Advanced Language Usage for Business

Course Information

Program(s):

Madrid - Language & Area Studies

Discipline(s):

Spanish

Terms offered:

Fall, Spring

Credits:

Language of instruction:

Spanish

Contact Hours:

Prerequisites:

Knowledge and understanding of Spanish above SP 351 - Spanish Language in Context: Independent Abroad I

Description:

This subject is focused on:

Learning the vocabulary and resources necessary to get on in the world of business.
Participation in practical and specific cases for each topic, where the aim is to use and consolidate the resources and vocabulary acquired in each unit.
Understanding economic resources as well as the keys to cultural differences and protocol in order to do business in Latin America and Spain.

Attendance policy:

Attendance is mandatory for all IES Abroad classes, including course-related excursions. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical or family emergencies. If a student misses more than two classes in any course half a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Seven absences in any course will result in a failing grade.

PUNCTUALITY:
Students who are more than five minutes late on two occasions will have one day’s absence marked down.

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course, the student is to be able to:

Understand all the keys to doing business in Latin American and European countries.
Understand all the lexical content of the world of business, both written and spoken.
Have overall knowledge of the current state of the economy and resources pool in Latin American and European countries.
Have discursive resources and strategies to communicate over the telephone in formal situations, participate in business meetings, conduct a business interview or maintain business relations with people from other countries.
Be able to write business letters: requests for information, acknowledgements, claims and complaints, invoices or receipts, as well as his/her own CV in Spanish.

Method of presentation:

The methodology includes a structured set of topics focused on: linguistic, socio-linguistic and pragmatic areas of study. This will include a selection of book exercises, reading of texts taken from newspapers and searching for information on the Internet.

The four sections into which each unit is classified: linguistic skill, socio-linguistic skill, pragmatism and inter-cultural affairs will help the student achieve a deeper understanding of the world of business.

Required work and form of assessment:

Assessment criteria: all students are to commit to the tasks and project work. Assessment criteria is as follows:
Tasks: 35%
Class participation: 15%
Presentation: 15%
Exam: 35%
Spanish: Spanish is compulsory and no other language may be spoken in class, either to a classmate or to the instructor.

Oral participation in class and the presentation of the task set each week will be assessed in the following manner:

0 - absent
25 - did not participate and did not do the project work.
50 - did not participate and did the project/ did participate but did not do the project work.
100 - did participate and did the project work.

content:

Week	Content
Sessions 1, 2, 3 & 4	Unit 1: Types of companies. Business letters Lexicon of the business world Language of the professionals Types of companies Culture shocks in business USA: economic resources and business culture
Sessions 3, 4 & 5	Unit 2: Creation of companies. Interpretation of graphs and kinds of graph Organigrams Departments in and functions of a company Steps required in setting up a company Protocol for doing business in Spain Spain: economic resources and business culture
Sessions 6, 7 & 8	Unit 3: Work contracts. Letters of recommendation Lexicon of the world of work: the payroll Advertising of jobs and candidate profile Types of contract Listening: trade unions Work situations and queries Mexico: economic resources and protocol for doing business
Sessions 9, 10 & 11	Unit 4: The world of work. Currículum vitae and letters applying for a job Lexicon of the world of work: positions and jobs Expressions related to the world of work Listening: A job interview Inter-cultural assessment Venezuela: economic resources and protocol for doing business
Sessions 12, 13 & 14	Unit 5: Trade. Business letters I International business terms Lexicon of trade and its components International trade fairs in Spain Listening: participating in a trade fair Culture shocks and non verbal language Brazil: economic resources and protocol for doing business
Sessions 15 & 16	Unit 6. Advertising and sales. Business letters II Lexicon: franchises Analysis of sales and costs Marketing and its components Listening: a radio spot Areas and situations Colombia: economic resources and protocol for doing business
Sessions 17 & 18	Unit 7: Banking Bank documents Lexicon related to banking The mortgage Savings banks Listening: on television How to make a complaint and know the world of banking in Spain and Europe Argentina: economic resources and protocol for doing business

Required readings:

Compulsory tasks include the reading of articles from the financial press and searching for websites and web consultations. The compulsory text book will be “Empresa siglo XXI” published by Edinumen, 2009 plus the supplementary material given to the student.

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