English Applied to Business Sciences III

Prerequisites

PR1. English language proficiency at B1+/B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), with consolidated knowledge of intermediate grammar structures and general business vocabulary.

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

• TM1. Executive Task-Based Learning: Case studies and simulations of executive assistance duties (e.g., drafting board minutes, handling e-mail crises, producing C-level executive summaries).
• TM2. Contextualised Advanced Grammar: Analysis of complex grammar structures focused on pragmatics, diplomacy, and register control at B2+ level.
• TM3. Authentic Corporate Materials: Utilization of real multinational annual reports, anonymised board minutes, articles from Financial Times and Harvard Business Review.
• TM4. Regulated AI Integration: Guided in-class activities using Generative AI for register tuning, tone adjustment, and lexical refinement, strictly banned during formal evaluations.
• TM5. Simulations & Executive Briefings: Boardroom meeting roleplays and formal briefings with live Q&A handling.

Learning Outcomes (LO)

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

• LO1. Deploy advanced vocabulary related to strategic management, corporate governance, and organizational sustainability.
• LO2. Apply complex grammatical structures (impersonal passives, mixed conditionals, inversion, and participle clauses) to ensure formality, conciseness, and diplomacy in speech and writing.
• LO3. Draft and summarize high-level executive documentation (e.g., executive summaries, board meeting minutes, corporate memos, and press releases).
• LO4. Conduct executive briefings and formal presentations, demonstrating fluency, precision, and agility during Q&A sessions.
• 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. Executive Support & High-Level Corporate Communication: Ability to deploy advanced B2/B2+ language skills to function as a strategic communication link in multinational executive offices and board environments.
• S2. Information Synthesis & Diplomatic Writing: Ability to draft analytical reports, executive minutes, and complex formal correspondence with high precision, diplomacy, and structural clarity.
• S3. Conflict Resolution & Business Negotiation: Ability to handle high-stakes corporate situations, conflict resolution, and crisis communication using persuasive and diplomatic language.

Associated Skills (AS)

• AS1. Crisis Communication Management: Capability to draft press releases and handle high-pressure corporate scenarios with neutrality, politeness, and institutional compliance.
• AS2. Autonomous High-Level Drafting: Competence in producing persuasive, formal business texts independently.
• AS3. Critical Thinking & Digital Ethics: Ability to critically evaluate corporate data sources and apply tech/AI tools with methodological rigor and academic integrity.

Syllabus

• S1. Corporate Governance and Executive Office Support (Weeks 1 to 3)
• • 1.1. Domain Contents: Corporate governance structures, board-level operations, and strategic support functions in multinational organizations.
  • 1.2. Grammar Contents: Impersonal and reporting passive structures (It is reported that…, The CEO is understood to…); advanced modal verbs for hedging, diplomatic phrasing, and tentative recommendations (would seem to, might have been).
• S2. Executive Documentation and Advanced Information Synthesis (Weeks 4 and 5)
  • 2.1. Domain Contents: Drafting formal board minutes, action logs, executive summaries, and compiling board packs.
  • 2.2. Grammar Contents: Complex relative clauses with prepositions (to whom, in which); participle clauses for concise writing and information synthesis (Having analyzed the performance metrics, the committee agreed…).
• S3. Crisis Communication, Conflict Resolution and Negotiation (Weeks 6 to 8)
  • 3.1. Domain Contents: Handling high-pressure correspondence, departmental dispute resolution, crisis press releases, and diplomatic negotiation techniques.
  • 3.2. Grammar Contents: Advanced conditionals (2nd, 3rd, and mixed conditionals); hypothetical structures (provided that, unless, supposing); inversion for formal emphasis (Should you require further information…, Had the board approved…).
• S4. Corporate Analytical Writing and Cohesion (Weeks 9 to 12)
  • 4.1. Domain Contents: Analytical business reports, cross-cultural diplomacy, and CSR/ESG corporate communications.
  • 4.2. Grammar Contents: Nominalization for formal executive style; advanced discourse markers and cohesive devices (notwithstanding, consequently, in light of); reported speech with complex reporting verbs (conceded, emphasized, urged).
• S5. Executive Briefings and High-Impact Oral Presentations (Weeks 13 to 15)
  • 5.1. Domain Contents: Delivering executive briefings to C-level management, formal project pitches, and managing Q&A sessions under pressure.
  • 5.2. Grammar Contents: Cleft sentences for emphasis and persuasion (What we must focus on is…); rhetorical techniques and persuasive structures for public speaking.

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 based on the course unit syllabus.
  
  
• AM4. 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 = (AM1×0,10) + (AM2×0,25) + (AM3×0,20) + (AM4×0,25) + (AM5×0,20)

B) ASSESSMENT BY FINAL EXAM

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

• AM6. Individual Written Exam (60%): Comprehensive written assessment of comprehension skills, vocabulary, grammar, and formal business writing.
  
  
• AM7. Individual Oral Exam (40%): Assessment of students' oral production skills.

Final Grade Formula (FG):

FG = (AM6×0,60) + (AM7×0,40)

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