COURSE INTRODUCTION
BUSINESS ENGLISH 2
2015/16
FIRST YEAR, SPRING SEMESTER
Lecturer: VIŠNJA KABALIN BORENIĆ
Office hours: Tuesday 10:00 – 12.00
Friday 14:30 – 15:30
Room: 16
Phone:
238 3205
E-mail:
vkborenic@efzg.hr
Google classroom: Poslovni engleski 2 (code b3803x)
www.efzg.hr/vkabalin & www.efzg.hr
Student tutor: NIKOLINA JURJEVIĆ
E-mail: njurjevic@net.efzg.hr
- get help with your English regularly
Department secretary: IVANKA DVORŽAK
E-mail: idvorzak@efzg.hr
Office: A-501
Phone: 01 239 3272
- exam registration
- any other administrative issue
- language certificates for Erasmus
TIMETABLE 2015/16 (Gac-Juk)
Joint session
3 (Gac-Juk):
Tue 8.30 – 10.00
Split session
3_1 (Gac-Hrg):
3_2 (Hrk-Juk):
Fri 10.00 – 11.30
Fri 12.00 – 13.30
Intended learning outcomes (ILO’s):
Students will be able to:
• Use the basic economics and business
terminology within the realm of the selected
topics,
• Interpret and describe simple graphs,
• Discuss a selection of topics on economics
and business in English
• Communicate appropriately in various
business situations, eg. meetings
• Prepare and write a short report and minutes
in English
TOPICS
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Business cycle
Retailing and e-commerce
International trade and the EU
Banking
Central banking
Exchange rates
Insurance
Accounting and financial statements
Stocks and derivatives
Bonds
Mergers and acquisitions
Skills focus:
• Language of meetings
– (incl. agenda, memo, minutes)
• Writing reports / memos / agendas
• Describing graphs and charts
REQUIRED LITERATURE
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MacKenzie, I. (2010) ENGLISH FOR
BUSINESS STUDIES, CUP
→units 14, 16-19, 21, 23, 26, 27
RESOURCE BANK 2 (2015/16 NEW !!!)
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students aspiring to grade A are expected to read
and be able to discuss all of the material provided in
the literature
(See Course content, RB p 2)
available in our Google classroom (get a hard copy)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
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regular attendance is OBLIGATORY
– IF YOU MISS A CLASS: keep up-to-date with the
course progression (visit my web page, ask your
colleagues, see me or Petra during office hours,
email me…);
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active in-class participation (home
assignments, participation in discussions);
organizing & role-playing a business meeting;
passing progress tests or the
comprehensive exam
TWO EXAM OPTIONS
1) CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT
(BEFORE REGULAR EXAM DATES)
• business meeting (every Friday from 1 April)
• two progress tests (1short report included)
– (regular submission of written homework
assignments is a requirement)
Tentative dates: 26 April & 10 June
• active in-class participation
• a comprehensive oral exam
2) REGULAR EXAM DATES
During the semester:
• business meeting (every Friday from 1 April)
During regular examination periods:
• final comprehensive written test
(report included)
• final comprehensive oral exam
MEETINGS
• TEAMS OF 5-7 STUDENTS (alphabetic order)
- exchange mobile phone numbers or e-mails
• TOPICS WILL BE ASSIGNED (OR CHOSEN)
- meetings will be held in my office (20-30 min)
during Friday office hours starting 1 April
Group Gac-Hrg: Fridays from 9.00
Group Hrk-Juk: Fridays from 14.00
MORE INFO ON MEETINGS - SHORTLY
FINAL SCHEDULE - SHORTLY
STEPS TO TAKE:
• PREPARE THE TOPIC OF THE MEETING,
AGENDA, MINUTES AND ROLES
hand in the memo with the agenda on the day of
the meeting – obligatory element
• USE CLASS INPUT (RB 2) ON THE
STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE OF
MEETINGS TO GET READY
• REHEARSE YOUR ROLE ALONE AND WITH
YOUR TEAM
hand in the minutes of the meeting
in the next class – obligatory element
FINAL ORAL EXAM
• checks your speaking skills, coherent and
clear presentation of the subject
• students answer three questions on the
topics covered during the semester using
the relevant terminology
• this is followed by a brief discussion
• it lasts around 5-10 minutes per person
Recommended literature:
Longman Business English Dictionary
Špiljak, V. ed. (2000) Englesko-hrvatski poslovni rječnik,
Masmedia
Murphy Grammar (students whose general English is
weak pls see my student tutor)
Suggested sources:
• Business Week, The Financial Times, The Economist …
• CNBC, Bloomberg, business programmes on BBC and
CNN
• web sites: bized.com, investopedia.com, quickmba.com,
startup.wsj.com, dictionary.com,
harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu,
encarta.msn.com, acronymfinder.com, uefap.com, ,
cusd.com/calonline/econ
And finally...
Or maybe...
Or even...
... AND IF READING IS DIFFICULT:
 read the text to understand it in Croatian
 retell the text in Croatian
 translate the whole text into Croatian sentence by
sentence
 identify collocations, key business terms in each
sentence
 find definitions for business terms
 make a list of collocations for each text you read
 do vocabulary tasks before or after the text
• prepare a text following the tips above and contact the
teacher / student tutor to arrange a study feedback
session
THIS WEEK:
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MEETINGS
Introduction to Business Cycle
PLEASE, get RESOURCE BANK 2 A.S.A.P.
– HOMEWORK: study intro pages in RB 2