Information for Students
I. Objective
This subject aims to develop the advanced English language skills required by students to communicate
effectively for business project management in their future professional careers.
The subject is designed to build upon the language and communication skills covered in the previous DSR
English subject.
II. Learning outcomes
By the end of the subject, students should be able to communicate effectively in workplace contexts through:
- planning, organising and writing convincing business proposals
- proposing strategies, plans and projects effectively and persuasively in business presentations
- conducting business meetings effectively and participating actively in discussions and negotiations
- planning, organising and producing effective promotional literature
To achieve the above outcomes, students are expected to use language and text structure appropriate to the
context, select information critically, and provide support for stance and opinion.
III. Learning schedule
Weeks* Units & topics Contents
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
(10 Jan – 20 Feb 2022)
(1) Writing Business
Proposals
• Planning a business proposal
• Organising a business proposal
• The language of a business proposal
6
(21 – 27 Feb 2022)
Assessment 1:
Submitting a business project proposal
before Week-6 lesson starts
via Turnitin
6, 7
(21 Feb – 6 Mar 2022)
(2) Giving Business Proposal
Presentations
• Qualities of a successful presenter
• Purpose of a business proposal
presentation
• Contents of a business proposal
presentation
• Using visual aid to create impact and make
an impression
• Non-verbal communication
• Delivering online presentations
• Putting it all together
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© English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 2
*According to the University’s Academic Calendar for 2021-22
IV. Materials
In this subject, you use the coursebook Workplace English for Business Students II specially written for
students of the Faculty of Business by staff of the English Language Centre. The coursebook can be
downloaded on LEARN@PolyU. Make sure that you bring the relevant learning materials to every class.
The schedule in Section III is a guide to the materials you will need for the classes.
V. Subject completion requirement
To successfully complete the subject, you have to: - complete all assessments, as stated in Section VIII; and
- fulfil a minimum of 80% attendance, as stated in Section VI.
Failure to meet requirement 1 above will result in an overall fail of the subject, and you will have to re-take
the subject. Failure to meet requirement 2 will result in downgrading the overall subject grade, as stated in
Section VI.
If you have taken this subject previously (either in whole or in part), you must inform your teacher as early as
possible.
VI. Attendance and punctuality
You are required to attend at least 80% of the classes and to be punctual for all lessons. Failure to meet the
attendance and punctuality requirements normally incurs a deduction from the overall subject grade. This
8, 9
(7 – 20 Mar 2022)
(3) Conducting Business
Proposal Meetings
• Nature of a business proposal meeting
• Strategies for a business proposal meeting
• Participating in a business proposal
meeting
• The art of persuasion
• After a business proposal meeting
• Selling and defending your project ideas in
Assessment 3
9
(14 – 20 Mar 2022)
Assessment 2:
Submitting a presentation video of your business project proposal
before Week-9 lesson starts
via a PolyU OneDrive folder your teacher specifies
10
(21 – 27 Mar 2022)
Assessment 3:
Participating in a meeting to sell and defend your business project proposal
in Week-10 lesson
via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra / Zoom / Microsoft Teams
11, 12, 13
(28 Mar – 17 Apr 2022)
(4) Writing Promotional
Literature: Press Release
• Various types of promotional literature
• Contents of a press release
• Newsworthiness
• The language of a persuasive press release
• Steps in writing a press release
• Conventions of a press release
13
(11 – 17 Apr 2022)
Assessment 4:
Submitting a press release to promote your business project
within 24 hours after Week-13 lesson
via Turnitin
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© English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 3
deduction would be one sub-grade or more, depending on the degree of unsatisfactory attendance.
VII. Out-of-class work
In line with PolyU policy, you are expected to do 78 hours of out-of-class work for a three-credit subject.
This means that, in addition to the three hours of classroom learning, you are expected to do at least six
hours of homework in each of the 13 weeks of the subject. This homework can include classwork-related,
assessment-related, and extra language learning.
VIII. Assessments
This subject builds upon the language and communication skills developed in the subject ELC3221 Workplace
English for Business Students I, which you previously studied. The expectations of students’ performance in
the assessments in this second workplace English subject are therefore higher than those in the previous
subject.
There are four assessments that evaluate your achievement of the learning outcomes of this subject. You
are required to complete all four assessments in order to pass the subject. The following regulations apply
to this subject.
Late submission of out-of-class assessments - You must inform the teacher as early as possible if there are reasons for you to submit an out-of-class
assessment after the deadline. - Late submissions, although accepted within three calendar days after the deadline, are subject to the
following downgrading penalties:
• by one sub-grade if the assessment is submitted within 24 hours after the deadline
• by two sub-grades if the assessment is submitted within 48 hours after the deadline
• by three sub-grades if the assessment is submitted within 72 hours after the deadline - If you do not submit your assessment within 72 hours, then you will be considered to have not taken
the assessment and will fail the subject. - If you believe that you have a valid reason for a late submission, such as suffering from a serious illness,
you will not receive a penalty provided that sufficient documentary evidence is provided within seven
calendar days of the assessment submission deadline.
Absence from in-class assessments - You must inform the teacher as early as possible if there are circumstances causing you to be absent
from an in-class assessment. If the reason is judged to be acceptable, a make-up assessment will be
arranged within ten calendar days of the original assessment date. - If you are absent from an in-class assessment without informing the teacher in advance, you must
contact the teacher within 24 hours of the assessment with an explanation for the absence. You must
provide supporting documents (e.g. a doctor’s note) for the absence within three calendar days after the
Out-of-class work
(ii) Assessment-related
e.g. planning a project,
preparing for a meeting,
developing a press release
(iii) Extra language learning
e.g. language and
pronunciation improvement
through SAP, WAP, Workshops
and online resources
(i) Classwork-related
e.g. language exercises,
proposal writing tasks,
practice on presentation
skills
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© English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 4
assessment. Providing the explanation and supporting documents are judged acceptable, a make-up
assessment will be arranged within ten calendar days of the original assessment date. - No make-up assessment will be given if you are absentfrom an in-class assessment without an acceptable
reason and supporting documents. In such cases, you will be considered to have not taken the
assessment and will fail the subject.
Academic honesty and avoiding plagiarism
The University takes a very serious view against dishonesty and plagiarism in students’ work, including inclass and out-of-class assessments. Dishonesty and plagiarised work will lead to downgrading or other
disciplinary actions as described in the Student Handbook.
Assessmen t 1: Submitting a business project proposal (25%)
An out-of-class assessment
Learning outcome assessed: Outcome 1
Timing: Before Week-6 (21 – 27 Feb 2022) lesson starts
via Turnitin
This is a business simulation. The following notes are about your situation.
• You: A project manager in E&C Holdings Limited (E&C)
• Your teacher: The managing director of E&C
• E&C:
- An international business conglomerate (a multi-industry company)
- Established in Hong Kong in 1971
- Diverse businesses actively supported by people of high calibre in accounting, finance, logistics,
management, marketing and engineering - Staff truly committed to innovation and social responsibility
You wish to initiate a business project and are in the process of preparing a proposal for it. The project,
which has to be feasible, can be related to a product, a service or an event. The project does not necessarily
have to be income generating. Your task in this assessment is to write up a business project proposal to
persuade the managing director (your teacher) you work for and other project managers (your classmates)
that your project is well planned and worth implementing. The managing director expects that your
business project will meet the following three project requirements:
- Creative
- Socially responsible
- Within a budget of HK$100,000
Your proposal should contain the following sections (in the wording as below or equivalents):
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Client Requirements (or something like Rationale for the Project)
• Proposed Solution
• Personnel/Management of Project
• Schedule for Implementation
• Budget/Costs
You should follow the E&C house style. Your proposal should be within three A4 pages (excluding the title
page, table of contents, and appendices), single-line spaced and presented in Times New Roman (point 12)
throughout the whole document after the title page. If you would like to add some appendices to
your proposal, you should make sure that they are really necessary and they are referred to somewhere in
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© English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 5
the proposal sections. You should also demonstrate appropriate writing conventions (refer to the ELC3222
assessment rubrics).
Submit via Turnitin to your teacher the following two documents in a single Microsoft Word file:
(i) The business project proposal
(ii) The ‘Honour Declaration’ form (p.8 of this handout)
An originality report will be generated by Turnitin, an online system which helps you prevent plagiarism.
After you click ‘Confirm’ to upload your submission, Turnitin will generate a digital receipt. Please go to the
Turnitin Document Viewer and download this receipt, or save a screenshot of it, as proof of successful
submission in case of any technical issues later.
Assessment 2: Submitting a presentation video of your business project proposal (25%)
An out-of-class assessment
Learning outcome assessed: Outcome 2
Timing: Before Week-9 (14 – 20 Mar 2022) lesson starts
via a PolyU OneDrive folder your teacher specifies
Duration of the assessment: Within 5 minutes 10 seconds
You (project manager) are required to submit a presentation video (within 5 minutes) about your own
business project proposal. Your task in this assessment is to produce this video to introduce your project
persuasively to the managing director (your teacher) and justify why the company should implement it. This
video should show clearly your face, gestures, and the slides you use when presenting your project ideas.
To prepare for this Assessment 2 video submission, you should refer to this online document:
Student Guide – Video Submission of Speaking Assessments.docx
In Assessment 2, you need to upload the following two videos to a PolyU OneDrive folder your teacher
specifies:
(i) Video A – You show your face, say your full name (same as the one on your student ID card), and present
your student ID card (your photo facing the camera). Within 10 seconds.
(ii) Video B – Your proposal presentation video. Within 5 minutes.
All the project managers (you and your classmates) will be randomly paired up during Week-9 (14 – 20 Mar
2022) lesson as an arrangement for Assessment 3.
Assessment 3: Participating in a meeting to sell and defend your business project proposal (25%)
An in-class assessment
Learning outcome assessed: Outcome 3
Timing: Week-10 (21 – 27 Mar 2022) lesson
via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra / Zoom / Microsoft Teams
Duration of the assessment: Within 7 minutes for two project managers
Before coming to this assessment, you should have viewed the proposal presentation video submitted by
another project manager (your classmate) you are paired up with. This video is in a PolyU OneDrive folder
your teacher specifies. You should take notes and familiarise yourself with the two proposals (yours and
your partner’s) as preparation for Assessment 3. You should only watch your partner\’s video by
yourself. You should not keep a copy of your partner\’s video. You should not in any way show or share your
partner\’s video to anybody else.
In Assessment 3, you will interact with this project manager (your classmate) in front of the managing director
(your teacher) in a meeting. Your task in this assessment is to justify during this meeting why your own
project should be the best one for your company to implement when comparing the two projects in terms of
one of the three project requirements mentioned before. The managing director (your teacher) will
announce at the beginning of each Assessment 3 meeting which project requirement to focus on.
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To prepare yourself for this Assessment 3 meeting, you should refer to this online document:
Student Guide – 5 Steps to Effective Synchronous Speaking Assessments.docx
Assessment 4: Submitting a press release to promote your business project (25%)
An out-of-class assessment
Learning outcome assessed: Outcome 4
Timing: Within 24 hours after Week-13 (11 – 17 Apr 2022) lesson
via Turnitin
Assuming that the managing director (your teacher) has chosen your project as the best one for
implementation, your task in this assessment is to write a newsworthy press release to promote your business
project to the public. Your press release should contain the following elements:
• Headline
• Dateline
• Introduction
• Body
• Concluding paragraph
• Boilerplate
• Media contact information
• Close
You should follow the E&C house style. Your press release should be within an A4 page, single-line spaced
and presented in Times New Roman (point 12) throughout the whole document. If you would like to add
some graphics to your press release, you should make sure that they are really necessary and they are
referred to somewhere in the press release. You should also demonstrate appropriate writing conventions
(refer to the ELC3222 assessment rubrics).
Submit via Turnitin to your teacher the following two documents in a single Microsoft Word file:
(i) The press release
(ii) The ‘Honour Declaration’ form (p.9 of this handout)
An originality report will be generated by Turnitin, an online system which helps you prevent plagiarism.
After you click ‘Confirm’ to upload your submission, Turnitin will generate a digital receipt. Please go to the
Turnitin Document Viewer and download this receipt, or save a screenshot of it, as proof of successful
submission in case of any technical issues later.
Assessment criteria
Your performance in this subject is assessed according to the following criteria. Refer to the ELC3222
assessment rubrics for an explanation of these criteria.
Assessment 1: Submitting a business project proposal
Content (25%)
Organisation (25%)
Language (25%)
Conventions (25%)
Assessment 2: Submitting a presentation video of your business project proposal
Content (25%)
Delivery (25%)
Language (25%)
Pronunciation and fluency (25%)
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Assessment 3: Participating in a meeting to sell and defend your business project proposal
Content (25%)
Participation (25%)
Language (25%)
Pronunciation and fluency (25%)
Assessment 4: Submitting a press release to promote your business project
Content (25%)
Organisation (25%)
Language (25%)
Conventions (25%)
Important reminders - Your writing in Assessments 1 and 4 should be complete, well-organised, clear, concise and courteous.
- You should ensure the originality of your writing. Copying from the example proposals and press
releases in the coursebook or from other sources may incur downgrading. - Written text on pages beyond the required page limit will not be assessed.
- You are responsible for the quality of the Assessment 2 videos, and therefore you should double-check
them before submission. - Any oral performance in Assessments 2 and 3 beyond the required time limit will not be assessed.
-
Misreading the submission/assessment time is not grounds for a make-up assessment.
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ELC3222 Assessment 1: Submitting a business project proposal
Honour Declaration Form
I declare that my business project proposal for Assessment 1 of the subject ELC3222 Workplace English for
Business Students II is completely my own work. I have not asked other people to do any part of this
business project proposal for me. I have acknowledged ideas from other sources that I have used in my
business project proposal. And I have not copied any ideas or text from the example proposals in the
coursebook or from other sources.
I understand that an infringement of this declaration leaves me subject to disciplinary action by The Hong
Kong Polytechnic University.
Student name: Student ID no.:
Programme title: Programme code:
ELC seminar group no.:
Signature : Date:
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© English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 9
ELC3222 Assessment 4: Submitting a press release to promote your business project
Honour Declaration Form
I declare that my press release for Assessment 4 of the subject ELC3222 Workplace English for Business
Students II is completely my own work. I have not asked other people to do any part of this press release
for me. I have acknowledged ideas from other sources that I have used in my press release. And I have
not copied any ideas or text from the example press releases in the coursebook or from other sources.
I understand that an infringement of this declaration leaves me subject to disciplinary action by The Hong
Kong Polytechnic University.
Student name: Student ID no.:
Programme title: Programme code:
ELC seminar group no.:
Signature : Date: