OVERVIEW

The Spanish Language teaching unit introduces the study of language and communication in the socio-economic field, with particular attention to the contexts of Spain and Latin America. The teaching unit is part of the degree programme, providing the linguistic and cultural foundations necessary to address topics and texts in the socio-economic sector.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the teaching unit, students will have acquired written and oral proficiency in Spanish at level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, enabling them to deal with texts and communicative situations in the socio-economic field.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the teaching unit, students will be able to:

• Apply basic and sector-specific linguistic structures in Spanish (condition: in both simulated and real written and oral activities).
• Use basic morphosyntactic structures of the Spanish language (condition: in the production of texts and comprehension of authentic materials).
• Converse on general and specialised topics with good formal accuracy (condition: in simulations of socio-economic contexts).
• Develop and present a socio-economic proposal (condition: in oral and written presentations, criterion: clarity and relevance of content).
• Recognise the specific features of different types of texts in the socio-economic field (condition: in the analysis of authentic texts).
• Use specific terminology from the socio-economic sector in Spanish and adapt communication strategies to different types of texts (condition: in practical exercises and simulations, criterion: terminological and strategic appropriateness).

[Dublin descriptors: Knowledge and understanding; Applying knowledge and understanding; Making judgements; Communication skills; Learning skills]

PREREQUISITES

The course is intended for both beginners, who will have the opportunity to start from scratch, and non-beginners.No special prerequisites are therefore required.

In AulaWeb 2025, students, especially beginners, will be provided with appropriate tools to further facilitate the acquisition of basic knowledge and skills useful for tackling the course content more easily, as well as the opportunity to practise independently (interactive exercises with solutions).

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures and seminar-style activities with active student participation, aimed at developing the skills indicated in the learning outcomes. Practical exercises are provided to facilitate the application of acquired knowledge.

Attendance is not compulsory but strongly recommended. Students who attend (> 70%) will have the opportunity to take a ‘simplified’ exam.

Students with certification of disability, specific learning disorders (DSA), or special educational needs should contact, at the beginning of the course, both the instructor and the Department’s disability liaison, Prof.ssa Elena Lagomarsino (elena.lagomarsino@unige.it) to agree on teaching and examination arrangements that, while respecting the objectives of the teaching unit, take into account individual learning needs and allow the use of compensatory tools if necessary.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Language exercises (80 hours, first semester):

• Communicative functions: Asking for and giving your name. Asking for personal details. Greeting people. Spelling your name. Thanking people. Introducing yourself and others; responding to introductions and interacting. Welcoming people. Talking about someone's character. Asking for and giving opinions. Giving personal information. Talking about tastes and preferences. Indicating the purpose of an action. Asking and answering questions about the time; indicating the time when an action takes place. Asking for information about a location. Responding with different levels of enthusiasm to opinions. Asking for prices. Giving directions. Expressing agreement and obligation. Organising a speech. Giving directions; asking for directions. Describe objects. Express agreement, satisfaction, certainty, approximate quantity and ignorance. Answer the phone; ask for someone. Express confidence. Apologise. Agree and make an appointment. Make comparisons. Express probability and obligation. Give suggestions. Express surprise. Offer to do something. Organise the information in a story. Express lightness and optimism. Ask about events and give explanations about what has happened. Respond firmly and give clarifications. Introduce known events. Express agreement, disagreement and the importance of something. Respond negatively in a precise manner. Give orders; invite someone to do something; express the importance of something; give explanations. Give a value judgement; give warnings and references. Express desires; rephrase and give advice. Express personal skills and abilities, resignation, hope and empathy. Give examples; offer to listen. Continue stories; deny; follow a conversation with interest. Express consequences. Highlight certain elements. Make references to what is said and not said. Show scepticism. Introduce a new topic. Avoid commitments.
• Grammar: Alphabet. Interrogative pronouns. Verb ‘llamarse’. Present indicative of ‘ser’. Numbers from 1 to 100. Regular present indicative of the three conjugations. Verb ‘querer’ and the first diphthong. Possessive pronouns. Gender and number of nouns and adjectives. Definite and indefinite articles. Present indicative of the verbs ‘estar, tener, salir’. Verbs ‘gustar, interesar’. Ordinal numbers. Spatial indicators. Contrast of usage to express existence. Verb ‘poder’ and the second diphthong. Numbers from 100 to 10,000. Demonstratives. Adverbs of place. Irregular verbs in the present indicative. Use of prepositions. Use of ‘tener que + inf.’. Numbers from 10,000 to 100,000. ‘Estar + ger.’, ‘ir a + inf.’ and ‘acabar de + inf.’. Pronominal verbs. Reflexive verbs. Indefinite pronouns and adjectives. ‘Volver a + inf.’. Comparative structures. ‘Hay que + infinitive’ and ‘cuánto + verb’. Present perfect and time markers. Use of ‘ya, todavía’. The verb ‘conocer’. Object pronouns. Past tense and time markers. Indirect object pronouns. Use of double pronouns. The verb ‘soler’. Contrast between past tenses. Verbal periphrases. Affirmative and negative imperative. Simple future. Adverbs. Simple conditional. Past perfect. Present subjunctive, regular and irregular verbs. Expressions of subjective and emotional impersonality. Expressions with ‘ojalá’. Verbs of opinion. Final subordinate clauses. Temporal subordinate clauses. Verbs of influence, doubt and desire. Indirect style.
• Vocabulary: Personal and professional details. Places in a company. Professions and jobs. Nationalities and countries. Professional and personal characteristics. Parts of the day and days of the week. Office equipment and furniture. Means of transport. In the factory. Colours and sizes. Food. Holidays. Telephone conversations. Requesting material. Daily schedules. Adjectives to describe objects, geometric shapes and measurements. City vocabulary. Setting up new companies. Export and import. Products and services. CVs and job interviews. Detailed job descriptions. Assessment of candidate requirements. Patents and inventions. Trade fairs and exhibitions. Stress at work. Health and safety at work. Redundancies. Smart working. Expatriation. Procedures for working abroad. Management styles. Work environments. The digital world and social networks.

Theoretical module (48 hours, second semester):

• Companies: Criteria for classifying companies. Technology companies. Taxes and taxation. The business world. Start-ups and new technologies. Document processing. Observing and describing company charts.
• Employment relationships: The organisational chart. Social agents. The role of business associations and trade unions. Areas of a company. Types of dismissal. Conciliation. Women in the workplace. Jobs and job functions. Balancing personal and professional life. Office supplies. Writing reports.
• International affairs: Acronyms and abbreviations. European and international economic bodies and organisations. The EU. Mercosur. World powers: G8 and G20. Free trade and trade agreements. International protocols. Trade and economic agreements. The functioning of some European institutions. Economic and commercial aspects of some countries: strengths and weaknesses.
• Human resources: Job hunting. CVs. Job interviews. Job advertisements. The working day. Candidate requirements. Candidate selection. Job offers. Entrepreneurship. Types of employment contract.
• Business communication: Corporate image. Written communication. Letters, notices and other written requests. Oral communication. Non-verbal language. Social networks. The importance of communication in business. Business communication techniques. NLP.
• Trade: Forms of trade. Globalisation. Payment methods. Import and export. Types of customers. Customer care. The market. Buying and selling. Home services. Complaints. The law of supply and demand. Market research.
• Marketing and advertising: Business marketing techniques and resources. Marketing mix. Marketing strategies. Market analysis. Sales strategies. Advertising analysis. Advertising icons.
• Banking and the stock market: Banking institutions. Banking operations. Financial products. Investing in banks. Stock market indices. Stock market movements. Stock market jargon. Data analysis.
• Culture: Telepizza. Spanish companies around the world. Gender equality. Business greetings and introductions. Business: rules and protocols. Immigration. El Rastro. Brand Spain. Viral marketing. The Spanish mint.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The programme does not vary for non-attending students.

All students are requested to bring the complete bibliography to class from the first day.

Language exercises (80 hours, first semester):

• de Prada, M. and Marcé, P.: Entorno laboral, nivel A1/B1. Edelsa. 2022 edition.
• Material published on AulaWeb 2025.

Theoretical module (48 hours, second semester):

• José Jimeno, M., Palacios, E. and Centellas, A.: Profesionales de los negocios B1/B2. enCLAVE-ELE.
• Material published on AulaWeb 2025.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The course is annual and divided as follows:

• First semester - language exercises (80 hours): beginning in September 2025, as per the academic calendar.
• Second semester - theory module (48 hours): beginning in February 2026, as per the academic calendar.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Language exercises: computerised written test. Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes. Students who attend (> 70%) will be able to take a ‘simplified’ exam.
Theoretical module: oral interview. Duration: 10-15 minutes. Students who attend (> 70%) will be able to take a ‘simplified’ exam.
The two tests can be taken in different exam sessions. There will be 4 written exams (language exercises) and 7 oral exams (theory module). The final grade is the average of the two parts (50% language exercises + 50% theory module).
Students with DELE B1 or B2 certification not obtained before January 2024 must contact the course lecturer to request validation of the written part of the language course. The oral part of the theory module must still be taken in the regular exam sessions as per the university calendar.
Students with a disability certificate, SLD or special educational needs must contact both the course lecturer and the Department's disability officer at the beginning of the course to agree on teaching and examination methods which, in accordance with the course objectives, take into account individual learning methods and allow the use of any compensatory tools.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Language exercises: assessment of sector-specific language skills (T1 and T2: completion of two gap-filling texts focusing on terminology and grammar; criterion: accuracy and appropriateness of terminology and grammar); written production (T3: writing a socio-economic text of approximately 150 words; criterion: clarity, coherence and appropriate use of terminology). Students who attend (>70%) will be exempt from T3. Duration: 1 hour (attending students) - 1 hour and 30 minutes (non-attending students).

Theoretical module: presentation of a project (choose a Spanish company and prepare a socio-economic report taking into account all the theoretical elements analysed during the course; criterion: completeness, relevance and analytical skills). Non-attending students (<70%) will also have to take an oral exam (mainly theoretical) on socio-economic and cultural topics (criterion: argumentation skills and mastery of content).

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information not included in the teaching unit description, please contact the lecturer.