UNIcert III/2 Englisch der Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Einzelansicht

English for Economics and Business Studies UNIcert® III/2

(certificate course)


NOTE: This course will be held fully online until further notice at its scheduled times starting the week of Oct. 25. You will receive access information on the evening before the course begins via e-mail from your teacher if you have been admitted to it.

Dieser Kurs wird bis auf Weiteres komplett online durchgeführt. Genaue Zugriffsinformationen erhalten Sie am Abend, bevor der Kurs beginnt, von Ihrer Lehrkraft per E-Mail, falls Sie bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt zugelassen worden sind.

This course requires the successful completion of any UNIcert® III/1 English course at the University of Potsdam in order to enroll OR a score of 80% or higher on the placement test.  Any student who has successfully completed a UNIcert® III/1 in an area other than Economics and Business Studies at the University of Potsdam is invited to register for this course, BUT is also advised to speak to the course instructor prior to enrollment.

Please be aware that a score of 90 – 100% on the placement test ALSO qualifies a student to take UNIcert® IV/1 English for Economics, Business Studies, and Social Sciences.

This is the second part of the UNIcert® III English for Economics and Business Studies certificate course which introduces students to the business case study analysis process, and uses this context to strengthen reading comprehension and text analysis, as well as develop analytical and critical thinking abilities, problem solving, reasoning skills, and rhetorical constructions in written and oral expression in positing solutions to business problems.

Working in a strict timeframe, each student will choose a case study to analyze based on their expressed area of interest and then develop a case analysis and present possible solutions to the business problem in an in-class presentation, giving evidence based on the text and independent research and discovery why their proposed solution is the optimal of possible alternatives.  

Each student will also complete Independent study modules of their own creation using the selection of study materials available to expand their vocabulary, strengthen their grammar knowledge and practice, and increase their language comprehension skills.

Final Exams: Successful completion of the examinations at the end of this course leads to a UNIcert® III certificate in English language proficiency as well as 6 LP or ECTS points.

For the final oral exam, the student presents an analysis of a short case study under a strict timeframe and supervised testing conditions using the skills and procedures practiced in the semester course.  

The final written exams test the student’s reading comprehension skills, as well as their ability to apply the business case study process learned during the semester to write a business case study analysis.  There is also a timed listening comprehension test.  

The four test scores (reading comprehension, written expression, listening comprehension and oral expression) are averaged to determine the final grade for this course and the level of proficiency to be indicated on the UNIcert® III certificate.

Students may also opt to participate in the course and NOT receive a certificate at the completion of the course.

Testing Fee: There is a testing fee of 20 euros to take the UNIcert® IIII Certificate exams following the completion of the UNIcert® III/2 course.

Course practice material is compiled from but not limited to the following sources: 

• AMERICAN COLLEGE TESTING SERVICE PRACTICE TESTS by Steve Dulan. McGraw-Hill 2008. (Reading comprehension, sentence correction)
• ADVANCED GRAMMAR IN USE by Martin Hewings.  Cambridge
• CAMBRIDGE CERTIFICATE IN ADVANCED ENGLISH 
• THE CASE STUDY HANDBOOK, A STUDENT'S GUIDE by William Ellet.  Harvard Business Review Press, 2018
• ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE by Raymond Murphy.  Cambridge.
• National Public Radio podcasts (www.npr.org) (Listening comprehension)
• OXFORD GRAMMAR FOR EAP by Ken Paterson
• SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST practice exams