ECTS credits ECTS credits: 4
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Hours of tutorials: 10 Expository Class: 10 Interactive Classroom: 70 Total: 90
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: Campus Sur
Areas: Centro Superior de Hostelaría
Call: Annual
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
The objective of the Business English course is to continue with the acquisition of a degree of communicative competence at level B2 in the specific field of business English according to the descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Likewise, work will continue to achieve a level B2 level of communicative competence in general English. Students will improve their level of communicative competence through reception, production, interaction, and mediation activities.
Specifically:
• Managing communication techniques: Through the writing of texts and oral presentations, students will learn to handle different written and oral communication techniques.
• Working in English as a foreign language: Knowledge and use of the English language in different professional fields, and especially in tourism-hotel environments, both in its oral and written form.
The student will learn relevant linguistic aspects for the areas of human resources, marketing and finance, with special emphasis on business relations and international communication.
During the course, emphasis will be placed on the production of written texts in the business environment, such as reports and proposals.
In addition, the student will have to make oral presentations in which they present the results of quantitative analyses, proposals or other relevant information in a company.
o Basic bibliography
Most of the contents of the subject are included in the notes organized in a manual that will be available to students on the CSHG virtual campus.
It is essential that they regularly access this campus as other teaching materials, links to useful resources for students and information on the organization of the subject will be shared there.
Students should have a good dictionary. We recommend:
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (monolingual general English)
Collins Masters Dictionary (bilingual Spanish-English).
Students can also consult other online dictionaries such as:
www.wordreference.com
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
www.dictionary.reference.com
www.m-w.com
www.dictionary.cambridge.org
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/
Pronunciation:
http://www.howjsay.com/
http://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/tts_example.php
Grammar: It is also advisable to have a grammar reference with explanations and exercises for consultation and practice of aspects that are complicated for the student.
We recommend:
British Council Grammar Reference
Business English Grammar Quizzes
On the internet there are also a multitude of resources that facilitate learning, such as:
General English:
BBC Learning English
British Council Learn English
Business English:
British Council Business English
English Club Business English
Business English Site
Learn English Today Business English
Other Resources:
TED Talks
Talk English
News in Levels
o Basic & General
B4.- That students can transmit information, ideas, methodologies, problems and solutions to both a specialized and non-specialized audience, both through oral and written communication in their field of study.
G1.- Train professionals who are capable of performing management and executive tasks in hospitality business organizations, developing leadership skills, with a clear orientation to customer service, high capacity for permanent adaptation and innovation and orientation to results in the different areas of the sector, favoring sustainable development and respecting diversity and multiculturalism: Organizing and analyzing information, identifying opportunities, defining objectives and strategies, planning, designing and allocating resources, directing and motivating people, solving problems and making decisions, achieving objectives and evaluating results.
o Transferable
T3- Oral and written communication in the business environment
T4- Knowledge of computer science and ICT related to the field of study
T9- Recognition of diversity and multiculturalism
T11- Lifelong autonomous learning and adaptation to new situations
AV3- Respect, tolerance and personal and professional responsibility
o Specific
E9- Manage communication techniques.
E11- Communicate orally and in writing in English or a second foreign language.
The methodology applied to the teaching of the subject is based on a multilingual approach whose objective is to ensure that students communicate effectively in contexts of their professional activity in which several linguistic codes and speakers of different languages coexist. It is therefore advisable for students to know and know how to use mediation strategies between different codes and speakers as a communicative skill. These mediation strategies will be personal or textual (in oral or written language) linked to the production, interaction or reception activities that take place. Mediation may be carried out interlinguistically or intralinguistically, depending on the languages involved in the development of each activity.
Independent work will be necessary, either individually or in small groups, for the preparation of assigned tasks and mandatory readings. It will also be necessary for students to work autonomously using online resources that allow them to progress in their knowledge of general English. The student will also monitor his/her learning process and will have to work according to his/her needs to achieve the objectives of the subject.
In the Business English course, case studies will be used as another tool to integrate concepts and vocabulary. Each of them will consist of preliminary work in the classroom in small groups and autonomous work. Students will have to produce or co-produce oral and written texts.
The subject will be taught in English, and all communication either between students or between students and the teacher will be carried out in English as well. This subject will have 4 sessions of 50 minutes per week. The subject is transversal with other subjects. Depending on the number of students per class, this subject will be taught in subdivided groups.
Given the applied and practical nature of this subject, it is mandatory to have printed notes for the class. In some sessions, students will have to come to class with an electronic device (computer or tablet) to properly participate in the activities to be carried out in the classroom. Its use will be expressly authorized by the teacher.
For the development of the subject, the following teaching-learning methods will be used:
1. Work in the classroom with the teacher. Since our main goal is to put the English language into practice, an active method is essential: students should use English to the fullest and participate in all tasks. The sessions will be subdivided into:
- Active work guided by the teacher in the class group: These sessions, in which the participation of students will also be encouraged, will be dedicated to giving general and introductory explanations, working on the basic material, vocabulary, concepts and exercises. There will be an opportunity for students to use English in the most effective and practical way by carrying out activities such as role-plays and simulations.
- Work in the multimedia classroom. We will use the computers in the multimedia classroom to work on listening skills. Students will do individual quizzes on the virtual campus about various listenings related to the content of the units. The work with these listening practices in a timely manner will be taken into account, as well as their result for the evaluation of the subject. Afterwards, difficulties, errors, new vocabulary and/or other points of interest will be discussed in class.
2. Individual autonomous work. Although the preparation will be done partly in the classroom with the teacher, the student will have to dedicate a part of his/her independent work time to the search for information, the structuring of written work, and the practice of oral presentations. It is important that each student makes an effort to assimilate the specific lexicon by copying examples from the different contexts in which they are used to reinforce their competence.
A self-assessment rubric will be used by the student and another by the teacher (with a copy for the student's self-assessment integrated into the student's manual) to manage and monitor classroom work, oral practice and independent individual work.
3. Group work. Students will have to work in groups autonomously (with the possibility of supervision by the teacher) on a case study analysis project that they will then have to present orally or in writing.
4. Additional English activities. Depending on the number of English language assistants available, conversation and/or support classes may be required.
5. Tutoring hours. Teachers are available for tutoring by appointment. The teacher may also summon a student to give individualized feedback on their work. These sessions will be compulsory. It is highly recommended to review the assessable assignments, especially if the objectives set have not been achieved.
The assessment system in each of the opportunities to pass the subject will take into account all the activities carried out by the students that are indicated in the section corresponding to each opportunity detailed below. Students who do not pass the subject at the first opportunity will be entitled to a second chance. The higher grade of the two chances will be the one that appears in the academic record.
o First ordinary opportunity:
The evaluation system will be continuous and will include several tests to assess the student's progress. Independent work and the student's responsibility for their learning will also be assessed.
The course is divided into two semesters and the average of the two semesters constitutes the grade of the continuous assessment. Students who obtain an average grade equal to or greater than 5 in each of the three skills worked on in the subject (written competence, listening comprehension and oral production) and a continuous assessment mark equal to or greater than 6 will not need to take the final exam. In this case, the grade of the continuous assessment will constitute 100% of the grade of the subject.
A student who does not meet the above criteria to pass the continuous assessment will have to take a final exam. In the 1st opportunity, the grade of the final exam will count 40% and the grade of the continuous assessment of the subject will count 60%.
For those students who must take the final exam, it will cover all the subject matter of the course and will consist of three tests: a written exam (40%), an oral production exam (30%) and an oral comprehension exam (30%). To pass the subject, the weighted average between the continuous control and the final exam must be 5 or higher.
Aspects to be evaluated and percentages:
1st SEMESTER
• Written Competence: (skill) 40%
• Listening Comprehension: (skill) 30%
• Oral Production: (skill) 30%
2nd SEMESTER
• Written Competence: (skill) 40%
• Listening Comprehension: (skill) 30%
• Oral Production: (skill) 30%
The student must demonstrate that he/she has completed all the tasks and processes in a timely manner that are included in the assessment rubric (attendance, participation, effort, and outcomes), otherwise the grade of the corresponding semester will be penalized by up to 10%. Those students who are exempt from taking the final exam and who, however, want to raise their grades, may take this first ordinary opportunity. They will have to take the three skills and their grade will be calculated as described in the previous paragraphs. Voluntarily taking this final exam could, logically, have a negative impact on the grade.
In the CSHG, punctual class attendance is mandatory and an important part of the student's training, so repeated absences from classroom activities will be considered a lack of performance and will therefore affect the grade of the subject, as follows:
• Total number of in class hours (90 hours): 30% of absences and penalty of
-1 point (27 hours); 60% of absences and penalty of -2 points (54 hours).
• If the student reaches 80% of absences out of the total number of in class hours, the subject will be considered failed with a grade of 0.
o Extraordinary second opportunity:
On this occasion, all the contents of the subject will be evaluated. A final exam (with the same sections and percentages as in the 1st opportunity) will be the only assessment tool, so this will no longer average with the continuous assessment. To pass it, the student must obtain a minimum grade of 5 in each of the three skills.
o Second and subsequent calls:
Students who must pass the subject in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th session (both in the 1st and 2nd opportunities) will be evaluated only by means of a final exam with the sections and percentages indicated for the final exam in the 1st opportunity of the 1st sitting.
To pass it, they must obtain an average minimum grade of 5.
The training activities and their dedication in hours will be as follows:
• Lectures (10 hours), interactive classroom classes (40 hours), multimedia classroom sessions (14 hours), small group work (12 hours), oral presentations (4 hours), exams and tutorials (10 hours), and independent student work (30 hours).
It is assumed that students have achieved in the second year a degree of competence introductory to B2 in general and specific English according to the CEFR.
Students must get the most out of the classes, so an active method and a participative attitude are essential: they must use English to the maximum and actively participate in all tasks, since it is a fundamental part of the course methodology to acquire the necessary fluency to work in that language.
Mobile phones or other devices (computer or tablet) must be switched off in the classroom. Any use of mobile phones or other electronic devices must be expressly authorized by the teacher. In the event that a student does not meet these necessary conditions for the proper development of his/her learning, the teacher may deny his/her attendance to the class session. All of these issues will have an impact on the student's grade.
Those students who have requested exemption from class attendance, as stated in section 3.1.3 of the Internal Regulations, will be summoned to an oral, listening and written exam to assess their language level. To obtain this exemption, they must pass the specific tests and obtain a minimum score of 8 out of 10 in each of the parts.
In this case, they will obtain a waiver for the last 2 years of the degree in English (Business English and English for Hotel Industry Executives), they will not be able to attend class and their transcript will include, in each of the courses of the corresponding language, the final grade obtained in the specific tests.
Paula López Durán
- Department
- Campus Sur
- Area
- Centro Superior de Hostelaría
- paulalopez.duran [at] usc.es
- Category
- Not Applicable
Inmaculada Gigirey Liste
Coordinador/a- Department
- Campus Sur
- Area
- Centro Superior de Hostelaría
- inmaculada.gigirey [at] usc.es
- Category
- Not Applicable
María Cristina Casal Barreiro
- Department
- Campus Sur
- Area
- Centro Superior de Hostelaría
- mariacristina.casal [at] usc.es
- Category
- Not Applicable