English for Business and Economics

6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1021619BNR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

1st and 2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

Taught in

English

Faculty

Academic Language Centre

Department

Academic Center for Language Education

Educational team

Hanneke Vanhellemont
Rachel Nye
Britt GABRIËLS
Moorach-Oona Devaere
Nancy De Ryck
Tine Truijen
Voorzitter ACTO (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

80 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
100 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course is designed to optimally prepare students of Business and/or Economics for further academic study and for the world of work, for both of which the English language is indispensable in the current globalized world. It immerses students in English, and aims on the one hand to equip them with both the language (subject-specific vocabulary, grammar, academic/professional style) and skills (both spoken and written) necessary to function in these contexts, and on the other hand to provide maximal opportunity for the students to apply these in tasks which simulate real-life professional settings (e.g. a job application, an interview, a business presentation).

The course is structured in such way as to build towards increasing autonomy on the part of the students as language-users. The first module, ‘Written English for Business and Economics’, provides language input (subject-specific terminology, features of formal academic/professional writing style), and the chance to apply the acquired knowledge in controlled writing tasks (e.g. professional email, cover letter). Students develop as writers on the basis of feedback from both their peers and their tutors.

In the second module, ‘Spoken English for Business and Economics’, speaking and listening skills are central. Students continue to develop their critical reading and discussion skills, this time on the basis of an extended contemporary work by an Anglophone author which is read and discussed throughout the semester. In addition, a key focus of this module is on speaking tasks typical of those encountered in a business environment (presenting statistics, describing graphs and figures, giving a presentation). Language input provides the necessary vocabulary, and students are given ample opportunity to simulate these contexts and to receive feedback from their peers and tutors. At the end of the course, students have the opportunity to combine and demonstrate these skills in a formal interview.

Course material

Handbook (Required) : Business Vocabulary in Use: Intermediate, Intermediate Book with Answers: Self-Study and Classroom Use, Mascull, Bill, 3de, Cambridge University Press, 9781316629987, 2018
Handbook (Required) : Doughnut Economics, Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist, Raworth, Kate, Random House, 9781847941398, 2017
Digital course material (Required) : Additional course material, In class and via Canvas

Additional info

Additional course material will be made available via Canvas.

Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

use accurately and appropriately a range of subject-specific vocabulary
speak and write accurately in a style and register appropriate for academic and professional contexts
identify and implement the characteristics features of specific text types (e.g. professional email, cover letter)
carry out a range of professional spoken tasks in English (presentation of statistics, interview)
read critically authentic Anglophone texts relating to current themes in the fields of Business and Economics, and present and defend their views on these topics
operate effectively and autonomously as users of the English language in academic and professional contexts.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 35% of the final mark.
Written Exam determines 25% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 15% of the final mark.
SELF Practical Assignment determines 20% of the final mark.
Other determines 5% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Oral exam (interview) with a relative weight of 35 which comprises 35% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

End-of-module assessment with a relative weight of 25 which comprises 25% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Participation with a relative weight of 15 which comprises 15% of the final mark.

Within the SELF Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Writing assignments with a relative weight of 20 which comprises 20% of the final mark.

Within the Other category, the following assignments need to be completed:

End-of-module assessment with a relative weight of 5 which comprises 5% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

- In the first exam session, assessment is on the basis of written assignments (20%), completion of online vocabulary and grammar checks (5%), an end-of-module assessment (25%), an oral exam (35%) and continuous assessment (15%).

- Students who do not participate in the end-of-module assessment are unable to pass the course in the first exam session.

- Students who do not participate in the oral exam are unable to pass the course in the first exam session.

- Students who do not complete the written assignments will receive a score of 0 for this assessment component but are still eligible to be assessed for the course in the first exam session.

- Students who do not complete the online vocabulary and grammar checks will receive a score of 0 for this assessment component but are still eligible to be assessed for the course in the first exam session.

- Students who do not complete the continuous assessment component will receive a score of 0 for this assessment component but are still eligible to be assessed for the course in the first exam session.

- In the second exam session, assessment is on the basis of a written exam (50%) and an oral exam (50%).

- Students who fail the course in the first exam session and who wish to be examined in the second exam session are required to take the written exam if they achieved a fail grade for either the writing assignments and/or the end-of-module assessment in the first exam session.

- Students who fail the course in the first exam session and who wish to be examined in the second exam session are required to take the oral exam if they achieved a fail grade for either or both of the oral assessment components in the first exam session (continuous assessment and/or oral exam).

- Students who fail the course in the first exam session and who already passed both the writing assignments and the end-of-module assessment in the first exam session may choose to carry over the combined written assessment grade (writing assignments + online vocabulary and grammar checks + end-of-module assessment) instead of taking the written exam in the second session.

- Students who fail the course in the first exam session and who already passed both forms of oral assessment in the first exam session may choose to carry over the combined oral assessment grade (continuous assessment + oral exam) instead of taking the oral exam in the second session.

- In both the first and the second exam session, an overall final grade of 10/20 or above is sufficient to pass the course even if a pass grade has not been achieved for each module and/or individual assessment component.

- No scores for individual assessment components or exams may be carried over to a subsequent academic year.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context