Language Institute

Thammasat University
EL 221 Communicative Business English 1
Course Outline 1/2012

Course Description

The vocabulary and idioms appropriate to the world of business will be the focus of this
course. Reading and writing skills will be practiced, so that students can learn to
understand business-related documents, make summaries, and take useful notes. There
will also be an oral presentation on business related-topics.


Course Objectives

1. To expose students to key business concepts, ranging from general business areas to
more complex issues.
2. To improve students reading skills as well as their comprehension and writing skills.
3. To develop students vocabulary skills by examining context.
4. To enable students to effectively function in an international business culture.
5. To provide an opportunity for students to read newspapers on business related topics
based on their individual interests.

Teaching Method

Student-centered/Autonomous learning
Group discussion/Oral presentation

Textbook: I ntelligent Business (Coursebook, Intermediate) by Tonya Trappe & Graham
Tullis (available at TU Bookstore or at the stall under the SC building)


Course Evaluation

1. Class Participation 50 points
1.1 Attendance 20 points
1.2 Classwork Assignments 30 points*
-- News Clipping 20 points
-- Oral Presentation 10 points
2. Quiz 60 points
3. Final 100 points
Total 210 points

Important Dates
Quiz Friday August 10, 2012 17.00-19.00
Final Examination Wednesday October 10, 2012 13.00-16.00





Score Distribution (points)
Quiz Final

Vocabulary 15 20
Seen Passages 10 20
Unseen Passages 15 25
Controlled Writing 20 20
Outside Reading - 15

Total 60 100

Notes:

1. News clipping (2 assignments; 10 points each)

Students are required to clip TWO business news articles and do the following:

1.1 Write a summary or main idea of each article (1-2 sentences). (1 pts)

1.2 Write your comments about it for a few sentences (e.g., what you learn
from the news, why it is interesting, etc). (1 pts)

1.3 Write a glossary of 10 vocabularies (English-English & Thai) found in the
news article. (2 pts)

1.4 Make 3 comprehension questions with the answers based on the news article. Your
questions must ask for the main idea and details and begin with a WH-Question
word. For this part, the marking will be based on not only grammar but also the
quality of the questions and the answers. Half a point will be deducted for each
grammatical mistake. (6 pts)

1.5 Submit one assignment before the midterm test and the other before
the final test as scheduled by the instructor.

A total of ten points are given for each quality work which is done correctly and
which meets all the requirements mentioned above.

2. Oral Presentation (10 points)

After the quiz, students form a group of three or four students to be responsible for
one short oral report on a company profile (10-15 minutes). In this task, they are required
to research a company or organization that they are interested in and present it orally.
They should also include at least three out of the following six aspects in their
presentation: background/history, strategy (for success), development, marketing,
outsourcing, and innovation. Points will be awarded based on the quality of their
presentation (content, language, and manner of presentation).









Attendance Policy

1. Students are required to participate in at least 80% of the total class hours. They can
be absent only three times before the midterm exam and three times before the final
exam.

2. Two points will be deducted for each absence (each 1.30-hour session), and four
points will be deducted for each absence (each 3-hour session).


Schedule and Instructors

Add/Drop period 4 9 July 2012
Drop W period 27 August 3 September 2012


Instructors



Sec/Gr

Day

Time

Room

Instructor
040001 Tue, Thu 13.30 - 15.00 LI 310 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pratin Pimsarn
040002 Tue, Thu 13.30 - 15.00 LI 306 Asst. Prof. Tanom Tiensawangchai
050001 Tue, Thu 15.00 - 16.30 LI 310 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pratin Pimsarn
070001 Wed, Fri 09.30 - 11.00 LI 304 A. Dr. Chanika Gampper
080001 Wed, Fri 11.00 12.30 LI 304 A. Dr. Chanika Gampper
080002 Wed, Fri 11.00 12.30 LI 211 Assoc. Prof. Suree Kongsomchit
080003 Wed, Fri 11.00 12.30 SC 1020 A. Thanyapong Panampai
090001 Wed, Fri 13.30 - 15.00 LI 304 A. Dr. Chanika Gampper
540001 Thursday 13.30 - 16.30 LI 304 Assoc. Prof. Nitaya Yuangsri
810001 Monday 09.30 - 12.30 LI 304 Assoc. Prof. Nitaya Yuangsri
820001 Monday 13.30 - 16.30 LI 304 Assoc. Prof. Nitaya Yuangsri
820002 Monday 13.30 - 16.30 LI 303 Asst. Prof. Preeyachat Uttamayodhin


Content to be covered in the quiz and exam

1. Quiz (60 points)

Reading Passages:

Unit 3 Strategy: Nikes Goddess
Unit 4 Pay: The rewards of failure
Unit 5 Development: Gas for Peru v green imperialism
Unit 6 Marketing: Money can buy you love
Unit 11 Markets: Going, going, gone?


Controlled Writing:

Tenses (present simple and present continuous Unit 1,
future forms Unit 3,
present perfect and past simple -- Unit 4)
Modals (likelihoodUnit 5, obligationUnit 12)
Gerunds and Infinitives (Unit11)


2. Final Exam (100 points)

Reading Passages:

Unit 7 Outsourcing: The new global shift
Unit 8 Finance: Europes Enron
Unit 9 Recruitment: A full house
Unit 10 Counterfeiting: Imitating property is theft
Unit 12 Lobbies: Of celebrities, charity and trade
Unit 13 Communication: Coping with infoglut
Unit 14 Logistics: The best thing since the barcode
Controlled Writing:

Adverb clauses (supplementary material)
Conditionals (Units 7 and 10)
Adjective clauses/Relative pronouns (Unit 9 and supplementary material)
Appositives (supplementary material)
Reported Speech (Unit 13)
Passives (Unit 14)

Outside Reading:

Unit 15 Innovation: Failure is glorious (page 129)










Tentative Teaching Schedule
EL 221
Semester 1/2012


Week

Dates Topics
1 June 25-29 Introduction, Nikes Goddess, suffixes
2 July 2-6
Future forms, Present Simple and Continuous
Executive pay: The rewards of failure
3 July 9-13
Present Perfect and Past Simple
Development: Gas for Peru
4 July 16-20
Modals
Marketing: Money can buy you love.
5 July 23-27
Markets: Going, going, gone?
Gerunds and infinitives
6 July 30-August 1
Logistics: The best thing since the bar code
Passives
7 August 6-10
News clipping 1 due
Review
Quiz 17.00-19.00
8 August 14-17
Outsourcing: The new global shift
Adverb clause
9 August 20-24
Conditionals
Submit the topic of final presentation
10 August 27-31
Finance: Europes Enron
Adjectives and adverbs
11 September 3-7
Recruitment: A full house
Adjective clauses/relative pronouns
12 September 10-14
Adjective clauses/relative pronouns (cont)
Appositive
Counterfeiting: Imitating property is theft
13 September 17-21
Lobbies: Of celebrities, charity and trade
Communication: Coping with Infloglut
14 September 24-28
Reported speech
Oral presentation
News Clipping 2 due
15 October 1-5
Oral presentation
Review

Wed October 10,
2012
FINAL EXAMINATION (13.00 16.00)
Remarks: NO class on the following days
- Thursday 2 August 2012 Arsarnha Bucha Day
- Friday 3 August 2012 Buddist Lent Day
- Monday 13 August 2012 Her Majesty the Queens Birthday
- Thursday30 August 2012 TUs Commencement Day