English 3

Duration

80h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Anne Desirotte, Madeleine-Marie Hubin

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

All year long, with partial in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

• Implementation: The course will allow students to be in charge of the daily management of a company, an organization or a project by - implementing a given strategy - working from a holistic perspective, taking into account the interactions between various positions - giving some emphasis to the characteristics of an increasingly digitized world - working efficiently in an international and multidisciplinary team, among others in a leading position - analysing managerial practice with a critical and ethical mind

• Everyday and business vocabulary (intermediate and advanced levels).
• Le Bled vocabulary (see 'Assessment method and criteria').
• Revision of intermediate grammar and introduction to some advanced grammar items.
• Listening comprehensions of BBC news, ads and business podcasts.
• Expressing oneself, giving one's opinion, communicating, debating.
• Project linked to innovation and product development including trip to a non French-speaking place.
• Projects linked to business.
• Writing of various reports linked to the projects.
• Oral presentations.
• Commercial letters, covering letters,...
• Finance, accountancy and supply chain management.
• Imposed reading of book extracts.
• Vocabulary, texts and videos, linked to the following topics: innovation et product development, ethics and corporate responsibility, social economy, marketing and advertising, supply chain management, corporate legal framework, human resources and corporate social issues, money and some philosophical considerations, world news.
• Conferences/events (attendance compulsory).
• Elao, English external assessment.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

• Aim: this course will give the possibility to reach a C1 European level of language proficiency and to develop the skills and capacities aimed at in the Intended Key Learning Outcomes of the school.
• In practice: this includes being able to understand and to express oneself fluently using formal language and a high register on business and/or economic topics, being able to write a report, a summary or an essay using academic language, and being able to display autonomy in most situations.

• Strategy: The course will allow students to set out a strategy in order to optimize the value chain of a company, an organization or a project. - based on the analysis of its financial and economic context - taking into account its political, social and societal context - taking into account its legal constraints - adopting the position of a specialist in the field of management of his/her specialty field - demonstrating scientific precision and a critical mind
• Communication: The course will allow students to communicate efficiently, internally and externally, about a company, an organization or a project - in English - taking into account the multicultural and international features of their environment
• Adaptability: The course will allow students to adapt their managerial practices to the needs of a fast-evolving world by
• being conscious of the societal, economic, political and environmental issues
• displaying curiosity and a scientific precision of academic level
• displaying creativity, autonomy and entrepreneurship
• developing one's expertise within a continuous prospect

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

• B2 European level.
• Intermediate everyday English is a prerequisite at this level. The vocabulary and structures linked to intermediate business English should also be fairly well acquired. It is an advantage to know French as a great deal of the vocabulary to be studied is given on 'English-French' lists. Lists giving explanations on top of French translations are sometimes also provided but it is not the case for the Bled vocabulary, for instance. The students who do not understand French will therefore have to make their own lists with their own translations into their own language or explanations if they prefer this. French will not be used in their assessments.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

• Breaking the ice and getting back to practising English with a speaking activity based on a video of Mr Bean. Students will learn and use intermediate and advanced everyday vocabulary and they will practise their rephrasing skills thanks to images in context.
• Reading of texts from sources such as The Financial Times, The Economist etc., possibly scientific articles as well as book extracts.
• Learning vocabulary from those sources as well as from the audio aid and derived vocabulary.
• Listening comprehensions from the BBC World Service + Dragons' Den + Apprentice + other materials.
• Rephrasing and academic writing (summary and possibly essay).
• Practising metalinguistic functions (politeness, listening...)
• Two marked reports of the projects + individual report.
• Speaking (discussions on different topics, case studies etc.)
• Presentations skills: alone and within a group.
• Autonomous group activities: working on a product or service, use of tools such as SWOT analysis, introduction to advertising and marketing, presentation of the projects and (filmed) collection of feedback and data in a non-French-speaking place (Britain, Holland, Germany, Malta...) Note that the trip will not be financed by the school but there is no obligation to go far.
• Online listening comprehension and grammar exercises.

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

• Attendance is compulsory, as participation is going to be assessed in a continuous way. Attendance is particularly important due to the continuous group work. The course is 3 hours a week and is given in two ways: 2 hours a week in class and one hour a week consists of online preparations. Homework is also required on top of this, given the high number of credits (7).

Recommended or required readings

• The notes will be provided on the school's platform Lol@ (course code: LANG1997-1). However, it is desirable to take some more notes especially in order to improve personally. Indeed, the lecturer will give as much general and individual feedback as possible.
• The book extracts and the book to read will be announced in class.
• Lol@: http://lola2019.hec.uliege.be/course/view.php?id=432
•  

Assessment methods and criteria

• Quality and Performance Control: The course will allow students to plan and implement performance and quality control in a company, an organization or a project

• Important notice: the final mark comprises more than just that of an exam in June; it is based on several marks related to the acquisition of the main language skills. Any test/exam not taken will lead automatically to failure in June and an exam resit in August. Erasmus students who only attend one semester will have to do the tasks of that semester and take the January/June exam, as well as an oral exam in January/June according to the semester they attend ('E' hereunder indicates that Erasmus students are concerned by the assessment described). Erasmus students who will be at HEC for the whole academic year will follow the course like ordinary students, with their oral exam in June. The HEC students coming back from their Erasmus programme as well as the semester 2 Erasmus students will have to take the evaluation of the second semester plus write an individual presentation (see 'B' for the evaluations that concern them below). Second semester Erasmus students and back from Erasmus students will have to present a business report of the country they did their exchange programme in/their country of origin possibly comparing it with Belgium and including a personal report part. The mark distribution for incoming Erasmus students and back from Erasmus students will be different from the ones presented hereunder (see table with marks on Lol@) when available.

• For the first Bled test on the units seen during the first and second level English courses, Erasmus students and new students to HEC will have to study 11 units only that will be announced in the Semester 1 programme.
• Written language: 40/160 (25%)

• Oral language: 40/160 (25%)

• Listening comprehension (specifically): 25/160 (+ bonus if possibility of online assessment) (+/- 16%)

• Reading comprehension (specifically): 15/160 (+/- 9%)

• Vocabulary/Grammar: 40/160 (25%)

Work placement(s)

No training course.

Organizational remarks

The schedule and programme per semester for this year (subject to change) will be available on Lol@.
Please note that the number of seats is limited in each group so that a system is in place in order to even out the six groups (using Doodle via Lol@ or the notice board 'les valves'). Students are allowed to exchange their seats provided all agree (including the teacher). Ms Desirotte (in charge of the administrative side of things) may be reached via email for special requests but it is up to the students to find solutions and the seats will not be guaranteed in the first month of the course. A student not able to join any group with seats available this year will have to take the course next year.

Contacts

Ms Désirotte: Desirotte@ulg.ac.be Ms Hubin: mmhubin@uliege.be
Office 207 in N1
Note: Mr Solheid is not an assistant to this course despite the note on Lol@ - this is only for internal organisation)
  Registration on Lol@
http://lola.hec.uliege.be/course/view.php?id=432
 

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session

Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning

The content of the course has not changed, since a part of the course was already to be done online before lockdown. The oral part of the course, which used to take place in classrooms is now given via live online sessions using platforms such as LifeSize. The students have oral classes in small groups of maximum 7 persons. 
 

Assessment subjects

The assessment subjects are the same as before lockdown.
 

Assessment methods

The assessment method has changed as well as the mark distribution. The new system has to take the current circumstances into account and reflects what seems to us the fairest distribution for the students.
The various skills assessed are the same as before. 
 
VOCABULARY    /32 ->      /40  (32 will be converted to a mark out of 40)
*Mini-tests: Since not everybody has been able to take Mini test 2 and given the fact that an online version from home would be useless, as there are sentences to translate (we do not see the point if you can use Google Translation...), we have decided to drop it.
But MT2 was Mini-test 1's twin. So, since the purpose of the Mini-tests is only to train you (same stuff again in the exams), Mini-test 1 has been removed from the final mark as well. MT2 has been put on Lol@ for you to train though. In order to compensate for the loss, the students who did well in MT1 will get a bonus mark. 
*Bled tests: The last 2 Bled tests will be taken online from home. Given the nature of the test (multiple choice questions and limited time), it is possible to do it this way and to remain fair. All Bled tests will therefore have been done and will be taken into consideration. 
-> Bled + bonus MT = /8
*January exam: nothing changed
-> January vocab = /12
*June exam: the vocabulary part of the June exam will be done online from home, as part of the 'June exam'.
-> June vocab = /12
The external examination ELAO will no longer be taken into consideration in the final mark. (It will however be encouraged but not compulsory, provided this is an option accepted by the school.)
-> eLAO = /
+ Online Bonuses (for online tests)
 
LISTENING COMPREHENSION    /25
Nothing changes. The part concerning the June exam will be done online from home.
-> January exam =    /12,5
-> June exam =     /12,5
+ Online Bonuses (for online tests)
 
READING COMPREHENSION    /15
Nothing changes. The part concerning the June exam will be done online from home.
-> January exam =    /7,5
-> June exam =    /7,5
+ Online Bonuses (for online tests)
 
WRITTEN ENGLISH          /40
Nothing changes. The part concerning the June exam (the essay) will be done online from home. The essay will however be tested by asking multiple choice questions (e.g. choose the right layout etc.) and not by the writing of an essay (again, we do not see the point if you can use Google Translate). 
-> Reports = /20
-> January exam (summary) =  /10
-> June exam (essay) =  /10
 
ORAL ENGLISH             /40
Since we had to choose between an oral and a written exam (in June), we opted for a written one because we had a lot of oral opportunities so we felt able to assess your level reasonably well -> oral exam cancelled. We have given more importance to the work on presentations though because this required a lot of work from your part. 
-> 4 presentations =      / 25
-> General profile =      /15 (takes S1 participation, S2 participation and particularly the last 2 online sessions on conversations and debates into account) 
 + Bonus mark for the winning teams of the contest
The students who were accepted only in the second semester and the students who had to re-sit tests may contact us in order to find solutions to the missing marks, when appropriate. 
The August exams will be organized according the circumstances at that point.

Contacts

anne.desirotte@uliege.be
mmhubin@uliege.be


Ms Desirotte: 0486 725 923
Ms Hubin : 0495 230 572

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session

Assessment subjects

Since the resits concern only students that have to take Semester 1 again:   1. Bled   Normally, the academic year starts with a Bled revision test of all the units seen in year 1 and 2. The Erasmus students, who have never had to study the Bled before are given 11 units only : 15, 16, 18, 25, 28 for year 1 and 31, 32, 33, 34, 41 and 52 for year 2 instead of the first 52 units of the book. We want to give you this advantage. So just study the Erasmus units + the semester 1 units (from 53 to 66).      2. Listening comprehension   BBC stuff. There are online comprehensions to be done and an exam test, which could be a rephrasing exercise and/or one or two fill in the blanks exercise or even questions on the podcast. We'll stick to the January exam as much as possible.     3. Reading comprehension   A true or false test with -1 mark for the wrong answers. You need to have understood the text really well and have it fresh on your mind. Text: The Tipping Point.     4. A summary   An unseen text is given to you and you have to summarise it.     5. Presentations   One 5-minute presentation on your own. See Individual presentation on Lol@.   Group presentation (comprising 2 presentations) on the project (see Lol@).      6. Reports   One individual report on the project (your impressions on the whole process, what skills you have learnt, what you have learnt about yourself, what you would change... - one full page)   One group report on the project (see instructions on Lol@).     7. Oral English   It will be important for you to participate in the oral session(s) in order to compensate for the 1st semester's classwork.  

Assessment methods

Online stuff and possibly in class.

Contacts

See above.