Ateneo - UPO

Business English II Practical Classes introduce students to the main areas of professional communication in English, with particular emphasis on the vocabulary and language structures of business, commercial, and economic English. Through activities in reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary development, and summary writing, students will develop the skills required to understand and process specialised texts and to use English effectively in professional and academic contexts.

Business Benchmark Upper-Intermediate – Student's Book. ISBN: 9781107680982.
Vince, Michael. Language Practice for Advanced (4th ed., Student's Book and MPO with Key Pack, 2014). ISBN: 9780230463813.
Bailey, Stephen (2020, 3rd ed.). Academic Writing for International Students of Business and Economics. Routledge. (2nd- and 3rd-year students).
Summary Writing course handout.
Additional handouts and supplementary materials will be made available to students on DIR and will form an integral part of the course and the examination.
Non-attending students (recommended supplementary study materials)
Emmerson, Paul. Business Vocabulary Builder – Intermediate (2nd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN: 9780230716841.
Emmerson, Paul. Business Grammar Builder – Intermediate to Upper Intermediate (2nd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN: 9780230732544.

English Language Practical Classes II primarily aim to develop students' grammatical, lexical, morphosyntactic, and discursive competence (both productive and receptive) in contemporary English, with particular reference to Business English. In terms of its complexity and scope, the syllabus, course content, learning activities, end-of-course assessment, and evaluation criteria are aligned with the upper-intermediate B2–B2+ level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Successful completion of the prerequisite first-year examinations in English Language Practical Classes I and Basic English Linguistics.

Practical activities for decoding (reading comprehension), encoding (summary writing), grammatical skills (exercises), oral interaction focussed on general and/or specific topics of everyday/professional communication (ex. current events). Self-study and activities previously introduced during practical classes.

All students are required to have a copy of the compulsory textbooks listed in the bibliography.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or Special Educational Needs (SEN) may request dedicated services and support by contacting the Student Services and Career Development Office and consulting the dedicated page on the University website. After contacting the relevant University Office, students with disabilities, SLD, or SEN may consult the course instructor to discuss any necessary arrangements regarding examination procedures and other teaching-related aspects of the course.

BUSINESS ENGLISH: WRITTEN EXAM (1 hour and 30 minutes). The written examination consists of vocabulary exercises and a summary writing task. Based on a text of approximately 1,000 words, taken from an article on business and economic topics, students are required to write a summary of approximately 250 words. The examination is designed to assess students' ability to understand, identify, and synthesise the main information, as well as their command of grammar, specialised vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and the organisation of written texts. The final mark is the average of the marks obtained in the two tasks. Students must achieve a minimum mark of 18/30 in each task in order to pass the examination. With reference to the Intended Learning Outcomes, the following marks correspond to different levels of achievement: 18–22/30 (basic), 23–25/30 (satisfactory), 26–28/30 (good), and 29–30 with honours (excellent). Oral interaction skills, including discourse organisation, pronunciation, vocabulary, morphosyntactic accuracy, and linguistic appropriateness, will be assessed by the course instructor as part of the English Linguistics A examination.

English Language Practical Classes 2 are based on the textbooks listed above, and on further materials analysed during the year (see DIR).

Students will be able to read and understand texts of medium complexity in contemporary English, of general contents and/or on professional issues (Business English). They will also be able to summarise specialised texts, to write short/medium length paragraphs, and to have a conversation on general/current topics and/or professional issues. Linguistic knowledge and language understanding will be used at a practical level, and applied to the many disciplinary research and professional contexts.