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Context “World Economy” is a 6 ECTS, 14-week compulsory First-year 2nd-semester basic training module within the BAs in Business Administration, Economics & Accountancy and Finance at the University of Oviedo, Spain. 90 students participate (50 female , 40 male students) with 8 overseas students among them. The Spanish students promote from Spanish high- schools, which ensure an A2 level of English as per CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). Learning Outcomes To be aware of the actual importance of the WTO regulations, have a clear idea about what TRIPs are and their implications in pharmaceutical products trade. To understand and use the diverse arguments presented by different approaches to this problem of pharmaceutical products trade. To express in fluent, correct English the main ideas they want to communicate and use technical words and expressions. To being able to reorganize their ideas to answer clearly and concisely to objections and questions. To promote discussion skills between the students and encourage low-confidence/ability students to speak in English. Preparation towards the debate consists of lectures, independent study and research on the subject, with a competitive assignment (poster writing) . Language and tactics needed for debating skills are reinforced via on-line resources and extra materials. Students perform a 90-min debate about medicine patents and the WTO intellectual property regulations (TRIPS) following a blowfish structure. After the debate, students pose further questions about what has been discussed in an online forum to wrap up the debate. Conclusions The student-led project targets many of the aims for the module, and helps put into practice skills which, although at first beyond these goals, will be beneficial for progression throughout the degree. 58% of students answered this had been their most motivating and profitable activity in the module, stressing how it helped them overcome fear to exposure and realise their improvements and ability to focus. Specifically, it will contribute towards improving fluency and shortening the gap in students progressing from B1-intermediate towards C1-advanced use of language, a determining factor as historical results show that linguistic proficiency among these cohorts greatly determines who achieves the higher grade bands. WTO poster writing Authors: Nuria Hernandez-Nanclares Antonio J. Jimenez-Munoz [email protected] [email protected]
