Newcastle University

Aims

To provide students with the following:
i.       Skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking to communicate in Spanish in a business and social context.
ii.       An awareness of linguistic accuracy and the ability to monitor their language output accordingly.
iii.       An ability to deal with the situations that they are most likely to encounter when working or studying abroad.
iv.       Encouragement to work independently by exploiting fully the opportunities of the Open Access Centre and Internet resources

Original Summary:
This course has been designed for business students who have passed module SPA1001, or have a GCSE grade or have lived in a Spanish speaking country, or for those who have no qualifications but feel that they can communicate fairly fluently and who would like to develop Spanish language skills in a business context. The course will focus on developing key business Spanish vocabulary, practical role- plays, and will work on reading, writing, listening and speaking; the language skills required in business and social situations when travelling or working around Spanish speaking countries, or just dealing with people on the Internet or on the telephone.

Outline Of Syllabus

Unit 1: Compañeros de trabajo.
Unit 2: De viaje
Unit 3: Productos de ayer y de hoy
Unit 4: Normas en la empresa
Unit 5: Dinero
Unit 6: Salones y ferias
Unit 7: Internet
Unit 8: Correspondencia comercial
Unit 9: Estrategias de publicidad
Unit 10: Seguros
Unit 11: Presentaciones y conferencias
Unit 12 Felicitaciones y despedidas
Unit 13: Consolidación

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Language teaching will focus on communication. The target language will be used as much as possible. All four skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking are fully integrated in this module and will be tested equally at the end of the year. Independent learning and learner autonomy are encouraged through the means of portfolio tasks, pair and group work and self-study at home and in the Open Access Centre. Joint study sessions at specific time slots ensure that students follow up taught sessions independently.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Resits: 90 minute written exam


Students are tested in the three skills of listening, reading and writing during the final examination. In addition, there is one test to assess their oral competence as well as one class test and coursework to enable students to gain feedback on their performance throughout the year and to develop independent learning skills.
Weekly logs and evidence from joint study sessions will also be assessed as part of the students’ portfolios.