Advanced Business Spanish

Course Director: Estíbaliz Guerra Guillermo

Course Advanced Business Spanish is adapted to the target group, it is adjusted to their communicative needs, the lessons are functional and put the student at the center. The teaching has a communicative focus, taking into account the motivation and the participation of the students, working towards the aim of reinforcing their autonomy as Spanish speakers.

Aims

The aim of this course is to prepare students for effective professional communication through spoken and written Spanish. It builds upon and differs from course L00121 Business Spanish in two ways: first by giving more prominence to persuasive communication and to meetings and elementary negotiations and second by working with more specialized vocabulary and demanding stricter adherence to the conventions of accurate written Spanish. Therefore students should have successfully completed course L00121 or have a comparable skill set (B1).

CEMS studnets who complete the course L00122 Advanced Business Spanish meet either their second or third language requirement for the CEMS program.

Course structure

The course consists of five components: spoken proficiency, written proficiency, grammar, language awareness and cultural content. Work with spoken proficiency includes discussions, oral presentations and participations in simulated meetings, job interviews, etc. Work with written proficiency includes the production of shorter texts. The grammar component consists of reviews and exercises based upon errors in the students’ own production and other grammar requirements from CEFR. Language awareness develops through the analysis of the required articles and of the students’ own written and spoken work. Cultural content will be covered throughout the other four components as well as through entertaining activities (including contact with other Spanish speakers, role plays, interactive learning tools, etc.).

The course consists of 22 seminars where attendance and active participation in class are mandatory. A maximum of 5 seminars may be missed (75% attendance).

Methodology

• Oral skills: Classroom time will be devoted to discussion to develop fluency, grammar, vocabulary and usage. Much classroom work takes place in small groups and in class discussions.
• Writing skills: The writing assignments will be written in multiple drafts, since writing is to be seen as a process requiring several rewrites and revisions. Each revision should improve accuracy, coherence and genre awareness.
• Business vocabulary: Course work provides an opportunity for each participant to compile an individual list of essential business terms, to be shared with other participants. It also serves as an appropriate occasion for raising queries about terminology.
• Grammar: Grammar will be taught following interactive teaching methods using activities to engage the students and help remembering what has been learned. The lessons will be tailored to the student's individual needs and learning styles to achieve the best results.
• Cultural content: Given the inseparable nature of language and culture and the complexities of intercultural communication, cultural content will be covered throughout every lesson to help students develop cultural understanding and intercultural skills.

Course administrator: Anna.Meijerberg@hhs.se

Students who successfully complete the course will have demonstrated the ability to:

• Deliver presentations on business-related topics that meet B2 standards of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)
• Take an active part in discussions based on cases and articles from business journals and periodicals
  take active part in discussions and negotiations where they argue clearly and coherently by establishing and defending positions
• Understand the three types of cultural content and use cultural information in a practical way and connect it with communicative and professional goals.
• Write accurate correspondence that addresses business cases as well as an accurate and appropriate cover letter and CV
• Produce short reports (3-4 pages) and summaries that adhere to the conventions of written Spanish

General entry requirements

Course book
Francisca Castro Viúdez y Pilar Díaz Ballesteros. Aprende Gramática y Vocabulario 4. Editorial SGEL.
ISBN: 9788497782517

The remainder of the course literature consist of authentic materials, articles that are selected/recommended by the teacher, photocopies and audiovisual content.

The only grade granted is Pass

Examination is based on continuous assessment of the different course elements, individual oral presentations, participation in the different simulated oral exercises, active participation in class, and written deliverables of varying lengths.

This course is GPA neutral. Pass in the Pass/Fail distinction has no relationship to “Pass” within SSE’s grading system. Pass here simply means that you have earned credit for the course

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).