GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

  

To classify language competence levels, Università Bocconi conforms to the Common European Framework established by the Council of Europe.

Basic User	A1	Elementary
	A2	Pre-intermediate
Independent User	B1	Intermediate
	B2	Post-intermediate
Proficient User	C1	Advanced
	C2	Proficient

Language skills for each level are available on the Language Centre website in Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

 

The Integrated Master of Arts in Giurisprudenza [Law] includes in its program structure two compulsory European Union foreign languages: a first foreign language and a second one.

The objective of first foreign language courses is to provide students with the language skills for the general use of the first language for the specific area of law and for the second foreign language, the language skills needed for an appropriate general language use.

The foreign language are as follows:  

	Language	Teaching area	Teaching	Exam	Credit points
First year	First language	academic	1st and 2nd semester	2nd semester	4
Second year	First language	legal	1st and 2nd semester	2nd semester	3
Third year	Second language	general	1st and 2nd semester	2nd semester	4
Fourth and fifth year		-	-	-	-

The first language exam of the first year is a prerequisite to the second-year exam.

Credit points are awarded once students pass the exam.

The credit points given for passing the first-year exam form part of the first-year credit points needed to access second year (see "Administrative Procedures Regulations and Deadlines").

The language learning path for the first foreign language begins in the I semester of the first year of studies.

The language learning path for the second foreign language begins in the I semester of the third year of studies.

For both the first and second foreign language courses, the grade out of thirty which assesses foreign language skills is included in the calculation of the Grade Point Average (GPA).

As an alternative to sitting the Bocconi exam, students may register the results of any foreign language international certifications, among those recognized by Bocconi, in their academic career (see "Method of Assessing Foreign Language Knowledge").

For the first and second language there is a partial exam (elective and on one date) positioned in the first semester of teaching activities.
When passing the partial exam, credit points are not awarded but 1 extra point expressed in marks out of thirty which can be calculated in the Bocconi exam final grade may be awarded (see the language syllabuses and exam programs published on the website respectively at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Exams Certificates>Bocconi exams).

Positioning of the languages for the students initially enrolled within the 2012/2013 academic year

 

The Integrated Master of Arts in Giurisprudenza [Law] includes 2 languages of the European Union to be included in the study plan: a compulsory first language and an elective second language (included in the elective courses to be chosen by the student). Objective of the first language courses is to provide the students with adequate skills for an appropriate use of the specialized language in the legal area and, for the second language, adequate skills for an appropriate use of the general language.
 

First language (compulsory)
The first language includes:  

 

	Teaching area	Teaching	Exam	Credit points
4° year	legal	1st semester	I semester	2

To sit for the fourth year exam, students need to have the first year language exam and the second year language exam (the exam of the first year is a prerequisite of the second year exam).
The credit points are earned when passing the relating exam.

Second language (elective) 

The second language includes:

	Teaching area	Teaching	Exam	Credit points
5th year	general	1st and 2nd semester	2nd semester	6

The choice of foreign languages follows the same criteria for both first and second languages. In particular:

• the first language (of “general” contents) is compulsorily English for all non native speakers of English students;
• the first language (of specialized contents “legal) is compulsorily English for all students (including the English native speakers).

The method of choosing languages is as follows:

First language	Second language
English	French-Italian-Portuguese(*)-Spanish­-German

All first year students are automatically allocated English as first language in their study plan.

Students who are native English speakers must choose the first language from the other curricular languages.
Students who aren't native Italian speakers can choose Italian as their second language.

If a student has more than one mother tongue (e.g. coming from or residing in a multilingual country or living with parents from 2 different nationalities) the student must choose one language as his/her mother tongue for the whole duration of his studies.

The choice of the second language is carried out upon enrollment in the third or in the fifth year of studies depending on the positioning of the second language in the program structure.

 

Notice that in the 2015-16 academic year the Portuguese language (teaching and Bocconi exam) is only offered as second language to students enrolled in the third year of studies. In the other cases, it is only possible to register in the study plan one of the international certifications recognised by the University. Materials for individual study are available atwww.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Self-Study > learning materials.

Minimum exits levels are:

	Language	Exit level
First general language	English	B2 (*)
First specialized language	Legal English	B2
Second language (general)	French-Portuguese-Spanish	B1
	German	A2

(*) Students enrolled in the fourth and fifth year of the 2015-2016 academic year choose the desired exit level between B2 and C1 when registering for the English general exam (second year of studies) by using the Punto Blu independently from the study path attended.
(**) Only for students initially enrolled within the 2012-2013 academic year, the minimum exit level for German is equal to A2.
Higher exit levels are possible, only if established by international foreign language certifications from among those recognized by the University.

The method for learning foreign languages offered by the Language Centre is structured in:
A. Lessons to prepare the students to:

• international language certifications recognized as an alternative of the Bocconi exam (only for English first language);
• Bocconi exams (for curricular first and second languages).

B. Guided individual study

A. Teaching
The Language Center organizes lessons and provides curricular courses which generally run only if enough students are enrolled in.

 

Lessons to prepare the students to certifications for English

The courses of preparation for the certifications are offered in the second semester for students of the first year, in the first and second semester for second year students, for fourth year students in the first semester. The courses prepare the students to the following certifications:

• ILEC, International Legal English Certificate, specialized/legal language Cambridge English Language Assessment, levels B2 and C1;
• IELTS , International English Language Testing System, general language, Examination Center British Council, IDP - IELTS Australia, Cambridge English Language Assessment, level C1 and B2 (only as an alternative of the first year exam).

The offer of the certifications is limited to few cases in which the students can record a certification as an alternative to the Bocconi exam provided for in the program structure.

In addition:

• places available are limited: to be admitted students must sit for a test;
• once the test is carried out, the ranking for the students admitted is set: test results are IT processed and are in line with European parameters;
• the courses have a semester structure (October-December; February-May), each one includes 48 teaching academic hours (except for IELTS C1: 24 hours).

Periods and methods to sit for the test and to enrol in such courses are communicated through the yoU@B student Diary before the start of each semester (further information at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Language Teaching).

Each course is started only if an adequate number of enrolled students is reached.

Course syllabuses and exam programs are available at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Exams Certificates> Bocconi exams.

A1 Lessons to prepare the students to Bocconi exams for curricular language courses for students initially enrolled starting from the the 2013-2014 academic year

First academic language (first year of studies) and first legal language (second year of studies)

 

Lessons for the first foreign language include for both cases a single path lasting two semesters for a total of 96 hours of lessons, automatically assigned to each student when initially enrolling and enrolling in the second year.

Second foreign language
Lessons for the second foreign language include a single path lasting one year in the third year automatically assigned to each student when making the choice of the language, for a total of 128 hours of lessons.

Attendance to first and second language courses is strongly recommended; attending courses is the most effective way of learning the language and preparing for the final exam. Active participation in a course and self-study activities can be are counted for the Bocconi exam final grade (more detailed information is available athttp://www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Exams - Certificates > Exam requirements).

First year students who have finalized their enrolment can check their language class timetable at yoU@B. Students enrolled in subsequent year can check the timetable when the teaching starts.
The summarized course programs (course profiles) of the language courses are available at www.unibocconi.eu/courses.

The detailed programs (course syllabuses and exam requirements) are available at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Exams - Certificates>Exam requirements).

Teaching for the Bocconi exams for the curricular languages for students initially enrolled within the 2012-2013 academic year

 

For the first legal language, teaching in the fourth year includes the second part of the course in the first semester for a total number of hours equal to 36 hours of lessons. For the second foreign language teaching in class lasts one year (in the fifth year) for a total of 128 hours of lessons.

Attendance to the courses of the first and second foreign language is strongly recommended: attending corses is the most effective way of learning the language and preparing for the final exam. Active participation in a course and self-study activities can be counted for the Bocconi exam final grade (detailed information is available at hrttp://www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Exams-Certificates>Exam requirements).

Language class timetable can be viewed on yoU@B when the teaching starts.

The summarized course programs (course profiles) of the language courses are available at www.unibocconi.eu/courses.

The detailed programs (course syllabuses and exam requirements) are available at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Language Teaching.

 

Guided independent study

Learning a foreign language requires not only attending lessons regularly but also consistent efforts in independent study. The Language Center offers students information and consulting services for language study. Its language laboratory provides a variety of preparatory materials (multi-media library) and other material is available online for different languages (see www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Self Study>e-learning online materials).

Guided independent study consists of a variety of activities which the student carries out, based on specific indications given by the teacher. Activities may involve teaching materials (e.g. exercises in books), support from the language laboratory (e.g. multimedia courses) and other material available online. 

The course syllabuses available at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Language Teaching provide information concerning lessons as well as guided independent study.
As a general guide, the total amount of hours which should be dedicated to independent study is 3-4 hours per week.

For English, Università Bocconi strongly recommends an initial language preparation of at lest B1 level (intermediate) of the European Language Framework (see European Language Framework) in order to attend the language courses with needed knowledge.
On the Bocconi website at www.unibocconi.it/centrolinguistico in Requisiti minimi in ingresso (only Italian version) detailed information on the language skills needed and on self-learning paths to follow to rech the specified level is available.

In order to seek for the correct learning path assigned, all non English native speakers enrolled in class groups taught in Italian, must assess their initial knowledge of English as follows:

• when finalizing enrolment students must show that they have at least one of the language requirements stated when they applied for admission online and indicated by the University (see the website www.unibocconi.eu/admission or
• when making the selection "Italian candidates", students take the aptitude test entirely in English, or
• when making the selection "Italian candidates", together with the aptitude test (in Italian) students take a test for the language positioning.

Students who are not native Italian speakers or non-EU citizens with no Italian residency and enrolled in an Italian class group must take the online Italian language test (in accordance with Ministerial regulations).

  Assessment is carried out by:

 

• international certification from among those recognized by the University, or
• taking an exam in Bocconi.

International certifications

As an alternative to the Bocconi exam students may only choose to take one of the international certifications exams indicated by the University. The registration of the achieved result in the academic career, after being converted into a number grade out of a possible thirty is made by the Secretary’s Office of the Language Centre under presentation of the original certification.

The level of the certifications presented must be for each language equal to or higher than the exit levels (in accordance with the criteria indicated in "Exit levels").

International certification is registered in the student's academic career and it is valid for 3 years (except for some international tests which are valid for less time, see www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Exams-Certificates).

The list of international certifications recognized is published at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter, in Exams-Certificates.

For both the first and second foreign languages, international certifications may be presented starting with the first year of studies. In any case, the related credit points and marks are attributed to the year of studies of the course

With respect to the first foreign language it should be noted that in order to be registered in the student's academic career, an international foreign language certification the following cases are possible.
 

For students initially enrolled starting from the 2013-2014 academic year:

• if the certification presented is of level B2 general it can replace only the exam of the 1^st year;
• if the certification presented is of level general C1 or C2 or legal language B2, C1 or C2, it can replace only the exams of the first and second year. Specifically:
• if the certification is presented during the first year: 4 credit points will be registered in the student's academic career for the first year and 3 credit points will be registered for the second year; in this case only the first year credit points are calculated to pass from the first to the second year of studies and only if the certification is  presented by 15 July 2016;
• if the certification is presented during the second years of studies or later, the student will be lacking the credit points necessary for the exams of each year until these are registered. 

With respect to the first foreign language exam is is also specified that, in all cases, when registering the certification in his career:

• student has not taken the Bocconi exam: the grade of the certification, converted into a grade expressed out of thirty, will be given:
• as the result of only the first year exam if the certification is of level B2 general language;
• as the result of the first exam and, if chosen by the student, the second exam if the certification is of level C1 or C2 general language or legal B2, C1 or C2;
• student has already taken the first Bocconi exam and has it registered in his/her academic career: the grade expressed out of thirty will be given as the result of the second exam only, only if the level and linguistic area are appropriate.
   

For students initially enrolled within the 2014-2015 academic year:

• If the certification presented is of general level B2 it can replace only the exams of the first and second year, in particular when the certification is presented in the third year of studies or subsequent years: students will turn out ‘in debito d’esame’ (student who has not yet passed the exam for previous year/s) for the credit points relating to each year until they are recorded.
• If the certification presented is of general level C1 or C2 or legal language B2, C1 or C2 it can replace the exams of 1st year, second year and fourth year. In particular when the certification is presented in the third year of studies or subsequent years: students will turn out ‘in debito d’esame’ (student who has not yet passed the exam for previous year/s) for the credit points relating to each year until they are recorded.
   

With reference to the first language it is also specified that in all cases, if when recording a certification in the student’s academic career the student:

• has not taken any Bocconi exam: the grade of the certification, transformed into a grade out of thirty is:
• result of the first exam and the second exam if it is of general language level B2;
• result of both the first, second and, if chosen by the student, also third exam if it is of legal language level B2, C1 or C2;
• has already and recorded the first Bocconi exam in his/her academic career: the grade of the certification, converted in a grade out of thirty is result of the second exam only and of any third exam on the basis of the level and language area of the certification (as specified above)
• has already taken and recorded in the student’s academic career the first and second Bocconi exam: the grade of the certification, converted into a grade out of thirty, is specified as grade relating to the third exam only, if the level and the language area are appropriate (as specified above).

International foreign language certifications can be received by sitting an exam with an official examination centre, both in Italy and abroad.

Students are responsible for any costs related to exams certification.

For students who are interested in certifications or in the Bocconi exam or, the Language Centre provides information and guidance on exam assessment methods. Specific materials for exam preparation and past exam papers are also available at the language laboratory.

The Università Bocconi is test center for some English certificates of British Council / Cambridge English Language Assessment, recognized as an alternative to the Bocconi exam. Registrations for exam sessions is made via the yoU@B Diary, upon paying the relating cost. The whole procedure follows the relating rules set by the appropriate Institute.

For the calendar and detailed information see www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Exams certificates>English certificates- Bocconi.
The initiative follows the rules set by the appropriate Institute in all phases.

Bocconi exam

The assessment is carried out by taking an exam which tests comprehension skills and knowledge of written and spoken language depending on the level of competence to be achieved.

The exam is structured in a written exam and an oral - both compulsory - exam. Admittance in the oral exam depends on passing the written exam with a minimum grade of 18 out of 30. The first-year exam is a prerequisite of the following exams.

Students can apply for having the Legal English (first language) curricular exam exempted i.e. having the grade achieved in the Genral English (codes 50127 or 30129) on the basis of the year of initial enrolment of the CLMG or former Bocconi undergraduate degree in Giurisprudenza [Law] exam recorded in the student academic career (exam grade or grade of the recognised international certification expressed out of thirties according to the appropriate tables defined by the Language Centre) only for the following exam (English first language first year of studies) exit levels: B2 legal, C1 general, C1 legal, C2 general, C2 legal.

If students who meet the above necessary requirements apply for the exemption must hand in the request form to the Academic Affairs Division Desk from 29 July 2015 to 30 September 2015 and from 08 to 19 January 2016. 

For the second language there is one single exam in the second semester of teaching. 

For the first language (academic and legal) and for the second language there is
a partial exam (optional and on a single date) to be taken in the I semester of the relating course and a final exam to be taken in the II semester (for information on partial exam check the website at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Exam Certificates>Course contents and Exam requirements).

Exams follow the same language standards as those set for international certifications.

For the first language and for the second one the final grade is given on the basis of the exam final result as well as other means of evaluation to check progress made during the course of studies. Specifically:

• positive results each year for active classroom participation and guided independent study;
• passing partial exam (only when scheduled, see 2.5) and passing the final exam written and oral part in the first sessions available;
• sitting the written and oral exams and passing them in the same session.

Detailed information is published in the profiles of each language available at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Exams - Certificates> Bocconi exams).

The final grade achieved is out of 30 and it is included in the calculation of the Grade Point Average (GPA).

The level of competence achieved is recorded on the official exam report and on the official academic transcript.

Exit levels which are higher than those foreseen for curricular exams of first and second languages are only possible through the registration in the student's academic career of any international certifications recognized by the University, and it is not considered in the graduation grade.

Also foreign languages can be recorded as additional exams. With reference to the curricular languages it is specified that:

• the same rules which are valid for additional exams are applied (see "Additional courses");
• the recording of the grade earned through the Bocconi exam or the conversion in a grade out of thirty of the score achieved upon international certification from among the ones recognized by the Univerisity in accordance with the same methods for the recognition and recording valid for the first and second foreign language (see "Method of assessing foreign language knowledge, International certifications");
• the minimum exit level and linguistic field specified for second language (see "Exit levels").
   

In addition, students can record in their study plan also Russian and Chinese, which are a non curricular language courses. For the recording of them:

• the same rules valid for all additional exams (see "Additional courses") are applied;
• there are no Bocconi exams therefore it is only possible to record an international certification from among the ones recognized by the university in accordance with the same methods for recognition and recording valid for curricular languages (see "Method of assessing foreign language knowledge, International certifications");
• a minimum exit level equal to B1 for linguistic general area.
  

(*) Please notice that the Chinese and the Russian are not included in the educational offer and therefore there are no Bocconi exams nor curricular lessons.