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.

Please note that this course uses the Canvas learning platform. You will be expected to work through self-study material and asynchronous contributions on a regular basis as well as participating actively in class. There is a strong focus on interaction both in and out of class. Please read the syllabus through carefully to make sure you wish to participate in this class! However, if you are able to engage with the course, it should be interesting and rewarding.

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, in particular:
  • Can understand in detail a wide range of lengthy, complex texts or media likely to be encountered in professional or academic life
  • Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on complex subjects, integrating sub-themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion
  • Can produce clear, well-structured texts of complex subjects, underlining the relevant salient issues, expanding and supporting points of view at some length with subsidiary points, reasons and relevant examples, and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion
  • Can employ the structure and conventions of a variety of genres, varying the tone, style and register according to addressee, text type and theme
  • Can demonstrate sensitivity to different viewpoints, using repetition and paraphrase to demonstrate a detailed understanding of each party’s requirements for an agreement
  • Can formulate a diplomatic request to each side in a disagreement to determine what is central to their position, and what they may be willing to give up under certain circumstances
  • Can use persuasive language to suggest that parties in disagreement shift towards a new position
  • Can identify differences in sociolinguistic/-pragmatic conventions, critically reflect on them and adjust their communication accordingly
  • Can deal with ambiguity in cross-cultural communication and express their reactions constructively and
    culturally appropriately in order to bring clarity
• LO2: to understand and apply concepts from certain business and economic fields (globalisation and sustainability, international market entry, financial management, legal English) 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:
  a) understand upper-level written texts about the above business and economic fields
  b) write communicatively-effective texts, both descriptive and analytical (specifically reports), relating to these
  c) plan and hold an oral discussion (presentation & interaction) in small groups on a relevant topic
  d) role-play a simple negotiation with students from a foreign university

In addition, this course fosters the following soft skills:

• Improved aural/oral skills, particularly in discussions and simple negotiations
• Improved ability to analyse and understand texts in general
• Critical thinking
• Intercultural communication and using English as a business lingua franca
• 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 two (2) meetings of your LV. However, if you miss a third, you will no longer be able to pass the course. This condition applies whatever the reasons for your absences may have been.

Please note that the online session on 19 March is held jointly with students from NHH Bergen (Norway). It is not necessary to attend it (providing you can otherwise meet the regular attendance requirement), but it is strongly recommended as it provides you with a unique opportunity to engage with students from a different university and apply the principles you have learned in class. Please ensure that you will have a steady and reliable internet connection for video conferencing (i.e. Zoom). There are also assessment elements linked to this session.

Please note that you may use dictionaries, AI and other tools in the brainstorming and research phases of the performance components but you are NOT permitted to use any of these tools to create the assessed product (presentation, report, etc.). You may be required to repeat any performance components that seem to have been produced using forbidden tools, including in another mode (e.g. changing from oral to written or vice versa).

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The grade boundaries for EBC3 are as follows:

Grade 1: 90-100%
Grade 2: 80-89%
Grade 3: 70-79%
Grade 4: 60-69%
Grade 5: 0-59%

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.

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.

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.

Please note that, while all scheduled dates are confirmed, the exact content of each class and/or the order of the topics covered is still subject to change. In particular, the dates of the orals may vary depending on the final number of students. However, there will be at least one opportunity for students going on exchange in January to do their oral before the Christmas holidays.