Teaching Business English U1Pt1

Teaching Business English – an Introduction: 

Teaching Business English – an Introduction Part One : What is Business English?

Who are the learners?: 

Who are the learners? Executives (Senior management) Managers (Junior, Middle) Personal Assistants Admin staff Call centre staff Receptionists etc etc

Who are the learners?: 

Who are the learners? HRD Production Sales Marketing R&D Customer service Legal Affairs Logistics Etc etc

Who are the learners?: 

Who are the learners? Students of business Current post holders New post holders

BE - a form of ESP?: 

BE - a form of ESP? ESP is … Goal oriented – the language is a means not an end Based on an analysis of learner needs Robinson, P. (1991). ESP today: A practitioner's guide. London: Prentice Hall.

ESP, BE and GP: 

ESP, BE and GP GP Language oriented ESP Needs oriented BE

Why GPBE?: 

Why GPBE? Low level students GP teachers Time/money constraints Classes with heterogeneous needs Publishers’ interests

Problems with GPBE: 

Problems with GPBE The learners do have specific needs and the courses don’t necessarily meet them, just gloss over the surface, or include the need at a different level from the learner’s. Some topics/tasks in the course may be irrelevant to the needs of specific learners. Eg : Negotiate a finance package to make a feature film

What are the needs of BE learners?: 

What are the needs of BE learners? General language development? Field specific language? Eg Finance Communication skills? - presentation skills - meeting skills - negotiating skills - recruitment interviewing - appraisal interviewing - telephone skills - writing skills

Field specific language: 

Field specific language • Does the T: need to know the specific language of the field? The after market; fine blanking; a sport; a long/short position; to sell into a rally; an arbitrageur; a hedge fund; arms index • Not necessarily – but does need to know how to check it.

Communication Skills -examples: 

Communication Skills - examples • Meeting Skills : chairing, participating, taking minutes • Interview skills : recruitment interviews, appraisal interviews, disciplinary interviews etc • Transversal skills eg dealing with complaints effectively

Is that my job???: 

Is that my job??? Does the teacher need to know about these skills? How can you prepare students to use the language in presentations, appraisal interviews etc without knowing what makes them effective or otherwise? Language teachers are teachers of communication

BE or ESP?: 

BE or ESP? Since course organisers often fail to differentiate between business English and ESP (English for Specific Purposes) or EAP (English for Academic Purposes), you need to be a little open-minded when going into this area of teaching! Donna, S. (2000:2) Teach Business English, Cambridge : CUP

But can you always distinguish clearly?: 

But can you always distinguish clearly? Three learners from the same organisation – a local government authority : A cabinet member with responsibility for the Environment The Head of the Social Services dept. An officer in the Culture dept.

Slide15: 

GP Language oriented ESP Needs oriented Performance Skills Training Communication oriented BE

Slide16: 

In Part Two : The Role of the Teacher Common Problems and Proposed Solutions This presentation is part of an on-line course run for the Cambridge ESOL Delta by Business Talk Milan. If you would like to find out more about our on-line and face-to-face training courses forTeachers of English, please contact us via our website : www.business-talk.it