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 will have developed 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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 contexts.

A) CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT

• AM1. Classroom Participation (30%): Active class participation and task performance focused on the direct application of the syllabus content covered.
  
  
• AM2. Individual Written Test (40%): In-person individual assessment focusing on reading comprehension and text production, covering specialized vocabulary and syntactic and grammatical structures.
  
  
• AM3. Group Project with Oral Presentation (30%): Formal group presentation (5 minutes per student) focusing on the use of specialized vocabulary and oral communication practices.

Final Grade Formula (FG):

FG = (MA1×0,30) + (MA2×0,40) + (MA3×0,30)

B) ASSESSMENT BY FINAL EXAM

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

• MA4 Individual Written Exam (60%): Comprehensive written assessment of comprehension skills, vocabulary, grammar, and formal business writing.
  
  
• MA5. Individual Oral Exam (40%): Assessment of students' oral production skills.

Final Grade Formula (FG):

FG = (MA4×0,60) + (MA5×0,40)

Regulatory Guidelines, Attendance, and Academic Ethics

Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may only be used within the classroom context and only when requested by
the lecturer, and they must never be used during any assessment moments of the course unit. Unauthorized
use in evaluation components constitutes academic fraud.

Procedure in Case of Suspected Fraud

In the event of a well-founded suspicion of fraud detected during the grading phase of an assessment, the
student will be summoned to take an oral exam to verify the knowledge and skills demonstrated. This
verification is conducted by a jury comprising the course unit lecturer and two other lecturers from the same
scientific field. If the student fails to prove possession of the knowledge and skills demonstrated in the
written exam, the assessment will be annulled.

Attendance and Special Statutes

Attendance is compulsory under the continuous regime, with a maximum of 6 unjustified absences
permitted. Students with special status (e.g., Working Students) must inform the lecturer within the first 3
weeks of the semester to define their attendance and evaluation arrangements.

NAO