EPOKA UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
COURSE SYLLABUS
2022-2023 ACADEMIC YEAR
COURSE INFORMATIONCourse Title: BUSINESS ENGLISH |
Code | Course Type | Regular Semester | Theory | Practice | Lab | Credits | ECTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BUS 108 | D | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) | NA |
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: | M.A. Ada Cara acara@epoka.edu.al , 9:00-12:00 Mondays and Tuesdays |
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: | NA |
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours: | NA |
Language: | English |
Compulsory/Elective: | Compulsory |
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered) | Bachelor in International Marketing and Logistics Management (3 years) |
Classroom and Meeting Time: | |
Code of Ethics: |
Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline" |
Attendance Requirement: | |
Course Description: | Business English: The central basis of the course is to consolidate students' academic approach to thinking, reading, speaking and writing and language usage. In addition, the course also aims to develop the students' abilities to synthesize and evaluate information and conduct basic, independent research. |
Course Objectives: | Students in Business English (BUS 108) will be able to create business documents, including letters, emails, CV's, and reports, will be able to correctly use a range of business terms in English, and will have practice in engaging in conversations in business English. |
BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE
|
1 | Critiquing the logic and evidence of arguments presented in text. |
2 | Building up verbal interaction confidence in colorful discussions. |
3 | Drafting a well refined report related to their field of study. |
COURSE OUTLINE
|
Week | Topics |
1 | Introduction; book review guidelines- English for Business Studies is a reading, listening, speaking and writing course for learners with at least an upper-intermediate level of English who need to understand and express the key concepts of banking business and economics. It covers the most important areas of management, production, marketing, finance and macroeconomics (MacKenzie, 2012, p6). |
2 | Company structure; CV and job application guidelines- The most difficult part of a job application process is writing a CV and cover letter. Guidelines and samples on CVs and cover letters are given to students, as well as, a set of typical and behavioral questions to expect from an interview (Harvard Business Review, 2020; MIT Global Education & Career Development Centre, 2012). |
3 | Women in Business, Earning rewards and benefits- This unit contains extracts from an interview Alison Maitland , co-author with Avivah Wittenberg-Cox of Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of our Next Economic Revolution (Jossey-Bass, 2008); a newspaper article about legislation concerning women company directors; a discussion activity about male and female ways of thinking and behaving at work; and a role play about a company that wants to increase its number of women managers (p.38, Unit 6). |
4 | Marketing; IT and E-commerce; Report writing-After the usual opening discussion questions and a vocabulary exercise, this unit contains a reading exercise about product life cycles, discussion activities about pricing and distribution channels, a text extracted from a well-known article in the Harvard Business Review, a case study about promotions and techniques on how to write a report (p.64, Unit 12). |
5 | Banking; Bonds; Money and Financial issues- As one of the units that focuses on finance, it begins with a discussion question that contains most of the basic vocabulary of personal banking. There are texts about the different types of banks and financial institutions, and the credit crisis that began in 2008 (p. 73, Unit 14) The other unit contains a text explaining bonds, texts about different types of bonds, exercises related to mortgage-backed securities and a case study about selecting among different types of bond funds (p. 81, Unit 16). |
6 | Logistics; Trade; Business idioms- This unit is largely about supply chains- the sequence of organisations and activities involved in acquiring components and raw materials, and producing and delivering goods or a service to the final consumer. Supply chaining has been greatly influenced by production processes, originating in Japan, that seek to minimise the quantity of inventory held by companies, and by advances in information technology. The unit contains a text about inventories, push and pull strategies, Just-In-Time (JIT) production, and so on, an extract from Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat, about Wal-Mart's supply chain; and a short case study about potential supply risks in various industries (p.59, Unit 9). |
7 | Review for the exam |
8 | Midterm exam |
9 | Draft submission and presentation- Students divided into groups are expected to present their research paper draft and receive feedback on their work, that will later on be reflected on EIS |
10 | The different sectors of the economy- This unit includes a description of part of the economic infrastructure, seen from an airplane, extracted from David Lodge's 'Nice Work', which was published in 1989, before the notion of the quaternary sector became well known. There are also discussion activities and a reading about the pros and cons of manufacturing, as compared with service industries, and a listening involving business news items about different economic sectors (p.42, Unit 7). |
11 | Government and Taxations- This is one of the units on economics. It includes discussion activities about the role of the government and the pros and the cons of taxation, an extract from a famously antigovernmental book by Milton Friedman.(p.109, Unit 22). |
12 | Stocks and Shares; Dispute resolution- This unit has a jumbled text explaining stocks and shares; listening and vocabulary exercises practising the verbs and expressions people use to talk about rises and falls in asset prices; an extract from a book about the work of an analyst in an investment bank (p.86, Unit 17). |
13 | Research paper presentations- Students will be presenting their final research paper draft submission in a 20 minutes group presentation and will be graded individually for their work reflected on the research paper and during their presentation. |
14 | Research paper presentations- Students will be presenting their final research paper draft submission in a 20 minutes group presentation and will be graded individually for their work reflected on the research paper and during their presentation. |
Prerequisite(s): | |
Textbook(s): | Guffey, M. and Seefe, C. (2019). Business English 13th Edition (Cengage). Oxford University Press ELT (2020). Business Result Second Edition Advanced Student's Book. |
Additional Literature: | |
Laboratory Work: | |
Computer Usage: | For research, writing, and presentations |
Others: | No |
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
1 | Students will develop business vocabulary in English |
2 | Students will be able to craft a CV and cover letter and conduct and interview for a job in English |
3 | Students will be able to critically read and discuss literature in business and economics |
4 | Students will be able to competently interact using spoken business English |
COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES
(Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution) |
No | Program Competencies | Cont. |
Bachelor in International Marketing and Logistics Management (3 years) Program | ||
1 | Identify activities, tasks, and skills in management, marketing, accounting, finance, and economics. | 4 |
2 | Apply key theories to practical problems within the global business context. | 4 |
3 | Demonstrate ethical, social, and legal responsibilities in organizations. | 5 |
4 | Develop an open minded-attitude through continuous learning and team-work. | 5 |
5 | Use technology to enable business growth and sustainability. | 3 |
6 | Synthesize creativity needed for marketing notion with scientific method and numerical skills, for achieving business sustainability. | 2 |
7 | Apply the concepts and structures of modern marketing in global context at private and public sectors. | 3 |
8 | Integrate the management of logistics, supply chain and in total operations with corporate goals and strategies. | 2 |
COURSE EVALUATION METHOD
|
Method | Quantity | Percentage |
Midterm Exam(s) |
1
|
30
|
Presentation |
1
|
10
|
Term Paper |
1
|
40
|
Other |
1
|
20
|
Total Percent: | 100% |
ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)
|
Activities | Quantity | Duration(Hours) | Total Workload(Hours) |
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) | 16 | 4 | 64 |
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 16 | 2 | 32 |
Mid-terms | 1 | 6 | 6 |
Assignments | 1 | 12 | 12 |
Final examination | 1 | 6 | 6 |
Other | 1 | 5 | 5 |
Total Work Load:
|
125 | ||
Total Work Load/25(h):
|
5 | ||
ECTS Credit of the Course:
|
5 |
CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER
|
Concluding Remarks:Students will critically discuss texts and ideas in a seminar format and present their research in an ethical way. |