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Pääsivu › Kurssit / Courses / Kurser › DP for Multilingual Management Assistants › Business and Society in Latin America

Business and Society in Latin America

(Economía y sociedad latinoamericanas)

  • Code: SPA4LE055
  • Extent: 4 ECTS (108 h)
  • Timing: 7th Semester
  • Language: Spanish
  • Competence level: B2
  • Level: professional studies
  • Type: elective*

*required of students who have chosen compulsory Spanish

Prerequisites

Spanish Business Communication (SPA4LE010) and Spanish Business Documents (SPA4LE046)

Learning outcomes

The course objective is to understand the special characteristics of Latin America: differences in geography, history, and social and economic life.
Upon successful completion of the course, the student

  • becomes familiar with the distinctive features of Latin America: geographical differences, history, as well as economy, society and government
  • acquires the skills to prepare presentations on the basis of information gathered from various oral and written sources
  • can comprehend difficult Spanish texts, communicate their ideas fluently, as well as write summaries of newspaper articles in Spanish.

Course contents

The course is divided to two parts:
Latin America's history, society and current affairs
Spanish Newspaper Texts: distinctive features and style of Spanish newspapers and preparations of reviews and summaries relating to these.

During the course the student seeks information through various media regarding the relations between Finland, Spain and Latin America.

The contents of the course are:

  • history, society, economy and current situation of Latin America
  • free Trade Agreements with Latin America: NAFTA, MERCOSUR, etc.
  • the specific characteristics of the Hispanic press: style, features and journalistic criticism.

Teaching and learning methods

The course consists of contact hours and exercises, totaling 108 hours of study time.

Latin America: this part covers 54 h, including class and independent study, and spans the length of one period.
Contact hours 24 h (3 h / week)
Written exam 2 h.
Oral presentation
Self-study, exercises and preparation for exam 27,5 h

Spanish Newspaper Texts: this part covers 54 h, including class and independent study. This part spans the length of one period.
Contact hours 24 h (3 h / week)
Written examination 2 h 
Self-study, exercises and preparation for examination 27,5 h

Self-assessment of learning 1 h

Class exercises must be completed before the examinations.

Recognition of prior learning (RPL)

A student can demonstrate his or her equivalent language skills relating to the course objectives and content. This must be agreed upon with the teacher no later than two weeks before the course begins. Each student may attempt this only once in the period prior to the giving of the course. Evaluation is on a scale of 1-5.

Contact teacher

Pedro Beltrán Herrera, Pasila

Learning materials

Vásquez, Germán & Marínez Díaz, Nelson 2009. Historia de América Latina. SGEL, Madrid.
Masoliver, Joaquín & Vidales, Carlos 2009. América Latina. Samfundslitteratur. Gylling.
Ángeles Albert, Maria & Ardanaz, Francisco 2009. Hispanoamérica, ayer y hoy: historia y arte, demografía,

Assessment criteria/scale 5-1.

5 excellent 3 good 1 satisfactory

The student:

  • understands challenging
    economic news in his/her
    field and is able to summarize its main contents successfully.
  • is able to apply during the
    course acquired skills in practice on a high level.
  • is able to use sources of information
    in a versatile and critical
    way to support his/her work
    and shows excellent cultural
    knowledge when using sources.
  • adapts cultural to content
    well and is able to share
    his/her professional knowledge
    and skills with others.

The student:

  • understands economic news
    in his/her field and is able
    to summarize its main contents logically.
  • knows vocabulary concerning
    enterprises and economic situations well.
  • is able to apply during the
    course acquired skills in practice well.
  • is able to use sources of information independently
    to support his/her work
    and shows cultural knowledge when using sources.
  • adapts to cultural content fairly
    well and is able to share his/her
    professional knowledge and skills with others.

The student:

  • understands economic news of
    his/her field and is able to
    name their main points. His/her
    use of the vocabulary concerning
    enterprises and economic situations is limited.
  • is able to apply during the
    course acquired skills in
    practice only adequately.
  • is able to use sources of
    information to support
    his/her work and shows
    some cultural knowledge when using sources.
  • is able to share his/her professional knowledge and
    skills with others in a limited manner.

 

Written exams 70 %

Written and oral exercises 30 %

The self-assessment of learning assignment does not impact your grade. The
assignment is the same for all courses/modules and your answers will be used
also for course/module development. The assignment is completed online in
WinhaOpaali.

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