English B1 – Listening Syllabus 2014/15
INSTRUCTOR
Peter Cullen
e-mail: peter.cullen@uniurb.it
ricevimento: lunedì ore 8-9 DISTI 2° floor – corridor on the right, first door – and
after class, and by arrangement via email.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to integrate language learning with topics fundamental to the content provided in the
business and economics courses offered in the Language and Culture for Business programme. Topics
covered in this course look at the fundamentals of psychology, culture, language and communications and
how these relate to business.
Students at the B1 level in English are NOT expected to purchase a textbook for the listening. Material for
this exam is provided online through the blog www.cl4englishlistening.wordpress.com. Further material for
independent study is listed at the end of this syllabus. Students are invited to test themselves via the
resources on the blog, specifically the practice exams available on the page “resources”. Exam simulations
will be held throughout the year.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING!!!! The topics for the final exam are generally treated during the lessons.
Since language is a cumulative skill, the lessons are important moments in which students can practice their
listening and speaking skills – specifically oriented toward topics that may appear on the exam. Coming to
class will give students an idea of what the exam will discuss. Specific exam simulations will be held
throughout the year. These will show the student EXACTLY how the final exam operates and will address the
specific topics of the final exam.
Although not a regulation, it is fundamental that students come to class. Active linguistic skills such as
listening and speaking require constant practice and exposure. It has been statistically proven that students
who DO come to class perform better on the exams! There is also material for self-study at the Centro
Linguistico d’Ateneo on Via Budassi and on the blog www.cl4englishlistening.wordpress.com. You may ask
the secretaries there for the listening material for Doctor Cullen’s B1 listening course: this includes exercises
as well as exam simulations and exams from previous years.
We will hold periodic exam simulations throughout the year. These are very useful experiences in which the
student can see what a language exam in Lin-Az actually looks like and learn how these exams are
structured. This important practice helps calm the nerves and produced better results!!! DO COME TO
THESE!!!
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING!!!! The topics for the final exam are generally treated during the lessons.
Since language is a cumulative skill, the lessons are important moments in which students can practice their
listening and speaking skills – specifically oriented toward topics that may appear on the exam. Coming to
class will give students an idea of what the exam will discuss. Specific exam simulations will be held
throughout the year. These will show the student EXACTLY how the final exam operates and will address the
specific topics of the final exam.
The B1 level (1st year) written exam is divided into 3 parts
1. Grammar test (a variety of exercises including a brief translation exercise from English into Italian)-no
dictionaries allowed !
2. Reading Comprehension (no dictionaries allowed)
3. Writing (about 150 words) (no dictionaries allowed)
The average of the three parts will determine a final grade for the written exam which is worth a third of the
total for English 2.
The other two parts of the B1 exam are:
1. Listening + “accertamento linguistico”
2. Corso monografico
The course will deal with a wide variety of topics, in order to prepare for the written exam, and the oral
“accertamento linguistico”. For this part of the oral exam students must study all 8 units from The Business
2.0 B1+ Student’s Book (MacMillan Ed.) and be prepared to discuss and explain the topics from any of the
units.
It is necessary, however, for students to participate and be responsible for doing homework, and studying
topics which may not be covered during class. Those who cannot attend lessons should contact the teachers
for more information.
It is necessary to do practice tests during the year, beginning early in the year (during the first semester !), in
order for each individual to focus on his/her weaknesses and work on improving these with help from the
teachers.
It is especially important for students to practice writing as a part of their homework since improvement in
this area takes time and cannot be done in a short period. It is necessary to hand in work done at home and
have it corrected by the teachers in order to make progress.
As a university student, and a language student, YOU have the responsibility to organize your time for study
and make use of the resources provided to you. Your teaching staff is available to assist you as much as
they can. DO contact teaching staff via email or after class with any problems, observations or comments
about the subject matter. Specific questions related to administration and university procedures may be
directed to the Department’s student tutors. Their email is tutor.lingue@uniurb.it
MODULE 1 – Human learning and thought
OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
1 Understand basic vocabulary and expressions related to basic topics of learning and thinking.
2 Understand basics of question framing
3 Understand basics of conversational turn taking, interjections and response/reply
WEEK 1
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
WEEK 2
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
Intro to course and question; What is Learning?
Asking questions
Vocabulary on learning: practice, time, barriers.
Discussion – how do people learn things?
Video: How to Learn Anything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MgBikgcWnY
Learning techniques and the brain
Discussion: How do people learn things?
How do YOU learn things? Preference and/or your brain
Video: How to Learn a Language in 6 months:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0yGdNEWdn0
WEEK 3
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
Science of learning 1: Memory
Presentation: The Biology of memory and implications for learning
Short term memory and long term memory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0cnyqzqgkQ
WEEK 4
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
Memory v. Experience
Discussion of happiness and what we attend to in life.
Telling ourselves and others stories. Narrative skills.
Daniel Kahneman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgRlrBl-7Yg
WEEK 5
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
Science and Learning: Consciousness
Presentation and Discussion of the physiology of consciousness
Intent and Attention
John Searle on Consciousness and Causality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCii726A4Jc
MODULE 2 – Cultures and languages
OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
1 Carry a basic discussion about culture and relationships to language
2 Make propositions and support points of view – agreements and disagreements.
WEEK 6
Practice Simulation Exam
WEEK 7
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
WEEK 8
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
TEST YOURSELF
WEEK 9
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
WEEK 10
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
Science of Learning 2: Physiology and Language
Vocabulary: brain and compositional nature of expression, basic linguistic concepts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rconzwB422s
Frames and Associative Thought
Comparisons
Presenting conclusions, challenging conclusions
George Lakoff – http://fora.tv/2008/06/20/George_Lakoff_on_The_Political_Mind
Writing and Institutions
Discussion: spoken v written forms
Formals and informals
John Searle (again!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D10lAx3wfDk
Culture and nothing – cultural attention and expression
Language of time: calendars, hours, precision v accuracy, objects and universals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvFE1Au3S8U
MODULE Cultures and Biases
OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to
1 Discuss fundamentals of what makes up a culture and discuss categorization
2 Use language of identity: individual and group
3 Express critique and analysis of contemporary western cultural systems
WEEK 11
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
WEEK 12
WEEK 13
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
WEEK 14
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
Cultures and mental worlds
Use of descriptors – adjectives, adverbs that describe groups.
Language of comparison and analysis of groups
East Asians v Westerners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoDtoB9Abck
Practice Simulation Exam
Social Intelligence and the wisdom of the crowd (note Francis Galton)
Language of morality: should, must, have to, don’t have to.
Exercise: how much do I way?
Bill Von Hippel on neuroscience of social intelligence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM2wIS8UejE
Societies and networks
Vocabulary of agency, groups, emergent properties, membership, responsibility
Christakis on Sociology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wadBvDPeE4E
WEEK 15
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
Culture and Crises
Discussion: nations and history, frames and institutionalization
Culture and political debate
Trompenaars on culture and biases https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmyfjKjcbm0
MODULE 4 Cultures and Business
OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to
1 Use basic vocabulary of business systems
2 Relate business practices like management and marketing to language and culture
3 Be aware of and identify listening strategies for video and audio comprehension
WEEK 16
Simulation Listening Exams 1 and 2
WEEK 17
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
Culture and economic behaviour
Basic vocabulary for understanding business systems and the economy: exchange,
trade, work, production, environment, social development
LISTENING
How econ behaviour defines culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhZ3XJgfOwI
WEEK 18
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
WEEK 19
TOPIC
USE OF
ENGLISH
LISTENING
WEEK 20
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Culture and consumption – emotions, shared emotions and emotional intelligence
Language of empathy, intro marketing language
Innerscope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JXyhJYsFbQ
Culture and management
Language of management: the job, careers, organization, leadership and direction
Avon CEO Andrea Jung on management:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RjAfqKfWlw
Simulation Listening Exams 3 and 4
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Robert Boyd and Peter J. Richerson, The Origin and Evolution of Cultures(OUP, 2005)
Terence Deacon, The Symbolic Species (W.W. Norton & Co., 1997)
Terence Deacon, Incomplete Nature (W.W. Norton & Co., 2012)
Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner The Way We Think (Basic Books, 2002)
Chris Frith, Making Up the Mind (Blackwell, 2007)
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013)
Eric Kandel, In Search of Memory (W.W. Norton & Co., 2006)
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Philosophy in the Flesh (Basic Books, 1999)
Dario Maestripieri, Games Primates Play (Basic Books, 2012)
Richard Nisbett, The Geography of Thought (Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2005)
John Searle, Making the Social World (OUP, 2010)
RECOMMENDED
DICTIONARIES
ONLINE
BUSINESS
ENGLISH
DICTIONARY
BILINGUE: Oxford-Paravia Italian Dictionary / Oxford-Paravia Il Dizionario- EnglishItalian, Italian-English (OUP)
MONOLINGUE: Oxford English Dictionary (OUP)
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/business-english
LISTENING
ORAL EXAM
USEFUL LINKS
EXAMS
This exam consists of a brief (3 - 3.5 min) recorded text. You will listen to the text three
times with a pause of 3 min and 4 min between each listening. The question sheet
consists of 5 open answer questions each worth 4 points and 5 true/false question each
worth 2 points for a total of 30 points. This exam may be taken during any exam
session of the academic year independently of the rest of the rest of the B1 written
exam. All sections of the written exam must be passed by the end of the academic
year in order for the student to register the completed mark.
This consists in a brief conversation about basic situations in life and then turns to
specific language, culture and business related topics. The topics for the oral exam
come from the readings in The Business 2.0 B1+ Student’s Book (red cover) (Ed.
Macmillan, 2013). Students are expected to read the 8 chapters of this book.
Discussion means conversation about the topic, not repetition of the content. This is
valid for oral exams with any B1 instructor.
FOR FURTHER READING
Further reference of European Common Framework Requirements are listed in the
following pages.
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre1_en.asp
The following websites are useful for the necessary independent study:
www.cl4englishlistening.wordpress.com – blog containing material directly related
to B1 and B2 listening at DIST Uniurb. Also contains links to dozens of external
resources for language, culture and business related topics.
www.engvid.com – website containing hundreds of instructional videos on many
points of grammar, reading and listening strategies, composition, business language,
and vocabulary building.
www.lcbenglish.wordpress.com – blog specifically with writing and style guides (see
right-hand column)
www.ted.com – online presentations on many topics from culture and economy to
politics, psychology, sociology and science. Often a resource and inspiration for
language exams.
http://fora.tv/ - excellent site offering videos of conference presentations. Many indepth discussions and presentations on the leading academic topics of our time.
http://www.economist.com – link to The Economist, UK business, economics and
political society weekly magazine. Online audio and video is good.
USEFUL BOOKS

Raymond Murphy: English Grammar in Use (Cambridge English)

Bill Mascull: Business Vocabulary in Use – Intermediate (Cambridge English)

Ann Baker: Ship or Sheep? 3rd Edition (Cambridge English) – a pronunciation
course

Michael McCarthy, Jeanne McCarten: Grammar for Business (Cambridge
English)

The Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition (University of Chicago Press) –
standard academic and professional manual on American composition style

New Oxford Style Manual (Oxford University Press) – standard academic and
professional manual on British compostion style