UCL CENTRE FOR LANGUAGES
& INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Course Units 2015-2016
Mandarin for Professional Purposes I and II
Prerequisite for entry
Successful completion of Mandarin Business and Current Affairs at the UCL CLIE, or spent some time in the country
actively using the language.
Course duration
40 x 2-hour classes.
Self-Study
160 hours in total.
Course codes
LCMA6067, LCMAG067 and LCMAM067.
Aims and Objectives
The course is designed for advanced level students requiring the language for professional purposes. It comprises
knowledge and understanding both of the structure of the language and its use in professional environments, such as
presentations and meetings. The course covers career development in the target language countries, business culture
and conventions, negotiating and interacting, reading specialist texts (i.e. in the student’s main degree subject e.g.
engineering), note taking and debates as well as other related topics. These areas will be related back to the student’s
degree subject. The course will enhance knowledge and use of linguistically complex structures (a variety of styles and
registers from a range of authentic material). Various transferable skills will also be further developed.
Functions
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expressing specialised opinions, critical topic-related comments;
debating, commenting, negotiating;
suggesting, accepting, refusing;
describing, organisations, institutions;
defining specialised, professional concepts;
composing written pieces of information for professional purposes;
conducting presentations on complex professional topics;
summarising professional information from English to Spanish (and vice versa);
note-taking.
Course Content
Main topics/themes to be covered
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professional qualifications
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employment in business and industry;
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job applications and interviews;
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presentations;
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group debates;
conference papers;
conducting meetings;
business cultures;
project management.
Skills
Reading
reading for gist, scanning for specific information in professional sources;
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in-depth analysis of professional topics in relevant publications
Writing
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formal business letters;
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analysis and review of articles;
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note-taking from presentations;
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writing up presentations;
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professional reports;
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journal articles;
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CVs and covering letters.
Listening
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radio, TV, audio- and video-tapes;
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presentations;
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professional debates.
Speaking
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formal and informal discussions, debates, round table;
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seminars;
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recorded presentations and interviews;
Linguistic Structures
Discourse Strategies
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analysing/comparing various professional sources (different text types, styles and registers);
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preparing oral contributions for different audiences;
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spoken versus written professional communication.
Main Aspects of These Strategies
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structuring (logical structures);
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linking devices (lexical, grammatical);
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stylistic levels and their usage;
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professional vocabulary.
Application of Complex Grammatical Features and Registers
Learning Resources
Handouts of advanced grammar and lexical materials will be given as necessary.
Materials for the course will be drawn from:
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Authentic written material from various sources, on the advice of the tutor;
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Authentic audio and audio-visual material.
In addition there is a wide range of language learning materials available for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.