety of registers for different purposes: formal report, writing write summaries, reports, emails, proposals, action minutes, and a range of business letters.
Listening – students will be introduced to a variety of authentic and controlled sources to LO5
• identify information from a wide variety of authentic sources delivered at normal speed;
• identify global and specific information and interpret meaning;
• exchange and select key information in order to complete tasks;
• take notes, summarise and reconstitute.
Spoken English – students work on individual presentation and in group discussion to LO5
• present information: summarising and clarifying and supporting their views;
• discuss and debate, agreeing and disagreeing with regard to business etiquette and conventions;
• examine and discuss cultural understanding and misunderstanding in the business world;
• evaluate their own pronunciation and remedy weak sounds.
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
The module is delivered by blended learning:
• lectures and tutorials
• WebLearn is used both for self-study and interactive tasks
• small group work
• writing formative tasks and other class based work
• students reflect on each of the formative and assessed tasks
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the modules, students will be able to:
1. Research a business based problem and write a report
2. Use appropriate business register and terminology in written work e.g. a proposal, an evaluation, standard business correspondence
3. Demonstrate the conventions of academic referencing, recognising sources and avoiding plagiarism
4. Present business information coherently and appropriately in order to support a personal point of view in a presentation
5. Demonstrate an intercultural understanding when approaching business related problems in discussion
Assessment strategy
Assessment is designed to test the level of the students’ competency in the learning outcomes listed above:
1) Class test: reading, use of Business English (2)
2) Individual presentation (4, 5)
3) Coursework: individual writing assignment (1, 3)
Bibliography
Main text:
Emmerson, P. (2007) Business English handbook: advanced. Oxford: Macmillan Publishers.
Other texts:
Mackenzie, I. (2002) English for business studies. Cambridge: CUP.
Mascull, B. (2004) Business vocabulary in use: advanced. Cambridge: CUP.
Oxford Dictionary of English (2003). Oxford: OUP.
Websites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business/
http://uk.reuters.com/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/