Teaching Methodologies
Classes will be both theoretical and practical; the first part will be mainly expositive and the second will be a
practical application of the first.
Evaluation:
A.Continuous evaluation – it will consist of two tests during lessons and a practical work, either individual or in
group, also to present in class. So:
Tests:
15 marks (7.5+7.5)
Practical
work: 5
If the student chooses this type of evaluation, he will have to attend 80% of the classes.
B. Final evaluation: final exam for 20 marks. This exam will include the contents of the two tests of the
continuous assessment and it will last 90 minutes.
If the student gets less than 7.5 marks in the exam, he fails; if he has 9.5 or more than 9.5 he passes; if he gets
from 7.5 to 9.5, he will have to do an oral exam. The final grade is the average of both exams: the written and
the oral.
Learning Results
The main aim of this curricular unit is to give the students the necessary elements which will allow him to use
adequately the English Language as a privileged means of communication in the Management area. Thus, first
of all, the organization/structure of a company as well as the role of those who work in it will be analysed.
Then, taking into account the importance of the business letter in the company performance, the layout of the
business letter, some principles to write a good business letter and the different types of business letters will
be studied. Important documents will be analysed such as the invoice, the statement of account, the debit note
and the credit note.
Along with specific vocabulary of this area, the revision and consolidation of elementary and intermediate
grammar structures of the English Language will be made.
Program
I – Company organisation
1. Company structure
2. Each one’s role in the company
II – Numbers/Calculating
III – Business Correspondence
1. Components of an effective letter
a) Language
b) Tone
c) Focus of Attention
d) Length
2. The layout of a business letter
3. Different types of business correspondence
a) Offers
b) Enquiries
c) Replies and Quotations
d) Orders and their Execution
e) Payment and Reminders
f) Complaints, Apologies and Adjustments
Internship(s)
NAO
Bibliography
ASHLEY, A. (2003) A Handbook of Commercial Correspondence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ECKERSLEY, C. E. and W. Kaufmann (1963) English Commercial Practice and
Correspondence. London: Longman.
GOUVEIA, Luís, Teresa Lameiras e Raquel Cardoso (2004, 2ª edição)
Glossário de Contabilidade: InglêsPortuguês.
ISCA Aveiro e ISCAC Coimbra;
IRVINE, Mark and Marion Cadman (2003) Commercially Speaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
KENCH, A. B. The Language of English Business Letters. London: Macmillan.
MYERS, Geoffrey (1996) Take a Letter. An Introduction to Writing Business Letters in English. London:
Macmillan.
NATEROP, B. (1977) Business Letters for All. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
WILSON, James M., Teresa Lameiras e Raquel Cardoso (2004) Manual de Correspondência: InglêsPortuguês.
Coimbra: Almedina.