First Foreign Language I (English)
Code: 103760 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2502904 Hotel Management | FB | 1 | A |
Contact
- Name:
- Roger Nicholson
- Email:
- Roger.Nicholson@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- english (eng)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites.
Objectives and Contextualisation
Students acquire linguistic knowledge and develop written and oral communication skills, so that at the end of this first year they are able to:
1. Express themselves both orally and in writing on issues of general interest.
2. Understand native speakers when they address them directly and hold a conversation on issues of mutual interest.
3. Understand the overall meaning of a conversation between native speakers and its most important points.
4. Understand both short and long written texts on various topics, especially on issues related to hospitality.
5. Know the components of a text (paragraphs, punctuation, deixis, connectors and anaphoric, cataphoric and exophoric reference).
6. Summarize texts, including the most significant points.
7. Understand and use different linguistic registers.
8. Express themselves orally in situations related to the hospitality sector using appropriate language and suitable register.
9. Express themselves effectively, both orally and in writing, on issues of general interest and tourism related issues.
10. Apply for a job in the hospitality or catering industry (CV writing, letters or emails, fill in forms, express themselves in English during the interview).
11. Present a topic related to one aspect of their lives before an audience.
Skills-related objectives
By the end of the four-year programme, students must be able to:
- Develop a degree of accuracy (grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary use, registration, etc.) and fluency (speed in production, ability to express ideas and develop discourse), both written and oral expression, equivalent to level C1.1 level UAB Idiomes.
- Develop strategies and skills to understand authentic written and oral texts.
- Develop strategies to continue learning outside the classroom.
- Develop the ability to function efficiently and confidentlyin both everyday and tourism related situations
- Use reference materials necessary for learning languages: dictionaries, textbooks or exercises, etc.
- Function orally in any situation related to the hospitality sector using appropriate language and a suitable register.
- Be able to apply for a job related to the hotel and catering sector in English (write CVs, cover letters and emails, fill in application forms, and communicate effectively during the interview in English).
- Know whether to take further language courses in order to maintain or improve their current level.
- Develop strategies and skills to be explain food and catering services to overseas diners both orally and in writing.
Competences
- Be able to self-evaluate knowledge acquired.
- Communicate orally and in writing in a first, second and third foreign language in the areas of the hotel and catering industry and also in the different areas related to them.
- Develop a capacity for independent learning.
- Manage and organise time.
- Manage communication techniques at all levels.
- Manage techniques of internal and corporate communication in hotel and catering companies.
- Work in teams.
Learning Outcomes
- Be able to self-evaluate knowledge acquired.
- Demonstrate the acquisition of theoretical and practical knowledge of first and second foreign languages in area related to hotel and catering companies.
- Develop a capacity for independent learning.
- Identify the correct grammatical for communication management existing between companies in a first and second foreign language.
- Identify the correct vocabulary for communication management existing between companies in a first and second foreign language.
- Manage and organise time.
- Manage communication techniques at all levels.
- Use a first and second foreign language in specific contexts and real situations.
- Use the idiomatic peculiarities required in the hotel and catering sector in a first and second foreign language.
- Work in teams.
Content
Just as skills and abilities are related in the language learning process, the contents listed below will be interrelated during the course. Linguistic content is divided into functions as well as lexical and grammatical content.
Linguistic functions
1. Maintain a conversation with customers using a formal register and avoiding the use of overly familiar expressions.
2. Understand both short and long written texts on various topics, especially on issues related to hospitality.
3. Write a curriculum vitae and a cover letter in English.
4. Provide information about the availability of accommodation and describe its facilities.
5. Understand and use lexis related to groups with special needs (culture and reduced mobility) in real work situations.
Lexical and grammatical content
1. Review of basic verb tenses (past, present, future) in the affirmative, negative and interrogative.
2. Modal verbs to express obligation, permission, prohibition, necessity, advice and requests.
3. Use of the future progressive to soften requests and questions.
4. The difference between adjectives ending in -ing or -ed.
5. Gender neutral expressions (room attendant, bellhop, bartender, manager, spokesperson, flight attendant, etc.).
6. There + be to express existence (there is, there are, there was, there were, there will be, etc.).
7. Use of auxiliary verb sbe, do and have.
8. Be used to, get used to and used to + infinitive.
9. Frequency adverbs and expressions.
10. Combinations of adjectives and prepositions.
11. Introduction to the three basic conditionals, open conditionals and other types of if clause.
12. Relative clauses.
13. Frequent phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs.
14. Narrative tenses (past simple, past continuous, past perfect continuous).
15. Conjunctions and other connecting words (reasoning and contrast).
16. Components of a text (paragraphs, punctuation, deixis, connectors and conjunctions, register and adaptation, anaphoric, cataphoric and exophoric reference).
17. Telephone language (this is, is that?, Speaking, I'll put you through, etc.).
18. Basic vocabulary of special purposes (types of accommodation, facilities, equipment and furniture, hotel departments and their organisational structure, job titles, etc.).
Methodology
A modified version of the communicative approach is used: small groups performing communicative tasks, with a balance between learning grammatical structures and linguistic functions while paying equal attention to the four language skills but without forgetting the peculiarities of a language course designed for hotel management students.
Classroom activities include debates, reading articles on the hospitality sector and of general interest, grammar exercises and vocabulary, listening comprehension exercises, reading concordance sheets (data-driven learning), writing assignments, cooperative learning, work in closed pairs, discovery learning and role playing. Prior to each class, participants should consult the Virtual Campus ("Notícies" followed by "Links" o "Materials") for reading material about the hospitality sector or general issues with a view to contributing to debate in class.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Classes | 60 | 2.4 | 8, 2, 7, 5, 4, 9 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 2.5 | 0.1 | 1 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Projects and portfolio | 81 | 3.24 | 8, 2, 3, 7, 6, 5, 4, 1, 9 |
Assessment
Continuous assessment
1. Projects. They are prepared during the course under the supervision of teachers and presented to the class.
2. Portfolio. It comprises 8 to 12 activities, which assess the four language skills. Activities may be done at home or in class.
Examples of such activities are listed below:
Written assignments
Short reading activities
Short tests
Self-assessment forms
Finding information
Document production
The days scheduled by the school for mid-term exams may be used to carry out dossier work; for example short reading or listening tests.
3. Mid-year exams. A mid-term exam is held during the periods scheduled by the school for exams, one of which will be a written test (two tasks) while the other one will be a listening test. The format should be similar to the final exam.
4. Final test
A minimum class attendance of 80% is required to be able to participate in continuous assessment.
Final exam
Students who have failed or not taken the continuous assessment are entitled to take a final exam that tests the four language skills. In order to pass the exam, and therefore the course itself, a minimum mark of 50% must be obtained in each skill (each part of the exam) and a minimum 60% overall.
Changing the exam date
Students who cannot take the exam on the set dates due to health, work (trips or other similar obligations) or on compassionate grounds may ask their teacher for a change of date, supplying any necessary documents, and giving notice of at least seven calendar days except in extreme cases such as accidents. If the request is accepted, the exams must still be taken within the period set by the School of Tourism and Hotel Management.
Other features of assessment
Students who have passed continuous assessment are not allowed to sit the final exam in order to obtain a higher mark.
Levels are not officially certified.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First semester test | 20% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 2, 5, 4, 9 |
| Portfolio | 20% | 0 | 0 | 8, 2, 3, 6, 5, 4, 1, 9 |
| Projects | 20% | 1 | 0.04 | 2, 3, 7, 6, 5, 4, 1, 10, 9 |
| Second semester test | 40% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 5, 4, 9 |
Bibliography
Books:
Redston, C. and Cunningham, G. (2013). Face2Face (Upper Intermediate Student Book Second Edition), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stott, T. Pohl, A. (2010). Highly Recommended 2 (Student Book), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Strutt, P. (2003). Inglés For International Tourism (Intermediate Students' Book), Harlow: Longman.
Wood, N. (2003). Tourism and Catering Workshop, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harding, K. Henderson, P. (1992). High Season (English for the Hotel and Tourist Industry), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eastwood, J. and Mackin, R. (1984). A Basic English Grammar (Spanish Edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Note: it will be compulsory to purchase the first book on the list
Websites:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
http://wikitravel.org/en
www.thefreedictionary.com
http://diccionario.reverso.net/
www.tripadvisor.com
www.breakingnewsenglish.com
Software
There isn't any.