B0905 - English for Business - B2

Learning outcomes

- Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialization. - Interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. - Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

Course contents

Grammar:

According to the general level of the class, assessed through a placement test administered in class on the first day, the program will be adapted to the students' needs.

In general, the following topics will be tackled:

• English verb system: tense revision;
• Future forms and how to express future in English; Future in the past;
• Passive forms;
• Modal verbs; all conditionals and how to express hypothesis and conditions;
• Relative clauses;
• Reported speech;
• Verbs followed by the infinitive; verbs followed by ing- form.

Language:

• Formal and informal language;
• How to make a presentation;
• Discuss ideas, make suggestions, agreeing and disagreeing;
• Graphs and charts;
• Emailing in English.

Readings/Bibliography

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, magazines and websites, company performance analyses, etc.

Teaching methods

Interactive, student-focused teaching methods: students should actively participate in communication tasks, such as role-plays, brainstorming, simulations. There will be a combination of grammar with business topics for students to boost their communication skills.

Assessment methods

The course will be assessed via written and oral exams, according to the following options:

2 written mid-term exams, each of which will be diveded into two parts:

a. a multiple-choice question test;

b. 1 open question (1st mid-term exam: business email [max. 6 points]; 2nd mid-term exam: graph description [max. 9 points])

OR

1 written Total exam divided into two parts:

a. a multiple-choice question test;

b. 2 open questions (one business email [max. 6 points] and one graph description [max. 9 points])

1 Oral exam (for everyone, either after the 2nd mid-term exam or after the total exam).

Written and oral exams will be based on all the teaching and practice material uploaded on Virtuale.

The final grade is numerical (0 to 30), grades correspond to the following ratings:

<18 = insufficient
18-23 = sufficient
24-27 = good
28-30 = very good
30 cum laude = excellent

Teaching tools

apps and websites for students to improve their skills in English.

Office hours

See the website of Paola Scalzotto