Credit-bearing Business English courses for Visiting or Exchange Students Course Credits/Level 20 Credits SCQF Level 7 (Year 1 Undergraduate) EIBC will help you to: improve your written and spoken English and ability to work with others in a variety of business-related contexts such as preparing reports, dealing with emails, giving presentations, participating in meetings, negotiations and job interviews. develop your active use of business English vocabulary in the topic areas covered in the course. engage critically through reading, writing and discussion with some frequently occurring business genres such as business documentation, reports, and business correspondence. Pre-requisites This course is for students with an equivalent of a minimum of IELTS 6.5 or CEFR Level B2 who need to improve their English language communication skills. Students should ideally have a basic understanding/knowledge of and/or interest in business. It is an advantage for students to have a basic understanding/knowledge of and/or interest working in business or similar professional contexts. Having taken a first year business or business-related course or equivalent at their home universities would be useful but it is not essential. The course is also open to students interested in a business-oriented career or to those wishing to improve their language communication skills for the work-place. Enrolments on this course are strictly managed by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, so all requests to take this course must be made to our office. The deadline for enrolments in Semester 1 will be 29 September 2021. **Please note that the English Language Education courses for credit cannot take place if there is not sufficient interest from visiting students. There is therefore no guarantee that the courses will take place, and a decision will be made to run/cancel the courses after enrolments begin during Week 1 of each semester** Course Summary The course focuses on activating language skills through cooperative task-based work. Course participants read or listen to business texts in order to exchange information and compare their own knowledge and experience of the business world. Other language practice activities include meeting roleplays; problem solving discussions; listening to talks; formal letter and email writing practice. There are opportunities for more individual work, for example researching and giving a presentation on a business topic of their choice. Course Description The course aims to improve oral fluency and confidence in speaking English through a variety of activities including participating in meeting roleplays; preparing and giving short talks; exchanging information about business situations; negotiating and participating in a simulated job interview. Writing activities focus on business correspondence (both letter and email) and writing reports. There is a general emphasis on the development of written and spoken communication skills. A range of materials from business and business media sources will be used to present and discuss aspects of business in both the UK and internationally. Throughout the course students will be encouraged to talk about their own knowledge and experience. The tasks are predominantly based on authentic business texts. Most tasks involve an integration of two or more language skills and are presented within a business topic-based syllabus framework that includes business numeracy, types of business organisation, marketing and finance in order to introduce vocabulary and conceptual knowledge so that students can talk meaningfully in English about aspects of business. Students will research a business-related topic with the aim of giving a presentation of that topic to their colleagues at a simulated business conference at the end of the course. Assessment Information 1. 1,000-1,200 word written report of a given business situation. (60%) 2. 15-minute individual oral presentation on a business-related topic in the final course conference. (40%) View the timetable and further details for this course. Enrolment Information Students wishing to enrol on the course MUST contact the Visiting Student Office. Further, to avoid disappointment, students are recommended to do this the Monday or Tuesday before the start of the course as the courses fill up very quickly and places are very limited. Please note you must register for these courses considerably earlier than other courses in the University. Related Links Students interested in taking non-credit English courses instead, please visit Academic Language and Literacies for In-Sessional Study (ALLIS) This article was published on 2023-11-23
