Unit information: Spanish for Business in 2019/20

Unit name	Spanish for Business
Unit code	HISP30057
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Ms. Marga Menendez-Lopez
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	HISP20101 or UWLP20006 and satisfactory completion of the year abroad or other study or work placement in the country of the target language or evidence of high level of proficiency in the language.
Co-requisites	NONE
School/department	Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will be taught by Juan Lopez Ramal.

This unit is designed for final year students who are returning from the year abroad and/or for students who have an advanced level of language.

The unit aims to reinforce and further enhance advanced language skills, focusing on, and developing students’ ability to communicate confidently and at a high level in, the varied business environments of the Spanish-speaking world.

Topics covered in this unit include:

• Application of advanced language skills to a range of business contexts
• How a business works: definition, structure and organisation
• Importing and exporting: customs unions in Europe and Latin America
• Banking, Taxes, and Credit. The Stock Market
• Entrepreneurship: creating a company, a product or a service (business planning, product design, market research, marketing and advertising)
• Teamwork: negotiating skills, collaboration, group decision-making and problem solving
• Business Intercultural Communication: Spanish and Latin American markets

The unit includes regular formative peer review activity.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of the unit, successful students will be able to demonstrate:

1. Fluency and sophistication in spoken and written business Spanish and advanced listening skills
2. Ability to think critically, organise their ideas and argue their points with relevant support, for a business context and at an advanced level
3. Intercultural awareness to facilitate international business communication, based on wide-ranging knowledge and understanding of business protocol and procedures in Spanish-speaking countries
4. Ability to pitch a product, a company or a service in Spanish, and to analyse the market, the competition and the consumer
5. Ability to design a marketing and advertising strategy in Spanish
6. Team-work and leadership skills transferable to a business environment

Teaching Information

1 hour Seminar weekly

Students are also expected to perform weekly formative assessment tasks, guided independent learning and make use of Multimedia Centre resources (amounting to 4-6 hours of study a week).

Assessment Information

TB1: (40%)

-A 35-40 minute group presentation in Spanish (40%), to include a video advertisement and a business plan. Students will be awarded a group mark and an individual mark, both of which are equally weighted (20% each). The presentation tests ILOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

TB2: (60%)

- Two-hour written exam, testing ILOs 1, 2 and 3.

Reading and References

Crane, R. & Rizowy, C., Latin American Business Cultures, Pearson, 2005

Felices, A. et al, Cultura y Negocios, Edinumen, 2010

Iriarte, E. and Núñez, E. Empresa Siglo XXI. Edinumen, 2009