THIS IS A PILOT COURSE AND WILL BE OFFERED ONLY IN THE SUMMER SEMESTER 2019. CONSEQUENTLY, THE LAST OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THE EBC3 PILOT TEST WILL BE SEPTEMBER 2019 (provided the necessary requirements are met as listed below in 'Leistung(en) für eine Beurteilung').

IT DIFFERS FROM REGULAR EBC3 LVs AND IS DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE ALREADY TAKEN AND PASSED A PILOT EBC2 LV USING THE TEXTBOOK 'BUSINESS ADVANTAGE'. FOR SUCH STUDENTS, SPECIAL REGISTRATION ARRANGEMENTS APPLY, DETAILS OF WHICH ARE AVAILBLE ON LEARN@WU.

YOU WILL NOT NEED EITHER THE EBC3 COURSEBOOK OR THE NEW HANDBOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH FOR THIS LV, WHICH IS INTENDED TO HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY AS REGULAR EBC3 LVs.

The syllabus for this pilot course consists of all material contained in the specified units of the textbook (see Literature).

Please note that the information provided here may be revised as necessary.

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The curriculum of this class is comprised of general language skills, core business content (i.e. the understanding of business principles and activities, technical terminology and registers) and communicative competence.

After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

• LO1: demonstrate a level of general English competence equivalent to at least C1 on the Common European Framework;
• (LO2) understand and apply important concepts from the fields of business communication, specifically organisational culture, corporate strategic planning, and aspects of accounting (e.g. costing) and to recall and appropriately use the essential terminology and other typical features (structures, collocations, etc) associated with them;
• LO3: combine the various abilities mentioned above in order to understand and discuss upper-level written texts about the above business and economic fields, and to write communicatively-effective texts, both descriptive and analytical (specifically business plans), relating to them;
• (LO4) understand and interpret content from a variety of recorded oral business communications;
• (LO5) engage effectively in spoken business communication in a variety of contexts, with a focus on achieving communicational goals (in particular in meetings and negotiations).

In addition, this course fosters the following transferable skills:

• Presentation skills
• Ability to analyse and understand texts in general
• General writing skills
• Effective university-level study

As with all PI courses, attendance is a requirement to pass EBC3. As a special concession, you may miss up to three (3) meetings of your LV. However, if you miss a fourth, you will no longer be able to pass the course. This condition applies whatever the reasons for your absences may have been.

The EBC3 course is divided into thirteen units, as indicated below and containing a number of exercises designed to develop the requisite skills and knowledge. EBC3 classes are of a workshop nature and involve a wide range of activities based on the course literature. These will include some or all of the following:

• discussion of business topics and issues;
• further language development, involving both vocabulary and more advanced structures;
• further development of listening and reading comprehension skills;
• spoken communication practice, including discussion and presentation;
• development of writings skills: writing longer business texts, such as a business plan;
• examination preparation.

Some activities will take the form of pair or small-group work.

As with all PI courses, attendance is a requirement to pass this LV (see above).

If you satisfy the attendance requirement above, your final score will be made up of the following four elements:

• Oral Exam - 20%
• Home Exercise - 5%
• Final Test - 75%

As EBC3 is a PI course, you must satisfy various criteria in order to pass:

Oral Exam (20% of total grade): The oral exam will involve role playing a business meeting in groups of 6 to 8 students. During the meeting, you will be giving some short presentations and discussing and negotiating with your fellow students. You will need to demonstrate proficiency in spoken English at the level of (or very close to) C1 under the European Framework of Reference, which is defined as follows:

• Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning.
• Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.
• Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.

Written Home Exercise (5% of total grade): The HE is a task similar to the writing task in the Final Test, set by your instructor. You are required to submit a reasonable attempt at the task by the deadline set by your own instructor. If you fulfil these requirements, you will be awarded 5 points.

Written Final Test (75% of total grade): The EBC3 Final Test is divided into three sections: language and content (business theory and terminology, vocabulary and grammar), comprehension (listening and reading), and production (writing). The first two consist of short questions of various types (fill-ins; multiple choice; etc) and text-based exercises. In the third section, you will be asked to compose a short text dealing with business concepts discussed in class. 

In order to pass the course, you must fulfill the following requirements:

• score at least 60% of the overall points total achievable
• attend regularly, missing no more than a maximum of 3 sessions

NOTE: You can choose freely whether to take the First OR the Second Final Test, but you will not be allowed to retake the exam at the second date if you fail to achieve a total score of at least 60% following the First Final Test.Also, please note that if you choose to sit the Second Final Test and cannot take it then, you will have to repeat the entire PI.

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Overall grade
Finally, if you satisfy the conditions specified for ALL the individual assessment elements above, you will be given an overall score (OS).

OS under 60%  ->   Grade 5; OS 60-67%     ->   Grade 4; OS 68-75%     ->   Grade 3; OS 76-84%     ->   Grade 2; OS 85-100%    ->   Grade 1

Bachelor students must have passed EBC2 prior to attending EBC3. Please note that registration via LPIS is required for 'EBC3'.

Registration is effected on a first-come, first-served basis. Any unfilled slots will be filled from waiting lists in accordance with study progress and in cooperation with the Vizerektorat für Lehre und Studierende.

Individual EBC3 instructors are NOT involved in registration and will NOT reply to mails on the subject.

In order to take this course you must have passed

• the course EBC1
• the course EBC2 (at the latest, at the Exceptional Test before the start of the semester in which you wish to take EBC3)

You can contact your instructor during his/her office hours, immediately before or after class or by mail.