Business English 2 (self-study)

LANG0933

COURSE INFORMATION

Academic Year 2017-2018 Kevin Noiroux

 Course Organization
The class consists of several 3-hour sessions. It is a 6-credit self-study course, so it
requires a lot of work at home. The course is divided in 10 modules, each lasting 3
weeks and structuring your work as much as possible. More information on the
modules is available below and in a separate document.
All the documents will be made available on the online platform
(http://lolahd.hec.ulg.ac.be/). They include all the keys (i.e. solutions) as well as extra
exercises and tools.

Course Support
Book: Market Leader Intermediate. 2010. DVD included.
Extra support: MyEnglishLab.

Content
You will be assessed on the second half of the textbook, i.e. unit 7 to unit 12
(excluding units on culture).

Final Grade & Exam

The exam takes place in June. The date will be determined as soon as possible. The
retake takes place in August or at the beginning of September. Note that you can keep
any grade section you want (e.g. reading, vocabulary and grammar). Unfortunately, it is
not possible to organize an extra written exam in June or September for the students
who are unavailable (e.g. sick or abroad for work).
Here is how I calculate the final grade. Note that you can keep any grade section you
want for the retake. If you got 14/20 for the reading section, you can keep it for the
retake. Finally, I always keep the best grade. If you got 11/20 in phonetics, you retake
it and get 9/20, I’ll keep the 11/20.
Content Information Weighting
Modules 1 point for each submission and each 20%
peer assessment on time
Vocabulary & Grammar MCQs 25%
Reading MCQs and/or open questions on a 20%
new text
Listening MCQs and/or open questions on a 20%
new video
Phonetics MCQs 15%

MCQs: Gent’s Standard Setting System

MCQs are graded following Gent’s standard setting system. The basic idea is to
determine the likelihood of passing the MCQ by chance, and to make up for it by

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adapting the final grade. The main point is that you can focus on the test and only on
the test. Here is the formula used to determine the cut-off point:
𝑁
(𝑛𝑖 + 1)𝑤𝑖
𝑐=∑
2𝑛𝑖
𝑖=1
Where:
 c is for cut-off point (e.g., 25/40); it is the numerator
 N is for the number of questions or, in other words, the maximum score on the
examination (e.g., 40); it is also the denominator
 ni is for the number of choice options per question (e.g., 2 in True/False question)
 wi is for the weight attributed to the questions.
Here are the two formulas used to adapt your final grade:
(𝑦 − 𝑐)10
𝐼𝑓 𝑦 ≥ 𝑐, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑧 = 10 +
𝑁−𝑐
10𝑦
𝐼𝑓 𝑦 < 𝑐, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑧 =
𝑐
Where:
 y is for the raw score (namely, the number of correct answers)
 c is for the cut-off point (e.g., 25/40)
 z is for the final grade of the student
 N is for the number of questions or, in other words, the maximum score on the
examination (e.g., 40)
You can find more information on that type of MCQ here.

Modules
Each week/module starts on Monday 7 am and ends on Sunday 10 pm, with the
exception of the peer assessments for which you have two weeks.1

Module Begins Ends How many students

per group

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You should try to complete them in a week, but given that (1) some of you may have
professional obligations abroad or in Belgium and that (2) you cannot get ahead because you
need to wait for the deadlines of the main assignments to be over, all the peer assessment
deadlines are extended.

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 1. 1) MLI2: Unit 7 Oct. 9 Oct. 15 /
2) Phonetics Oct. 16 Oct. 22 2
3) Feedback Oct. 23 Nov. 5 /
2. 1) MLI: Unit 8 Oct. 30 Nov. 5 /
2) Listening Nov. 6 Nov. 1
3) Peer Assessment Nov. 1912 /
2013 Dec.
3Nov.
26
3. 1) MLI: Unit 9 Nov. 20 Nov. 26 /
2) Grammar & Vocabulary Nov. 27 Dec. 3 2
3) Feedback Dec. 4 Dec. 10 /
4. 1) MLI: Revision Unit C Dec. 11 Dec. 17 /
2) Writing Dec. 18 Dec. 24 1
3) Peer Assessment Jan. 8 Jan. 21 /
5. 1) Reading Jan. 15 Jan. 21 1
2) Peer Assessment Jan. 22 Feb. 4 /
3) Class Jan. 29 / /
6. 1) MLI: Unit 10 Feb. 5 Feb. 11 /
2) Phonetics Feb. 12 Feb. 18 2
3) Feedback Feb. 19 Feb. 25 /
7. 1) MLI: Unit 11 Feb. 26 Mar. 4 /
2) Grammar & Vocabulary Mar. 5 Mar. 11 2
3) Feedback Mar. 12 Mar. 18 /
8. 1) MLI: Unit 12 Mar. 19 Mar. 25 /
2) Listening Mar. 26 Apr. 1 1
3) Peer Assessment Apr. 16 Apr. 29 /
9. 1) Class Apr. 23 / /
2) Reading Apr. 30 May 6 1
3) Peer Assessment May 7 May 20 /
10. 1) MLI: Unit Revision D May 14 May 20 /
2) Listening May 21 May 27 1
3) Peer Assessment May 28 Jun. 10 /

Notes:
 Make sure you complete the assignments earlier to have a plan B in case of a
problem (no internet, computer problems…).
 You can get maximum 16 points if you do all the assignments (cf. blue font).
 There are a few group assignments. To submit them, you will have to be in a 2-
person group (it’s not negotiable; do not send me an e-mail to work on your own).
If, for some reason, you do not want to do a group assignment, do not join a

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Market Leader Intermediate (cf. below for more information on the exercises to do).

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 group (either empty or with already one person). If you join a group, it means
you’re willing to collaborate to do the assignment. Not collaborating is
considered fraud as you’re trying to get the point without doing the work (cf.
the note on fraud below). Once you join an empty group, anyone can join your
group to work with you, so if you want to work with a friend, make sure to join the
same group as soon as possible. If you joined a group and the other person is not
showing goodwill to collaborate (e.g. doesn’t answer emails, doesn’t work
seriously), you must report them by sending me an e-mail (not reporting a student
who doesn’t do their job is also considered fraud as you’re helping that person to
get the point without doing the work). Submit the assignment before the deadline
on your own, but I’ll contact the other person to start the fraud report. Finally, if
all the 2-person groups are full, you can send me e-mail with the group number
you want to join.
 For the peer assessment modules, you’ll have to assess two assignments, each of
them being worth half a point.
 You can only take part in the peer assessment module if you fulfil the main
assignment. For instance, if you do not do the writing assignment (module 10), you
cannot do the peer assessment module from module 10. Therefore, you lose 2
points.
 There is no retake for the modules. If you miss one or several deadlines, you
cannot catch up.3
 As is mentioned on every assignment, I will deal with every fraud very strictly.
Examples of fraud include posting the same file as another student for the same
assignment, uploading an empty file, not reporting a student who didn’t do their
assignment. Basically, there is fraud when you try to get the points without doing
the work. In case of fraud, you will automatically get 0 for the modules. What is
more, I will follow the official procedure and send a report to the authorities,
which may cancel the whole exam and may get you expelled.

Market Leader Intermediate

Here are the exercises you have to do in the book. All the keys are available on Lola in
the work files. If you’d rather have a more interactive work environment, you can
purchase the book with an access code to MyEnglishLab and join the course CHYC-
JRNK-6KSD-EBQ3.

Unit 7: Cultures
 Listening: A, B, C (p. 67)

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If you are sick, you have a medical certificate, and you e-mail a scanned version to me maximum
two days after the first day for which your certificate covers you, I will not take the modules
included in that period into account. If your medical certificate covers you for more than 4
modules, I will not take the modules into account to calculate the final grade.

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 Vocabulary: A, B, C, D (p. 68)
 Reading: A, B (p. 69)
 Language Review: A (p. 70)
 Skills: A, B, C, D, E (p. 71)
 Case Study: Read the background information, do the listening task (CD2.3) and
watch the commentary on the DVD (pp. 72-73).

Unit 8: Human Resources

 Vocabulary: A, B, C, E, F (p. 75)
 Reading: B, E (pp. 76-77, 137)
 Listening: A, B, C, D (p. 77)
 Language Review: A, B, C (p. 78)
 Skills: A, B (p. 79)
 Case Study: Read the case study, make sure you understand everything, do the
listening task (p. CD2.10-13) and watch the commentary on the DVD (pp. 80-81).

Unit 9: International Markets

 Starting up: A (p. 82)
 Vocabulary: B, C, D, E, F, G (pp. 83-84)
 Reading: A, B, C, D (pp. 84-85)
 Language Review: A, B, C (p. 86)
 Listening: A, B, C (p. 87)
 Skills: C, D, E (useful language) (pp. 87-88)
 Case Study: Read the case study, and watch the commentary on the DVD (p. 89).

Unit C: Revision
Everything except Cultures.

Unit 10: Ethics

 Starting up: A, B (check the vocabulary) (p. 96)
 Vocabulary: A (make sure you understand and check the vocabulary), B, C, E
(make sure you understand and check the vocabulary) (p. 97)
 Reading: C (pp. 98-99)
 Listening: A, B, C, D (p. 99)
 Language Review: A, B, C (pp. 99-100)
 Skills: A, D, C (p. 101)
 Case Study: Read the case study, make sure you understand everything, do the
listening task (p. CD2.31) and watch the commentary on the DVD (pp. 102-103).

Unit 11: Leadership

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 Vocabulary: A, B, C, D, E (pp. 104-105)
 Listening: A, B, C (p. 105)
 Reading: C, E (pp. 106-107)
 Language Review: A, B, C (pp. 107-108)
 Skills: C (p. 109)
 Case Study: Read the case study, and watch the commentary on the DVD (pp.
110-111).

Unit 12: Competition

 Starting up: A, B (p. 112)
 Vocabulary: A, B, C (p. 113)
 Reading: C, D, E, F, G (pp. 114-115)
 Listening: A, B, C (p. 115)
 Language Review: A, B (p. 116)
 Skills: A, B, C (p. 117)
 Case Study: Read the case study, and watch the commentary on the DVD (pp.
118-119).

Unit D: Revision
Everything except Cultures.