7.01/2/3 ACCOUNTING, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & ENGLISH STUDIES

Certificate/Diploma

Programme Aim

The Accounting, Financial Management and English Studies Diploma Programme is designed for students who wish to improve their general English language skills, further their understanding of International Business Communications and reflect on the practice of Accounting & Financial Management and the related use of Information Technology. The aim is to progressively enhance individual students’ vocational knowledge and skills as a springboard for career development or University entry.

Course Outcomes

By the end of the programme students will:

• have knowledge of concepts and terminology of a range of business areas.

• have developed their English language skills for the special purpose of communications within the international business environment;

• been introduced to the nature of accounting and the need for accounting information;

• considered the basic principles of business accounting, and practiced accounting systems;

• understood the role that financial management techniques have in business development and practice relating to cash generation and control at strategic, business and operational levels within an organisation;

• Applied research methodology, using both quantitative and qualitative techniques through the application and analysis of statistical approaches;

• Adopted the role of an auditor and produced a major project report;

• Made use of Information & Communication Technology in support of Accounting & Financial Management

Programme Structure

The programme is designed on the basis of “units of study”. Each unit involves approximately 100 hours study to include class contact; directed study and self-study.

Entry Requirements

Minimum Age — Adult

Students must have a minimum Intermediate level of English on arrival and have completed secondary education in their own country.

On arrival all students complete an English language entry test, followed by an MLS business assessment and are placed in classes accordingly.

Counselling Service

A comprehensive counselling tutorial support programme is available to all students throughout their stay at MLS. All students have access to the MLS University Counsellor.

Indicative Content Topics

The Diploma Programme is made up by 8 single units and 2 double units of study, with credits awarded for successful completion of the MLS assessments. Students registered for the Certificate and Higher Certificate courses will undertake General & Business English, and Specialist IT and Accounting/Financial Management topics in line with their period of registration.

General English

All three units focus on the development of the following language skills:

• Oral Communication, Role-Play and Discussion;

• Pronunciation, Stress and Intonation;

• Listening and Reading Comprehension;

• Written English for Various Purposes;

• Preparation for various external language examinations;

• Study Skills.

Business English and Communications

Delivered in 3 staged units, students gain an insight into the concepts and terminology of a range of business areas and includes the skills of:

• Functional Business Language, reading and information transference;

• Telephoning;

• Curriculum vitae/resume preparation with interview techniques;

• Specialist discussions and listening competencies linked to Presentation Skills Development;

• Team leadership communications, linked to meetings, summarising, note-taking and taking minutes;

• Problem Solving, Decision Making and Negotiation;

• Report, letter, memo, fax and e-mail writing.

IT Computer Studies

• Introduction to IT

• Word Processing

• PowerPoint presentations

• Spreadsheets using Excel

• Desktop Publishing using “Publisher”

• Databases with Access

• FrontPage Website Design

• Software integration

• The Internet

Accounting & Financial Management 1

This unit involves intensive tuition relating to the basic skills for professional development in the field of accounting and financial management. The tuition is in three stages:

1 An introduction to accounting;

2 An Introduction to Financial Management;

3 The application of financial management techniques.

Accounting & Financial Management 2

This double unit is designed to help students produce a major project report following in-depth research of an organisation in order to assess short-term cost behaviour; short-term decision-making; short-term profit control; cash and working capital management; and other performance evaluation techniques.

Financial Appraisal, Auditing & Statistics

This is a double unit as the aim is to develop independent study skills through research in small groups, with guided tuition. The tuition is in three stages;

• Financial Appraisal: Consideration of Financial Management policy with the alternatives and constraints is made through comparative research of company reports;

• Statistics: Considerations of quantitative information and survey methodology linked to data categorisation. Descriptive statistical techniques, including ratio analysis, will be applied to specified organisations;

• Auditing: The focus of this stage is on risk analysis and quality assurance and the processes of audit interviewing and audit report writing.

Book this course now ( requires Acrobat reader - download here).