Business Communication II (WIKO II)

Course Description and Teaching Goals

This course aims to further develop students' knowledge of Business Italian, building on what was taught in Business Communication I. Students will learn more linguistic skills for both written and spoken communcation in the Italian world of work. The operational communication in a firm is conveyed alongside necessary knowledge about Italy as a country, as well as its culture. 

Another objective is the profound understanding of advanced texts dealing with the current economic situation in Italy. Furthermore students will expand their lexical and grammatical knowledge (e.g. passato remoto, congiuntivi, periodo ipotetico, forma passiva), as well as work on improving their spoken expression.

Aim

Language level B1+/B2 according to GERS/CEFR (specialised language/business)

Contents

  • Italian institutions
  • Italy in the EU
  • North-South differences
  • Econmic geographical division of Italy into three zones
  • Economic sectors and the Italian industrial regions
  • Italian companies and firms
  • Stock market and the Italian financial system
  • Italian banking system
  • Italian system of taxation
  • Sales agreements in Italy
  • Articles of partnership
  • Marketing-language in Italy

Grammar

  • Passato remoto regolare
  • Passato prossimo e imperfetto (forme irregolari)
  • Prepositions
  • Transitive and intransitive verbs
  • Reflexive verbs: comparison Italian and German
  • Conjunctive (all tenses)
  • Conditional I and II
  • If-clauses: Real, possible, impossible 
  • Passive
  • Nominalisation

Methods

The method is largely communicative: group work, dialogues, presentations of industrial regions and Italian companies, as well as group discussions, are integrated into the course work. These all deal with topics and issues integral to the Italian economic and political landscape. To further develop students' knowledge of Italian business language, authentic material, such as news articles, or videos including interviews with Italian entrepreneurs and economic experts, will be made available and used throughout the semester.  

Literature

  • Will be introduced in the first session
  • Falcone, Zogopoulou: Perfetto 2 (B1-B2) (Ornimi editions)
  • Additional material will be made available during the lectures
  • To practice or re-activate grammatical knowledge the following material may be useful:
    • Vial & Colella (2014) Großes Übungsbuch Neu: Großes Übungsbuch Italienisch Neu: Grammatik / Buch: Grammatik / Buch. Niveau A2-B2. Hueber: München.
    • Fraggi, Fratter, Jafrancesco (2022) Obiettivo grammatica 2. Ornimi: Atene.
    • News: articles and videos on Adesso-online.de, ilsole24ore.it, ilfattoquotidiano.it, affariitaliani.it, ilpost.it, panorama.it, istat.it, focus.it., quifinanza.it, corriere.it, repubblica.it, raiplay.it, radiocapital.it, radio24.it.