English 3

Duration

80h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Emma Desforges, ISLV, Nathalie Schraepen

Coordinator

Emma Desforges

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

All year long, with partial in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

In-class course (80 hours): This course is based on The Level 3 English Course Book for Business Engineers. The subjects covered include communication, international marketing, team building, job satisfaction and management styles, raising finance and company organisation and a further section on writing skills including graph descriptions and letter writing. The course includes the following:

• Speaking and communication activities in business English: discussions, dialogues, role-plays, oral presentations, etc.
• Reading comprehension of texts from the Internet or the British and American press dealing with economics- and business-related topics.
• Quick revision of some grammar points and improvement of the students' command of the language.
• Further study of business vocabulary.
• Writing tasks: business letters, graph descriptions, etc.
• Listening comprehension and speaking activities based on audio recordings dealing with economics- and business-related topics.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

As this is a C1-level course, the intended key learning outcomes (compatible with the programme) are for students to be able to:

• understand extended speech, even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly.

• understand long and complex factual and literary texts and specialized articles.

• express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.

• use language flexibly and effectively for professional purposes, taking into account the multicultural and international features of their environment.

• formulate ideas and opinions with precision.

• present clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.

• express themselves in clear, well-structured texts, expressing points of view at some length.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

This is an upper-intermediate to advanced level business course. It corresponds to Council of Europe level C1. The level required to take this course is intermediate to upper-intermediate, Council of Europe level B2, which corresponds to the level of the Level-2 English course ("Anglais 2").

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

This class uses a dynamic, interactive and effective approach to learning business English. The methods and activities used will involve:

• the transmission of grammar and vocabulary through practice and 4 self-assessment tests.
• the transmission of relevant grammar and vocabulary through The Level 3 Course book, using material from authentic business sources.
• interactive role plays based on case studies which will put into practice the students' oral skills and business knowledge.
• listening activities using authentic business material.
• group presentations on business related topics to improve the students' public speaking skills.
• business writing practice testing the students' vocabulary, formality and organisational skills, focusing on describing graphs and writing letters of complaint.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

The in-class course is taught to about 25 students for three hours every week. Students are required to prepare the exercises, vocabulary and texts from the coursebook every week. This preparation work varies in time depending on the students' previous knowledge. Regular work is essential as students are expected to participate actively in class discussions and debates.

Recommended or required readings

Compulsory:

• The level-3 English Coursebook for Business Engineers. The different units will be sold by the "centrale des cours" in HEC and will be available on Lola.
• Students will also have to read a book which will be presented in class.

• "Grammaire anglaise de base" (with exercises and key), Editions Ulg, available at the Point de Vue (Sart Tilman).
• "English Grammar in Use" (intermediate) and "Advanced Grammar in Use", Cambridge University Press.
• Dictionnaire ROBERT & COLLINS.
• "Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English" or "The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English".
• "Longman Dictionary of Business English" or "Oxford Business English Dictionary".

Assessment methods and criteria

1. Continuous assessment: 2/20

• Two compulsory assignments: A graph description in the first term and a business letter in the second term. Each assignment will count for 1 mark.
• Regular written assignments.
• 4 grammar tests to be done on the intranet.
• In-class tests on vocabulary, reading and listening comprehension and grammar.

• Reading comprehension exercises based on an unseen text.
• Exercises based on vocabulary and grammar from Q1 and Q2.

• 20-minute discussion about the book chosen for the oral exam (5/20).
• Students who do not pass the exam in January (i.e have less than 50%) have to retake it in August. 

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Students can also train on-line. To do so, simply log on the ISLV (Institut Supérieur des Langues Vivantes) website (http://www.islv.ulg.ac.be). Click on NOTRE INSTITUT and then on ESPACE ETUDIANTS and EXERCICES INTERACTIFS.
Students should make sure that they keep up to date with the messages and practice exercises on Moodle.

Contacts

• Emma DESFORGES E.Desforges@ulg.ac.be
• Nathalie SCHRAEPEN N.Schraepen@ulg.ac.be
• ISLV office in Sart Tilman : Level -1 in Bât B33 (Trifac) 04 366 46 52