| Unit name | Spanish and Business Studies |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HISP30039 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Mrs. Ramos-Alvaro |
| Open unit status | Open |
| Pre-requisites |
HISP20101 or LANG22025 and satisfactory completion of the year abroad or other study or work placement in the country of the target language or evidence of high level of proficiency in the language. |
| Co-requisites |
NONE |
| School/department | Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit is designed for final year students who are returning from the year abroad or for students who have an advanced level of language (e.g. incoming Erasmus students).
The unit aims to maintain and reinforce the advanced specialist concepts and the cultural awareness acquired during the period abroad, to learn the protocol to conduct business in Spain and Latin America, as well as to introduce them to an important field of specialisation (i.e. language for business and professional purposes). It will develop the communication skills necessary for interviews, meetings, negotiations and presentations and will enable students to function effectively in an international business environment and the European labour market. The unit includes;
• Advanced language development
• Advanced writing skills for a range of business contexts
• Job application and CV writing skills
• Job interview skills
• Preparing and giving presentations in the workplace
• Negotiating skills, chairing and participating in meetings
• Awareness of current affairs related to the world of business, commerce, finance and economics
• Awareness of intercultural differences in the workplace
By the end of the unit, the students will have: • developed their communicative competence to a high level of proficiency and accuracy • achieved an advanced level of work-related language skills which will enable them to operate with confidence in an international professional environment • demonstrated the ability to research, select, interpret and use authentic documents to produce well structured concise and accurate oral and written accounts showing a high degree of intercultural awareness
One weekly Seminar lecture (with a reading week).
Students are also expected to perform weekly formative assessment tasks, guided independent learning and make use of Multimedia Centre resources (amounting to 4-6 hours of study a week).
The unit is assessed by continuous assessment (50%) and final examination (50%)
The continuous assessment is composed of the following components, the two productive language skills of speaking and writing: - an oral presentation (of a product, including market research, business plan and projections etc.) - a 1500-word project on a topic related to Spanish business / economics / finance / commerce
The final exam (2 hours) will be composed of: - a writing task (e.g. composing a business letter, a reply to a letter of complaints etc.); word length: 300 words (+/- 10%) - a guided writing task (which may include reading comprehension and expressing material in the target language in prose form, including selection of relative material, condensing, rephrasing or translating business related documents or texts, responding to structured or guided questions related to a given text, writing a commentary on a marketing campaign etc.)
A. Felices. et al, Cultura y Negocios (2010)
Temas de Empresa , Certificado Superior del Español de los Negocios de la Cámara de Comercio de Madrid, (Edinumen, 2010))
P. Bonell et al, Negocio a la vista (2009)
