Bartosik Ewa, mgr

The aim of the course is to:

• improve and development of all the language skills acquired at lower levels
• expand lexis and lexical structures used in the business context
• expand grammatical structures used in the business context
• develop business communication skills (soft skills)
• acquire the ability to use English for academic and professional purposes
• develop learning strategies and self-evaluate student's language skills

Throughout the course the main topic areas include:

Semester I:

• Management,
• Work and motivation,
• Managing across cultures,
• Marketing,
• Market structure and competition,
• Banking,
• Business correspondence.

 Semester II:

• Meetings,
• Takeovers,
• Government and taxation,
• The business cycle,
• Corporate social responsibility,
• International trade,
• Networking skills
• Effective discussions
• Communicating at the workplace.

Lexical and grammatical structures include :

Semester I:

• The use of tenses when communicating ideas and summarising
• The use of conditionals when communicating ideas and summarising

Semester II:

• The use of passive voice when communicating ideas and summarising
• The use of linking devices and text organizers when communicating and summarising

Language functions/effective communication include :

• Giving short presentations summarising students’ points of view on the given topic
• Giving feedback to peers
• Expressing opinions and presenting arguments
• Reacting properly in social situations
• Written and oral analysis of business-related text and recordings
• Analysis and selection of information
• Drafting effective business documents and correspondence
• Using professional language connected with students’ field of studies
• Searching for, processing and evaluation of information, the ability to make notes from lectures, books, articles etc.
• Developing language competences and improving skills needed to study at the universities abroad
• Preparing presentations of professional materials connected with the students’ field of studies
• Functioning in the situations typical for the academic environment: participation in a lecture in the target language, discussion, presentation, academic debate
• Developing the skills connected with the academic environment of other countries – being sensitive to cultural differences
• Developing the autonomy among others through defining the style of learning and using appropriate strategies (forming one’s own opinions and presenting them)

The aim of the course is to:

• further develop communicative competencies in English

• enhance vocabulary range and explore complex grammatical structures

• further enable students to use English in academic and professional settings

• help present student’s personal standpoint in speech and writing in a clear and coherent manner

• foster self-education learning strategies

• promote team work

Main topic areas include:

Semester I:

• Financial environment

• Different types of banks and banking products, role of central banks

• Bank loans and credit

• Saying numbers in English

• Business correspondence – letters and emails: layout, register (formal, semi-neutral, informal), letters/emails of complaint and apology (option: circular letters)

Semester II:

• Presentations – basic functions: language, content, delivery; visual aids, body lg, handling questions

• Different types of accounting

• Reporting company performance: financial statements, performance forecast

• Graphs, charts and price changes

• Business correspondence: emails chasing payment