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. DELTA Teaching Business English page I

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TEeCHING BUSINESS EITICLISH

l. What is Business English?

Task 1

Decide whether the statements below relate to Business English,

General English or both.

General Business
Enqlish Enqlish
Classes are normally taught in a language school.

Students normally pay their own tuition fees.

The syllabus is usually drawn up and the teaching

materials selected before the teacher meets the students.

The teacher has to be accountable not just to the

students but also to their employers.

The students should be able to see almost immediately

how relevant their English course is to their needs.

Teachers or course planners need to identify not just the

students' level of English but the kind of English they will
need to learn as well.

Course activities normally reflect the activities that

students are or will be professionally involved in.

Students may be interested in taking a public exam which

the teacher will need to prepare them for.

Courses are normally short and their aims and content

very precisely defined.

O CELT Athens (GV) 20ll

DELTA - Teaching Business English page 2

Task 2

Your tutor will give you a few pages from a business English course for
intermediate studenfs. Discuss fhe following:

1. ln what ways is the material different from General English teaching

material? Think about topic, methodology and linguistic content.

2. What is the aim of each activity?

3. What kind if students do you think the material mignt be more relevant to?

Task 3

To what extent do you agree with the statements below?

1. Business English is simply a question of terminology. Therefore, the main

emphasis should be placed on vocabulary teaching and learning. .{
2. Grammar and pronunciation are not particularly relevant to Business English
students. What they need is to be able to communicate orally, even if they make ,,'
some mistakes. \/'

Business English lessons should be based entirely on authentic business texts

and realistic business activities so that the students can grasp the relevance of
their language course to their work.

4. It should be relatively easy to specify the types of text Business English students
may have to produce in English and the kinds of oral interaction that they may
have to take part in.

5, Business English courses should have high surrender value. ln other words, the
students should be able to see some difference in their performance as soon as
possible.

6. The Business English syllabus should be based on a grammatical and lexical--.1

,) core but should also include functions and topics. ; l',
7. Business English is somehowenlliiqr;to General English; a good command of
General English plus a knowledge of business terminology is more useful than a
restricted Business English competence.
I ,.
8. Business English is more about culture than it is about language. g"

9. There are certain structures and functions that are more common in the business
domain than elsewhere; a Business English course should focus on developing
knowledge of, and ability to use, these structures and functions.

10. Business English teachers should have a good knowledge of how businesses
function.

O CELT Athens (GV) 2011

DELTA - Teaching Business Engiish page 3

ll. lnitial Planning

The success of a Business English course depends on:

i. whether the students' level has been diagnosed accurately

ii. whether the students needs have been identified accurately
iii. whether the airns of the course reflect the level and needs of the
students
iv. whether appropriate materials have been devised or selected to serve
the students' communicative needs
v. whether appropriate accountability and feedback mechanisms have
been set up

Task 4

How would you go about doing the above?

Task 5

Below are the sfeps you should take when planning a Business English
course. Can you put them in the right order?

Conduct an initial needs analysis: give the students and their managers a -,
il questionnaire to complete which will show you what their specific
, language needs are.

should t
tr Determine the aims of the course as well as the topic areas that it
cover.
i

lnterview the students' managers and, if feasible, the students themselves . ,* :

E to determine course priorities and help you draw up a timetable for the ''?';
course.
i

tr I
Make contact with the company and find out who the students are and
what the overall language learning goal is.

ri
i

Organise placement testing of the students so that you can determine i --":

r."t'ri their language level. 'u.l-l

books j,
i

tr Review and select teaching materials (Business English course

that are commercially available as well as authenticmaterials) ':-j=/
Collect samples of texts that are used in the company: emails, reports,
)

tr presentations and anatyse the language that is used in them. *'i

',

O CELT Athens (GV) 2011

DELTA - Teaching Business English page 4

Task 6

Study the basic needs analysis questionnaire below. What additional

guesfions might you want to ask the students after they have completed
the questionnaire to help you determine course priorities and content?

Language Area I?
How good am How urgently do I need this skill?

attending meetings 0L234 5 now very soon next year I don't

dealing with visitors 0 I 2 3:q 5 now very soon next year I don't
describing products and/or 01234 5 now very soon next year I don't
services

giving presentations 0 1 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't

making travel arrangements 0 I 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
negotiating 0 1 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
note-taking at meetings 0 I 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
reporting to managers 0 I 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
small talk 0 1 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
talking to clients 0 1 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
talking to colleagues 0 I 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
understanding the news 0 1 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
using the telephone 0 | 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
writing e-mails 0 1 2 3.4 5 now veysoon nextyear Idon't
writing faxes 0 1 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
writing letters 0 I 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
writing memos 0 1 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear Idon't
writing reports 0 1 2 3 4 5 now verysoon nextyear ldon't
fadapted &om Donna S. (2000), Teach Business English,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press]

O CELT Athens (GV) 2011

 DELTA - Teaching Business English page 5

lll. Methodology
Task 7

Study the stages of a part of a business English lesson below and

discuss.'
(i) what the aim of each is
(ii) what order they should come in
- tr The students view a similar presentation and read a similar report. They are asked to
: '1'lotice' any differences between theirs and the one they've been given (done by
native speakers). Students redo their reports and presentations.

n The students form groups. They are asked io compile a questionnaire to research a
t)/ marketing area they are particularly interested in. Students conduct their research by
asking other students in their class their questions (and outside their class for
homework). Students - in the same groups - interpret the results of their
questionnaire.Theyprepareareportandpresentationbasedontheresults.They
present their results to the class.

tl The teacher writes some questions from the market research questionnaire on the
--' board and asks students io repeat them. She then asks a few questions to make
sure they undersiand the meaning of the questions.
-*tr The teacher highlights the form of the questions (wh- words; subject verb inversion;
inclusion of auxiliary verbs|.- -'

; U The teacher asks students to predict the content of a market research questionnaire.
They then read it to check their predictions. A discussion ensues regarding the
purpose and usefulness of the research

The students are given prompts and asked to form questions (a short questionnaire)
to elicit the required information. The teacher monitors to help. The students ask
other students in the class their questions.
'Ftr The students are asked to reflect on the results of their questionnaire.

; il
l"t' The ieacher conducts a repetition drill, paying special attention to sentence stress
and the intonation of the questions forms.

Task 8

What methods and approaches appear to have influenced the design of

fhe lesson in Task 7?

Lisf some procedures from different approaches and methods which

you think might be useful in a tsusiness English context.

O CELT Athens (GV) 2011