Business English

Prerequisites

• PR1. English language proficiency at A2/B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for understanding and producing basic sentences.

The adopted teaching methodologies are student-centred, with a strong practical and communicative component, following the principles of a task-based approach. They include the following strategies:

• TM1. Task-based Learning: Units are developed around tasks with real-world applications (e.g., writing executive emails, preparing management presentations, meeting simulations).
• TM2. Contextualised Grammar Teaching: Grammatical content is introduced progressively and applied in authentic communication.

• TM3. Use of Authentic Materials: Integration of real business texts, management reports, and corporate communication.
• TM4. Regulated AI Integration: Guided classroom activities using generative AI for writing and lexical development, strictly limited to in-class contexts under teacher supervision, and completely banned during evaluations.
• TM5. Collaborative Work: Interactive group activities and business case analyses to foster interpersonal and leadership skills.

Learning Outcomes (LO)

By the end of the curricular unit, students should be able to:

• LO1. Use vocabulary specific to professional and business contexts.
• LO2. Apply fundamental grammatical structures in real-life communicative situations.
• LO3. Understand and produce various types of spoken and written texts in English, including emails, job descriptions, meeting agendas, and presentations.
• LO4. Interact effectively in professional communicative contexts, demonstrating both linguistic and sociolinguistic competence.
• LO5. Use Artificial Intelligence tools ethically and in a strictly regulated manner, solely in a classroom context when explicitly requested by the lecturer, acknowledging their absolute prohibition in any assessment moment.

Skills (S)

Upon completion of this course unit, students develop the following skills:

• S1. Corporate, Executive and Strategic Communication: Ability to apply English communicative competence specifically tailored to business, executive, and strategic management contexts.
• S2. Core Communication Skills and Decision-Making: Integrated development of core communication skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing), with particular emphasis on professional interaction, managerial decision-making, and business vocabulary.
• S3. Task-Based Learning in Real Scenarios: Application of communication strategies through task-based methodologies aligned with real-life business scenarios.

Associated Competences (AC)

• AC1. Professional Communication: Ability to communicate fluently and accurately in corporate and executive support environments.
• AC2. Document Production: Competence to independently draft and structure business documents and reports in English.
• AC3. Critical Thinking and Digital Ethics: Ability to understand the role of AI, restricting its use to authorized learning activities and acting with academic integrity.

Syllabus

• S1. Introduction to Business Communication and Organisational Structure (Weeks 1 to 3)
  • 1.1. Internal communication, information flows, business models, and management functions.
  • 1.2. Present Simple vs. Present Continuous; modal verbs of obligation/permission; passive voice.
• S2. Operations Management, Projects, and Customer Service (Weeks 4 and 5)
  • 2.1. Operations management, project tracking, executive meeting organization, and corporate customer service.
  • 2.2. Future forms (will, going to, present continuous); conditionals (0, 1, and 2); polite expressions.
• S3. Executive Writing, Financial Management and Business Report Drafting (Weeks 6 to 8)
  • 3.1. Financial basics and budgeting, business report writing, executive memos, and managerial decision-making.
  • 3.2. Past Simple vs. Present Perfect; nominalisations and passive structures; modals of deduction/suggestion.
• S4. Digital, Strategic, and Corporate Communication (Weeks 9 to 12)
  • 4.1. Marketing strategy, professional etiquette, cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, and ESG/corporate social responsibility.
  • 4.2. Adjectives, comparatives, superlatives, reported speech, and discourse markers.
• S5. Preparation and Delivery of Formal Business Presentations & Case Studies (Weeks 13 to 15)
  • 5.1. Structure, executive presentation language, pitching, and integrated management case study resolution.
  • 5.2. Simulated professional contexts and public speaking techniques.

Assessment is continuous and based on evidence of communicative performance in professional management contexts.

A) CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT

• AM1. Participation (10%): Assessment of students' active and constructive participation in classes and in the tasks assigned by the lecturer, in accordance with the instructions provided, particularly regarding whether the use of AI tools is permitted or prohibited in their completion.
  
  
• AM2. Reading, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Listening Test I (25%): Conducted in Week 6. Multiple-choice questions, gap-filling, and sentence transformation.
  
  
• AM3. Written Production Test (20%): Conducted in Week 11. Individual written production of a text covering the course unit syllabus.
  
  
• MA4. Reading, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Listening Test II (25%): Conducted in Week 8. Multiple-choice questions, gap-filling, and sentence transformation.
  
  
• AM5. Final Oral Presentations (20%): Conducted in Week 15. Formal group presentation (5 minutes per group member) focused on technical vocabulary and oral communication.

Final Grade Formula (FG):

FG = (MA1×0,10) + (MA2×0,25) + (MA3×0,20) + (MA4×0,25) + (MA5×0,20)

B) ASSESSMENT BY FINAL EXAM

For students who do not opt for continuous assessment or do not fulfil its requirements:

• MA6. Individual Written Exam (60%): Comprehensive written assessment of comprehension skills, vocabulary, grammar, and formal business writing.
  
  
• MA7. Individual Oral Exam (40%): Assessment of students' oral production skills.

Final Grade Formula (FG):

FG = (MA6×0,60) + (MA7×0,40)

General Rules and Attendance

• Absence Justification: Students must justify their absences by sending supporting documentation to the lecturer's email. Justifications will only be considered valid if duly accompanied by supporting documentary evidence (e.g. medical certificate, attendance at National Defence Day, driving lessons or driving tests).
  
  
• Regular Classes (Attendance Control): Attendance is compulsory, with a maximum of 5 unjustified absences allowed per semester. The SNS24 Self-Declaration of Illness (ADD) is accepted to justify absences in regular face-to-face classes (counting towards attendance compliance), up to the statutory limit of 2 declarations per calendar year (maximum of 3 days each). Students with special status (e.g., Working Students) must contact the lecturer within the first 3 weeks to arrange their assessment scheme.
  
  
• Summative Assessment Days (Tests and Presentations): Submitting an ADD on evaluation days (MA2, MA3, MA4, MA5) only justifies the absence and does not automatically grant the right to a make-up test or rescheduled presentation. To be eligible for a replacement assessment, students must provide formal medical documentation via a Certificate of Temporary Incapacity (CIT / official sick leave) or a medical certificate issuing from an in-person consultation sent to the lecturer's email. In accordance with institutional rules, if there is a substantiated suspicion of tactical ADD usage to evade assessments, the student will undergo a knowledge verification process through an oral exam before a jury panel.
  
  
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy: The use of Generative AI (GAI) tools is only permitted in class and when explicitly requested by the lecturer. Using AI is strictly prohibited in all assessment components (tests, reports, written tasks, or presentations). Unauthorised or undeclared use in evaluation components will be treated as academic fraud.
  
  
• Procedure for Suspected Academic Fraud: In the case of suspected fraud detected during the grading phase of any test/exam, the student will be summoned to an oral assessment to verify the demonstrated knowledge and skills. This verification is conducted by a jury comprising the course lecturer and 2 other lecturers from the same scientific area. If the student fails to prove the knowledge and skills demonstrated in the written test, the assessment will be annulled.

NAO