Abstract:

The introduction of Economics as a subject within the Spanish Upper Secondary Education system is quite recent. For this reason, learning materials in English on Economics are scarce in Spain whereas this does not happen with other more traditional subjects. The students of Baccalaureate already have a basic knowledge of English which allows them to enhance the various communicative skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. One of the main reasons why we have chosen the subject of Economics is because most of its specific vocabulary comes directly from English. Moreover, in this discipline English becomes an essential means for its study and comprehension since a great amount of information on Economics is generated in this language. This occurs, for instance, in all the economic documents originated in the European Union, the European Central Bank or the International Labour Organization.
In this project we elaborate two didactic units in English on the subject of Economics, taught within the Spanish Baccalaureate curriculum. These two units are focused on the topics of fiscal policy and unemployment, which are highly important current issues. Each unit consists of three parts: firstly, the theoretical concepts on the selected topic in Economics; secondly, an adapted piece of news about these concepts along with corresponding English exercises; and finally, economic questions on the topic in order to assess the students’ learning process.
The methodology we propose combines those strategies inherent in the teaching and learning of Economics, as well as the associated mathematical tools, with those strategies employed in the subject of English. Remarkably, the English teacher uses the texts, the exercises and the specific vocabulary on Economics to study and practise the foreign language. Among our conclusions we point out that the students develop a double task: to improve their skills in English while learning Economics. In addition, the teachers involved become aware of the importance of multidisciplinary work and the development of joint materials.

Keywords:

economics, learning materials, teaching through english, fiscal policy, unemployment.