SUMMER 2013
Business, International Relations
and Spanish Language Program
CONTENT COURSES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS (3 U.S. Credits)
DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
This upper-division comprehensive course explores international strategic management topics. Its
thorough coverage helps students develop an understanding of the wide range of theories and research
available in the field of international business, from competitive strategy and industry analysis to
environmental trends and ethics. The course provides an essential understanding of global economics and
its impact on business activities in any location. Special attention is centered on the analysis of European
and US firms through case study analysis.
Topics covered in this study include industry analysis, strategy formulation, strategy implementation,
evaluation and control, using concepts and theories related to the process of internationalization of firms.
Two additional topics, international supply chain management and entrepreneurship are covered.
TOPICS
The program includes the following sections:
Section I. Basic Concepts in International Business.
Globalization
Reasons for and Stages of International Expansion
Entry modes: Exports, Licensing, Franchising, International alliances, and Foreign Direct
Investment
Section II. Environmental Scanning and Strategy Formulation.
European and US firms
International, Global, Multi-domestic, and Transnational Strategies.
Product Positioning Strategy: The International Marketing Function
Section III. Strategy Implementation and Assessment.
Cross Cultural Considerations: Models of National Culture and Institutions
Ethical Considerations in International Business
International Entrepreneurship and the Role of SMEs
Section IV. International Trade and Supply Chain Management
Outsourcing and Offshoring Business Functions
Shipping and Trade Issues: Tariffs, Duties, INCOTERMS.
Section IV. Fundamentals of International Financial Management.
Risk Exposure
Foreign Exchange Rates and Risk
Financing International Business projects. ExIm Bank and other instruments.
METHODOLOGY
The course will consist of lectures and discussion of US and European cases studies. Field trips to local
companies are also planned.
ASSESSMENT
Discussions, homework, presentations, participation:
First Mid Term Exam Case
Second Case
Final Exam Case Analysis
30%
20%
20%
30%
REFERENCES
Hill, Charles W.L , 2009. Global Business Today. New York: McGraw-Hill
Wheelen, Thomas L. and J. David Hunger, 2008. Strategic Management and Business Policy, New York:
Prentice Hall.
NOTE: Class attendance is essential in all courses and will be verified daily. Missing classes will
negatively affect the student’s final grade. Language of instruction: English.
SPAIN’S SOCIETY AND ECONOMY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (3
U.S. Credits)
DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
This course offers an introduction to Spanish society and economy. We will begin by analyzing
several specific aspects about Spain’s population and political situation during the last decades.
Subsequently, different issues in Spanish current economy will be discussed. Spain has
undergone since 1975 important changes: the restoration of the monarchy, and the establishment
of a democratic political system, as well as the integration in the European Union. All these
historical events have played a crucial role in bringing Spain’s economy into one of the ten
main world economies. These features of life, history, politics, and economy will be analyzed
during the course, both in the classes and the tours.
TOPICS
1.
1.1
1.2
1.3
SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY
The significance of Spain´s geographical position
Spain: a multicultural country
Immigration as a new phenomenon
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
CURRENT POLITICAL SITUATION
The Transition: from a dictatorship to a democracy
Spanish “autonomous communities”: a federal state?
Constitutional monarchy
The “state of wellbeing” (el estado del bienestar): housing, medical care and education
Spain in the European Union
3.
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Spanish economic “boom”
Energy resources: Spain´s economic dependence
Tourism as an essential income source
The problem of unemployment
4. SPANISH ECONOMY WITHIN THE EU FRAMEWORK
4.1 European Economic and Monetary Union: the Euro
4.2 UE policies and their influence on Spain
Assessment:
The final grade will be calculated according to the following percentages:
-2 short essays and daily homework: 25%
-Logbook: 25%
-Participation: 10%
-Final in-class paper: 40%
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CARR, RAYMOND (1989): España de la dictadura a la democracia. Barcelona: Planeta.
CARR, RAYMOND (2001): Modern Spain: 1875-1980, UK, Oxford U Press
PRESTON, PAUL (1994): Franco. Barcelona: Grijalbo.
PRESTON, PAUL (1994): The Spanish Civil War, UK, Widenfeld & Nicholson
GARCÍA DE CORTÁZAR, FERNANDO (2002): Historia de España: de Atapuerca al euro.
Barcelona: Planeta
FUSI, J. P. (1989): España: Autonomías. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe.
PEREZ, JOSEPH (1999): Historia de España. Barcelona: Crítica.
VALDEÓN, JULIO; PÉREZ, JOSEPH; JULIÁ, SANTOS (2003): Historia de España. Madrid:
Austral.
DOMÍNGUEZ ORTIZ, A. (2000): España. Tres milenios de historia. Madrid: Marcial Pons.
JULIÁ, SANTOS (2004): Historia de las dos Españas. Madrid: Taurus.
THOMAS, HUGH (2003): El imperio español. Madrid: Planeta.
VILÁ VALENTÍ, J. (1968): La península Ibérica. Barcelona: Ariel.
TREMLETT, GILES (2007): Ghosts of Spain: Travels through a Country´s Hidden Past, UK,
Faber & Faber
HOOPER, JOHN (2006): The New Spaniards, UK, Penguin
NOTE:
- Class attendance is essential in all courses. Therefore, it will be checked daily. Missing
classes will negatively affect the student’s final grade.
- Language of instruction: English
BUSINESS SPANISH AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (3 U.S.
Credits)
DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
The objective of the course is to improve communication skills in the business area in Spanish.
It is directed to students and professionals who have achieved an advanced level and need to
expand their knowledge of Spanish in the area of commerce and management. The course will
consolidate and enrich the knowledge that students have of the Spanish language, enabling them
to use it actively in the area of the Spanish professional world and the field of Spanish business.
TOPICS:
Unit 1: The company: definition, classification and organization
-Spanish definition of a company
-The structure of a company
-Job positions and their functions
-International business etiquette
Unit 2: Starting a job
-Job offers
-The Resume
-The application letter
Unit 3: Human Resources
-The History of Unions
-Organization of Human Resources
-The process of staff selection
-Administration of Human Resources
Unit 4: Finances
-The meaning of money
-Investments and financing
-Banks
-Spanish financing system
Unit 5: The company’s activities (I): consumers, products, prices and sales personnel
-Business activity and the market
-Consumers
-Products: types, brand-names, and prices
-Spanish commercial habits
Unit 6: The company’s activities (II): communication and distribution
-Business communication
-Marketing and advertising
-Sales
-Distribution
METHODOLOGY
The course is practice-oriented and it is intended to provide students with the necessary skills to
get by in their own professional areas in the Spanish speaking world. Its objective is to provide
a learning and communication tool to carry out professional tasks, taking the area of the Spanish
professional world and Spanish companies as a starting point. Classes will be essentially
communicative, seeking the students’ active participation in class. All four basic skills will be
worked on in class.
ASSESSMENT
The evaluation of the course is based on attendance and participation in class, several oral
presentations and compositions, a field project to be developed during the course, and a final
exam, as specified below:
•Attendance and participation: 10%
•Presentation of final project: 10%
•Three one-page compositions: 20%
•Field project: 20%
•One midterm exam: 15%
•Final exam: 25%
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Martínez, L. & M. L. Sabater. Socios 2: Libro del alumno. Barcelona, Difusión. 2000.
-de Prada, M. & M. Bovet. Hablando de negocios. Madrid, Edelsa. 1998.
-Pareja, M. J. Temas de empresa. Madrid, Edinumen. 2005
-Prost, G. y A. Noriega Fernández. Al dí@. Madrid, SGEL. 2003.
-Escribir cartas. Barcelona, Difusión. 1998.
-1000 palabras de negocios. Barcelona, Difusión. 1994.
-Magazines and newspapers.
NOTES:
- Class attendance is essential in all courses. Therefore, it will be checked daily. Missing
classes will negatively affect the student’s final grade.
- Language of instruction: Spanish. The student must have completed two semesters of
college Spanish.
SUMMER 2013
Business, International Relations
and Spanish Language Program
LANGUAGE COURSES
SPANISH I (100-150) – 3 US Credits
DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
The course is aimed at students with some very basic knowledge of Spanish at the elementary
level or no prior knowledge of Spanish. The main goal of the course is to provide students with
the appropriate atmosphere for them to acquire and develop basic communicative skills. This
will be achieved through practice involving the four language skills: listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. The speaking skill will be emphasized by means of daily sessions devoted
to oral Spanish, where students will participate in activities such as roleplays, interviews, etc.
All functional and grammar contents will be approached from a communicative perspective
which will assume and value active participation of the students in the class at all times.
SYLLABUS
Main functional contents:
-Giving and asking for personal information
-Greetings
-Expressing intention and interests
-Explaining why we do something
-Describing places
-Identifying objects
-Expressing needs and likes
-Expressing frequency and talking about habits
-Asking for and giving general information
-Talking about past experiences
Main grammar points:
-Gender and number
-The three conjugation types (-ar,-er,-ir)
-Present indicative tense: regular and irregular forms
-Definite and indefinite article
-Indefinite and demonstrative adjectives
-Question words (qué, dónde…)
-Tener que + infinitive
-Some uses of hay/estar/ser
-Present perfect
-Some uses of a/con/de/por/para
-Subject pronouns
-Superlative adjectives
The oral component of the language will be worked on in specific sessions held daily on the
third hour of instruction.
Classes will be implemented with regular visits to the multimedia laboratory, where students
will have the chance to improve their pronunciation by means of the state-of-the-art software
available to them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Classes will be based on a textbook and/or exercises and activities created by the instructor and
taken from different sources like the following:
-Álvarez Martínez, Sueña 1: Nivel Inicial, Universidad de Alcalá, Anaya, 2001.
-Castro, Francisca: Uso de la gramática española: Nivel Intermedio, Edelsa, Madrid, 2000.
-Cerrolaza, M., Cerrolaza, O. y B. Llovet, Planet@ 1: Libro del alumno y Libro de referencia
gramatical. Madrid, Edelsa, 1999.
-Domínguez et al.: Actividades comunicativas, Edelsa, Madrid, 1995.
-Knorre, et al.: Puntos de Partida, 5ª ed., McGraw-Hill (textbook & workbook)
ASSESSMENT
The final grade will be calculated according to the following grade breakdown:
Participation: 10%
Homework: 20%
Compositions: 15%
Tests: 20 %
Oral section: 15 %
Final exam: 20%
™ Notes:
- Before the beginning of instruction, students will need to take a placement test in order to
determine their Spanish level.
- Since class attendance is essential for the acquisition of the four skills, student attendance will
be checked daily. Missing classes will negatively affect the student’s final grade.
- The grading system, as well as the assessment standards, will be the same as those used in the
U.S.A.
SPANISH II (200-201) – 3 US Credits
DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
The main goal of the course is to provide students with the appropriate atmosphere for them to
develop their communicative competence from a high-elementary level towards an intermediate
one. This will be achieved through practice involving the four language skills: listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. The speaking skill will be emphasized by means daily sessions
devoted to oral Spanish, where students will participate in activities such as roleplays. All
functional and grammar contents will be approached from a communicative perspective which
will assume and value active participation of the students in the class at all times.
SYLLABUS
Main functional contents:
-Giving personal information
-Talking about intentions and habits
-Expressing likes and preferences
-Expressing coincidence
-Interacting in presentations, greetings…
-Narrating and relating past events
-Expressing the wish to do something
-Talking about experiences and giving an opinion
-Giving advice
-Talking about moods
Main grammar:
-Reflexive verbs
-Tener que / Hay que / Lo mejor es / Pensar / Empezar a + infinitivo
-Estar + gerund
-Uses of tú and usted
-Ir a + infinitive
-Ya / Todavía no
-Impersonal SE
-Direct object pronouns
-Form and some uses of Indefinite Preterite
-Present perfect vs. Indefinite Preterite
-Uses of ser and estar
-Command forms: tú
The oral component of the language will be worked on in specific sessions held daily on the
third hour of instruction.
Classes will be implemented with regular visits to the multimedia laboratory, where students
will have the chance to improve their pronunciation by means of the state-of-the-art software
available to them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Classes will be based on a textbook and/or exercises and activities created by the instructor and
taken from different sources like the following:
- Arnal, C. Y A. Ruiz de Garibay, Escribe en español. Madrid, SGEL, 1996.
- Ascarrunz Gilman, G. y C. Benito-Vessels, Horizontes: Cultura y Literatura. Boston, Heinle
& Heinle, 1997.
- Baralo, M., Gibert, B. Y B. Moreno de los Ríos, Preparación Certificado Inicial Español
Lengua Extranjera, Madrid, Edelsa, 1994.
- Blanco Canales, A. (ed.): Sueña 2: Nivel Intermedio, Universidad de Alcalá, Anaya, 2001.
- Bretz, M.L., Dvorak, T. y C. Kirschner, Pasajes: Lengua. Boston, McGraw Hill, 1997.
- Bretz, M.L., Dvorak, T. y C. Kirschner, Pasajes: Cultura. Boston, McGraw Hill, 1997.
- Castro, F. Uso de la gramática española. Nivel Intermedio. Madrid, Edelsa, 2000.
- Cerrolaza, M., Cerrolaza, O. y B. Llovet, Planet@ 2: Libro del alumno y Libro de referencia
gramatical. Madrid, Edelsa, 1999.
- Pinilla, Raquel y Rosanna Acquaroni, ¡Bien dicho! Ejercicios de expresión oral. Madrid,
SGEL, 2000.
- Rodríguez Rodríguez, María, Escucha y aprende. Ejercicios de comprensión auditiva. Madrid,
SGEL, 2003.
- Sánchez, A., Mª T. Espinet y P. Cantos: Cumbre. Nivel Intermedio. Madrid, SGEL,1996.
ASSESSMENT
The final grade will be calculated according to the following grade breakdown:
Participation: 10%
Homework: 20%
Compositions: 15%
Tests: 20 %
Oral component: 15 %
Final exam: 20%
™ Notes:
- Before the beginning of instruction, students will need to take a placement test in order to
determine their Spanish level.
- Since class attendance is essential for the acquisition of the four skills, student attendance will
be checked daily. Missing classes will negatively affect the student’s final grade.
- The grading system, as well as the assessment standards, will be the same as those used in the
U.S.A.
SPANISH III (300-301) – 3 US Credits
DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
The main goal of the course is to provide students with the appropriate atmosphere for them to
develop their communicative competence from an intermediate level towards a highintermediate one. This will be achieved through practice involving the four language skills:
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The course will focus on specific grammar aspects that
will be approached from a communicative perspective. This perspective will assume and value
active participation of the students in the class at all times.
SYLLABUS
Main functional contents:
-Narrating past experiences
-Expressing prohibition, obligation, impersonality, wish, complaint and need
-Talking about habits, customs and circumstances in the past
-Debating and providing reasons: opinions and disagreement
-Recommending, advising and giving instructions
-Giving and asking for permission, advice
-Providing justification and showing gratefulness
-Talking about future actions and situations
-Expressing condition
-Formulating hypotheses
-Reporting commands, requests and advice, and past speech (me dijiste que…)
-Making hypotheses and conjectures
Main grammar points:
-Verb periphrases with infinitive and gerund forms
-Soler / es normal / habitual / frecuente / raro + infinitive
-Uses of imperfect tense
-Indefinite Preterite vs. Imperfect Preterite
-Conditional sentences
-Relative clauses: indicative / subjunctive, prepositions.
-Some uses and forms of the future tense and future perfect
-Seguramente / probablemente / posiblemente / seguro que / supongo que + futuro
-Time clauses
-Indicative and subjunctive structures to express different degrees of certainty
-Reported speech with a past main verb form
-Forms and uses of imperfect subjunctive
The oral component of the language will be worked on in specific sessions held daily on the
third hour of instruction.
Classes will be implemented with regular visits to the multimedia laboratory, where students
will have the chance to improve their pronunciation by means of the state-of-the-art software
available to them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Classes will be based on a textbook and/or exercises and activities created by the instructor and
taken from different sources like the following:
-Abanico, Barcelona: Difusión, 1995.
-Gente 3, Barcelona: Difusión, 2005.
-Planeta 3, Madrid: Edelsa, 2002.
-Prisma. Avanza, Madrid: Edinumen, 2004
-Sueña 3, Madrid: Anaya, 2001.
ASSESSMENT
The final grade of those students interested in getting credit for the units completed in the
course, will be calculated according to the following grade breakdown:
Participation: 10%
Homework: 20%
Compositions: 15%
Tests: 20 %
Oral component: 15 %
Final exam: 20%
™ Notes:
- Before the beginning of instruction, students will need to take a placement test in order to
determine their Spanish level.
- Since class attendance is essential for the acquisition of the four skills, student attendance will
be checked daily. Missing classes will negatively affect the student’s final grade.
- The grading system, as well as the assessment standards, will be the same as those used in the
U.S.A.
SPANISH IV (350) - 3 US Cr.
DESCRIPTION AND AIMS
The main goal of the course is to provide students with the appropriate atmosphere for them to
develop their communicative competence from an advanced level towards a high advanced one.
This will be achieved through practice involving the four language skills (listening, speaking,
reading, and writing) and through the focus on specific grammar aspects in an advanced context.
The course will specifically address subordinate clauses and conjunctions, both of which will
ultimately help students speak a fluent and coherent Spanish.
SYLLABUS
Main functional contents:
-Expressing wish, hope and feelings
-Reporting information
-Reacting showing feelings
-Rejecting what someone else said
-Expressing veracity: la verdad / de verdad / francamente
-Starting a conversation
Main grammar points:
-Forms and uses of Present and Imperfect Subjunctive
-Time clauses – indicative/subjunctive
-Use of subjunctive in noun clauses
-Forms and uses of Present Perfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive
-Relative clauses – indicative/subjunctive
-“Aunque” clauses
-Conditional clauses
-Sea lo que sea, fuera lo que fuera…
-Reported speech
The oral component of the language will be worked on in specific sessions held daily on the
third hour of instruction.
Classes will be implemented with regular visits to the multimedia laboratory, where students
will have the chance to improve their pronunciation by means of the state-of-the-art software
available to them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Classes will be based on a textbook and/or exercises and activities created by the instructor and
taken from different sources like the following:
BOROBIO, V., ELE. Curso de español para extranjeros, Madrid, S.M., 1994.
CASTRO, F y MARÍN, F., Ven. Español Lengua Extranjera, Madrid, Edelsa, 1994
CASTRO, Francisca, Uso de la gramática española, Madrid, Edelsa, 1997.
CHAMORRO, M.D., Abanico, Barcelona, Difusión, 1995.
FERREIRO, P. y ZAYAS-BAZÁN, E., Cómo dominar la redacción, Madrid, Playor, 1991.
GONZÁLEZ, A y ROMERO, C., Curso de puesta a punto en español. Escribe, habla, entienda
… argumente, Madrid, Edelsa, 1998.
LEÓN, Eugenia, Dar que hablar. Propuestas de conversación para ejercicios de lenguaje,
Málaga, Universidad de Málaga, 2000.
MARTÍN PERIS, M. y SANS, L., Gente. Curso de Español para Extranjeros, Barcelona,
Difusión, 1997.
MIQUEL, L. y SANS, N., Como suena I – II, Madrid, Difusión, 1992.
RODRÍGUEZ JIMÉNEZ, V., Manual de redacción, Madrid, Paraninfo, 1990.
VV.AA., Planeta 4. Libro del alumno y Libro de referencia gramatical: fichas y ejercicios,
Madrid, Edelsa, 2000.
VV.AA., Preparación Diploma Básico Lengua Extranjera, D.B.E., Madrid ,Edelsa, 1995
ASSESSMENT
The final grade of those students interested in getting credit for the units completed in the
course, will be calculated according to the following grade breakdown:
Participation: 10%
Homework: 20%
Compositions: 15%
Tests: 20 %
Oral component: 15 %
Final exam: 20%
™ Notes:
- Before the beginning of instruction, students will need to take a placement test in order to
determine their Spanish level.
- Since class attendance is essential for the acquisition of the four skills, student attendance will
be checked daily. Missing classes will negatively affect the student’s final grade.
- The grading system, as well as the assessment standards, will be the same as those used in the
U.S.A.