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 Combined Bachelor and Master of Science in Giurisprudenza [Law] includes in its program structure two European Union foreign languages: a compulsory first foreign language and an elective second foreign language (which is part of the elective courses chosen by the student).

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

First foreign language (compulsory)

The first foreign language includes:

	Language use	Lessons	Exams	Credit points
1st year	general	I and II semester	II semester	1
2nd year	General(*)	I and II semester	II semester	2
3rd year	legal	II semester	not present (**)
4th year	legal	I semester	I semester	2

The first-year exam is a prerequisite to the second-year exam, and the second-year-exam is preparatory to the fourth-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.

(*) In addition to the general language, during the second year of studies there also will be held the first elements of specialized language (legal).

(**) For legal English in the third year of studies, second semester, a partial exam (optional) is scheduled.

When passing the partial exam credit points are not awarded but 1 extra point expressed in marks out of thirty which is calculated in the Bocconi exam final grade may be awarded (see the language course profiles and syllabuses published on the website respectively at http://www.unibocconi.eu/courses and www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Language Teaching> Curricular activities).

Second foreign language (elective)
The second foreign language includes:

	Language use	Lessons	Exams	Credit points
5th year	general	I and II semester	II semester	6

In addition a partial exam (optional) is scheduled in the I semester of the fifth year of studies.

When passing the partial exam credit points are not awarded but 1 extra point expressed in marks out of thirty which is calculated in the Bocconi exam final grade may be awarded (see the language course profiles and syllabuses published on the website respectively at http://www.unibocconi.eu/courses and www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Language Teaching> Curricular activities).

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

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").

The choice of foreign languages follows the same criteria for both first and second languages,  depending on:

• the languages chosen must be different from the student's native language;
• English is the compulsory first language for all non native English speakers.

The method of choosing languages is as follows:

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

(*)Notice that the Portoguese language is no longer be included in the educational offer.
Students who have included Portoguese in their study plan can take the Bocconi exam until February 2013; subsequently students can only register in the study plan one among internationally recognized certifications recognised by the University.

At www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Language Teaching teaching materials for the individual study are available.

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 mother tongue for the whole duration of his studies.

First-year students have English assigned automatically as their first compulsory language.

The choice of the second foreign language is done when enrolling for the fifth year.

Minimum exits levels are:

	Language	Exit level
First general language (general and specialized language)	English	B2 or C1 (*)
First specialized language	English	B2
Second language (general language)	French-Portuguese-Spanish	B1
	German	A2

(*) Students choose the desired exit level when registering for the final exam (second year of studies) by using the Punto Blu independently from the study path attended. They also choose the level of the first year exam (P1/P2 or P3).

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

• Bocconi exams (for curricular first and second languages)
• International language certifications (only for English first language)

B. Guided individual study

A. Teaching

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

Lessons to prepare the students to Bocconi exams for curricular language courses

First foreign language - general language (first and second year of program)
Lessons for the first foreign language last two years.

For English (exit level B2 or C1), the learning path is assigned according to the students's initial preparation (see "Evaluation of the initial knowledge of English and Italian").

The different language paths generally require a certain amount of classroom hours per year, specified as follows:

Year of studies	Path 1	Path 2	Path 3
First year	96 hours	72 hours	72 hours
Second year	72  hours	72 hours	72 hours

First foreign language - specialized language (third and fourth year of studies)
Lessons for the first foreign language include a single path lasting 2 semesters (II semester of the third year and I semester of the fourth year) for a total of 72 classroom hours.

Second foreign language
Lessons for the second foreign language in the fifth year last one year and include a single path assigned automatically to each student when he/she selects the foreign language. Each path includes a total of 130 classroom hours.

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 certain self-study activities can add 2 extra points out of thirty to the final exam mark (more detailed information is available at http://www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Exams - Certificates >Class contents and Exam requirements).

First year students who have finalized their enrolment can check their first and secon language class timetable at yoU@B. Second year students can check after enrolment in the following years.
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 Language Teaching > Curricular activities> Combined Bachelor and Master of Science in Giurisprudenza (Law).

B. 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 at www.unibocconi.it/languagecentre in Language Laboratory.

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/languagecentre in Language Teaching provide information concerning lessons as well as guided independent study. For each subject dealt with during lessons, there are corresponding activities which can be carried out.

The following table shows the total amount of hours which should be dedicated to independent study per week according to the language learning path assigned to the student

	Program year	Path 1	Path 2	Path 3
First foreign language-general language	1st year	5 hours	3 hours	2 hours
	2nd year	5 hours	5 hours	4 hours
First foreign language- specialized language	3rd and 4th year	2 hours (single path)
Second foreign language	5th year	5 hours (single path)

 

Lessons to prepare the students to certifications for English

 

For English, in addition to the teaching for preparing the students to Bocconi exams, the Language Center offers courses to prepare the students to the following certification, recognized as an alternative to the Bocconi exam:

 

• IELTS, International English Language Testing System, general, B2 and C1 levels, Examination Center British Council, IDP - IELTS Australia, University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations

Each course last a semester with a total number of hours equal to 48.

The offer is scheduled in the second semester of the first year and in the first and second semester of the second year.

The courses are addressed to students with an adequate level of language skills certified through an appropriate online test and places available are limited.

 

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 (forther information at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Language Teaching).

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

In order to have 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.

To attend English courses Università Bocconi requires a minimum basic preparation, of at least A2 (pre-intermediate) of the Common European framework for languages (see "European Framework").

For more detailed information on language knowledge and competence required, and self-study paths to obtain the levels based on the student's initial preparation check the website at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Minimum Level Required.

Students who are not native Italian speakers or non-EU citizens with no Italian residency 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/languagecentre in Exams-Certificates.

The list of international certifications recognized for the different exams is published at http://www.unibocconi.eu/ /languagecentre , 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: 

• the certification presented is of level B2 general it can replace only the exams of the 1^st and second year. Specifically:
  - if the certification is presented during the first year of studies: 1 credit point will be registered in the student's academic career for the first year of studies and 2 credit points will be registered for the second year of studies; in this case only the first year credit point is calculated to pass from the first to the second year of studies and only if the certification is  presented by 15 July 2013;
  - if the certification is presented during the second year of studies or later, the student will be lacking the credit points necessary for the exams of each year until these are registered.
• 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, second and fourth year. Specifically: 
  - if the certification is presented during the first year of studies: 1 credit point will be registered in the student's academic career for the first year of studies and 2 credit points will be registered for the second year of studies and 2 credits registered for the fourth year of studies; in this case only the first year credit is calculated to pass from the first to the second year of studies and only if the certification is  presented by 15 July 2013;
  - 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 both the first and second exam if the certification is of level B2 general language
  -as the result of the first, second and third 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, with the possibility of the third exam on the basis of the level and linguistic area of the certification (as explained 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 the Bocconi exam or certification exams, 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.

 

• International certifications recognised by the University as an alternative to the Bocconi exam

 

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 integrative compulsory exam. Admittance in the oral exam depends on passing the written exam.

Only for the first language, the first-year exam includes a written exam only and it is a prerequisite of the second-year exam and the second-year exam is a prerequisite of the fourth-year exam.

Students can apply for having the fourth year (first language) curricular exam exempted i.e. having the grade achieved in the second year 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 1 August to 30 September 2012 and from 08 to 22 January 2013.

The second foreign language includes a partial exam (optional) to be taken in the I semester and a final exam to be taken in the II semester of the fifth year of studies(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. Assessment of foreign language knowledge depends on the final exam result as well as other means of evaluation to check progress made during the course of studies:

• for the first foreign language
  - positive results each year for active classroom participation and guided independent study; 
• for the second foreign language
  -  positive results each year for active classroom participation and guided independent study; 
  -  passing partial exam. 

The grade achieved 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.

Also foreign languages can be recorded as additional exams. With reference to the additional 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, which is a non curricular language. For the recording of Russian:

• 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");
• the minimum exit level is equal to B1 for linguistic business or general area.