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Developing Speaking Skills By Using The Communicative Approach In

Teaching Business English

Thesis · January 2018

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 UNIVERZITET U BEOGRADU
FILOLOŠKI FAKULTET
KATEDRA ZA ENGLESKI JEZIK I KNJIŽEVNOST

DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING THE

COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH IN TEACHING BUSINESS
ENGLISH

Mentor: Ivana Trbojević Milošević Student: Natalija Stojmenovic

Beograd, 2018.

1
 Dedication

I dedicate this master thesis to my parents who have been my support

throughout my studies, to my grandparents who taught me that hard work
eventually pays off and to my little sister who has always looked up to me.

2
 Abstract
Communication has always been the biggest issue for foreign language learners,
especially in a business area. In order to facilitate overcoming this issue and actually start
speaking a foreign language, a teacher must use the appropriate method. Students are
accustomed to the old-fashioned teaching methods in Serbia. Therefore, they are unaware of
some beneficial outcomes that some other methods may have. By using the Communicative
Approach in teaching Business English, students get the opportunity to actually speak up and
practice the language necessary for their professional development. The aim of this thesis is to
outline the importance of using communicative speaking activities while teaching Business
English. Students from various international companies in Belgrade were tested and the thesis
shows their opinion about various ways of enhancing their communication in English. This
research will provide the readers with diverse speaking activities and how they should use
them in their further teaching experience.

Key words: English for Specific Purposes, Business English, Communicative

approach, speaking activities

Sažetak
Komunikacija je oduvek bila najveći problem za one koji uče strani jezik, pogotovo u
oblasti poslovnog jezika. U cilju lakšeg prevazilaženja ovog problema i započinjanja govora
stranog jezika, nastavnik mora koristiti odgovarajuću metodu. Učenici u Srbiji su naviknuti na
staromodnu nastavnu metodu. Samim tim nisu svesni nekih korisnih ishoda koje neke druge
metode mogu imati. Koristeći komunikativni pristup u nastavi poslovnog engleskog, učenici
zapravo dobijaju priliku da govore i vežbaju jezik u cilju sopstvenog profesionalnog razvoja.
Ova teza ima za cilj isticanje važnosti korišćenja komunikativnih govornih aktivnosti u
nastavi poslovnog engleskog. Testirani su učenici iz raznih međunarodnih kompanija u
Beogradu i teza pokazuje njihovo mišljenje o raznim načinima koji bi bili najbolji kako bi se
poboljšala komunikacija. Ovo će istraživanje pružiti čitaocima raznovrsne govorne aktivnosti
kao i kako ih treba koristiti u daljem nastavnom radu.

Ključne reči: Engleski sa posebnom namenom, poslovni engleski, komunikativni

pristup, govorne aktivnosti

3
 Table of contents
Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………………..….2
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………...…3
Table of contents………………………………………………………………………………………4
List of figures………………………………………………………………………………………......6
List of abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………………..7
Chapter one – Introduction
1.Background of the Study…………………………………………………………………………….8
2.Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………………………………8
3.Objectives of the Study………………………………………………………………………............9
4.Frame of the Study………………………………………………………………………................10
5.Research Questions………………………………………………………………………................10
6.Hypothesis………………………………………………………………………...............................10
7.Limitation of the Study……………………………………………………………………………..11
Chapter two – Theoretical Background
1. English for Specific Purposes………………………………………………………………..........12
1.1. Defining ESP……………………………………………………………………..........................12
1.2. Course and Material Design……………………………………………………………….…....13
1.3. The role of an ESP teacher……………………………………………………………….…......14
2.Business English……………………………………………………………….…............................14
2.1. History and definition of BE……………………………………………………………….…....15
2.2. Motivational aspects in learning BE…………………………………………………………....15
2.3. Needs Analysis in teaching BE………………………………………………………………......16
2.4. Course Design……………………………………………………………….…............................17
2.5. The role of a teacher in a BE classroom………………………………………………………..18

3. Communicative Approach………………………………………………………………………...19

3.1. History and definition of CA…………………………………………………………………....19

3.2. Features of CA……………………………………………………………….…..........................20
3.3. Grammar Translation Method vs. Communicative Approach in teaching BE………….…..21
3.4. The role of a teacher in a CA classroom…………………………………………………….….22
4. Speaking skills……………………………………………………………….…..............................22
4.1. Reasons for teaching speaking……………………………………………………………….….23

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4.2. Accuracy vs Fluency in developing speaking skills……………………………………….…...23
4.3. CA in teaching speaking……………………………………………………………….…...........24
4.4. Characteristics of successful speaking activity…………………………………………….......25
4.5. Problems with speaking activities………………………………………………………..…......25
4.6. Solutions for the Problems of Speaking Activities…………………………………………......26
Chapter three – Research Methodology
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….….,…28
2. Description of the Study Settings and Participants……………………………………….…......28
3. The Data Collection Instrument………………………………………………………….……….30
4. The Questionnaire…………………………………………………………………………….…....30
4.1. The Aim of the Questionnaire……………………………………………………………….......30
4.2. The Language of the Questionnaire…………………………………………………………….30
5. Analysis of the collected data and discussion…………………………………………………….30
6. Findings for Research Hypothesis………………………………………………………………...39
7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………….…....................................40
Chapter four – Communicative Activities for Developing Speaking Skills in Teaching BE
1. Surveys…………………………………………………………………………………….………..41
2. Information Gap Activities……………………………………………………………….…….....41
3. Jigsaw Activities……………………………………………………………….…...........................42
4. Role Play Activities……………………………………………………………….…......................42
5.Simulation……………………………………………………………….…......................................43
6.Discussion……………………………………………………………….…......................................43
7.Summarizing……………………………………………………………….…............................,....44
8.Dialogues……………………………………………………………….…........................................45
9.Other communicative games………………………………………………………...…….….........46
Chapter five – Conclusion…………………………………………………………...…….……..…..48
References……………………………………………………………….….........................................50
Appendices……………………………………………………………………...……………………..52

5
 List of figures

Figure 1.1. The Ratio of the departments in which articipants work

Figure 1.2. The ratio of Male and Female Participants

Figure 1.3. The length of learning

Figure 1.4. Participants’ need for the English language

Figure 1.5. Participants’ interlocutors

Figure 1.6. Situations in which participants speak English the most.

Figure 1.7. Important kills for learning Business English

Figure 1.8. Evaluation of doing tasks at work in English

Figure 1.9. Ways of improving speaking in English at work

Figure 1.10. The importance of certain factors in order to speak English

well

Figure 1.11. Participants’ satisfaction with previous courses

Figure 1.12. The reasons for disliking previous English courses

Figure 1.13. Participants’ view of a perfect Business English course

6
 List of abbreviations

BE-Business English

CA-Communicative Approach

CLL-Communicative Language Learning

EGP-English for General Purposes

ESP-English for Specific Purposes

ELT-English Language Teaching

GE-General English

STT-Student Talking Time

TTT-Teacher Talking Time

TL-Target Language

7
 -Chapter one-

INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the Study

English language has certainly become an international language that everyone
should learn as it is used in different aspect and spheres of life. It is especially
beneficial for companies and business partners as it represents the main tool for
exchanging information. In order to exchange information, one must be able to use the
language properly and fluently. Therefore, speaking is a crucial part of learning a
language since knowing the grammar rules or vocabulary isn’t the same as actually
speaking the language. Through speaking we share our ideas, thoughts, information
and that is why it represents the most complex skill to acquire.
As Communicative Approach (CA) or Communicative Language Learning
(CLL) was introduced at the beginning of 1970, it has completely changed the way of
learning a language. The focus is on using various speaking activities in order to
develop communicative competence and speaking in a target language more fluently.
Many people are good at grammar or they know many words, but they have no
idea how to make a sentence. Communicative activities break this barrier and students
become active participants in a classroom which enhances their interest for
professional development.

2. Statement of the Problem

As an English teacher who has worked in many different language schools, I
have come to the conclusion that everyone can speak the language they want if they
are taught according to the right method. Language schools in Serbia usually offer
students the old-fashioned, traditional way of learning a language, known as
Grammar-Translation Method where a teacher speaks all the time and explains most
of the things in Serbian. After attending CELTA in Malta, I recognized all the flaws
that this method was implying and I was eager to use my knowledge and change my
old teaching habits. Unfortunately, I had to use everything but modern teaching
methods while I was teaching at some companies before. I felt like I didn’t provide the
students with what they actually need. Their first reason for attending the course was

8
 to speak up and enhance their professional language skills. By using the traditional
method, I actually didn’t give the students the opportunity to speak up. Instead, I was
talking all the time, explaining the grammar points and focusing on things that they
really didn’t need to know. I was dealing with some dull course books that were
repetitive, not designed for what students needed and I didn’t enjoy my job at all. It
simply wasn’t challenging enough, neither for me nor for my students.
A few months after quitting my job, I didn’t want to give up teaching. It was
my dream job and I didn’t want to give it up. Having searched for the school that
focuses on developing speaking skills, I started teaching at “Berlitz” international
school of languages. This school has enabled me to practice the knowledge and
practical skills that I acquired while attending CELTA. Even though suspicious at
first, students were later encouraged to speak up by using various speaking activities
as the CA is the method which is mainly used in this school. I started realising that the
students can actually start speaking English from the beginner level and that students’
needs can be satisfied if we use the right approach and make them use real-life
situations. Speaking activities help students overcome their fear of speaking and
enable them to use the language actively instead of being silent listeners. Not all
speaking activities are for all learners, that is why it is of the utmost importance to get
to know your students and provide them with what they need.

3. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are following:
1. To highlight the importance of teaching speaking in BE courses
2. To indicate how students feel regarding the traditional method of teaching
speaking
3. To point out that speaking is learned the best via communication in a target
language
4. To outline the necessity of using real-life situations and simulations while
teaching speaking
5. To state that speaking activities should differ according to students’ needs
6. To specify what problems students have encountered during their previous
experiences in learning Business English

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 4. Frame of the Study
The study has been conducted at companies that are well-known in Serbia for their
success, professionalism and co-operation with the clients from all over the world. I have
opted for these companies as I have worked as an English teacher at many international
companies and I have met students who take part in language courses in ortder to improve
their speaking skills. Having talked to them regarding their problem with this skill, it occurred
to me that they were deprived of a right approach that would enhance their ability to speak
up. Working at school which uses the CA for developing speaking skills, I have seen the
impact that it has on students and the results have been visible even during the first lessons.
This has made me believe in what I am doing and given me a better insight into the students’
needs and the speaking activities that are vital for their professional development in business
area.

5. Research Questions
This research aims to answer the following questions:
1. What speaking activities are necessary in a Business English class in order to
boost the ability to speak more fluently?
2. What are the opinions regarding the Grammar Translation based courses and
Communicative Approach courses? Which approach improves the speaking skills at
workplace?
3. What materials should a Business English course contain in order to enhance
students’ speaking abilities necessary for their professional development?

6. Hypothesis
This study intends to highlight the problems students encounter while acquiring and
developing speaking skills during BE courses in Serbia, and to propose solutions to the
problems which are specified in this study. In relation to the research questions, the following
hypothesis are tested:
1. Role plays and simulations that trigger real-life situations are extremely
beneficial to the employees as they help them experience the language to the fullest.
2. Teaching speaking via CA offers better possibilities for the development of
speaking skills as the English language is used all the time, the focus isn’t on grammar and
students are given more time to speak freely and expriment with the language.

10
 3. Activities should be tailored to students’ needs instead of using course books
which contain grammar and vocabulary that may not meet the students’ expectations.

7. Limitation of the Study

The research was conducted at well-known companies via online survey. As
pariticipants are the employees in these companies and they probably did this survey at work,
it may happen that they weren’t that concentrated on giving the right answers. Also, when it
comes to evaluating their own skills, the participants’ may be too subjective as they may feel
as if they were too good or too bad at doing certain tasks in English. In addition, there might
be the employees who are still used to learning English by using the traditional ways of
teaching and they may misunderstand the whole point of this survey. What is more, when the
participants state why they didn’t like previous courses, the problem may not be in the
material itself, but in a teacher or a teaching method. On the other hand, maybe some
participants have never attended a representative Business English course so they have no
idea how speaking activities should look like as they are accustomed to General English
courses.

11
 -Chapter two-

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1. English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

We are all aware that English has become an internationally accepted language in
almost all fields of knowledge. Thus, English is taught nowadays like never before. Students
learn English due to many different reasons. Some learn it because they want to use it in
everyday situations, whereas some of them learn it because of their job or education.
Therefore, ELT (English Language Teaching) can be broadly divided in two major areas: ESP
(English for Specific Purposes) and EGP (English for General Purposes).

Many people around the world are in desperate need to learn English that is connected
and tailored specifically for the academic or occupational purposes. In order to satisfy
learners’ need, ESP emerged as one of the most prominent area of ELT in 1960s. It represents
a revolution in linguistics.

1.1. Defining ESP

ESP is a specifically designed course that is oriented towards particular learners and
their particular needs. As Jadis (2013) stated “ESP courses concentrate on specific language,
i.e. lexis, syntax, discourse, semantics, etc. which is appropriate for certain disclipline,
occupation or activity“ (pp. 138).
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), “ESP emerged due to the development
of the world’s economy, which entailed the progress of technology, the economic power of
oil-rich countries, and the increasing amount of overseas students in English-speaking
countries“ (pp. 6-7). Also, according to Johns and Dudley- Evans (1991), “the international
community recognized the importance of learning English not only as a means to achieve the
transmission of knowledge and communication but also as a neutral language to be used in
international communication“ (pp. 301-302). Not only that the students can function
adequatly in the targeted situations by taking the ESP course, but they can also use English as
“lingua franca“ to communicate freely worldwide.
As Robinson (1991) stated, generally“ the students study English not because they are
interested in the English Language or English culture as such, but because they need English

12
for study or work purposes“(pp. 2). Baturkmen (2006) stated that “an ESP language is learnt
not for its own sake or for the sake of gaining a general education, but to smooth the path to
entry or greater linguistic efficiency in academic, professional or workplace
environments“(pp. 18). This denotes that learning ESP contributes to developing the abilities
that are vital for the professional development in order to use them in a real life situation.
It is believed by Jordan (1997) that “ESP can be broadly divided into two main kinds:
English for Occupational/Vocational/Professional Purposes and English for Academic
Purposes” (p.4).

1.2. Course and Material Design

There are completely different learning aspects when it comes to comparing ESP and
EGP courses. By attending EGP course, one may get a basic knowledge of English that would
be more than enough for daily activities and everyday life. On the other hand, ESP course
would provide a learner with vital skills necessary for his professional challenges in future
career life.
When it comes to designing an ESP course, a teacher should bear in mind that it is
completely oriented to learners’ need. In the words of Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998), it is
very hard to find appropriate textbooks to correspond to most of linguistic and communicative
needs of students in a certain context. Therefore, a teacher cannot rely completely on course
books. A teacher should use as much authentic material as possible, which is related to the
context, in order to completely respond to the students’ needs.
As reported by Hutchinson and Waters (1987), there are some “defining principles that
should be stated as purposeful objectives in designing pedagogical ESP materials:
a) Good materials give stimulus to learning, they should encourage students to learn.
Therefore, they should contain:
-interesting texts
-enjoyable activities which engage the learner’s thinking capacity
-opportunities for learners to use their existing knowledge and skills
-a content which both learner and a teacher can cope with
b) The activities should be designed in such a way to promote and maximize learning.
c) Materials should reflect teacher’s feeling about learning process.
d) Materials should reflex the complexity of the tasks, but yet appear manageable.
e) Materials should help teacher use new techniques.

13
 f) Materials should appear as appropriate and correct language use.” (pp. 106-107)

1.3. The role of an ESP teacher

Having designed the material, the next step would be actually using it. The teacher
should perform the tasks so that the students can be able to gain the given knowledge. When it
comes to the role of an ESP teacher, according to the Benyelles (2009) an ESP teacher is
“instructor, facilitator, role–advisor, monitor, co-communicator, classroom manager and
consultant” (p.42).
An ESP teacher has to be well-prepared for the lessons since it may occur that students
have better vocabulary within the taught area of expertise, but poor grammar. That is because
an ESP teacher is, according to Strevens (1988), “a teacher of who has unexpectedly found
himself-herself required to teach students with special needs” (p.41). Thus, a teacher should
prepare material and all possible questions in order to feel more prepared and confident for
the classes. It is believed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) that in order to overcome
difficulties, an ESP teacher should have a “positive attitude towards the ESP content,
knowledge of fundamental principles of the subject area and awareness of how much they
already know.” (p.163).
In conclusion, an ESP teacher’s greatest trait should be flexibility since it is of the
utmost importance to be able to fit in different areas of ESP teaching without any kind of a
specific training. In addition, an ESP teacher should be very skilful so that he/she can be able
to create the appropriate needs analysis and material that is required for a learner-centred
approach.

2. Business English

Throughout the years, English has become an international language. The growth of
this language has been caused by a vast usage of it among the non-native speakers in the
business fields. It has become ‘lingua franca’. The reason for this is the development of the
economy and technology, so people who are in business choose English as the easiest way to
negotiate, make deals and exchange the knowledge and information.

People who want to learn BE are mostly familiar with the terms they need. One of the
biggest obstacles that they usually encounter is the lack of using the correct, professional
phrases related to their area of expertise. Therefore, that is the major reason why people in

14
business opt for such courses since they need an ESP course that would satisfy their
professional needs. With a BE course, they can achieve their goals and foster their language
competence by learning the key words and phrases that they would benefit from in future
career.

2.1. History and definition of Business English

The approach to teaching BE has changed over the past few decades. BE became one
of the biggest topics in the 60s and 70s as it was obviously different from GE. At the
beginning, it was all about reading about various business topics. On the contrary, the actual
practice and using the language in real life situations wasn’t present at all. Later, in the late
70s and early 80s the focused moved to teaching the necessary expressions and vocabulary
needed for meeting, making decisions, negotiating etc. Only in the late 80s did the focus
move to teaching BE by focusing on speaking skills. As a result, this kind of approach has
been used in the past twenty years and has shown a great improvement in learning the
language and actually using it in the professional, real life situations.

Business English has definitely emerged as the biggest field of ESP. It is very difficult
to define it in linguistic terms since according to Ellis and Johnson (1994), Business English
can be defined as “a specific language corpus with the emphasis on particular kinds of
communication in a specific context, the business context” (p.3). It can refer to different areas
such as: finance, meetings and conferences, marketing, economy etc. Consequently, the
vocabulary, grammar and phrases differ from area to area and that is why it is vital to be
specific when it comes to teaching BE as the main focus in teaching BE is to satisfy learners’
needs and to help them achieve their professional goals.

2.2. Motivational aspects in learning Business English

I have had many students in business learning EGP because of their lower level of
proficiency, and the first question I hear is:” When are we going to learn Business English?”.
I have always wondered why they ask such question since I find BE more demanding than GE
for those learners who are lower levels. When I started reading more about this topic, I
realized that students felt more motivated when they were learning ESP. Especially while
learning BE, as the biggest reason for learning English at all it is due to their professional
development at work.

15
 It is believed by Dudley Evans and St. John (1998) that “the biggest advantage of ESP
courses is that students feel like there is no waste of time in learning English language. The
focus is on the targeted vocabulary, phrases and grammar and students feel more motivated
and eager to learn the language. Generally speaking, this is true, the focused nature of the
teaching, its relevance and cost-effectiveness ensure that its aims are widely accepted by
learners.” (p.10).

Students who are in desperate need of learning BE neglect any kind of vocabulary or
grammar that is not adequate for their area of expertise and that is why an ESP teacher needs
to be as specific as possible to keep students motivated and focused. Sticking to the context
they are interested in may enhance learners’ motivation even more since they believe they are
on the right track.

2.3. Needs Analysis in teaching Business English

A needs analysis is a necessary tool for any teacher who is supposed to teach a BE
course. There is no unique course which would fit anyone’s needs. According to Frendo
(2005) “The basic aim of needs analysis is to collect, and examine critically, information
about the current situation, in other words, where the learners are before teaching begins, and
the target situation, which is where they would like to be at the end of teaching.
Understanding the difference (the training gap) between these two situations leads to the
course design.” (p.15) Therefore, a teacher should create a needs analysis so that he/she could
get the real image where the students are and where they need to be in future.

On the other hand, Nunan (1988) classified needs analysis by using two terms -
“Objective” and “Subjective” needs (p.18). As explained by Nunan (1988), “Objective data is
that factual information which does not require the attitudes and views of the learners to be
taken into account. Thus, biographical information on age, nationality, home language, etc. is
said to be „objective‟. Subjective information, on the other hand, reflects the perceptions,
goals, and priorities of the learner. It will include, among other things, information on why the
learner has undertaken to learn a second language, and the classroom tasks and activities
which the learner prefers.” (ibid.)
A teacher who conducts needs analysis is supposed to have these differences in mind
and to incorporate all the necessary questions into the questionnaire. Having collected the
results that are detailed, authentic and trustworthy, a teacher should be capable of designing
the course which will meet all the criteria required for the students’ professional development.

16
 2.4. Course design

Back in the 1960s, BE course books were different from GE course books only
because of the vocabulary included. The emphasis was on a theoretical knowledge, rather than
on practical knowledge. As people started using more computers and modern technology,
course books began to change. They started putting the emphasis on different skills such as
writing, reading, listening and communication skills. The topics of course books became more
realistic and oriented towards real life situations. The topics that have become more popular
are: negotiating, agreeing and disagreeing, making deals, writing an email, presenting, giving
opinions etc.

Ellis and Johnson (1994) suggested a few guidelines when it comes to designing an
appropriate course tailored according to the learners’ needs:

1)Needs analysis: what do students need to know in order to face the requirements of their
future job environment?

2) Assessment of level: using written tests, we can see what level of language students have
at the beginning of the course.

3) Syllabus: set courses, like the ones taught in colleges, should have fixed objectives and
syllabus.
4) Course objectives: should be defined in relation to the needs analysis findings; in the case
of pre-experience learners they can be worded in terms of their course of study or in terms of
required language improvement (command of structures, functions etc.)
5) Time: in the case of college language training, time is limited so the course should be
structured according to the duration (number of weeks, semesters etc.).
6) Learner expectations: in the case of Business English, learners are likely to be more
goal-orientated and to expect success.
7) Evaluation of progress: written or oral examination, dependent on particular
circumstances. (p.10-13)
Taking into consideration all of the abovementioned guidelines, designing an ESP
course is not an easy task for a teacher. It is of the utmost importance to find an appropriate
course book which covers all necessary skills for the professional development. That is why a

17
teacher should include authentic material which can boost learners’ motivation. According to
Frendo (2005), as students are familiar with their area of expertise the best, “a teacher should
use them as the greatest source of authentic material.“ (p.50). Students can include real life
emails, simulate real phone calls, meeting, negotiations etc. since those are situations which
they encounter every day at work. This will help teacher incorporate all the necessary
elements in a classroom and meet their expectations.

2.5. The role of a teacher in a BE classroom

When teaching GE, a teacher is a dominant person who knows more about the
grammar, theory and the subject than his/her students. On the other hand, when teaching a
specifically designed course like BE, it may happen that the students become more dominant
as they are more familiar with their job and content than a teacher. Thus, a Business English
teacher must be eager to learn and prepare himself for each class as he may seem
unprofessional to the students which can contribute to the students’ lack of respect for a
teacher, motivation and so on.
It is believed by Frendo (2005) that „Many teachers call themselves trainers, coaches
and even consultants.“ (p.5) Frendo (2005) justifies these terms by saying that:
“1. Training is job-orieneted, while teaching is person-oriented. Thus, whereas a
language teacher is helping a student to learn a language for variety (often unspecified)
purposes, a trainer is training them to behave – both lingusitically and pragmatically – in a
certain way.
2. A coach is someone who can help the learner take advantage of the learning
opportunities in their own working environment. It involves helping the learner to better
understand his or her own strengths and weaknesses, and plan accordingly. This is related to
the concept of learner autonomy, where the learners take full responsibility for his or her
learning.
3.Many freelance teachers operate as consultants; they market themselves in order to
gain success to a potential client, they discuss contracts, they carry out needs analysis, interact
not only with learners but also with those who make decision to pay for language training
services, and they evaluate training delivery and outcomes.“ (ibid.)
As you could see from the abovementioned text, a Business English teacher has a
much more challenging role than a GE teacher. In fact, he/she has multiple roles. A BE
teacher must satisfy students’ needs by designing the curriculum that is relevant to them, that

18
will keep them motivated, that will make them feel like they are progressing. Moreover,
he/she must prepare for each class in order not to show unprofessionalism since the topics
may be unfamiliar. Finally, a teacher must interact both with students and those who pay for
the language training services. There is more pressure when compared to a GE course, but it
is definitely more demanding and better for a teacher’s professional development.

3. Communicative Approach
In the past, grammar and vocabulary were taught as crucial tools when it comes to
teaching speaking skills. A teacher would teach the vocabulary and grammar which students
would translate and try to connect to their native language. Throught the years, this Grammar-
Translation Method turned out as an ineffective one since learning a language and being able
to speak it is not the same. Luckily, CA has emerged as a revoluitonary method when it comes
to learning languages in order to develop listening and speaking skills and it has been
approved by many linguists and teachers throught the world.

3.1. History and definition of Communicative Approach

According to Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (1985), Communicative
Approach is „an approach to foreign or second language teaching, which emphasizes the goal
of language learning is to develop communicative competence“ (p.48). Another term for
Communicative Approach is Communicative Language Teaching. It is believed by Richards
and Rodgers (1986) that “The origins of CLT are to be found in the changes in the British
language teaching tradition dating from the 1960s” (p. 64).
The reason why this method emerged as the most effective is due to using the
language in a meaningful way, rather than focusing on grammar rules. The focus is on
learning a language in a social-cultural context. This means that a student focuses on learning
grammar through learning patterns, the ways of interaction so that he/she can be able to speak
in a real world, not only in classroom conditions. This method takes into consideration the
needs of a learner and a goal that he/she needs to achieve. Moreover, unlike the traditional
Grammar-Translation Method which focuses on gaining the knowledge, but without being
able to actually use it in a real world, CA focuses on boosting the listening and speaking
skills which are vital for fostering English in a real life situations.

19
 3.2. Features of Communicative Approach
The basic fatures of Communicative Language Teaching are pointed out by
Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983) as following:
Meaning is paramount
Dialogs, if used, center around communicative functions and are not normally
memorized
Contextualization is a basic premise
Language learning is learning to communicate
Effective communication is sought
Drilling might occur, but peripherally
Comprehensible pronunciation is sought
Any device which helps the learners is accepted
Attempts to communicate may be encouraged from the very beginning
Judicious use of native language is accepted where feasible
Translation may be used where students need or benefit from it
Reading and writing can start from the first day, if desired
The target linguistic system will be learned best through the process of stuggling to
communicate
Communicative competence is the desired goal
Linguistic variation is a central concept in materials and methodology
Teachers help learners in any way that motivates them to work with the language
Language is created by the individual often through trial and error
Fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal
Students are expected to interact with other people, either in the flesh, through pair and
group work, or in their writings
The teacher cannot know exactly what language the students will use
Intrinsic motivation will spring from an interest in what is being communicated by the
language (p.91-93).
To sum up, these features outline that a language can be successfully learned by using
dialogues in an adequate context that is based on the students’ needs, without the need to use
the native language. The emphasis is on a real life situations and developing the fluency,
which respresents the major problem for the speakers of other languages. By using this

20
approach, such problems can be easily overcome since the teachers motivate and engage the
students in the activities appropriate for their needs and goals.

3.3. Grammar-Translation Method vs. Communicative Approach in

teaching Business English

There have been many debates throughout the years how to learn English in the most
effective way possible. The teachers, linguists and psychologists have tested many different
approaches and how students can benefit from them.

One of the first methods ever, and still very popular in Serbia, is a Grammar-
Translation method. This method has its good sides, but there are many flaws. GTM helps
learner develop the connection between English and his native language by translating and
finding the right equivalents. It can be a good way of connecting grammar rules and
vocabulary, but only if there is a similarity between two languages. If there is no similarity at
all, this method may lead to a complete confusion in a student’s head. By translating grammar
rules and vocabulary, a student is not exposed to a TL. Therefore, there is no natural input.
Even though a student can acquire grammar rules easily and learn vocabulary effectively, it
doesn’t mean that he will be able to use it while speaking.

This method lacks in practicing speaking skills, which is the most important thing
when it comes to learning BE. The students who want to learn BE, they want to learn it so that
they could be able to develop their professional skills. Even though writing an e-mail may be
an easy task for them, the communication would remain on a low level since speaking was not
practised enough.

On the other hand, CA has a completely different impact on a learner. It promotes

activating the existing knowledge by practicing it through different speaking activities.
According to Jacobs and Farrell (2001), the communicative approach focuses mainly upon: 1)
greater attention on the role of the learners than on the external stimuli learners; 2) greater
attention on the learning process rather than on the products; 3) greater attention on the social
nature of learning rather than on students as separate, decontextualized individuals; and so
on. (p.5)
In the end, Communicative Approach creates a positive-learning atmosphere, paying
attention to the activation of the knowledge in order to create interaction and communication.

21
Moreover, by being exposed to a TL, students may feel that they are improving and their
motivation and the outcomes may exceed their expectations.

3.4. The role of a teacher in a CA classroom

Unlike the traditional, old-fashioned method, the main goal of a CA teacher is to

develop a positive-learning atmosphere where communication and fluency are essential.
Since this is a learner-centred method, according to Galloway (1993), “the teacher sets up the
exercise, but because the students' performance is the goal, the teacher must step back and
observe, sometimes acting as referee or monitor” (p.189). Teachers should be less dominant,
providing a real life atmosphere for students as they won’t be able to correct them whenever
students speak English. From my experience, this may surprise the students at first and create
a quiet atmosphere as many of them haven’t encountered this kind of approach, but as soon as
teacher continues encouraging them by giving them the opportunity to speak freely and
pointing out how important it is to learn by making the msitakes, students will get accustomed
to this kind of method, feel more confident and feel the improvement. The more you praise
your students, the more motivation they have. By providing them with the opportunity to
actually practice real life situations oriented towards their needs, students have a chance to
practice spoken language, rather than grammatical functions. Therefore, this approach creates
a positive-learning atmopshere that is beneficial for all those students who are insecure and
who want to overcome the fear of speaking English freely, without translating what they want
to say word for word.

By using pair work and group work, a teacher enables students to develop social skills
and to feel less ashamed when they want to ask something or make a mistake. Moreover, they
can come up with a mutual idea, questions or even help a teacher by choosing something that
could fit their needs more. Step by step, the students are in charge of a class with a teacher
who observes everything without interfering and who is there to guide them and facilitate the
learning process.

4. Speaking skills
There are four major skills that are necessary for learning English language: reading,
listening, writing and speaking skills. They are divided into two groups: productive and
receptive skills. Reading and listening are receptive, whereas speaking and writing are

22
productive skills. I will focus on productive skills since they include the production of a
language, which is a much more difficult task for the students. Nevertheless, Ur (1996)
emphasizes that “ Of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking
seems intuitively the most important: people who know a language are referred to as
„speakers‟ of that language, as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing; and many if
not most foreign languages learners are primarily interested in learning to speak.“ (p.120)

4.1. Reasons for teaching speaking

Speaking has always been the skill that all language learners want to be good at.
Unfortunately, many people forget that acquiring this skill is the most complicated process
which includes a lot of practice and exposure to the language.Therefore, the teachers should
be the ones who foster practicing this skill since it is a priority for many students. Luckily for
students, the teachers recognized that this skill has become more and more necessary for
many job vacancies and they oriented their lessons towards fostering that skill.
Reasons for a higher demand for learning speaking are various. As per Dakowska
(2005), “ speaking is now the most emphasized skill in the field of foreign language teaching,
but unfortunately, it is also recognised as the most difficult one to develop in classroom
conditions.“ (p. 231) During the class, the exposure to the language is maximized and the
target language is constantly used. For students who don’t use language at work or at school,
it is very challenging to use the language in real-life situations. Teachers usually have to
design more tasks for such students and incorporate as much real-life sitations as possible. On
the other hand, the students who work and use English at work have the opportunity to use the
practiced language in many authentic situations. This will lead them to having even more
motivation for learning since they see the “product“ right away. By developing genuine
situations, they achieve their goal that they set even before starting a course.

4.2. Accuracy vs. Fluency in developing Speaking Skills

There is a great distinction between the accuracy and fluency in developing speaking
skills. When a teacher focuses on accuracy, he/she corrects the student and creates a
controlled practice. The aim is to avoid making the mistakes in future by correcting them on
the spur of the moment. As reported by Harmer (2001) “when students are involved in
accuracy work it is part of the teacher‟s function to point out and correct the mistakes
students are making” (p. 105). He further names this „teacher intervention‟ (ibid.). This kind

23
of learning enivronment is not natural and genuine and may cause a lower self-esteem since a
student is being discouraged all the time.
On the contrary, when a teacher focuses on fluency, he provides a student with a
delayed feedback which happens right after a student finishes his speaking task. This creates a
more real-life, natural and authentic situation where a student feels relaxed and boosts his
self-esteem. A teacher is more like an observer in such situation and a delayed feedback
provides a student with all mistakes in the end, instead of interrupting him all the time while
speaking. Harmer (2001) concludes that “During communicative activities, however, it is
generally felt that teachers should not interrupt students in mid-flow to point out a
grammatical, lexical or pronunciation error, since to do so interrupts the communication and
drags an activity back to the study of language form or precise meaning. “(ibid.).

4.3. Communicative Approach in Teaching Speaking

In the past, the way of teaching English was far more different than it is today. People
thought that knowing grammar and vocabulary was crucial for speaking. But, as Thornbury
(2005) points out “ It is generally accepted that knowing a language and being able to speak it
are not synonymous.“ (p. iv)
Using the old GTM has turned out as an ineffective one. As TTT (Teacher’s Talking
Time) is maximized by constantly translating and explaining grammar points, students don’t
have the opportunity to practice the language. All they get is a presentation of certain
vocabulary and grammar without actually using it. Unfortunately, this kind of method is still
present in many language schools in Serbia and students are deprived of a better approach that
will lead them to becoming more proficient in English language.
Luckily, teachers have become fond of CA in the past few decades. Moreover, there
are many schools in Serbia that use this kind of approach while teaching. I have the
opportunity to work in such school and I had a special training that enabled me to see what
kind of effect it has on students. At first, they become a little suspicious since there is no
traditional way of learning grammar. The point is to learn the grammar as a means of
communication, to use it as a tool that will help you to communicate a message. The focus is
on practicing the presented grammar points using real-life situations or simulations which
prepare students for their tasks or situations in future.
From my point of view, it is also easier for a teacher to use CA since there are so many
role-play cards that are available now. A teacher’s task should be to present vocabulary and

24
grammar points well, then drill students and let them practice alone before the final stage
where a teacher just observes students and enjoys the performance.

4.4. Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activity

There are many factor that can contribute to a successful speaking class. According to
Ur (1996), the characteristics are following:
“1. Learners talk a lot.
As much as possible of the period of time allotted to the activity is in fact occupied by
learner talk. This may seem obvious, but often most time is taken up with teacher talk or
pauses.
2. Participation is even.
Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talkative participants: all get a
chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed.
3. Motivation is high.
Learners are eager to speak: because they are interested in topic and have something
new to say about it, or just because they want to contribute to achieving a task objective.
4. Language is of an acceptable level.
Learners express themselves in utterance that is relevant, easily comprehensive to each
other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy.“ (p.120)

4.5. Problems with Speaking Activities

Not every speaking activity can be conducted perfectly. There are various problems
that learner may encounter. As per Ur (1996), possible problems could be:
1. Inhibition
Unlike reading, writing and listening activities, speaking requires some real time
exposures to an audience. Learners are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign
language in the classroom, such as worried about mistakes, fearful of criticism, or shy of the
attention that their speech attracts.
2. The lack of theme to be spoken
Some learners get the difficulties in thinking of anything to say, they have no
motivation to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking.
3. The low participation

25
 Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard. In a large group, this
means that each one will have only very little time to talk. This problem is compounded by
the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others speak very little or not at all.
4. The use of mother tongue
In a number of classes, the learners share the same mother tongue. They may tend to
use it because of some reasons. Firstly, it is easier. Secondly, it feels unnatural to speak to one
another in a foreign language. The last, they feel less “exposed” if they are speaking their
mother tongue. If they are talking in small groups, it can be quite difficult to keep using the
target language.“ (p.121)
4.6. Solutions for the Problems of Speaking Activities
Where there are problems, there are always solutions which can help a teacher
organize speaking activities better. Ur (1996) stated that in such situations it is vital to:
“1. Use group work
This increases the sheer amount of student talk going on in a limited period of time
and also lowers the inhibitions of students who are unwilling to speak in front of the full class.
It is true that group work means the teacher can not supervise all students speech, so that not
all utterances will be correct, and students may occasionally slip into their native language;
nevertheless, even taking into consideration occasional mistakes and mother tongue use, the
amount of time remaining for positive, useful oral practice is still likely to be far more than in
the full-class-set up.
2. Base the activity on easy language
In general, the level of the language needed for a discussion should be lower than used
in intensive language learning activities in the same class. It should be easily recalled and
produced by the participants, so that they can speak fluently with the minimum of hesitation.
It is a good idea to teach or review essential vocabulary before the activity starts.
3. Make a careful choice of topic and task to stimulate interest.
On the whole, the clearer the purpose of the discussion the more motivated
participants will be. A good topic is one which students can relate using ideas from their own
experience and knowledge. It should also represent a genuine controversy. Some questions or
suggested lines of thought can help to stimulate discussion. A task is essentially goal-oriented.
It requires the group, or pair, to achieve an objective that is usually expressed by an
observable xxxi result such as brief notes or lists, a rearrangement of jumbled items, a
drawing, and a spoken summary.

26
 4. Give some instruction or training in discussion skills
If the task is based on group discussion then include instructions about participation
when introducing it. For example, tell students to make sure that everyone the group
contributes to the discussion appoints a chairperson to each group who will regulate
participation.
5. Keep students speaking the target language
Teachers might appoint one of the groups as monitor, whose job is to remind
participants to use the target language, and perhaps report later to teacher how well the group
managed to keep it. Even if there is no actual penalty attached, the very awareness that
someone is monitoring such lapses helps participants to be more careful.“ (p.121-122)

27
 -Chapter three-

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. Introduction
Having rewieved the literature on Business English teaching, the importance of
teaching speaking skills and using the Communicative Approach, I have conducted a research
that will state what students think about the different ways of developing their speaking skills
at work, what they didn’t like during their previous courses and how can teachers enhance
students’ speaking skills while teaching Business English.
This study aims at evaluating how speaking skills can be fostered the best and the
questions are designed according to the students’ needs, which is the main factor in every ESP
course. The study itself depends on a quantative data collection method. I have chosen a
questionnaire which contains different types of questions in order to get both reliable
quantitive data and opinions regarding the matter that is being investigated. In the end, the
findings are compared with the research hypothesis in order to prove the hypothesis true or
false.

2. Description of the Study Setting and Participants

The study was conducted in Belgrade as I wanted to focus only on Serbian students
and the development of their speaking skills. As an English Teacher, I have taught in many
international companies and the problems that I have encountered there regarding the teaching
methods have encouraged me to conduct this kind of research.
A total of 33 employees working in different departments are involved in this research.
The research was conducted online and the participants are the employees from the following
companies in Belgrade: ’Atlas Copco’, ’Delhaize’, ’Robert Bosch’, ’Enjoy.ing’, ’Erste bank’,
’Euronet worldwide’, ’FIS’, ’Holycode’, ’GSP Beograd’, ’Key to Steel’, ’Liebherr’, ’Mk
Group’, ’Love Freightways’, ’NCR’, ’National Bank of Serbia’, ’Nelt’, ’PC Digital’ and
’Philip Morris International’. The participants work in different departments such as:
Accounting, Administrative, Customer Service, Legal, Sales, Finance, Engineering, IT,

28
Logistics, Photography, Procurement and Light designing. The most participants were in the
IT (35%), Customer Service (16%) and Logistics (11%) department.

Departments

3%3%3%2%3%
8% 11%

16%

35%
8%
8%

Accounting Administrative Logistics

IT Finance Engineering
Customer service Sales Procurement
Light designing Photography

Figure 1.1. The Ratio of the departments in which participants work

The ratio of gender was 16 female participants (48.5%) and 17 (51.5%) male participants.
The participants were selected randomly. The number of males outnumber the number of
females as there are generally more men in business industry than women.

Frequency
52
51.5
51.5
51
50.5
50
49.5
49
48.5
48.5
48
47.5
47
Male Female

1.2. The ratio of Male and Female Participants

29
 3. The Data Collection Instrument
An online questionnaire is used as a main tool for conducting this research.

4. The Questionnaire
A questionnaire or a survey is a way of collecting data from individuals which consists
from a set of questions. It enables us to organize questions and collect the answers without
talking to every participant in person. It saves a lot of time as it is designed for larger groups
of participants. According to Burton and Bartlet (2009): “It is clearly a useful method, if
carefully planned, for gathering responses from a large number of people relatively quickly.
As such, questionnaires may be seen as a useful means of obtaining qualitative data.’’ (p.75)
On the other hand, respondents may answer superficially as they don’t have enough
time to do it or if they are not that interested in the topic. That is why questionnaires shouldn’t
be too long and they should be given to the participants who are willing to give the answers as
honestly as possible. Some students may not want to reveal information as they feel like
giving the answers is a personal thing. Therefore, questionnaires should be anonymous.
4.1. The Aim of the Questionnaire
The aim of this questionnaire is to get into more details about the background of the
issue related to the development of speaking skills for Business English. This questionnaire is
supposed to solve this problem and to provide the students with the solutions related to
improving their speaking skills by using various speaking activities which are necessary for
their future professional development.
4.2. The Language of the Questionnaire
The questionnaire was written in English as students who work in these companies co-
operate with the business partners all over the world and they are able to understand English
well.

4. Analysis of the collected data and discussion

The questionnaire is composed of three parts:
Part 1 – It is vital for collecting the background information about the participants. It
is composed of 7 questions. The aim behind these questions is to get to know the participants
better regarding their sex, workplace, department, how long they have been learning the
language and where and who they speak the lanugage with.

30
 Part 2 – This part is devoted to finding out the participants’ opinion about what they
think is important for developing speaking skills, how good they are at doing certain tasks and
what factors are beneficial for enhancing speaking. It is composed of 4 questions.
Part 3 - The final part is devoted to their personal opinion regarding their previous
experiences with the English language and what they would change in future when it comes to
acquiring speaking skills. It is composed of 4 questions. The purpose is to suggest what kind
of activities are beneficial for enhancing the quality of teaching speaking for professional
development.

Part 1 Questions:

Question 4: How long have you been learning English?

The figure illustrates how long the students have been learning English; 88 % of the
informants have been learning English for more than 5 years, when 9% have been learning
English between 2 and 4 years. Only 3 % of the participants have been learning English for 1
year or less. This points out that a great majority of employees in well-known companies are
in touch with a language for longer period. This result is supported by the outcome of the
next question.

5 years or more 2-4 years

1 year or less

3%
9%

88%

Figure 1.3. The length of learning

English

31
 Question 5: Do you need English for you job?

The chart reflects if the participants need English for their job. Only 9% of them don’t
need English for their job, whereas the majority or 91% of the informants need English for
their job. This result supports the outcome of the previous question as people who work in
large, international and national companies are in need of the English language which is why
they have been learning it for a long period.

Yes. No. Not that much.

9%

91%

Figure 1.4. Participants’ need for the English language

Question 6: Who do you speak English with at work?

As illustrated in the pie chart, only 3% of the participants communicate with native
speakers whereas 38% communicate woth non-native speakers. However, 59% of the
participants use English with both non-native and native speakers. Therefore, the need for
learning Business English and acquiring speaking skills is more than relevant to them.

Both.

Non-native
speakers.

3%

38%

59%

Figure 1.5. Participants’ interlocutors

32
 Question 7: Where do you speak English the most?
The following bar graph illustrates the most frequent situations where English
language is spoken at participants’ workplace. The participants could opt for more than one
option. Those situations are: Via e-mail (70.6%), in the meeting (50%) and on the phone
(41.2%). The other cases with the same percentage were: speaking with colleagues, speaking
with a boss r managers and with clients (38,2%). Using the computer in general had a ratio of
of 29,4%, and 2.9 % of participants opted for ’all of the above’ option. Therefore, the most
frequent situations in which language is used are written and spoken situations. Even though
communicating via e-mail is the most chosen option, there are various speaking situations
which are also vital for the participants as speaking is a skill that is more demanding to
acquire.

Figure 1.6. Situations in which participants speak English the most.

Part 2 Questions:
Question 8: What skill is the most important for you in learning Business English?
This chart reflects the participants’ attitude towards the most important skill in
learning Business English. Even though majority of the participants stated that
communication via e-mail is what they do the most at work (Figure 1.4.), the skill that is most
important for the participants is speaking (67.6%). On the second place is writing (20.6%),
whereas listening and reading share the same percentage (5.9%).
This outlines that even though writing e-mails is what employees do the most, the
need for improving speaking skills is what they truly are concerned about. They obviously

33
find writing much easier than speaking, as speaking is a much more complex skill that
involves different factors.

Figure 1.7. Important kills for learning Business English

Question 9: How good are you at doing these tasks at work?

How good are you at doing these tasks at work?

formal letters 1 3 4 12
talking to colleagues 1 1 3 13
15
note-taking at meetings 0 4 3 13
writing emails 1 2 1 18
14 8
negotiating 0 4
8 15
attending meetings 1 2 4 18
reporting to… 1 1 6 14 3
dealing with visitors 1 3 2 14 12
talking to clients 1 1 5 14 11
giving presentation 0 4 19 13
6
0 18 7
5
10
I can't do this at all. 15 5
20
25
I try, but I'm not very good. 30
35
I can do it, but I make a lot of mistakes.I can do it, but I make a lot of mistakes.
I'm quite good at this, I don't make many mistakes
I'm very good at this, I hardly make any mistakes.
Figure 1.8. Evaluation of doing tasks at work in English

This bar illustrates participants’ opinion on how good they are at doing certain tasks at
work. They had to evaluate their skills at work. This contributed to my thesis as I wanted to
see what the biggest problem for them at their workplace is. According to this bar, the
participants don’t feel confident in giving presentations, talking to clients, dealing with

34
visitors, negotiating, writing formal letters and note-taking at meetings. This outlines that their
English courses weren’t adapted to their needs, as language skills for these situations are of
the utmost importance for their professional development. If they can’t manage to do this
tasks at all, or they try but they are not very good, this shows that there was a certain lack of
practice for these participants during theor previous learning of English language.

Question 10: According to you, what would be the best way to improve speaking in
English at work?

Practice speaking Watch more Read more books.

skills which are movies 1%
designed for your related to
needs. business.
22% 5% Reading in
general.
13%

Have a teacher
who will motivate
you.
4%

Talk to the
Attend Business colleagues from
English course abroad.
which focuses on 29%
using real-life
situations.
26%
Figure 1.9. Ways of improving speaking in English at work

As it is obviously evident from the chart, the best way to improve speaking English a
work as per informants is by talking to the colleagues from abroad (29%), attending Business
English course which focuses on using real-life situations (26%) and practicing speaking
skills which are designed for their needs (22%). This outcome illustrates that students are
aware of what they really need in order to enhance their speaking skills. This is also one of the
crucial questions in my research as it is based on the ways of developing speaking
skills,which will be introduced in details in the next chapter.

35
 Question 11: In order to speak English well, how important is it to...?
This bar shows employees’ opinion about how certain factors are beneficial to
speaking English well. They evaluated the importance of various tasks and they feel that
having a teacher who will let you speak more,using and practice real-life situations, talking
only in English, being motivated and coming to classes regularly are the most important
things when it comes to speaking English well. On the contrary, they find that focusing on
grammar, translating from English to Serbian and vice versa and working on pronunciation
are the least important factors when acquiring speaking skills in English. This result is crucial
for my research as it focuses on students’ need which are vital for designing speaking
activities.

IN ORDER TO SPEAK ENGLISH WELL, HOW

IMPORTANT IT IS TO:
very impotant important I don’t know. not that important not important at all.

HAVE A TEACHER WHO WILL LET YOU SPEAK MORE 18 11 1 3

FOCUS MORE ON GRAMMAR 5 13 4 10 1

DO EXTRA MATERIAL AT HOME 7 16 8 11

WORK ON PRONUNCIATION 14 14 1 4

LEARN BY MAKING MISTAKES 11 13 8 1

TRANSLATE ENGLISH TO SERBIAN AND VICE VERSA 11 10 6 5 1

LEARN ENGLISH THROUGH PHRASES AND IDIOMS 14 14 5

BE MOTIVATED 19 10 3 1

USE MATERIAL DESIGNED FOR YOUR NEEDS 14 13 5 1

USE AND PRACTICE REAL LIFE SITUATIONS 29 4

TALK ONLY IN ENGLISH 26 7

COME TO CLASSES REGULARLY 18 14 1

DO HOMEWORK 11 18 3 1

Figure 1.10. The importance of certain factors in order to speak English well

Part 3 Questions:

Question 12: Were you satisfied with previous English courses?

As it can be noticed from the following bar, the percentage of participants who were
satisfied and who chose the option ’It was OK.’ is the same (41.2%). On the contrary, the
percentage of people who were very satisfied with previous courses is 17.6%.

36
 Figure 1.11. Participants’ satisfaction with previous courses

Question 13: Why didn’t you like previous English courses?

This bar shows the reasons why participants didn’t like previous courses. They could
opt for more options. The majority of participants said that the biggest flaw was that a teacher
focused on grammar too much. Again, this supports the answers from the previous question
nr. 10. Furthermore, they think that activities weren’t designed for what they needed and that
they didn’t use real-life situations. The reason that they chose the least was that a teacher
corrected them all the time. This can mean that some students think that correcting them all
the time is beneficial for them
16 15
14 13 13
12 11
10 9
8 6
6
4
2
0
A teacher A teacher didn't The activities We didn’t use A teacher was A teacher was
focused on give us the weren;t real-life using Serbian correcting us all
grammar too opportunity to designed for situations. too much. the time
much. speak up. what I needed.

Figure 1.12. The reasons for disliking previous English courses

37
 Question 14: What would be a perfect Business English course for you?

The participants could opt for different options which are stated in the chart below.
According to the participants, a perfect English course should include: more real life
situations and role plays, more accent on speaking, speaking only in English and more
vocabulary that is related to business and their profesional needs. This result coincides with
their opinion about how speaking in English can be improved the best and what factors are the
most important in speaking English.

There should be a lot of reading and homework.

9

The focus shouldn't be on grammar.

10

Serbian shouldn’t be used in class.

17
There should be more real life situations and role
plays. 26
Speaking should be practiced through phrases
necessary for professioanal development. 13
A course should have more vocabulary related to
business. 15
A teacher should bring more material related to
business. 11

A teacher should correct student all the time.

7

The accent should be more on speaking.

25
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Figure 1.13. Participants’ view of a perfect Business English course

Question 15: What would you like to change or add to the next Business English
course?

This question states participants’ opinion about their Business English courses in
future and what they would like to change. The participants’ answers are more or less similar.
Three participants think that the language is learned the best when there are not many
students, as the activities are getting slower if the group is too large. The majority of
employees, ten of them, believe that focus should be more on real-life situations and role
plays. This implies that students love being involved in their lesson, rather than listening to
the teacher speaking all the time. One participant states that there should be more real-life
situations with a focus on grammar and tenses related to the topic. Therefore, they are in need
not only to practice the situations, but also to have a clear grammar structure that is beneficial

38
to their professional development. Five participants believe that there should be more student
speaking time and that only English language should be spoken. Thus, students are in
desperate need of using the language instead of just listening to it and a teacher should enable
them to practice the language as much as possible. One of the employees says that teachers
should focus on fluency and speaking, much more than on correcting grammar mistakes. It is
important to correct students, but what is more important is to make them able and free to
communicate.’This implies that a teacher should make a difference between what is a good
mistake correction and what is not. Therefore, it is much better to correct the students when
they finish with their speaking, than while they are speaking. Also, one of them believes that
expanding new vocabulary related to business is very important for professional development.
Consequently, a teacher is about to provide students with the necessary vocabulary as much as
possible. One of the employees suggests that teachers should make the course fun and that
they could make use of interesting YouTube videos that are in English. Moreover, this
indicates that students are eager to explore the language in a completely new way as they are
probably sick and tired of dull coursebooks. Teacher should bring authentic material and
make classes interesting and goal-oriented so that students feel like they really are enhancing
their speaking skills. And finally, one of the participants thinks that there should be more
emphasis on pronunciation. This correlates with the correction, which means that teachers
shouldn’t neglect the right pronunciation and that it should be also corrected when the
speaking task is over.

5. Findings for Research Hypothesis

The findings that were collected are to confirm or refute the following
hypothesis mentioned in these chapter:
Hypothesis 1: Role plays and simulations that trigger real-life situations are extremely
beneficial to the employees as they help them experience the language to the fullest.

From the data collected via questionnaire, the results shows that the majority of
employees ( 30,3%) do believe that using real-life situations contribute to their speaking
skills and using the language more freely. In fact, one of the participants says that the focus
should be more on fluency and speaking, rather than on grammar.

Hypothesis 2: Teaching speaking via Communicative Approach offers better

possibilities for the development of speaking skills as the English language is used all the

39
time, the focus isn’t on grammar and students are given more time to speak freely and
expriment with the language.
According to the data form this survey, many informants share the opinion that
English should be used all the time while learning the English language and that the focus
shouldn’t be on grammar. Moreover, one of the participants states that the focus should be on
fluency and speaking, much more than on correcting grammar mistakes. Students also say that
they didn’t like their previous courses because they focused in grammar too much.
On the other hand, some employees said that the focus should be on grammar, but not
any grammar. The grammar should be definitely related to the topic that is being covered in
class. Therefore, there should be a clear goal about what grammar points are going to be
taught and how they are beneficial for students in their professional development.
Hypothesis 3: Activities should be tailored to students needs instead of using course
books which contain grammar and vocabulary that may not meet the students’ expectations.
As outlined in this research, a majority of participants imply that the material for
speaking activities should be designed in a much different way by using the authentic material
that is relevant to their professions. One of the employees suggests that teachers should make
the course fun and that they could make use of interesting YouTube videos that are in English.
Therefore, this information shows that students are looking for engaging activities which will
make them feel like they are actually doing something for themselves with a clear goal that is
tailored to their needs. Students are deprived of great authentic material and are given dull
course books that are way too general and insuffient for developing their speaking skills.
6. Conclusion
Apparently, according to these data results, students are aware that there are better
ways of practicing speaking for business purposes. Thus, teachers should focus more on using
the material that is relevant to their professional development in order to trigger their interest
into the topic. Moreover, the activities should have a clear goal and purpose. Students should
experience and practice more real-life situations through role plays and simulations as this
will help them enhance their speaking skills in future. Teacher should also focus more on
fluency and provide students with spontaneous conversations instead on focusing on
grammar, as this is what students are dissatisfied with the most. According to the participants.
the mistakes shouldn’t be pointed out until the end of the activity. The aim is to help students
overcome their fears when it comes to the speaking, not deprive them of the opportunities to
speak up.

40
 -Chapter four-

Communicative Activities for Developing Speaking Skills in

Teaching Business English
Here are some communicative activities that can contribute to developing speaking
skills in Business English:

1. Surveys

Surveys are excellent for enhancing speaking skills as students are walking around the
classroom, looking for the answers to the questions in the survey and they are more motivated
as the interaction in class is on a very high level. Moreover, students don’t have a feeling that
they are in class as this represents a situation that they can encounter during meetings,
business formal parties and while meeting new business partners or colleagues. The survey
can be accustomed to any kind of business context and it should have a clear goal so that
students don’t find it as a waste of time.

Example:

Students should interview each other about their satisfaction with the company they
work for or one they worked for in the past. Pairs should first work together to create five
interview questions. Then they should interview each other. Students should afterwards
present what their interviewees said.

2. Information Gap Activities

This kind of activity can be adapted to any kind of business aspect that is relevant for
the students. As the name itself says, there is a piece of information that is missing. Students
are missing the information they need and they need to talk to each other to find the
information in order to complete the task. What is more, this activity promotes students
talking time and is a typical real life situation that students may encounter with their clients or
among them.

41
 Example:

Students should read their texts about the company “Johnson & Johnson” and they
should get the missing information by asking their partners the corresponding questions. They
should use the prompts that are written on the worksheets. (See Appendix 2)

3. Jigsaw Activities

This activity is similar to information gap activity. The difference is that students are
divided into groups and each group has some kind of information that is vital for completing
the task. Therefore, for this activity co-operation is crucial as whole class must work together.
In addition, students are communicating meaningfully with a clear goal and again they are
experiencing real life situations. Also, they can benefit from this activity at their companies
during some trainings, or meetings or when they have to solve some kind of a problem or a
task etc.

Example:

This activity can be used while teaching new vocabulary. A teacher can divide
students in 3 groups, depending on the size of a class. Three people per group would be
perfect. A teacher gives each group around 5 words and each group needs to find the right
definition of a word, draw a picture of it and write a sentence that includes this word. When
the groups finish their tasks, group members should mingle so that there are always 3
different members from each previous group. They should read the definitions and sentences
and show illustrations to other members in a current group. When all members learn new
words, they should return to their previous groups. The understanding can be checked via quiz
designed by a teacher. A winner is the group that has the best score. This way of engaging the
students into learning new words enables them to actively use the new language and acquire it
without even noticing it.

4. Role Play Activities

Role play is very important when it comes to developing speaking skills. It helps
students to practice the target language in different social contexts that they may encounter in
real life situations. Moreover, it enables students to boost their confidence in future when they
are in similar situations. For instance, students may be asked to perform some kind of a
dialogue in a specific social context. This enables them to perform better in a particular social
context and to overcome their fear of not being able to use the language properly. It develops

42
fluency, promotes motivation and interaction in the classroom. Students are given cards with
their roles on them or a teacher adapts the roles according to the context.

Example:

You are a sales manager and you are meeting your boss, the sales director, to request two
more members of staff for your team. You have made a note of some of the benefits that can
be expected if you get the new staff. Use conditional sentences to explain to the sales director
what he/she can expect if your team is increased by two new salespeople.

 Increase overall sales

 Provide better service for important clients
 Find more new customers
 Get more money from existing customers

5. Simulation

This activity represents a large scale role play activity. Students are given cards and
each of them has different roles. The difference is that they have background information.
Therefore, the intention is to create a much more complex situation. Students also don’t have
a written dialogue, so they need to act out what they want to say. This activity is usually for
more advanced students. They can act out many various real life situations such as meetings,
solving tasks, working on a project etc.

Example:

A teacher assigns a role to students without telling them what they need to say.
Students need to create a real life atmosphere and to think on their own. Teacher can divide
the class in two groups, depending on the number of students. One student can be a customer
service representative while others can be clients with various problems. Students can mingle
and change roles so that everyone gets a chance to practice being a customer representative.

6. Discussion

Discussions are very helpful for practicing fluency while speaking as it focuses on
presenting agreements and arguments. In order to make students speak, a teacher should opt
for a topic that is relevant to students’ interests so that everyone has a will to speak up and

43
defend his/her points of view. Students are usually provoked by a quote, question, text that is
related to the topic or audio recording. Hence, they are asked to come up with a final solution.
This enables them to communicate more freely, share their opinions and practice.

Example:

Divide students in two groups or in pairs - for and against. Write the topic on the board
and let them discuss it. Some of the topics can be:

1. Casual dress codes are beneficial for the company.

2. Happy employees do a better job.

3. We need laws to ensure that women receive salaries comparable to their male
counterparts.

If the students work in pairs, let them tell you their points of view.

7. Summarizing

Summarizing is a great way of developing speaking skills as it motivates the students

to use their own words by retelling what they read or heard and it can be tailored to any kind
of professional department. Moreover, it fosters creative thinking, helps the learners to
express their ideas by having a clear structure which they can later use in meetings, writing
reports or e-mails etc. Students learn to differentiate between the introduction, main body and
conclusion.

Example taken from the book “Five Minute Activities for Business English” by Paul
Emmerson and Nick Hammilton (p. 9):

1.10 What’s your background?

Focus Summarising your life and career
Level Elementary – Advanced
Procedure
1 Write up on the board:
What’s your background?
Make sure the students know the meaning of background in this context (the type of
education, work and experience you have had in your life).

44
2 Tell the students that this question is very common when people meet for the first time in a
business situation. To answer it, you need to summarise your whole life in about 30 seconds!
3 Give the students an example of how to answer using your own life and career (or possibly
read out a previous student’s answer). It’s best to make it up spontaneously as you go. In Box
4 there is an example for one of the authors of this book that takes about 30 seconds to say at
normal speaking speed.
4 Tell the students that you want them to do the same. They work in pairs, each telling the
other their background as you did in the demonstration
.Follow-up
To consolidate the activity, the students can work on their background speech for homework.
Then in the next class they perform their speech publicly, and they have to say it without
notes.

Box 4 Example for ‘What’s your background?’

I was born and brought up in London, then I went to university in the north of England. I lived in
Manchester for many years, working as a teacher in community education. In my mid thirties I
moved to Portugal, and I lived in Lisbon, working as a freelance Business English trainer. I did that
for six years. I came back to the UK in 1996, and I’ve had two parallel jobs since then. Over the
summer I teach at International House, London, but most of the year I write books in the field of
Business English. I also do a bit of teacher training.

8. Dialogues

Dialogues are similar to the role play activities as both types of activities imitate real
life situations and acting them out. Dialogues are read aloud and acted out by students. On the
other hand, students need to imagine a role and improvise the situation when doing in role
play activities. Dialogues can be useful for learning small talk, greetings, accepting and
refusing invitations etc.

Example taken from the book the book “Five Minute Activities for Business English”
by Paul Emmerson and Nick Hammilton (p. 40.):

8.1 Taking a message

Focus Practising phone calls
Level Elementary – Intermediate
Procedure

45
1 Write on the board, or photocopy and distribute, the phone dialogue structure in Box 29.
2 Quickly elicit the lines of the dialogue, but students should not write them down (see a
possible version in Box 30).
3 Divide the students into pairs and ask them to sit back-to-back and hold up real or imaginary
mobile phones to their ears. Tell students that the caller should leave a real message and the
receiver should write down the details. Do the role play.
Follow-up
Students do the same activity again, but with a new partner. This time clean the board so they
don’t have any help.

9. Other communicative language games

When people think of teaching Business English to students in international
companies, they may think of a strictly professional learning atmosphere where the focus is
only on learning the language and using it, without having some fun. Meaningful and
purposeful activities are the priority while teaching any sphere of a language, not only
Business English. However, the activities used in class don’t have to be dull and they can
include many interesting games that will enable students to learn what they need in a more
efficient and relaxed way rather than keeping it rigorously professional.
While I was teaching at companies, I encountered positive reactions towards using
games while practicing certain grammar point or vocabulary in a communicative way. One of
their favourite games were board games. They can be found online and they cover many
grammar points and provide students with the possibility to answer the certain questions.
Students throw a dice and they and land on a certain field and they do what is written on the
board game. A teacher can create his own board game on a website www.esl-lounge.com and
adapt it to students’ needs. It creates a relaxing, positive atmosphere and students feel free to
practice what they’ve learned.
Secondly, students can play charades if they want to enhance and practice their
vocabulary. A teacher can download the application called “Charades” on Google Play Store
and can create his own charade according to the vocabulary that was covered in lesson. This
game creates competitive atmosphere, enables them to practice sentences while describing the
word and enables them to take risks and experience the language in a more natural way.
Students enjoy the game as it is both fun and they gain knowledge without being aware of it.
Thirdly, there is a very good website that enables teachers to create quizzes for any
topic they want. The website is: www.kahoot.it and a teacher can create numerous quizzes

46
that can enhance students’ understanding of particular topics. A teacher creates the quiz and
students are competing. The person who is the fastest is the winner of the quiz. Students can
also create a quiz by themselves, which is a good practice for developing question forms.
There are also many other games such as miming where students need to mime words
to each other, describing pictures or words while students sit back to back, chain stories where
one students start the story with the sentence and then the next student needs to add the
sentence mentioning the previous one, the expert game where one student is chosen to be an
expert on a certain topic and other students need to ask him whatever they want about that
topic so he must answer immediately, taboo game where students need to explain the given
word to each other without mentioning the words that are listed on a card etc.
As you can see, there is a multitude of games that can increase students speaking time.
A teacher just needs to adjust the games and activities to students needs so that they can
practice what they do in class. Some of the websites that I use for speaking activities are:
www.busyteacher.org , www.iteslj.org/quesions , www.teachingenglish.org.uk ,
www.en.islcollective.com and many other that you can find online. I would also recommend the
books: “Five Minutes Activities for Business English“ by Paul Emmerson and Nick Hammilton which
has great ideas that could be life-savers if you are out of ideas, “Teach Business English“ by Sylvie
Donna and “How to teach Business English“ by Evan Frendo which focus and give advice on teaching
business speaking skills for specific situations such as negotiations, meetings, talking to clients etc.
and how to select and develop the material.

-Chapter five-

47
 Conclusion
The thesis aimed to present what are the best ways to develop speaking skills by using
CA in teaching Business English. As an English teacher who always seeks for innovative
ways of teaching that will meet students’ needs, I was more than determined to do the
research and get the information straight from the students who work in some international
companies and have attended several BE courses so as to compare how they feel towards the
activities during their classes.

Based on the results of the research which were outlined in this thesis, we could see
that students have positive attitudes towards using communicative speaking activities while
learning Business English. They are all eager to use diverse communicative speaking
activities such as role plays or some other activities that represent real life situations. Most of
the students didn’t like they previous courses as they were focused mostly on grammar and
they weren’t designed according to what they really need for their professional development.
Therefore, majority of students said that they would like to include more real life situations in
their classes and that English lessons should be taught only in English language as this creates
the best learning environment. Many of them also agreed that teacher should focus more on
fluency and letting the students to speak up instead of interrupting them all the time and
correcting them. In my opinion, a successful speaking lesson should incorporate both
accuracy and fluency. After presenting something new to the students, a teacher should
provide them with a controlled practice where he/she would focus on their mistakes and
correcting them. Later, the focus should be more on a less-controlled practice where a teacher
gives more space to the students to speak freely. Finally, a teacher should include a
performance part where he/she would only observe the task and jot down the mistakes. Since
there was a lot of practice before the performance part, students would lessen the possibility
to make mistakes in the final part and they would feel more encouraged.

In order to meet students’ needs, I pointed out as a solution what would be the best
communicative activities that would enhance students’ speaking skills. I chose the activities
that I have used myself in my BE classes and I have seen what kind of impact these speaking
activities have on students. While using these speaking activities students feel more motivated
and they become more involved in learning, they think more intensively which enables them

48
to talk more naturally leaving the anxiety behind, they have more opportunities to act out real
life situations and they are aware of the progress they make.

To sum up, this research has provided me with useful information that I can focus on
in my further teaching experience and research studies. In addition, it has opened many
interesting topics that I can focus on in my future professional development such as focusing
on syllabus design that is in accordance with students’ needs and what trainings should
teachers in Serbia have so that they can enhance their teaching methods and start
implementing them in future.

49
 References

1. Basturkmen, H. (2006) Ideas and Options in English for Specific Purposes.London

and New jersey: ESL and Applied Linguistic Professional Series. Eli Hinkel, Edition.

2. Benyelles, R. (2009) Teaching ESP at Post Graduate Level: Unpublished Doctorate

Thesis. University of Tlemcen.

3. Burton, D. And Bartlett, S. (2009) Key Issues For Education Researchers. SAGE
Publications

4. Dakowska, M. (2005) Teaching English as a foreign language: A guide for

professionals. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

5. Dudley-Evans, A. and A.M. St. John, (1998) Developments in English for Specific Purposes:
A multi-disciplinary approach, Cambridge University Press. Cambridge

6. Ellis, M., & Johnson, C. (1994) Teaching business English. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

7. Emmerson, P. And Hammilton, N. (2005) Five Minute Activities for Business English
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

8. Finocchiaro, M. & Brumfit, C. (1983) The Functional-Notional Approach: From

theory to practice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

9. Frendo, E. (2005) How to teach business English. Pearson: Longman.

10. Galloway, A. (1993) Communicative Language Teaching: An Introduction and

Sample Activities. ERIC
11. Harmer, J. (2001) The practice of English language teaching. Harlow: England
Pearson Education

50
12. Hutchinson, T., and A. Waters, (1987) English for specific purposes: a Learning-
centered Approach. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

13. Jacobs, G.M. and T. Farrell. (2001) Paradigmshift: Understanding and implementing
change in the second language education . TESL-EJ, 5 (1).

14. Javid, Z. C. (2013) English for Specific Purposes: Its Definition, Characteristics,
Scope and Purpose European Journal o Scientific Research. Vol 112 pp.138 – 151

15. Jordan, R. R. (1997) English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for
teachers. New York, Cambridge University Press.

16. Nunan, D. 1988. Syllabus Design. Oxford : Oxford University Press.

17. Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. S. (1986. Approaches and methods in language

teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

18. Richards, J., Platt, J, and Platt, H. (1992) Dictionary of language teaching and applied
linguistics. London: Longman

19. Robinson, P. (1980) English for Specific Purposes.Oxford: Pergamon Press.

20. Robinson, P. (1991) ESP today.UK: Prentice Hall International ltd.

21. Strevens, P.(1988) The Learner and the Teacher of ESP in ESP in the classroom:
Practice and evaluation. Chamberlain and Baumgardener. vol. 6; pp 39-44.

22. Ur, P. (1996) A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press

51
 Appendices

Appendix 1

1.Gender:
 Male
 Female

2.What company do you work in?

3.What department do you work in?

 Accounting  IT
 Administrative  Manufacturing
 Customer Service  Logistics
 Legal  Other:
 Sales
 Finance
 Engineering

4.How long have you been learning English?

 1 year or less
 2-4 years
 5 years or more

5.Do you need English for your job?

 Yes.
 Not that much.
 No.

6.Who do you speak English with at work?

 Native speakers. (izvorni govornici jezika)
 Non-native speakers. (stranci kojima engleski nije maternji)
 Both.

7.Where do you speak English at work? * (stiklirati)

 With colleagues.  In the meetings.
 With a boss or managers.  All of the above.
 On the phone.  Other:
 With clients.
 Via email.
52
8.What skill is the most important for you in learning Business English? *(stiklirati)
 reading  listening
 speaking  writing

9.How good are you at doing these tasks at work? * (Upisite broj 1-5 pored aktivnosti)

1-I can't do this at all  dealing with visitors

2-I try, but I'm not very good.  reporting to managers/directors
3-I can do it, but I make a lot of mistakes.  attending meetings
4-I'm quite good at this, I don't make many  negotiating
mistakes.  writing emails
5-I'm very good at this, I hardly make any  note-taking at meetings
mistakes.
 talking to colleagues
 giving presentation  formal letters
 talking to clients

10.According to you, what would be the best way to improve speaking in English at work?

 Watch more movies related to  Have a teacher who will motivate

business. you all the time.
 Read more books related to  Go on a Business English course
business. that is designed specifically for
 Talk to colleagues from abroad and your needs.
practice English as much as you  Other:
can.
 Attend Business English course
which focuses on using real-life
situations.

11.In order to speak English well, how much important it is to:

1-very important 2-important 3-I don't know. 4-not that important 5-not important at all

 do homework  translate English to Serbian and

 come to classes regularly
 talk only in English
 practice writing letters/emails
 use and practice real life situations
 use material specifically designed
for professional needs
 be motivated
 learn language through phrases and
idioms
vice versa
 learn by making mistakes
 work on pronunciation
 do extra material at home
 focus mostly on grammar
 have a teacher who will give you
the opportunity to speak English
more than him/her

53
12.Were you satisfied with previous English courses?)
 Satisfied.
 It was ok.
 Not satisfied.

13. Why didn't you like previous English courses? *

 A teacher focused on grammar
too much.  A teacher was talking in Serbian
 A teacher didn't give us the all the time.
opportunity to speak up.  A teacher was correcting us all
 The activities weren't designed the time.
for what I needed.  Other:
 We didn't have the opportunity

to act out real life situations.

14.What would be a perfect English course for you?

 The accent should be more on
speaking.
 A teacher shouldn't correct a
student all the time.
 A teacher should bring more
material related to business.
 A course should have more
vocabulary related to business.
 English language should be
learned through phrases
necessary for developing
professional skills.
 There should be more real-life
situations and role plays.
 A teacher should bring more
authentic material such as
emails, newspaper, movies...
Anything that is related to
business vocabulary.
 A teacher should focus more on
the fluency, not on the accuracy.
 There should be no Serbian in
class.
 The focus shouldn't be on
grammar.
 There shouldn't be a lot of
reading and homework.
 Other:

15. What would you like to change or add to the next English language course?

54
Johnson & Johnson

Appendix 2
Student A

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational. It manufactures (1)……………………………………………

…………………………………………….. . The company was founded in 1886.
Johnson & Johnson is headquartered in (2)New Brunswick, New Jersey. The consumer division of
the company is located in (3)………………………………….. The corporation includes (4)250 subsidiary
companies and it operates in (5)…………………………………….. countries.
J&J sells its products in (6)over 175 countries and has worldwide sales of (7)……………………………… .
Johnson & Johnson's brands include (8)numerous household names of medications and first aid
supplies. Its well-known consumer products are (9)……………………………………………………..……………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……..
Its main competitors are (10)Colgate-Palmolive, Pfizer Inc. and Novartis AG.

Get the missing information by asking your partner the corresponding questions. Use the prompts
below:

1. What ………………………………………………………………….……………… manufacture?

3. Where …………………………………………………………..…………….…….……………………..?

5. Where ………………………………………………………………………………………… operate?

7. How much …………………………………………………………….………………………………….?

9. What ………………………………………………………………………………………….……………….?

55
 Johnson & Johnson
Student B

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational. It manufactures (1)medical

devices, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods. The company was
founded in 1886.

Johnson & Johnson is headquartered in (2)…………………………………………………… . The

consumer division of the company is located in (3)Skillman, New Jersey. The
corporation includes (4)………. subsidiary companies and it operates in (5)over 57
countries.
J&J sells its products in (6)……………………………………………. and has worldwide sales of
(7)$65 billion. Johnson & Johnson's brands include
(8)………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………….. . Its well-known consumer products
are (9)the Band-Aid Brand line of bandages, Tylenol medications, Johnson's baby
products, Neutrogena skin and beauty products, Clean & Clear facial wash and
Acuvue contact lenses.

Its main competitors are

(10)………………………………………………………………………………………………………....

Get the missing information by asking your partner the corresponding questions.
Use the prompts below:

2. Where …………………………………………………………headquartered?

4. How many ………………………………..…………….…….……………………..?

6. Where ……………………………………………………………………………………….?

8. What …………………………………………………………….……………………………….……include?

10. Who ………………………………………………………………………………………….……………….?

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