This curricular unit aims to lead students to the development of oral and written comprehension and production skills, in English, through the progressive acquisition and application of grammatical, lexical, semantic and pragmatic contents, so that, by the end of the semester, students have consolidated B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference, progressively approaching C1 level.
Objectives and expected learning outcomes The main goal of this curricular unit is the development of students' comprehension and communication skills, as well as the promotion of research and information management skills in view of their progressive autonomy and application of these same skills in different academic and professional contexts.
1. Students must be able to understand the English language when used by native speakers from different countries, and to interpret and extract information from oral and written statements provided by the teacher and related to the themes of the programme in order to answer different types of question (multiple choice, true or false, open answer), during contact sessions and in written tests or exams.
2. Students must be able to apply the grammatical and lexical contents included in the programme in different types of question (multiple choice, true or false, space filling, connections), during contact sessions and in written tests or exams.
3. Students must be able to express themselves orally, with originality, fluency and linguistic accuracy, about the programme's themes, during contact sessions and the oral presentation of their project. Minor linguistic mistakes can be accepted if they do not hinder communication.
4. Students must be able to produce opinion texts on the themes of the programme, in their autonomous study during contact sessions and in written tests, with originality, linguistic accuracy and within the extension required.
5. Students must be able to use research tools, such as, for example, the ABI INFORM database, in their autonomous study, in preparation for written tests or exams and project work.
6. Students must be able to structure their work and reflect on their performance and learning process through the elaboration of a work plan and a final report concerning the presentation of their project.
Competences to be developed 1. Listening skills: understanding the English language when used by native speakers from different English-speaking countries and selecting specific information from oral speeches, audio texts or videos. 2. Reading skills: understanding the general message of different written texts and selecting specific information from authentic texts written in English and related to the students' world and experiences. 3. Speaking skills: giving presentations in English and interact with the teacher and peers, by expressing themselves in English with a certain degree of flexibility and fluency. 4. Writing skills: writing reports and other texts related to the world in which students operate.
Programme
Themes:
1. A changing world 1.1 Tourism today and tomorrow 1.2 Business today and tomorrow 1.3 Describing change and consequence 1.4 Predictions, probabilities and hypothetical questions
2. e-Travel and e-Commerce 2.1 e-Words 2.2 Online sales and purchases 2.3 Product development and product reviews 2.4 Giving presentations
3. Ethical trading and quality standards 3.1 Discussing buying habits 3.2 Business scandals vs. visionary examples 3.3 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 3.4 Formal complaints
Grammar and vocabulary:
- Adverbs - Verb tenses - Giving opinions, agree and disagree - Making predictions - Expressing degrees of probability - Asking and answering hypothetical questions - Giving presentations to a target audience - Writing formal e-mails and letters - Words and expressions specifically related to each thematic area of the programme. - Other grammar contents that arise from questions posed by students or during the analysis of current documents
Demonstration of the syllabus coherence with the curricular unit's learning objectives
The syllabus is consistent with the goals of the course as it enhances the development of oral and written English comprehension and production skills (Goals 1, 2, 3 and 4), in accordance with the principles defined by the Council of Europe through the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment, for the development of language programmes and curriculum guidelines. Moreover, the syllabus promotes the development of research and information management skills, essential components in the teaching-learning process nowadays (Goals 5 and 6).
Main literature
Robin Walker and Keith Harding;Tourism 3 - Management, Oxford University Press, 2020. ISBN: 978-0-19-455106-9
Martyn Hobbs and Julia Starr Keddle;Commerce 2 - Get set for work, Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-0-19-456983-5
Supplementary Bibliography
Martyn Hobbs and Julia Starr Keddle;Commerce 1 - Start meaning business, Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-0-19-456975-0
Bill Muscall;Business Vocabulary in Use: Advanced, Cambridge University Press, 2017. ISBN: 0521775299
Learning Methods
Different themes are presented and explored within the overall design of the course. The activities chosen focus on oral and written communication. In the classroom context, a subject is introduced every week and students are called to intervene, in guided or free exercises, in this last case with greater space for students' creativity and autonomy. Project work and research are included in the programme. Students' external individual work should include research to be done on the topic of the following week, as well as intensive practice of the topics covered in previous weeks.
Students enrolled in Continuous Assessment should prepare and give a 15-minute presentation, as part of a group, on a topic of their choice related to the course programme. The group must be composed of 3 (three) elements. In exceptional circumstances, groups with different compositions may be authorized by the teacher responsible for the curricular unit. Students should use the PowerPoint or a similar programme for class presentation.
The presentation grades will be awarded according to the following criteria:
- submission of the presentation plan by the e-Learning platform / Turnitin (5%); - English language proficiency level, fluency, and interactive communication demonstrated during the presentation (20%) - submission of the final report by the e-Learning platform / Turnitin (5%): SWOT
analysis and suggestions for improvement, if applicable.
Failure to present the work excludes the student from the continuous assessment scheme and, in turn, implies his / her transition to the final assessment scheme.
According to the General Regulation:
a) The effective attendance of students in class will be recorded and, if the number of absences per student exceeds 30% of the total number of contact sessions for each curricular unit, he/she will be automatically transferred to the final evaluation of the regular season. b) In the written tests and other evaluation elements requested, a minimum grade of 7.5 (seven point five) values is required. c) In case students miss or obtain less than 7.5 in the written tests or the written projects, they will be automatically transferred to Final Assessment of the regular season. d) In case students miss or obtain less than 7.5 in the second written test, they may only be subject to the Appeal season for tests. e) All the written assessments included in the evaluation (reports, case studies, etc.) must be submitted through the Turnitin data base, available at the e-Learning Platform. It would be accepted a similarity rate of less than 30%.
Final Exam
Written exam: 100%
Demonstration of the coherence between the teaching methodologies and the learning outcomes
The proposed teaching methodologies articulate directly with the learning objectives since the various activities facilitate the acquisition and development of language skills, namely in terms of oral and written comprehension and communication. Moreover, projects also foster the development of research, information management, collaboration, negotiation and problem solving skills.