Overview

Businesses need multilingual management professionals now more than ever to be able to navigate the international and globalised nature of contemporary commerce. So, if you want to rise to the challenge of living and working abroad or engaging international stakeholders then BA Business Management and Language Students could be the ideal entry route for you.

This broad business management course gives you the chance to learn two modern languages of your choice, while you study management at one of the UK’s most culturally-diverse business schools.

The ability to speak multiple languages gives you a competitive edge and can widen your employability opportunities. It can also enrich your travel experiences.

Through BA Business Management and Language Studies, you will gain an intensive, comprehensive language education, covering vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing and speaking. You can study one of your languages to mastery level and develop your practical language skills through classes taught by native speakers.

Your management modules take a global, intercultural and ethical perspective. Essex Business School is home to staff and students from all over the world, providing an international education for today’s globalised world. Your modern language studies are delivered by the Department of Language and Linguistics which is a leading department in language studies.

Essex Business School champions responsible management and ethical business practices; you join a school not just committed to excellence in business education and social science research, but an intellectual community working to make business better. We don’t just prepare you for a successful career; we’ll help you shape the kind of world you want to live in.

Study areas include:

• international business environment
• leadership in organisations
• organisational behaviour
• business strategy
• leadership
• human resource management
• ethical business management

The first year focuses on the business management area of your degree and introduces you to the main functional areas of business, including accounting and marketing. This gives you flexibility to work in any area of business management after graduation. You will also start your language studies with your two language options.

Your second year allows you to take a deeper dive into business management theory and practise while also encouraging you to develop your skills as a modern languages practitioner. You will also deepen your language studies and improve your spoken, written and reading proficiency.

In your final year, you have the opportunity to put your knowledge into practice by completing an in depth, independent research project or dissertation. This gives you the chance to further develop vital employability skills in areas of research, time management and critical thinking. Your language skills will now be reaching advanced and proficiency skill levels.

Why we’re great.

• You learn two languages from native speakers
• We teach international, intercultural and ethical management.
• You join an international community where 130 languages are spoken on campus.

Structure

Course structure

This course is designed to provide you with a broad overview of all the main areas of business management, whilst also allowing you to be flexible to study your own areas of interest. You can study up to two languages with this course and the language modules you study depend upon your level when you arrive. Below is just one example of the combination of modules you could take in the current academic year.

In the first year our current students cover the fundamentals that every business manager needs to know. However, we are planning some changes to our first year and we’ll be tailoring it more closely to your chosen course. Then in second and final year you will have a mixture of compulsory and optional modules.

We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists. Please be aware that we are planning changes to our first year to make it more relevant to your chosen course.

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.

Language options

It is possible to start at an initial level with no prior knowledge of a language (unless you major in Portuguese, when an A-level pass (or equivalent) in Italian, Spanish or Portuguese or first language level fluency in Italian, Romanian or Spanish is required). Please refer to the progression pathway table to find out which modules are suitable for your linguistic profile.

Teaching and learning disclaimer

Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.

The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.