| Unit name | French for Business |
|---|---|
| Unit code | FREN30095 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Mrs. Duranton |
| Open unit status | Open |
| Pre-requisites |
N/A |
| Co-requisites |
N/A |
| School/department | Department of French |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will have a greater focus on enhancing students’ employability, innovation and entrepreneurship skills in the new course content. Whilst these skills were taught in the previous curriculum through the presentation of a product/service, this was done in TB1 only and assessed through a 20 minute presentation at the end of TB1. Presentations were done in class time, therefore reducing contact hours and opportunities for learning.
Further emphasis will be placed on items of the curriculum linked to business planning, product design, market research, marketing and advertising throughout TB1 and TB2. Suggested enhanced content would focus on:
1. Understanding Business Models – what makes an attractive and viable business? 2. Strategic marketing (defining marketing objectives; positioning; branding) 3. Operational marketing: the product (what is a product / a good product; what is an innovative product; the life cycle of a product) – the pricing (pricing politics, how to determine a price) – distribution (what type of distribution; how to best showcase your product) 4. Communication and advertising (creating your message, diffusing your message; different types of media; strategies in planning an advertising campaign)
1. The ability to create a business idea for a product or service, showing a high level of awareness of French society and consumer behaviour 2. The ability to pitch a creative business idea to a panel of French entrepreneurs and/or academics 3. The ability to be a good team player and/or show leadership skills 4. The ability to write an executive summary highlighting the main areas for a business idea 5. The ability to show a high level of awareness of market research 6. The ability to design a marketing and advertising campaign for a product/service 7. The ability to think reflectively and critically on own professional experience
1h fortnightly lecture (with the whole cohort) and a weekly seminar
Students will be assessed through a group presentation (30 minutes + 10 minutes for questions) where groups will need to pitch their product in French in order to secure funding from a panel of experts including for example 2/3 students and the teacher who will assess the presentation. The presentation will also need to include a video advertisement. This assessment will form 50% of the final mark and will take place in the middle/end of term (March) and will take place outside of class time. Other final year students will be invited to attend presentations, as well as members of staff from the French department.
The presentation will be accompanied by a business plan (1,000 words) in the target language, forming 25% of the final mark. This will be due before the Spring holidays.
Students will also be required to write a 2,000 word reflective account of their experience in the target language, thus analysing their learning process: the steps they took to create the product, the obstacles they had to overcome, the benefits and challenges of working in a team and how they overcame those challenges, what they would have done differently if they had to create a product and pitch it again, the skills they acquired and how the experience will benefit their employability. This task will form 25% of the final mark. This will be due at the end of TB2.
This assessment will test ILO’s 1-7.
Osterwalder, Pigneur, Business Model Nouvelle Génération (Pearson) Barfoot, Burtenshaw, Mahon, Les Fondamentaux de la publicité (Editions Pyramyd 2009) Frossard, Guceski, Le Tour du Marketing en 12 étapes (Dunod, 2010) Viot, Le Marketing (Gualino, 2012) Darpy, Comportement du consommateur (Dunod, 2102) G. Michel, Au coeur de la marque (Dunod, 2009)
