BUSINESS ENGLISH
Classes are in English; students should ideally have receptive (reading, listening) and grammar / vocabulary skills at CEF B2 level.
Candidates may only access the final exam after submitting the Past paper assigned as 'coursework' (formative assessment) by the given deadline. Coursework assessment is formative (not factored in the average for the final mark).
1. Coursework component: 1 Exam paper (Cambridge Business Higher, B2+)
The candidate completes a B2+ level formative paper, in preparation for the skills needed to tackle the final exam. Paper samples are assigned on the Teams platform under "Attività". No other submission procedures are accepted. The chosen paper must be submitted by the deadline.
2. Final Test
The skills resulting from class attendance, autonomous reading, coursework completion and individual work are formally assessed in a final exam, consistent with course contents and activities. Lasting 2 hours and 15 minutes, the exam consists of 3 parts:
Part 1: Listening (Marks: 10 /30)
Listening comprehension (multiple-choice) of ESP recordings reflecting course contents; ability to extract essential information. The recording is played twice. Level B2.
Part 2: Use of English (Marks: 8/30)
Automated test with real-time results. Competence in using B2+ level Business English structures, vocabulary and collocations, consistent with course contents. This part of the test draws on the 'Business Vantage Trainer' manual, with multiple choice, insertion, word transformation in context, sentence transformation.
Part 3: Reading Comprehension (Marks: 12/30)
Ability to understand advanced excerpts from B2-C1 level ESP texts (informative and/or academic), consistent with course topics and language, through one of the methods taught in class (paragraph re-insertion / multiple matching / multiple choice).
The pass threshold for the exam is 18/30 for 3 ECTS (CFU).
Upon completing the Business English course, as a result of classroom learning and individual work, students will have:
• reviewed and mastered key grammar and lexis from previous English courses
• mastered new B2+ communication skills (syntax, lexis, dialogue, written and oral comprehension);
• familiarised themeselves with specialist preparation for ESP certifications (Cambridge Business - Vantage).
• learnt to research and interpret specific information from original sources (academic and general) in English
Building from all of the above skills, in line with the Global Scale of English (GSE) criteria, students:
Reading:
• understand a variety of intermediate-advanced industry-specific texts (expository, technical, case studies, specialized journal articles) from authentic sources;
• understand short introductory texts from economics and finance research (Abstracts and Introductions from the 'Journal of Financial Economics');
• interpret and comment on common visual / statistical data in English
• identify logical linking in specialized discourse (contrast, addition, example, explanation, conclusion, etc.) through key discourse markers (linkers);
Listening:
• understand audio / video contributions on economics and marketing topics - level B1+ / B2+ complexity
• complete notes through active listening techniques and Cambridge-Assessment informed practice
Writing
• can briefly answer a selection of questions from official Cambridge Assessment - Business Vantage exam papers.
Speaking
• can describe a short scenario / case study, with fitting terminology (lexis and collocations) in use for economics specialists
• can describe common visual data and statistics
The Teams chat is the preferred channel for further questions and info; prompter replies will be given through this channel.
The link to the Teams class can be found in an early notice (avviso) on the college e-learning portal.
Every student must be in the Teams class to access the course materials and the coursework.
Students must activate notifications and check the Teams class on a daily /weekly basis, as the platform serves as follow-up, repository and communication channel for alerts, assignments and reminders.