Innovation in course design to teach business discourse: students’ feedback and insights

This paper describes a course in English Language and Linguistics addressed to MA students majoring in English for International Communication at the University of Turin Italy). The course was especially designed for this degree program and integrated the use of language corpora, principles of multimodality, visual and verbal communication in company websites, as well as the analysis of corporate crises. The study draws on feedback gathered from students through an end-of-course questionnaire during the academic year 2023-24. The findings reveal that students appreciated active participation through a hands-on approach and group work on selected case studies. Their responses indicate an openness to new learning methods, though they remain attached to traditional content-based approaches, particularly in assessment. As established models make students resistant to change, this study demonstrates that educational innovation requires student active involvement and an engaging approach.