THIS COURSE IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS 'ENGLISH BUSINESS COMMUNICATION3' (EBC3). Bachelor students are required to have passed EBC2 prior to attending EBC3.

LEARNING OUTCOMES (LOs)

After successfully completing this course, students will be able:

• LO1: to demonstrate a level of general English competence equivalent to at least C1 on the Common European Framework;
• LO2: to understand and apply concepts from certain business and economic fields (globalization, international trade, legal matters, international payment, risks, countertrade, tender procedures, financial management, financial markets) and to recall as required the essential terminology associated with them;
• LO3: to recall at will, and use, the English equivalents of basic German terminology from these fields, as well as other typical features (structures, collocations, prepositional usage, etc) of the associated language, to discuss the above fields in an appropriate manner, to understand the principles of report writing, and to apply these in practice;
• LO4: to combine the various abilities mentioned above in order to understand upper-level written texts about the above business and economic fields, and to write communicatively-effective texts, both descriptive and analytical (specifically reports), relating to them.

In addition, this course fosters the following soft skills:

• Explanation and summary in German (or other native language) of English texts relating to the business fields mentioned
• Improved aural/oral skills
• Improved ability to analyse and understand texts in general
• Effective university-level study

Regular physical attendance, missing no more than a maximum of three sessions.

In the hopefully now very unlikely event of yet another lockdown, students will be required to attend sessions held at the regular times via Microsoft Teams.

The EBC3 course will involve a wide range of activities based on course material as inspired by the original EBC3 coursebook. These will include some or all of the following:

• response to student questions and other discussion about advanced content;
• reading and working with texts;
• development of report-writing skills;
• further language development, involving both vocabulary and more advanced structures;
• forming and demonstrating own opinions in relation to matters covered;
• writing and evaluating of short texts in response to instructions.

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

A major feature of this course will be Legal English for business communication purposes. Such scenarios will include Legal English for both contracts and ‘everyday’ client communication in the form of business letters and e-mails.

The course will also take a look at the differences between the Austrian vs. English & US legal systems, exploring examples of how such differences have an impact on legal business communication matters.

No previous legal knowledge or experience is necessary for participation in this course; all that is required is an open and enthusiastic mindset.

Classes will offer students hands-on examples of relevant and useful expressions that can be used with a view to further enhancing their future (and maybe even current) business careers.

The course will also highlight some of the typical mistakes made especially by some German (or other) speakers of English in the field of legal business communication. It will also explore some of the classic differences in writing styles between Legal English and other European languages.

Students will be both welcome and indeed encouraged to openly discuss their own experiences in class in relation to any general business or legal business communication matters.

In addition to Legal English matters, students will gain experience in writing executive summary-style reports based on real business case scenarios; once again, this will be with a view to enhancing soft and hard communication skills required in the working world of the 2020s.

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

Oral performance (10% of total grade): You must participate in all class activities (at the very least, this means attempting to answer questions put by your instructor); if you do not do so in the early weeks of the course (for example, by simply not attending the classes), your instructor will discuss the matter with you so that you have a chance to improve. The requirements for class participation will be defined by the respective lecturer and communicated accordingly. This element also includes an oral assessment in which 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.

You can get up to 10 points, or 10% of the total grade, for this element, with the number of points you receive based on your actual contribution in class and performance at the oral assessment

Written homework (5% of total grade): Your lecturer will inform you about requirements and will set a deadline by which the homework must be submitted. You will receive 5 points, or 5% of the total grade, for timely delivery of an appropriate assignment. 

Additional classroom task and proactive participation (25% of total grade): Your lecturer will inform you about requirements and will set a deadline by which the written piece must be submitted.

Written Final Test (60% of total grade): The EBC3 Final Test will comprise tasks in relation to the content covered in class. It will also include the writing for a formal business report.

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

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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 60-69%     ->   Grade 4; OS 70-79%     ->   Grade 3; OS 80-89%     ->   Grade 2; OS 90-100%    ->   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.