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Oxford University Press

Also published in
Oxford Handbook for Language Teachers

Teaching English Overseas: An Introduction

Sandra Lee McKay
Teaching American English Pronunciation
Peter Avery and Susan Ehrlich
How Languages are Learned
Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada
T eaching
Business English

Mark Ellis and Christine Johnso

Oxford University Press 1994

Oxford University Press
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Oxford and Oxford English are trade marks of
Oxford University Press
ISBN 0 19 437167 0
© Mark Ellis and Christine Johnson 1994

First published 1994

Second impression 1995

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CONTEN TS

Acknowledgements xi
Introduction xiii

KART ONE: Introduction to Business English

1 What is Business English?

Background 3
What characterizes the language of business? 7
Sense of purpose 7
Social aspects 8
(dear communication 9
The Business English syllabus 9
Business and General English courses 10

2 Who wants to learn Business English?

I ‘re-experience learners 15
I ow-experience learners 16
Junior company members 16
Learners who are moving jobs 16
I(>b-experienced learners 17
Reasons for learning English 17
Characteristics of the learners 17
< ultural differences 18

3 Where is Business English taught?

I ypes of institution 21
Public and private sector educational institutions 21
Adult learning centres and Chambers of Commerce 21
British Council- and American-sponsored centres 22
Language schools 22
Training and consulting groups and individual consultants 22
In-company 22
Some implications 23
For the pre-experience learner 23
For the job-experienced learner 23
For the training manager 23
4 Resources
The Business English trainer 25
Background and experience 25
Personal skills 27
Acquiring the resources 28
Skills 28
Knowledge 31

5 Performance objectives for Business English

The need to emphasize performance 35
Skills training: basic principles 37
The communicative approach 37
Learner involvement in course design 38
Input v. output 38
Task-based learning 39
Feedback 39

PART T W O : Analysing the needs o f the learners

6 Describing levels of performance

Who needs to define levels of performance and why? 43
Performance scales 44
Testing and assessment 46
Published tests and examinations 47
Carrying out assessment yourself 48
The training gap 53

7 Job analysis
Job categories 57
Managers as learners 57
Technical staff as learners 60
Secretaries and clerical workers as learners 61
Departmental differences 62
Marketing and sales 64
Human resources 65
Finance 66
Production 68
8 Information gathering
What do we need to know? 71
Information about the learner 71
Defining the learning purpose 72
Information about the learning situation 72
Ways of gathering information 73
Job-experienced learners 73
Pre-experience learners 79
Practical problems in needs analysis 81
Examples of interview task sheets 84

9 Determining the content of the course

Breakdown of performance areas 89
Meetings and discussions 90
Giving information 95
Telephoning 98
Business correspondence 99
Socializing 100
Language analysis 102
Company documentation 103
Learner output 106
Training videos 108
The focus of training 110

PART THREE: Activities and materials

10 Published materials
Business English materials 117
General Business English coursebook packages 117
Supplementary materials 120
Job-specific materials 121
Reference books 121
Self-access materials 121
Business skills training materials 122
Video materials 123
Business simulation games 124
Selection and evaluation 125
Criteria for selection 125
11 Framework materials
What are framework materials? 131
Advantages 132
When should framework materials be used? 133
Frameworks for different purposes 134
Analysing 134
Describing contrast and similarity 136
Describing change 140
Describing cause and effect 140
Describing sequence 141
The setting box 142
For meetings and discussions 146
A customer-supplier simulation 150
Describing production processes 151
Problem-solving 153
Conversation 153
Conclusion 156

12 Authentic materials
Definition and use 157
Types and sources 158
Selection and exploitation of authentic materials 162
Text materials 163
Audio and video materials 169
Examples of tasks and activities 172
1 Using authentic materials to develop speaking skills 172
2 Using authentic materials to practise extracting information 174
3 Using authentic materials to develop listening skills 175
4 Using authentic materials to improve learners’
comprehension of presentations 178
5 Using authentic materials to extend letter-writing
vocabulary 184

13 Managing activities in the classroom

One-to-one v. group training 187
Dealing with individuals 190
Course design and the individual learner 191
Some examples of learners’ work 193
 Role play and simulation 196
Setting up the activity 196
What can go wrong? 198
Strategies for reducing the risks 199
Giving feedback 200
Course design: putting it all together 209
An intensive general Business English course plan 210
An extensive general Business English course plan 212
Specific Business English course plans 213

14 Current trends in Business English

Language training v. skills training 215
The influence of management training 218
Methodologies 218
Cross-cultural awareness 219
Growing professionalism 220

Glossary 221

Bibliography 223

Appendix 225
Suggestions for further reading 225
Suggestions for further viewing 228
Business English examinations 230
Performance scales 231
Professional associations 231
Business skills training materials: sources 231

Index 233
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Publisher and Authors would like to thank the following for their
kind permission to use articles, extracts, or adaptations from copyright
material.
Activity and diagram from ‘Corporate language training in the 1990s5 by
A. Pilbeam in Language an d Intercultural Training , published by LTS
Training and Consulting.
Functioning in Business by P. Knowles, F. Bailey, and R. Jillet, published
by Longman Group 1991.
Business Objectives by V. Hollett, published by Oxford University Press
1991.
‘How a streamlined logistics system can make all the difference5,
International M anagement October 1984.
Make Your Own Language Tests by B. Carroll and P. Hall, published by
Pergamon Press 1985.
Unisys Limited for an extract from the computer manual for Ojjis
M anager .
Bill Reed for the list of Business textbooks, originally compiled for BESIG
members.
Diagram from Educational English Teacher's Resource Book by W. Reed
and S. Nolan, published by Longman 1992.
Business Targets by S. Greenall, published by Heinemann Publishers
(Oxford) 1986.
LTS for an extract from Systems One.
United Paper Mills, Finland, for permission to refer to their Language
Ability Scale.
Cartoons by Sophie Grillet © Oxford University Press 1994.
Every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material in
this book, but we should be pleased to hear from any copyright holder
whom we have been unable to contact. We apologize for any apparent
negligence. If notified, the publisher will be pleased to rectify any errors or
omissions at the earliest opportunity.
INTRODUCTION

This book is aimed at teachers, trainers, and course organizers who are
working or intending to work with:
- Job-experienced language learners from companies or other business
institutions: managers, office staff, and other professionals such as
lawyers and engineers.
- Pre-experience language learners studying, for example, Business
Studies or Trade and Commerce at schools, colleges, or universities.

Objectives
The main objective is to provide readers with a practical approach to the
teaching of Business English. In order to do this, the book gives relevant
background about business learners, the world they work in, and the lan­
guage they use. It also presents strategies for teachers approaching the
training task:
- How to become better informed
- How to define the objectives of training
- How to prepare materials and activities for the classroom
- How to evaluate performance and progress.
We think it is important to put the learner at the centre of the teaching
process. With professional, job-experienced learners, this means exploiting
their knowledge and experience both for content and as a source of
motivation. Pre-experience learners may not have the same hands-on
experience of business procedures, but they do have a developing
knowledge of business theory and standard practices, and, presumably, an
interest in business topics which can be very valuable in the language
learning classroom.
Content
The book is divided into three parts.
Part One gives a general background to the subject and is intended main­
ly for people who are new to Business English teaching or who may be
thinking about moving into the profession.
Part Two focuses on the needs of the learners and demonstrates how a
teacher can analyse these needs in order to determine the shape and con­
tent of a course. Chapter 7, however, is specifically concerned with job
analysis—an area not as directly relevant to pre-experience learners on
business courses at universities and commercial schools as it is for those
already at work.
Part Three looks at materials and activities. It gives some pointers about
how to select materials and how to develop materials and activities for the
classroom. It also makes suggestions about classroom management and
strategies for dealing with different kinds of learners.
Parts Two and Three are intended to provide ideas for practising teachers
and experienced teachers, as well as offering guidance to newcomers.
The terms ‘training’ and ‘trainer’ are frequently used throughout this
book to refer to the process of acquiring business communication skills
and to the person running the courses. Particularly in the context of com­
pany language learning, these terms are felt to be more accurate than
‘teaching’ or ‘teacher’. ‘Training’ is the word commonly used to refer to
what adults receive in a company context: we talk, for example, about
management training, computer training, and sales training. Teaching, on
the other hand, implies education: the passing on of knowledge, but also
of a right and wrong way of doing things. It more properly describes what
young people receive in school, and may in some cases have bad connota­
tions for businesspeople. Another implication of ‘teaching is that it
involves giving information about the system of the language, whereas
‘training’ implies developing skills in using language as a means of com­
munication. Current approaches to the conducting of Business English
courses reflect this emphasis on skills and performance, as will be seen in
Chapter 5.
PART ONE

Introduction to Business English

 WHAT IS BUSINESS
ENGLISH?

Background
In the last two decades, Business English has attracted increasing interest
and awareness. Business English courses are offered by many language
schools worldwide (by over 100 schools in the UK alone); there are more
than 150 Business English titles on UK publishers’ lists; examining boards
offer Business English examinations; the Business English Special Interest
Group (part of IATEFL, the International Association for Teachers of
English as a Foreign Language) has over 1500 members from around the
world. Yet despite this enormous interest, Business English is an area
often neglected by linguistic researchers, who prefer to work on other—
more easily defined—areas of special English.
Business English must be seen in the overall context of English for
Specific Purposes (ESP), as it shares the important elements of needs
analysis, syllabus design, course design, and materials selection and devel­
opment which are common to all fields of work in ESP. As with other
varieties of ESP, Business English implies the definition of a specific lan­
guage corpus and emphasis on particular kinds of communication in a
specific context.
However, Business English differs from other varieties of ESP in that it is
often a mix of specific content (relating to a particular job area or indus­
try), and general content (relating to general ability to communicate more
effectively, albeit in business situations).
There have been many developments in the ways in which teachers and
course designers look at Business English. In the late 1960s and early
1970s, specialist vocabulary was seen to be what distinguished Business
English from General English, and there was a preoccupation with
business-related words and terminology. Earlier textbooks—such as
British B ank inghy]. Firth in the Peter Stevens series, published by Cassell
in 1971—reflect this approach. The principle underlying these earliest
Business English coursebooks was to present target specialist vocabulary in
the context of a written text or dialogue which dealt with a particular
topic (for example, in British Banking, exchange and exchange control,
companies and their bank accounts). Exercises consisted mainly of com­
prehension questions on the text, vocabulary exercises, and the drilling of
randomly selected structures. It was assumed that the learner had already
studied the language to at least intermediate level. On the other hand, any
existing knowledge of the subject was not taken into account: in fact, the
expository nature of the texts assumed that the learner had little know­
ledge. There was no consideration of how the learner might apply the
language in real life, and no development of skills such as interacting in
meetings or writing letters
A second approach, heralded by the BBC/OUP video and coursebook
English fo r Business (also known as The Bellcrest File), published in 1972,
placed a greater emphasis on training ‘the skills of communication in
English speaking, writing, listening and reading within a business context’
(quoted from the Introduction to the Teacher’s Book). The course
included development of listening skills (based on working with the
video), structural drills, gambit drills, dialogue practice, and role simula­
tions. Again, it assumed that the learners had already covered the funda­
mental grammar of English, but that they needed to continue to develop
their knowledge in order to handle practical situations effectively. Whilst
still very much a reflection of the structural/audio-lingual approach to
language teaching, English fo r Business was a flagship course in the
development of Business English teaching.
In the mid-1970s and 1980s, following the trends in General English,
Business English teaching began to focus more and more on functional
areas—formulaic language for recommending, giving opinions, showing
agreement, and so on. This kind of teaching was supported by lists of
‘gambits’ derived from the Kellor corpus from Canada. An example of a
functionally-orientated coursebook for Business English is Functioning in
Business by Knowles and Bailey (Longman, 1987). In the original edition,
this course presented listening practice at a pre-intermediate level on cas­
sette, exemplifying key language for making appointments, confirming
plans, introductions, business lunches, and so on. The conversations on
cassette were followed up by functional language practice (for example,
requesting, agreeing, clarifying) and role play.
Since the late 1980s, Business English teaching has drawn on aspects of all
the previous approaches, but also places much more emphasis on the need
to develop the skills for using the language learned.
The development of company training programmes during the 1980s
began to provide employees with opportunities to attend courses in pre­
sentation techniques, negotiating, and effective meetings skills, among
other things. This led to the publication of books and materials on busi­
ness skills, and these were also available to Business English teachers,
course designers, and materials developers. The recognition of the need
for businesspeople to be proficient in business communication skills has
had a major impact on Business English teaching. Although it is not the
designated brief of the Business English teacher to train businesspeople in
behavioural techniques (for example, presentation or negotiation), it is
hard to ignore the influence that good behavioural skills have on success­
ful communication. Many job-experienced learners now come to the lan­
guage course to learn to perform in English, tasks that they can already
perform in their mother tongue. In other cases, however, pre-experience
language learners may need training in behavioural skills, and in colleges
and business schools there is now a wide acceptance of the need to start
training learners in, for example, basic presentation techniques.
This approach to Business English teaching is reflected in coursebooks
such as Vicki Hollett’s Business Objectives (Oxford University Press,
1991), which bases language practice activities around the key communi­
cation skills areas.
Today there are many varieties of Business English. The most important
distinction to be made is that between pre-experience (or low-experience)
learners and job-experienced learners. Students in colleges or universities
will have gained their knowledge of business largely from books and, as a
result, such knowledge will be incomplete and theoretical rather than
practical. They will be less aware of their language needs in terms of com­
municating in real-life business situations, and their expectations of lan­
guage learning will be moulded by their experiences from school, and thus
by the educational policies of the country in which they grew up.
Job-experienced learners will also be influenced by their educational back­
grounds, but they will, in most cases, have gained some practical experi­
ence of having to communicate on the job. This experience has the effect
of focusing their attention on what they perceive as their own short­
comings in terms of fluency, getting the message across, and being able to
understand the people from other countries that they have to deal with.
Pre-experience learners will have two kinds of needs: (1) Their present
situation may require them to read textbooks in English or follow lectures
in English in order to gain the qualifications they are seeking. A major
component of their English training may therefore be the development of
reading and listening skills, with a strong emphasis on the vocabulary of
the subject. In addition (depending on where they are studying), they may
have to attend seminars or write papers in English. These will then consti­
tute important skills objectives for any language training programme they
follow. (2) They will need to prepare for their future working life in
business. In this regard, their teachers may include in their language
course such skills as commercial correspondence, participating in meet­
ings, or presenting information or social interactions, depending on the
kind of jobs they are preparing for.
Job-experienced learners are more likely to have a single set of needs relat­
ing to their job. Sometimes learners may need English for a new job or a
situation which they have not yet experienced (for example, an employee
who is about to be posted abroad) and, in these cases, they will not know
very precisely what needs they are going to have. However, one overriding
characteristic of Business English for job-experienced learners will still
apply: the need to be pragmatic. The practical use of the language will be
more important than theoretical knowledge about the language. The
employee who has been selected for a new job or a new project will have
to be able to manage in spite of his or her incomplete knowledge or
inadequate skills, and providing strategies for coping will be an essential
feature of a language course for such a person.
There is a third important distinction between courses for pre-experience
and job-experienced learners. Pre-experience learners are in many cases
preparing for examinations. If these are to be taken in English, the exam­
ination curriculum will provide the basis for the syllabus and will set out
very specific objectives for the course; it will not be left to the teacher or
the learners to decide for themselves what they will do.
In the case of job-experienced learners, the objectives for the course and
its content will be the product of a negotiating process between the
learner (or sponsoring organization) and the trainer (or training organiza­
tion). The learning parameters are flexible and perhaps even vague, and it
is more difficult to assess in precise terms the success of training.
Within the two main areas of pre-experience and job-experienced
Business English teaching, there are also many varieties.
The kinds of English courses offered by colleges and universities will vary
widely depending on the level of qualification the students are aiming at
and the types of work they will later be engaged in. The needs of students
following vocational courses in, say, commercial practice (import-export)
or secretarial training will be vastly different from those following a uni­
versity degree course in Business Administration. The differences will be
evident in the level of language and the kinds of language knowledge and
language skills required.
Similarly, courses for job-experienced learners will differ in objectives,
course content, and methodology—depending on the type of business the
learners are involved in, their jobs and job requirements, the length of the
course, and the structure of the learner group. Individual tuition implies
more precisely defined objectives and a more flexible approach to method­
ology and use of materials compared to group tuition.
These varieties of Business English and their implications for course plan­
ning and implementation will be discussed in more depth throughout the
book.

W hat characterizes the language o f business?

As mentioned earlier, Business English is an area of ESP that is relatively
poorly researched. Rigorous linguistic analysis is fragmented and is more
frequently based on the written forms of language such as correspondence,
annual reports, and articles in business journals. Some kinds of analysis
have been carried out with respect to the language of meetings and discus­
sions, but there is still little to support course developers beyond their
own first-hand experience gained in the field.
What follows is our own understanding of what Business English is, based
on many years of working with a wide range of pre-experience and
especially job-experienced learners.

Sense o f pu rp ose
The most important characteristic of exchanges in the context of business
meetings, telephone calls, and discussions is a sense of purpose. Language
is used to achieve an end, and its successful use is seen in terms of a suc­
cessful outcome to the business transaction or event. Users of Business
English need to speak English primarily so that they can achieve more in
their jobs. Business is competitive: competition exists between companies
and also within companies, between employees striving to better their
careers. It follows that performance objectives take priority over educa­
tional objectives or language learning for its own sake. For example, a
German company in Seoul may have a long-term objective to establish
good trading relations, and their representative’s use of English is geared
to that end. A French telecommunications project manager in India needs
to know English to communicate with his technical teams on the site,
who are all Indian. A Swedish pharmaceutical product manager needs to
give clear presentations of recent product development to subsidiaries in
Europe and the Far East. In each of these examples, the use of language
has an implied element of risk: mistakes and misunderstandings could
cost the company dearly.
Much of the language needed by businesspeople (apart from social lan­
guage) will be transactional: getting what you want and persuading others
to agree with the course of action you propose. The language will fre­
quently be objective rather than subjective and personal. For example, in
discussions and meetings, it will be more appropriate to evaluate facts
from an objective standpoint (‘This is a positive point', ‘On the other
hand the disadvantage is . . .’) rather than expressing personal feelings and
opinions.

Social aspects
International businesspeople have a need to make contact with others
whom they have never met before, or know only slightly. Meetings are
often short because businesspeople are always pressed for time. There is a
need for an internationally accepted way of doing things so that people
from different cultures, and with different mother tongues, can quickly
feel more comfortable with one another.

Social contacts are often highly ritualized. Formulaic language is used (in
greetings and introductions, for example) in the context of a routine pat­
tern of exchanges. A certain style is generally adopted which is polite but
also short and direct (taking into consideration the need to be economical
with time). Although some situations may require more than this (for
example, keeping a conversation going over lunch), the style and content
of social interactions will be typified by a desire to build a good relation­
ship while avoiding over-familiarity.
Clear com m unication
Information has to be conveyed with minimum risk of misunderstanding,
and the time for processing (both by the speaker and by the listener)
needs to be short. Therefore there is a preference for clear, logical,
thought emphasized by the kinds of words that indicate the logical
process (for example, ‘as a result’, Tor this reason’, ‘in order to’). There is
often a need to be concise—particularly when communicating by fax or
telephone—and certain familiar concepts may be expressed in word
clusters to avoid circumlocution (for example, ‘cash with order’, ‘just in
time delivery’). Certain terms have evolved to save time in referring to
concepts which people in business are familiar with (for example, ‘primary
industry’, ‘parent company’). Many of these are acronyms (for example,
CIF and FOB).

The Business English syllabus

People around the world conduct business meetings in English even
though English may be a foreign language to all those present. The
language that they use will be neither as rich in vocabulary and expression,
nor as culture-bound, as that used by native speakers, but will be based
on a core of the most useful • and basic structures and vocabulary.
Businesspeople do not always need to know the full complexities of
English grammar and idiom. Fine distinctions in meaning (as are con­
veyed by some of the compound tenses, for example) may not be
important in a business context. On the other hand, in a Business English
course some structural areas may require more attention than in a con­
ventional course: for example, conditionals in negotiating, or modality
for expressing possibility or politeness. There is consequently a need for
syllabus designers to be selective when addressing the needs of Business
English learners.
The Business English syllabus is likely to be defined primarily in relation
to business performance skills such as meetings, presentations, socializing,
or report-writing. Within these skills areas, certain concepts are typically
discussed and expressed: for example, describing changes and trends,
quality, product, process and procedures, strategy. These concepts can be
broken down into the more linguistically powerful functional areas such
as comparing and contrasting, expressing cause and effect, recommend­
ing, and agreeing. The language defined in the syllabus may include
grammatical or lexical items, and elements of spoken or written discourse,
including, for instance, cohesive devices and stress and intonation pat­
terns, as well as organizational features such as signalling a new topic or
turn-taking in interactive sequences.
There is no single description of what a Business English syllabus might
consist of, although many coursebooks do present a generally-accepted
common core of functions, structures, and vocabulary.

Business a n d G eneral English courses

Not all courses run by a company or a business college necessarily merit
the title of ‘Business English’. Some companies and colleges provide lan­
guage courses where needs have not been analysed and the course content
is drawn from a General English coursebook. It may be that a choice has
been made to improve the general command of English of the partici­
pants, and that this then constitutes the course objective. On the other
hand, such a course may be the result of a lack of informed strategy on the
part of the company or institution, or a lack of expertise on the part of
available trainers.
As we showed in the first half of this chapter, Business English is not a
neatly-defined category of special English. The term is used to cover a
variety of Englishes, some of which are very specific, and some very
general. The table below makes some general statements about key differ­
ences between Business and General English; however, we acknowledge
that there are many situations where the distinctions are not so clear.

Table 1.1: Business English v. General English—a summary

Pre-course preparation Business English General English

Needs analysis To assess the needs of die To assess the language
company, the job, and the needs of the learners.
individuals, and to define
the language level required
by the job. In-company
training departments must
make decisions about the
type of training required:
group v. individual, on-site
v. language school,
person-to-person tuition v.
distance learning, etc.
Assessment o f level Using formal tests or Placement tests or
interviews. interviews to allocate
learners to courses or to
form groups of a similar
language level.
Pre-course preparation Business English General English

Syllabus Set courses will have fixed Often determined by

objectives and syllabus. choice of coursebook and
Special courses will require (if applicable) an
a special syllabus. end-of-course examination.
The syllabus is
One-to-one courses may
wide-ranging and may
develop syllabus and
encompass the broad
content on an ongoing
vocabulary and variety of
basis.
styles found in literature
and other general reading
and in the world of
entertainment and the
media.
Course objectives Defined precisely in Examination courses (e.g.
relation to the needs Cambridge First
analysis findings. May be Certificate) will have fixed
worded in terms of the pre-determined objectives.
tasks/skills required in the Individuals may have their
job (job-experienced own objectives: interest in
learners) or course of study the culture; desire to travel
(pre-experience learners), or live abroad; a feeling
or in terms of required that language skills will be
language improvement useful or will lead to better
(e.g. command of job prospects.
structures or
pronunciation).
Time In company language Outside the state
training, there are usually education system, general
time constraints because of language study will usually
the need for training to be be open-ended. Even
cost-effective. In colleges examinations can be
and universities, time for repeated if necessary. An
language study is also exception would be
likely to be limited. someone preparing for a
holiday or residence
abroad.
Learner expectations Learners are likely to be Learners also want to
more goal-orientated and make progress but are less
to expect success. Business likely to set themselves
people normally have high specific targets within a
expectations of efficiency, rigid timescale.
quality, and
professionalism.
Table L I: Continued

Pre-course preparation Business English General English

M aterials Print, audio, and video In most parts of the world,
materials can be bought there is now a wide choice
off the shelf for Business of off-the-shelf materials
English—but they may for General English
not meet the specific needs teaching at all levels.
of an individual or group. Materials development by
It may be necessary to the teacher is not usually
develop materials for a required or expected.
specific course.
M ethodology Many learning tasks and There may be a broader
activities will be the same range of techniques in use
as on a General English in the General English
course, especially for classroom. Many activities
teaching structures, are designed to make
vocabulary, and social learning more ‘fun’, and
English. Role-plays are variety for its own sake is
common to both although important to maintain
the situations and language interest and motivation in
will differ. Business the absence of specific
English also borrows ideas needs.
from management
training—e.g.
problem-solving,
decision-making, and
team-building tasks.
Job-experienced learners
will be given many
opportunities to present
and discuss aspects of their
work.
Pre-course preparation Business English General English

Evaluation o f progress In colleges and universities Formal examinations

there may be set (written include a written paper in
and oral) examinations. In which marks are awarded
company language training for grammatical accuracy
there is usually no as well as range of
examination, but the vocabulary and
training organization may appropriacy. Oral
use an off-the-shelf examinations also take into
Business English test. In account fluency,
informal assessment, the pronunciation and general
emphasis is usually on communicative ability.
evaluating the success of Informal assessment (e.g.
communication—i.e. did of class performance) is
the speaker/writer express likely to focus mainly on
the idea precisely enough grammatical accuracy,
and appropriately enough appropriacy of vocabulary
for the target situation? and expression and
pronunciation.
 WHO WANTS TO LEARN
BUSINESS ENGLISH?

Pre-experience learners
The major differences between those learners who have had job experi­
ence and those who have not has been shown in Chapter 1. Those who
have not are usually in the educational system—either in special
Commercial Colleges at high school level, where ages might, as in Italy,
be as low as sixteen or seventeen—or at an undergraduate or postgraduate
level, at universities such as Graz and Klagenfurt in Austria, the European
Business Schools, the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai, the
Schools of Economics in Stockholm and Helsinki, the Asian Institute of
Technology in Bangkok, and universities and colleges in the United
Kingdom such as the Manchester Business School.
Some colleges may specialize in vocational training for mature students,
such as the unemployed or mothers returning to work. An example of this
is AFPA in France. Language courses in these colleges will often precede
or run parallel to academic courses, and performance objectives will some­
times be tightly linked to the academic syllabus and course content.
Business English for such students is orientated towards learning subject
matter as well as language. Commercial students in Italy, for example,
have specially written English textbooks which in part contain direct
information about the banking system, import and export matters such as
letters of credit and shipping terms, and company organization and
structure.
The reasons for students being at these colleges will be mixed. Some will
need to gain a basic business qualification to allow them to work in
administration—for example, as clerks and secretaries. In some parts of
the world, especially in the Middle East, women will go through a busi­
ness course, and learn English, but will never expect to go into business at
all as marriage often comes first.
In many colleges and universities where business and science or engineer­
ing are taught, the students will have the highest aspirations, and expect to
go far in their individual careers. Included in this group will be students
(at undergraduate or postgraduate level) who go abroad to study. Students
from Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East may have the opportun­
ity to follow a Business Studies programme at an American or British
university. Most of them will need to improve their language skills
before—and also during—their course of academic study and in most
cases the Language Department of the college or university in question
will be responsible for developing a course for them.
In general, pre-experience learners will be more open-minded than those
who are already well ahead in their careers, and this has implications for
what can be done in the classroom. However, they may lack confidence in
their ability to deal with business subject matter. It is certainly the case, as
witnessed by the types of textbooks often used with such learners, that
they need to be given a lot of information from which to work.

Low-experience learners

Ju n io r com pany m em bers

People who are sent on a language course are often high-flyers, but it is
important to remember that they are still learning the ways in which their
company operates and may not be familiar with what happens outside
their own departments or job functions. And while they may have a better
command of English than those who are older, they may not have had
enough experience to contribute effectively to meetings and negotiations.
In some countries, for example Germany and Switzerland, there may be
an apprentice system in which school leavers are taken on by large com­
panies, and are trained in both practical and theoretical aspects of a job
(secretarial or clerical). This training may include some language classes
where appropriate.

Learners who are m ovin g jo b s

Company employees quite frequently move jobs, and often move to other
countries, and both these situations may warrant a period of language
training. What is important to remember here is that they may know very
little about their new job. They cannot give presentations about it because
they have little information themselves. A further category here are those
people learning English in countries that have only recently adopted west­
ern political and economic systems. For such learners it is not only the
English language which might be new, but also the systems and pro­
cedures of the new political models.
1**1*experienced learners

!'■ ons f o r learn in g English

ire countless reasons why a job-experienced company employee
wish to learn English. Here are some examples:
i iyc American multinational in France has English as its company
\ Large numbers of employees are in daily contact with native
and with members of subsidiaries. Such employees include
cs» import-export personnel, distribution managers, marketing
icl, engineers, and information technology personnel.
ish paper company sells worldwide and has subsidiaries in
■|k , including Britain. Its telephone operators, secretaries, sales per-
id, factory managers, and engineers all need to speak English.
Italian bank deals on a daily basis with other banks throughout
>pc. Its foreign exchange dealers, its computer personnel, and its
щи managers come into daily contact with people speaking English.
Hfeull businessman in Germany is setting up an import—export com-
md he needs to travel frequently to the United States, where he
English for business and socially.
esc manager of a German firm is in frequent contact with head
i Diisseldorf. He and his fellow managers need English to tele-
-nd fax the parent company, and to handle visitors from that
iу when they visit Japan.
lish company is in the process of internationalizing, and has
: to use English as a joint company language. It has just taken
i л о other companies, one of which is in Belgium. Many more
hbers of the company will be travelling than before, and many
c will be using English on a regular basis.

/ iracteristics o f the learners

1hi -si ness learners use language in order to achieve precise objectives,
likely to apply the same critical standards to language training
ng materials as they do elsewhere in their business lives. They
Hi. urious about the objectives of particular tasks. They will be crit-
i heir own performance, and of that of the trainer. Many will cease-
cvaluate what they are doing, and what is being done. As the
tg environment is highly influenced by this sense of purpose,
als, exercises, and activities which are selected for use in the class-
imist acknowledge it.
They are also highly aware of rime. This is an important factor on inten­
sive courses where learners might be using the opportunity of a lifetime to
improve their communicative ability in English, and can place enormous
pressure on a course.
The experience of the learner is equally important. Learners come to the
language classroom with different experiences— in the world of business,
as social human beings, and as learners in other training environments.
The businessperson who walks into the classroom on a Monday in order
to improve performance while attending international meetings may have
had years of experience engaging in meetings and negotiations, and might
very well have just come off a training course on computers, time manage­
ment, or marketing. He or she will judge the materials in the English
course with exactly the same thoroughness and sense of expectation that
will have been applied to the materials on the marketing course.
The aptitude of the individual may well clash with these three influences,
just as it may support them. There are some learners from the business
world, as from all backgrounds, who find it difficult to learn another
language. They do not recognize the systems, they apply the wrong pro­
cedures, and they may have attitudes or learning characteristics which
act as a barrier. It follows that the flexibility—even pragmatism—of the
trainer in regard to what can be achieved with an individual learner or
group of learners will be of crucial importance.

Cultural differences
There are certain cultural differences which the Business English trainer
needs to take into account. Many trainers have noticed that in meetings,
for example, people from different countries may behave quite differently
(a fact also noted at length by John Mole in his book M ind Your
Manners ). In Sweden and the other Nordic countries, participants in
meetings pay strict attention to turn-taking, and seldom interrupt. In
southern Europe this is not the case. In Britain, making a humorous
remark during a presentation is often appreciated. As again noted by John
Mole, in Germany this is rarely the case. In Norway, many trainers have
noticed that participants in groups are often mutually supportive. The
reaction of the group to constant individual criticism will be different to
that of groups from other countries—i.e. the group will often feel uncom­
fortable. In Japan, open confrontation is avoided.
It is equally true that individual companies, such as IBM, may have their
own identifiable cultures which leave their mark on their employees. For
many businesspeople, therefore, local cultures will probably become less
and less dominant as common international business behaviour develops
worldwide. So, while it may be useful to expect that a businessman from
Japan will behave as other Japanese businessmen, he might very well have
worked in an American company, or lived in the United States, and
assumed some of the characteristics of businesspeople from that country.
Cultural similarities and differences, and how they influence what goes
well in a class and what does not, are major factors to consider when deal­
ing with the learner. The role of the trainer has also to be considered. In
certain cultures, such as those of south and south-east Asia, there is a great
power distance between teacher and learner, which means that the learner
accepts everything the teacher says and expects him or her to make
decisions and to be in control. In other cultures, teacher and learner work
closely together: the learner participates in determining the content of the
course and is assertive in demanding particular activities. All of the above
must be borne in mind when considering comments and suggestions
made in the different sections of this book. (For a more detailed discus­
sion about cultural similarities and differences and cross-cultural aware­
ness, see the Suggestions for Further Reading, at the end of the book.)
 О WHERE IS BUSINESS
' J ENGLISH TAUGHT?

Types of institution
P ublic a n d p riv a te sector edu ca tion a l institutions
This is where the great majority of pre-experience Business English takes
place. The range of such institutions is enormous. It includes the
Commercial Colleges found throughout the Far East and the Commercial
Schools in Italy. It includes the specialist schools of higher education in
France, and Schools of Economics and Management in Norway, Sweden,
and Finland. In Germany there are large organizations such as the Grone
Schule in Hamburg, and Carl Duisberg Centres in Cologne and Hanover
where Business English is on offer as part of a much larger package of
vocational training. At one level learners can be young and still at high
school level, such as those studying in the Italian Commercial Schools.
However, there are also job-experienced learners studying in universities
and colleges worldwide, including several universities in the United
Kingdom, such as Aston, Liverpool, and Newcastle, which are attracting
increasing numbers of learners of Business English.

Adult learn in g centres a n d Chambers o f C om m erce

Many native-speaker teachers of Business English work in adult learning
centres in Europe, such as the Volkshochschulen in Germany and the
Chambers of Commerce in Italy and France. The Kursverksamheten , ABF,
and TBV groups in Sweden, apart from sending teachers into companies,
also have learning centres around the country. In France AFPA has
centres around the country, and organizes a lot of business language
teaching, particularly for secretarial needs.
British Council- a n d A m erican-sponsored centres
Business English is also taught in many of these centres, for example those
in Hong Kong and Bangkok.

L anguage schools
Business English is taught widely in language schools throughout the
world. Schools offering Business English abound in the cities of France,
Germany, Spain, Italy, and Scandinavia, and are increasing in places like
Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, and St Petersburg.
Japan is a large centre for schools offering Business English, as are the
countries of south and south-east Asia—Thailand, Taiwan, and
Indonesia. And in language schools in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the
United States, and Canada, though General English may form the most
important source of income, Business English is becoming increasingly
important.

T raining a n d con su ltin g groups a n d in d ivid u a l

consultants
These have come into greater prominence over the last decade. They exist
not only in Britain but also in most European countries. They differ from
general language schools in that they specialize in Business English, and
English for Specific Purposes. The larger groups may have trainers with
specialist skills, and may work on several different projects at once.
Individual consultants may be tied into a single company, or be limited in
their range of operation. Many of the innovators in Business English are
to be found in this group.

In-com pany
A great deal of training takes place on company premises with trainers
either coming in from outside, or actually being employees of the com­
pany itself. The decision about whether to employ company language
trainers is a political one, and there has in fact been a shift in the thinking
of certain large companies over the past few years. Some companies which
used to employ a large number of trainers now contract a great deal of
their work out, either to local trainers or to trainers from Britain, the
United States, and elsewhere.
Some companies and colleges have well-developed resource centres, with
computers, language laboratories, video and audio systems, as well as
books. Many training departments offer guided self-study opportunities
for those who have no time to follow direct teaching. Employees or stu­
dents may form their own ‘study circles’ or ‘English clubs’.

Some implications

For the pre-ex perien ce learn er

The learner is restricted in choice, and certainly constrained by the
syllabus, the course, and the quality of support.

For the job -ex p erien ced learn er

The learner’s choice of institution will depend on what funds are avail­
able, and what is offered by the company. The choice will undoubtedly be
affected by the power of advertising inside or outside the company, and
by personal relationships and the experiences of colleagues who have pre­
viously attended courses at a particular place. He or she may be attracted
to organizations with huge marketing budgets and very glossy literature.
However, it may be difficult to get good advice.

For the train in g m anager

Training managers and those responsible for sending company employees
on language courses need to inform themselves of the choices available.
The level of knowledge about what is available is much more sophistic­
ated now than it used to be, but there is still a danger. Training
departments can still be influenced by slick marketing, or a representative
arriving at an opportune moment. The choices to be made—between
individual tuition and group courses, between intensive and extensive
courses, between in-house trainers and outside suppliers, between direct
teaching and distance learning, between learning in the home country or
in an English-speaking country such as the United Kingdom, the United
States, or Australia (see Table 3.1 below), between the cheap and the
more expensive—all need to be informed by a thorough appreciation of
the needs of the learner, the cost-benefit ratio, and the nature of the
supplier.
Table 3.1: Comparison betw een learn ing English in the h om e country a n d
in an English-speaking country

Home English-speaking country

Unavoidable mother tongue use Full immersion
Closer to home, which may have Constant opportunities to meet native
practical advantages speakers
No ‘authentic’ need to use the target Genuine need to use the target
language language
No access to ‘authentic’ cultural setting Constant exposure to language in
context of the target culture
Job distractions, especially the No job distractions
telephone
Teacher the only model Exposure to different accents/models
Less expensive More expensive
These courses are often extensive, held These courses are usually highly
for a few hours a week over several intensive.
months. A disadvantage is that learners
often drift and can become
demotivated because of unclear
objectives.
 RESOURCES

The Business English trainer

B ackground a n d experience
It is virtually impossible to describe a typical Business English trainer, as
the profession has attracted people with widely differing backgrounds and
experience. However, the following points will offer some com m on
profiles.
Many Business English trainers will have had a university education,
though not all. Some people come to the profession from a background in
general TEFL teaching, and have a TEFL qualification. They may come
to Business English by chance because they work in language schools
which have decided to broaden the kinds of courses they offer to include
Business English courses. On the other hand, they may be attracted to
Business English and choose to make the change.
Why should TEFL teachers want to change to Business English? First, it
provides a chance to work with highly-motivated learners who are often
disciplined, intelligent, and dynamic. Second, it involves more than sim­
ply teaching language. In Business English, there are highly specific goals
and objectives which demand a tight control of the course plan and care­
ful selection of materials and activities. Third, Business English training
may encompass professional skills as well as general language skills. These
skills are taught in the context of a varied and fascinating subject matter.
As a result, Business English provides a demanding and challenging field
in which to develop a career.
Some Business English trainers come from a business background: they
have worked in companies themselves and have useful knowledge of the
way in which companies are organized and run. Some schools prefer to
employ such people and feel that it is easier to train them in basic teach­
ing skills than to train English teachers about business. These people may
want more person-to-person contact than their previous jobs in industry
could provide.
Still others may have started out with neither business nor TEFL teaching
experience. They might originally have been geologists, architects, or
school biology teachers, for example. Perhaps they fell into the profession
by chance because personal circumstances led them to live abroad, so that
teaching their mother tongue was a way to earn a living; and for them,
teaching in a company was more interesting and lucrative than doing
evening classes.
Whatever the background, it is important to stress that the Business
English trainer is primarily a language teacher. He or she does not need to
be an expert in any particular business. It is the learners who have the spe­
cific content knowledge and who are able to bring that knowledge to the
classroom. Even when working with pre-experience learners, it is not the
language trainer’s role to teach the subject matter. Although it is of great
value to be able to talk intelligently to learners about their work, it is of
greater importance that the trainer should be seen as an expert in present­
ing and explaining the language, and in diagnosing the learners’ language
problems.
A good trainer will be able to work with an engineer, a product manager,
or a foreign exchange dealer with equal skill and effectiveness, and the key
to that effectiveness is being able to ask the right questions and make good
use of the answers, whether they come from the learners themselves or
from another source such as books or company documents. It is import­
ant to focus on the systems, procedures, and products that are at the
centre of what the learner does in English, and to be able to deduce from
this knowledge the language needs of each type of learner. The Business
English trainer, therefore, needs to be informed about how language
works. He or she will need to be able to identify the current language level
of the learner and to select materials and set tasks that are appropriate in
level as well as in content. Some trainers will also need to be able to set
course objectives and devise course programmes, and to do this an in-
depth knowledge of the language system in terms of skills, functions,
structures, and vocabulary will be essential.
One type of experience which is very useful is to have lived abroad, to
have learned at least one other language, and to have used it in real situ­
ations (not just in the classroom). This will foster an understanding of the
feelings of inadequacy and insecurity experienced by language learners
everywhere. It will also help to develop some of the personal skills out­
lined in the next section.
P ersonal skills
More important than qualifications and a background in business is the
right balance of personal skills. This is the ingredient that is common to
all good Business English trainers. What are these personal skills?
First, it is essential to have an outgoing personality, to like contact and
interaction with a wide variety of people, and to be able to regard the less
amiable learners as a challenge rather than a hindrance. The learner’s
agenda must come before the teacher’s if the latter is to unlock the mo­
tivation and learning potential of each individual. Learners are quick to
distinguish between the trainer who is sensitive to their real needs and the
trainer who merely wants to pass the time as pleasantly as possible. While
it is invaluable to have a good sense of humour, it is also vital that the
trainer should be seen to be taking the course seriously.
A second skill is to be a good negotiator. Many job-experienced learners,
particularly if they are managers, are used to dictating their own terms.
However, a professional language trainer will know more about the best
ways to teach a language than they do. It is important for the trainer to
establish his or her credibility and professionalism so as to be able to dis­
cuss with the learners the best way to structure the course and agree the
principles on which to work. This, in some cases, will require tact and
diplomacy.
A third, vitally important skill is to be curious and interested in all aspects
of business. One of the best ways for the trainer to ‘unlock the learners’
motivation and learning potential’ is to show that he or she can relate to
the subjects that most concern the learners. It will be much easier to do
this if the trainer is genuinely fascinated by the way in which companies
work: systems, organization, procedures, marketing strategies, financial
planning, problem-solving, new technical developments, and products.
To summarize all these points: anyone thinking of Business English as a
career need not be put off if they do not have all the right qualifications
and background experience. These things can be gained with time. More
important is to ask oneself:
- Do I really like people?
- Am I open-minded?
- Am I good at handling people?
- Am I genuinely interested in business topics?
Acquiring the resources
Skills
It is true in all walks of life that some people need to be trained, while
others seem to be able to develop themselves through hard work, applica­
tion, and experience. Taking courses is a way of speeding up the develop­
ment process, and recognized qualifications are a prerequisite for some
jobs.
Courses can also give confidence to people who previously had to rely on
themselves: they may find encouragement from discovering that other
people have similar problems and experiences, and they can get ideas for
dealing with their own situation.
Many TEFL posts now require a recognized TEFL qualification, for
example, the RSA/Cambridge Certificate or Diploma. The Cambridge
Integrated TEFL Scheme (CITS) which is currently being developed will
introduce a series of Advanced Diplomas, offering the opportunity to
focus on special areas of interest in ELT. The first of these, the proposed
Advanced Diploma in ELT Management, was due to have its first pilot
scheme at the time of going to press. The RSA/Cambridge courses offer
teachers the opportunity to develop their practical skills as well as to
increase their prospects on the job market. The London Chamber of
Commerce (LCCI) examinations board also offers the Diploma in
Teaching English for Business (Dip TEB) and courses are run by the
London Guildhall University which lead to this award. This examination
is theoretical rather than practical.
For most Business English teaching posts, it is not necessary to have one
of the more academic qualifications such as an MA in Applied Linguistics.
(An exception to this rule might be jobs in universities or colleges of
further education, teaching Business Studies or Economics students, espe­
cially in the Middle East.) Some universities and other organizations offer
certificate and diploma courses in English for Specific Purposes, which
involve about ten weeks rather than a full year of study.
Short courses and seminars specific to Business English are offered by
several of the leading Business English schools and organizations, and
whilst these do not lead to a qualification, they are usually of practical
value.
Another way to develop skills is, of course, to get hands-on experience.
People who have not worked in Business English before may find them­
selves in a situation where they are unable to get a job without experience
but unable to get experience without a job. Probably the best kind of job
to look for in this situation is one with a language school outside the
United Kingdom. Many language schools provide both general TEFL and
in-company courses, and some will be willing to give training and help in
getting into Business English. It is important to look for schools with a
good reputation. In order to determine this, be ready to ask some search­
ing questions at the interview. For example:
W hich com p a n ies do y o u p r o v id e tra in in g fo r ?
You should expect to hear the names of at least one or two larger com­
panies. Big companies with a well-developed training policy are more
likely to put their business with well-established schools who have a
proven track record in providing efficient courses. The school should have
a broad client base if you want to get experience in a variety of business
fields.
H ow has th e sch o o l d e v elo p ed in th e la st f i v e yea rs?
You should expect an answer which indicates that the school is aware of
new developments in language training and is willing to adapt its courses
accordingly. A school which is expanding in terms of the number and
range of courses it runs will be more exciting to work for.
H ow m an y tra in ers a re th ere? H ow m an y o f these w er e h ere tw o yea rs
ago?
You may have your own preferences as to whether it is better to work for
a large or a small organization. Large schools usually offer more security
and better prospects for a career (for becoming a director of studies after a
few years, for example). However, many small organizations have a good
reputation for quality, and it can be very rewarding to work in a small but
motivated team.
The turnover of staff is an important factor in both large and small
organizations. If turnover is high, this can imply that working conditions
are not satisfactory. It also means that experience cannot be passed on
from older trainers to new ones, and therefore standards are likely to be
lower.
Do y o u run courses in -com pan y?
Courses which are run on-site in a company can provide the trainer with a
more thorough knowledge of the way in which that company works. The
trainer may have the chance to see its workers in action—for example, in
the factory or in the computer room. It may be possible to set the learners
practical, hands-on tasks such as showing someone around. This sort of
experience is very valuable.
W hat k ind o f cou rses d o y o u ru n in -com pan y?
The answer may be either specific (tailor-made) or general Business
English courses. Inexperienced Business English trainers will find it easier
to work on general courses first. However, if you want to get a lot of
experience, then a school which runs specific courses will be preferable.

Do y o u h a v e y o u r ow n in -h ou se m aterials?
Schools which have developed their own materials show that they are
more ready to design programmes and activities to suit the specific needs
of their learners. However, be careful to check that teaching a particular
course does not involve following the materials slavishly from the first
page to the last. In-house materials that can be used selectively, perhaps
on a modular basis, will give the trainer more opportunity to respond to
the needs of individual learners. The selection process will involve more
effort and uncertainty initially, but will be much more rewarding in the
end.
Do y o u r tra in ers d evelo p th eir ow n m aterials?
You may or may not feel that you want to get involved in materials devel­
opment yourself. However, if other trainers in the same institutions are
doing so, it will be an indication that the school encourages teacher devel­
opment and creativity as well as recognizing that this is often a good way
to cater for learners with highly specific needs. Be careful to check, how­
ever, that it does not imply that no other materials exist within the school.
If you are going to be required to develop materials, make sure the school
provides time for this within the normal working day.

W hat assistance o r gu id a n ce d o y o u g iv e to n ew trainers?

If you are relatively inexperienced, then it will be important to work for a
school that will be supportive. At the start of your contract, you should
expect either an induction course lasting one or two weeks, or a proba­
tionary period where you will be working with a more experienced trainer
who can give you the help and support you need.

Do y o u a rra n ge fu r th e r tra in in g f o r y o u r teachers?

Trainers who want to develop their career after a few years may need to
acquire new skills such as how to design courses, how to write materials,
or how to run special skills courses (for example, in negotiating). Even
very experienced trainers need new ideas to stimulate and refresh their
approach. A school with high standards will recognize this need and
should make some provision for its trainers to attend courses. Some
schools may run courses in-house, others may bring in outside consultants
or offer to pay course fees at another institution.
Do y o u r trainers b elo n g to tea ch ers' association s o r g o to co n feren ces?
Teachers' associations such as TESOL and IATEFL can offer a lot of sup­
port to their members in the form of newsletters (which contain useful
articles and ideas), conferences, and seminars. Schools which encourage
their teachers to join associations, and which provide financial support to
attend conferences, will ensure that their teaching staff are up-to-date
with developments in the profession. Conferences provide a forum for
trainers to meet others working in the same field, to exchange ideas and
opinions, and to learn new techniques. They can be stimulating and
refreshing, and provide a foundation for networking, both nationally and
internationally.
Finally, in order to develop personal skills as well as gaining professional
experience, it is invaluable for native speakers to spend at least a couple of
years teaching abroad. This, combined with working in a big company,
will provide a good foundation for a career in Business English.

K now ledge
As we have stressed before, it is a misconception that in the field of ESP
the trainer needs to be an expert in the subject matter. He or she is not
teaching business strategies, nor good management practice, nor eco­
nomic theory. If the learners need to know about these things (as is some­
times the case with pre-experienced learners) they will learn them from
other sources. The language trainer’s task is to train businesspeople to
communicate in English about the subjects they are specialized in. An
exception to this can be found in the former communist states of Eastern
Europe, and the former Soviet Union. Here the capitalist systems and
procedures involved in marketing, banking, and finance may be very new
to some learners, even if they are job-experienced. Some language trainers
in these countries may therefore find themselves having to teach the
theory and practice of business as well as the language.
As mentioned when discussing personal skills, it is important to be able to
relate to the learners and their needs and this is easier if the trainer under­
stands what their jobs involve. Reaching a good understanding of the job
means: first, being able to ask intelligent questions; and second, being able
to fit the new information into a familiar pattern.
What can a prospective trainer do to inform him or herself and to build
up confidence in dealing with specialists?
The first option is to read relevant material. This might include some
textbooks: for example, the kinds of books used on Business Studies
courses, MBA courses, or commercial and vocational courses. (A basic list
is given in the Suggestions for Further Reading.) Other appropriate read­
ing might be recommended by experienced colleagues or language
schools. For those working in a college or university, it will be important
to find out what textbooks the students use on their special subject
courses. It will not always be necessary to read the whole book, only to
understand some of the basic concepts and viewpoints. For those working
in-company, it could be useful to ask the learners themselves what they
have read that relates to their work.
Magazines, journals, newspapers, and other kinds of literature are also
important, and have the value of being more up-to-date and less theoret­
ical than books. Dip into the Financial Times or The Economist, skim
through the business pages of the national daily newspapers. Especially
useful are articles on new developments in different fields of industry. For
instance, if the learners work for a car manufacturing company, then news
items on new models, in-car computers, traffic management, or buying
trends are likely to provide useful topics for the classroom.
As already noted in Chapter 1, Business English (like other varieties of
ESP) involves a certain amount of specific terminology, and this is often
frightening at first. Reading articles and books helps the new trainer to
become familiar with some of the terminology and special expressions
used in Business English. It will also be helpful to buy a Business English
dictionary. (See Suggestions for Further Reading for a list.) If a learner
asks a question about a specialized term which the trainer does not know,
the first thing he or she can do is to check the available dictionaries. (Note
that it is better for a trainer to be honest if there is a term he or she does
not know: the trainer should not expect to be an expert, and the learner
should not expect it either.) If the term is so specialized that it is not
included in a specialist dictionary, then the learner should be advised to
check with someone in his or her company who might know the mean­
ing. There may be people in the same department who speak good
English and know a lot of the jargon of the job; alternatively, there may
be someone at head office, or in an English or American subsidiary who
can help. Some companies may have glossaries for technical words com­
mon to their field. The important thing is not to panic if there are some
strange or difficult words: the trainer’s role is to help the learner acquire
knowledge, not to provide all the answers.
In-company trainers should make sure that they are well-informed about
the company where they work: that means reading the company literature
such as brochures, annual reports, and product information. Even if they
work in a language school and deal with a number of different companies,
it is still useful to know something about each of them.
In addition to printed material, TV and video material can be useful.
Watching business programmes and documentaries can extend a trainer’s
general knowledge and understanding of business topics and concerns.
Even those who do not live in an English-speaking country can buy (or
persuade their employers to buy) some programmes on video. (Addresses
to write to are given in the Appendix.) A number of training videos have
been produced which are used by companies to train their staff in basic
skills such as using the telephone, running meetings, giving presentations,
and so on. These can be a useful way to gain knowledge about good busi­
ness practices and to see in action the kinds of skills the learners need to
develop in English.
One important way to learn about business is through working with
knowledgeable Business English learners, especially job-experienced
learners. The teacher can often gain more insight into the workings of
companies through asking questions and listening to the answers, than
through books. Accessing these human resources is one of the skills that is
vital in becoming a good Business English trainer.
 PERFO RM AN CE

3 O B JE C T I V E S F O R
B U S IN E S S E N G L IS H

The need to emphasize performance

As already stared, one of the main characteristics of Business English is the
emphasis on performance—training learners to become operationally
effective. For people in business, the priority is to be able to understand
and get their message across, and for the majority of Business English
learners many of the refinements of language are quite simply not rel­
evant. For people in full-time jobs, time is often severely constrained, and
acquiring knowledge for its own sake (though it may be pleasurable for
some) is out of the question.
What the majority of business learners need to acquire could be broadly
summarized as follows:
—confidence and fluency in speaking
— skills for organizing and structuring information
— sufficient language accuracy to be able to communicate ideas without
ambiguity and without stress for the listener
— strategies for following the main points of fast, complex, and imperfect
speech
— strategies for clarifying and checking unclear information
— speed of reaction to the utterances of others
— clear pronunciation and delivery
— an awareness of appropriate language and behaviour for the cultures
and situations in which they will operate.
Some learners may also need to develop practical reading and writing
skills.
In Business English, these performance criteria need to be seen in the con­
text of specific business situations which the learner will be involved in. If
the requirements of a typical job are analysed, it can be seen, for example,
that a learner has to attend meetings which are carried out in English and
that he or she has to follow what is going on and be able to make a contri­
bution. The learner may also have to make telephone calls in English and
Table 5 .1: Business skills checklist

Speaking
Giving a formal presentation
Giving an informal presentation
Instructing or demonstrating on the job
Giving descriptions and explanations
Interacting
Visiting a company or receiving visitors
Showing visitors around or being shown around
Entertaining or being entertained
Participating in discussions and informal meetings
Participating in formal meetings
Chairing meetings
Interviewing
Negotiating
Telephoning
Listening
Following presentations, lectures, or talks
Following instructions
Following descriptions and explanations
Following training sessions
Reading
D ocum ents Skills
T elexes Reading for detail
Letters and faxes
Memos and short reports
Professional journals Reading quickly for general
Textbooks information
Long reports Scanning for specific points
Contracts and legal documents
Technical specifications and manuals
W riting
Telexes
Letters and faxes
Memos and short reports
Long reports and articles for professional journals
Editing the letters or reports of others
lend and receive faxes written in English. If the learner sometimes meets
pusiness associates from other countries, then a certain amount of socializ-
Big will also be important. A list of the essential language skills needed to
|o all these aspects of the job successfully can be drawn up, and will pro-
lidc a basis for the course that the learner in the example will follow. A
fhecklist of business skills is given in Table 5.1.
Analysing the specific needs of an individual learner and defining the skills
objectives of that learner is the subject of Chapter 8 in Part Two. This
chapter explains some of the implications of skills training for the
prospective Business English trainer, and how it affects what happens in
the classroom.

Skills training: basic principles

If priority is given to developing the kinds of skills listed above, what does
this mean for the role of the language trainer? What kinds of classroom
behaviours will be encouraged and what activities will be used to stimulate
these behaviours?

The com m u nicative approach

The first step is to create a classroom environment in which real commun­
ication can take place and can be practised continuously. This will involve
л number of strategies. It will mean that all the personal skills set out on
page 27 will be important: if the trainer is an open and approachable
person, it is more likely that the learners will feel confident and relaxed. In
ihis frame of mind, they will be more likely to speak, and speaking will
develop their fluency. Interaction can also be encouraged by not over-
*nrrecting (drawing attention to every tiny mistake discourages people
Imm speaking and also breaks up the flow of communication), by asking
plenty of questions, and by giving people time to answer (interruptions
also discourage the more diffident learners). In other words, the main
principles of the communicative approach apply to Business English as
much as to General English.
Part of the equation is creating good group dynamics. Members of a
group should not feel exposed to criticism from the others, but rather that
they are all facing a common problem together. If they are able to laugh,
with the others, at difficulties which they have in common, this will help
enormously. Activities should be seen as a chance to practise and develop
skills in a pleasurable way, not as frightening tests of ability. Business-
people are by nature competitive and most will respond well to a challenge,
but tasks should be set at the right level so that they are within the scope
of the learner.
It is important that the learners should not feel embarrassed if they do not
know something, or do not understand. They should be encouraged to
treat the trainer as a resource: to be open about their problems and to ask
for help rather than surreptitiously flipping through a pocket dictionary.
When they ask questions, learners are practising the vital skills of checking
and clarifying information—skills they will frequently need in real busi­
ness situations.

Learner in volvem en t in course design

At the beginning of a course, it is important to discuss with the learners
the course objectives and methods for achieving these objectives. It is
valuable to explain the goals of each lesson, and the reason why certain
types of activities and materials have been chosen. It will not be possible
to discuss the details of activities and materials at the start of a course
because the options available will not be clear; but as the course pro­
gresses, the learners can play a gradually stronger role in deciding how to
spend their class time.

Input v. output
Most important in Business English training is deciding on the balance of
training time to be spent on input (introducing or recycling target
language) and output (providing opportunities for practice and skills
development).
If a lot of time is spent on introducing long lists of words or expressions,
on carefully explaining the finer details of a grammar point, or on the
detailed reading in class of lengthy written texts, then clearly the time left
for practising speaking will be much reduced. By carefully selecting the
language that a particular learner, or group of learners, needs, the trainer
will be able to reduce significantly the amount of time needed for formal
input. Able learners who want to extend their vocabulary and grammar
significantly can be given material to study in their own time rather than
wasting valuable class time focusing on the printed page.
The question of what target language to select and how to select it is the
subject of Chapter 9 in Part Two; however, it is important to stress here
that the amount of course time needed for input will be a small fraction of
the whole. A much larger proportion of the course time will be needed for
output. If the aim is to develop fluency and faster reactions, then the need
for practice time will be greater.
Task-based lea rn in g
The kind of practice the learner gets is also important. The basic fabric of
a Business English course should be tasks which simulate those of the
learner’s real situation as closely as possible. These tasks must have specific
objectives which can be clearly defined at the outset, and which relate to
the learner’s overall objectives in following the course as well as to his or
her level of ability.
Practice tasks may be long or short. They may include, for example: ask­
ing a learner to describe one of his or her company’s products or to com­
pare two different products; asking two group members to imagine they
are business associates meeting for the first time; setting up a telephone
role play or a simulated meeting; getting the learner to prepare a short
presentation defending a certain point of view. These are very broad
descriptions of the kinds of tasks that can be set. In the classroom, the
task will be much more closely defined so that the learners know exactly
what the setting is, who they are supposed to be, what sort of things they
are supposed to communicate, and what is expected of them in per­
formance terms. Setting up the task thoroughly is essential in order to get
maximum value from it— much time can be wasted if learners do not
know what they are supposed to be doing. The selection of appropriate
tasks will depend on the needs of the learners in relation to their jobs—
i.e. what business situations they have to deal with. In the case of pre­
experience learners, the tasks will need to refer more to support material
(such as texts or video), and will rely on only minimal input from the
learners.

Feedback
It is also essential that learners should get helpful and constructive feed­
back on their performance, and this means relating the task to the
performance objectives. It may be interesting for the learners to know that
they made mistakes in the verb tenses, but they must also know whether
these mistakes actually affected the success or failure of the task. In other
words, the feedback should be, first and foremost, on the task as a whole.
Did they communicate effectively? Were they easy to understand? Did
they manage to clarify misunderstandings? Did they use appropriate
politeness forms? Only after that feedback has been given is it valuable to
draw attention to specific language errors that may have contributed to
lack of overall clarity or precision.
PART T W O

Analysing the needs o f the learners

 DESCRIBING LEVELS OF
PERFORMANCE

in Chapter 5, the need to emphasize skills training was explained, and a

lisi was given of some very broad-based statements of performance criteria
uhich are important to the majority of Business English learners. The first
‘•I these was fluency in speaking. If a concept such as fluency is taken as an
‘Tjective for a course, several difficulties immediately arise. How is flu-
xпсу to be defined? How can degrees of fluency be measured? If degrees of
fluency cannot be measured, how is it possible to establish whether
{‘ingress has been made? These, and similar questions about other per-
!<umance areas, have to be answered and more precise definitions of
I* lining objectives have to be reached.

Who needs to define levels o f performance

.md why?
Hist of all, the training organization needs to be able to see what level of
abiliry the learner has at the start of a course: this is important for forming
homogeneous groups (if the learner is going to learn in a group) and for
del crmining the content and substance of the course. Taking into account
the lime available, the training organization will want to set goals for the
Ir.irner(s) that can be realistically achieved. This can only be done if the
i ling level is clearly established.
nilarly, at the end of a course, the training organization will want to be
■e to show that the training was effective. Thus the exit level of each
i net needs to be demonstrated in some way. A training organization
i easily develop its own entry and exit tests which it can use to differen-
iuic the types of learners who commonly attend its courses.

I lowcver, it is not only the training organization which has an interest in

knowing the levels of ability of course participants. If the training is being
paid for by a sponsoring organization (for example, the company, in the
case of job-experienced learners), then it is obviously of some importance
to the sponsors to know that their money has not been wasted. They
will want the results of training to be clearly demonstrated. The training
organization cannot comply with this need by passing on a test result such
as '8 out of 10\ or ‘B+\ Such scores are meaningless unless they can be
related to norms for the population at large.
In addition, the learners themselves need to know what their capabilities
are. If they are going to be using English in an international context, they
will want to know how their English compares to that of non-native users
worldwide. How will others see them? Will they give the impression of
being accomplished speakers, or will they appear stupid? How much and
how long will they need to study to reach an ‘acceptable* level? (What is
an acceptable level?)
These problems can only be solved by setting up a performance scale
which can be used to evaluate all Business English learners worldwide
according to common criteria. Such a scale must distinguish levels of abil­
ity in each of the key skills areas. It must define what tasks a learner can or
cannot do at each level, and with what degree of success a learner can be
expected to carry out the task.

Performance scales
The first ever performance scale was the Stages of Attainment Scale
developed in 1976 by ELTDU (the English Language Teaching
Development Unit—then an affiliate of Oxford University Press). This
scale was developed in response to the requirement of a large Swedish
company, SKF, to be able to assess the level of English needed to carry
out certain jobs and the amount of language training needed by the
people in those jobs in order to reach the required level. It is a complex
document comprising no fewer than 27 business skills areas, including,
for example, Listening/Speaking: dealing with visitors, use of the tele­
phone, verbally relaying information; Reading and Writing: routine/non-
routine correspondence, journals, PR/press, reports etc. In each of the
skills areas, there are definitions of what learners should be able to do at
each of eight levels of attainment (A/B = Elementary; C/D = Threshold
level; G/H = Near-native competence). Although the definitions of ability
relate to performance, the scale is closely tied into a set of language speci­
fications which detail the grammatical and lexical knowledge which a
learner is expected to have at each level.
Since the publication of the ELTDU Scale, a number of other scales have
been developed, and the idea has been greatly refined and simplified for
cr access to users. Most scales now only offer definitions of perform-
c in four or five main skills areas (Speaking, Speaking and Listening,
cning, Reading and Writing), and the number of levels distinguished
/ be only five or six. This makes it easier and faster to assess the
net’s level—an important consideration for businesspeople with a
vy workload.
wadays, organizations such as the British Council, large company
ning departments, and the leading language schools have developed
ir own scales to comply with their own requirements. This means that
rc are a number of different scales in use around the world, and it can
;onfusing to try to compare them. In the field of General English, the
ruining bodies such as Cambridge and RSA have got together to work
a universal system for testing and assessment. However, in Business
;lish, definitions of performance objectives and methods of assessment
vary greatly from one organization to another.
>w are some extracts from three scales:* the ELTDU Stages of
linment Scale (an eight-point scale) which has already been mentioned
ve; the English Speaking Union (ESU) Scale, which is a nine-level
e, widely used in determining general language ability, and not
ifically adapted to Business English; and a scale developed in-house by
Finnish company United Paper Mills (UPM) (eight points), as an
nple of a scale designed for use with business and professional people
ch can be readily used by both language training professionals and
ipany training managers with little knowledge of language learn:ng.
TDU Scale: d ea lin g w ith visitors , L evel В
Can welcome visitors and perform introductions, giving a brief out­
line of personal details, purpose of visit etc. Can give a simple
description of work in hand. But cannot “talk shop” or make social
chat, or answer unpredictable questions.
J Scale , L evel 2
Uses a narrow range of language, adequate for basic needs and
simple situations. Does not really have sufficient language to cope
with normal day-to-day, real-life communication, but basic commu­
nication is possible with adequate opportunities for assistance. Uses
short, often inaccurately and inappropriately worded messages, with
constant lapses in fluency.
M L anguage A bility Scale , L evel 2 : E xtremely lim ited com m u n ica tion
Some everyday vocabulary and phrases are known, e.g. normal greet­
ings, perhaps also some words connected with own subject sphere.
A person at this level can “survive” in the language (e.g. travel with-
 out getting lost, give basic details about himself) but cannot function
in it in his work.
ELTDU Stages o f A ttainm ent Scale, ex tern al business m eetin gs a n d
n egotia tion s, L evel F
Can take part in negotiations. Can argue for and against a case effect­
ively. Has sufficient range of language to talk about most spheres of
the business. But is still unaware of the nuances of meaning
conveyed by intonation and careful choice of words.
ESU Scale, L evel 6
Uses the language with confidence in all but the most demanding
situations. Noticeable lapses in accuracy, fluency, appropriacy and
organization, but communication and comprehension are effective
on most occasions, and are easily restored when difficulties arise.
UPM L anguage A bility Scale, L evel 6: G ood co m m u n ica tiv e a b ility
Has full command of the grammatical structures of the language;
begins to use nuances of meaning successfully; has a rather extensive
general vocabulary.
At this level a person is able to take part in discussions and negoti­
ations in the role, for instance, of seller.

Testing and assessment

Just as it is difficult to define language attainment in performance terms,
so it is also difficult to measure that attainment. It is simpler by far to
assess the learner's knowledge of grammar by setting a multiple choice,
itemized test of the traditional type. But does knowledge of grammar have
any bearing on the learner’s ability to understand and communicate
orally? Unfortunately, there are many cases where there is a mismatch:
some learners have had a thorough grounding in grammar at school, but
have never had to use the language and have a low level of communicative
ability; others, who may have acquired English on the job or while travel­
ling, may have very poor grammatical knowledge but a reasonable ability
to communicate.
If the objective of a course is to improve effective communication, then a
different type of assessment is needed. However, the assessment of oral
communication skills—usually by giving an oral test—is by its very
nature subjective. There are two ways of overcoming this problem. The
first is to set up the oral test in such a way that the subjective element is
minimized. This means that strict guidelines for the test have to be laid
down: the kinds of questions to be asked and the kinds of tasks to be set
must be specified and structured according to difficulty. Here, the
definitions of expected performance at different levels are essential for
evaluation. But the tester must be very familiar with the scale being used,
and a lot of experience is needed to distinguish different levels of ability in
accordance with the definitions.
The second method is to combine the oral test with objective tests such as
reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and possibly a grammar
test. By combining scores on different types of test, an overall and perhaps
fairer picture can emerge.

P ublished tests a n d exam inations

There are now three British examining bodies offering examinations lead­
ing to certification in Business English. These are the London Chamber of
Commerce and Industry Examinations Board (which offers the oral exam­
ination Spoken English for Industry and Commerce, as well as the written
English for Business examination; the University of Cambridge
Examinations Syndicate (which offers the Certificate in English for
International Business and Trade, an examination targeted at secretaries
and administrative personnel); and the University of Oxford Delegacy of
Examinations (which offers the Oxford International Business English
Certificate, targeted more at those people in the company who have exec­
utive responsibilities). Business students sometimes take General English
examinations such as the Cambridge First Certificate or Proficiency, or
the American-based TOEFL and TOEIC. The last-mentioned is particu­
larly popular in Japan and has a business component.
Individual countries may have their own examinations. Many European
Chambers of Commerce set examinations—for example, the Franco-
British Chamber of Commerce in France and the British Chamber of
Commerce in Milan.
In addition to these examinations, there are some published tests available
which are designed to show the learner’s level of attainment on a particu­
lar scale. The ELTDU Scale mentioned on page 44 was accompanied by a
test battery which placed prospective learners on the eight-point scale in
each of the four main language skills. Similarly, some other commercially
available scales, such as the LTS scale, are also used in conjunction with a
placement test. (For information about scales and tests which can be pur­
chased, see the Appendix.)
C arrying ou t assessment y o u r s e lf
A trainer working for an organization that has its own system of testing
and assessment will clearly follow the guidelines and procedures laid
down. However, if the organization has no system, or if the trainer is
working independently, then it will be important to find a workable sys­
tem. The trainer will need to determine the entry and exit levels of the
learners, and to set precise course objectives. Ideally, such a trainer will
need to get hold of a scale and become very familiar with it.
A trainer who is not used to assessing level will need to build up a bank of
cases to refer to. It will be useful to start a collection of samples of work
carried out by different learners. These may be examples of written work
(for example, letters or reports that learners have written without help) or
tape recordings of interviews, presentations, or role-plays. By analysing
these samples and comparing them, it will be possible to see more clearly
how they match the performance definitions in the scale being used.
When the trainer feels confident that he or she has found a ‘typical level У
or a ‘typical level 5\ the samples can be kept for reference in the future.
Some transcripts of learner output are included below, with comments
that attempt to show some of the key features that will be critical for mak­
ing assessments.
As it is relatively easy to distinguish between beginners/elementary
learners at one end of the scale, and very advanced learners at the other
end, these extracts focus on the grey areas in the middle bands. Each
extract is accompanied by comments on spoken performance with regard
to these main parameters: size of utterance (i.e. ability to maintain com­
munication in English over long periods); speed (compared to normal
native speaker speed); fluency (or lack of hesitancy); comprehensibility
(with reference to accuracy, control, and organization of the message, and
pronunciation/ stress); complexity (ability to handle the details of a topic);
flexibility (ability to change topic and to keep in touch with the interlocu­
tor in terms of emphasis and interest); independence (degree to which the
speaker needs help or tolerance from the audience); mother tongue inter­
ference (use of non-English words or sentence structures); range of vocab­
ulary (does the speaker have enough vocabulary to express the full depth
of meaning that he or she wishes to convey?); appropriacy (appropriate
selection of expression or vocabulary according to the situation); and
accuracy (rate of errors in grammar or vocabulary). (Note: T = trainer, L =
learner.)
Speaker 1
The first extract is from a presentation given by a product manager
responsible for cosmetic products.
 Anyway the profit before tax is six per cent—that’s not too bad, so
wc still can live with it—but we have to do something—er—with
this branch— to bring it up, to equalize, to bring to a reasonable
level. And that’s what I want to tell you in the second part: what we
will do with the marketing mix—er—factors.
As you know, we have four marketing mix instruments: there is—
cr—distribution; there is the price instrument, there is the instru­
ment—er—which that’s communication, advertising; and the fourth
instrument is the product [pronounced /'proodAkt/]—er—product
(pronounced /pmdAkt/] itself. The product itself is the main instru­
ment.
Let us start with the distribution instrument and—er—if we see the
Market Audits summary distribution study—er—it is made, which
is made, we see that—er—the most important outlets are the
chemists and the others. Why are they the most most important out­
lets? Because we have the biggest market share for these outlets and
they are just—there are just a few of them we have to deal with. So
we should concentrate in future on the chemists and on the five
others—er—to make our business. The grocery outlets have—
shouldn’t be forgotten, but they are second priority.
Let me come to the second point. The price policy.
We have, nowadays, we have a price which is at about 20p. You
know—as you know, the price range in the market is between 5 and
25p, we we are still in the upper third of the price range and in qual­
ity we are also in the upper third so we shouldn’t do anything with
the price at the moment. We should keep it constantly.
( om m en tary
^ize The speaker can handle long periods of monologue. (This is just a
short extract from a 15-minute presentation.)
\peed He speaks at normal speed.
ilucncy There are a few hesitations and false starts, but these are not
unduly distracting.
( omprehensibility His message is mainly clear, although some points
vould probably be expressed more precisely (for example, the point about
(he chemists and the others); while it is not evident here, his pronunci­
ation and stress patterns were close to standard and easy to listen to. His
message is well-organized and each new point is clearly signalled.
Independence He needs no help and only a little tolerance from his audi­
ence.
M other tongue interference (German) One or two sentences are not very
English (for example, ‘They are just . . . a few of them we have to deal
with/).
Range o f vocabulary In general, he has no problems with vocabulary in
this extract, apart from hesitancy over ‘communication—advertising.
Appropriacy The language is appropriate for the situation.
Accuracy Generally good. (One mistake in tense: ‘the study which is
made’; one with use of the adverb ‘constantly/)
This short sample cannot demonstrate the overall flexibility of the
speaker, nor listening and interactive skills, although these are also factors
that should be taken into consideration in assessing level.
In short, it can be seen that this is a competent speaker, who, if attending
an English course, would mainly need to work on refining his skills: he
could further extend his ability to express ideas precisely, and could work
on increasing his range, fluency, and accuracy.
Speaker 2
This speaker is a loss prevention engineer working in an insurance
company. His job is to inspect commercial properties and advise on risks:
sometimes the properties are in the United Kingdom. In this extract, he
simulates a presentation to a client company on the subject of fire risk.
(T=Trainer, L=Learner)
L In this step there are two rooms which are exposed to fire—they
are natureny exposed to fire. You have the coffee room—because
it's p1' ys allowed to smoke in this room. And you have the
1 pd—er—these two rooms have not any smoke
xhaven’t smoke detectors so—er—it will be a
V detector to install a detector in each of these
Nery important because these two rooms are
\ and they are not equipped with smoke
4 fire detection system is efficient if—if its
VIlowed by—by— by an intervention—
Vhc estate, in the premises. But—er—
\ the day there is always somebody
V ilv can treat—can er—can do an
V v quickly, so it will be a good
\ rc|mrf to report the alarms—
P w ay* somebody with a tele­
p h o n e transmitter.
 L Yes. Yes, it’s easy to do. Or perhaps you have special companies.
In France we call these—er—telesurveillances . They—er—it’s a
company which is connected with all the fire detection alarm
systems. And when there is an alarm in the company, they make
an intervention directly—or they can call the firemen.
T am m entary
V / I lc is able to maintain long interactions and monologues.
N/ч'/у/ Normal.
П иону Quite a lot of hesitancy, repetition of words, and false starts to
leniences.
( owprehensibility He gets the message across, but there is some repetition
4h<l circumlocution. His pronunciation is typical for a French speaker,
hm he is reasonably easy to understand. He could organize his ideas more
<lfuicntly— (for example, the first point is that the company needs to
m t.ill smoke detectors; the second point is that they should connect the
•! i lots by telephone to a surveillance company).
-pendence He is able to function fairly independently, although a
ncr without knowledge of French might need to clarify some details.
' her tongue interference (French) Some words (‘intervention’) and sen-
c structure (‘it’s allowed to smoke’) are direct translations from
neb.

g e o f vocabulary Although he knows most of the job-related vocab-

i v he needs, he sometimes has to talk around an idea because he cannot
I the right words (for example, telesurveillance).
ropriacy He could make the recommendations more strongly (for
mple, ‘You really need to install smoke detectors’ or ‘You should con-
r installing smoke detectors’ rather than ‘It will be a good idea . . . ’).
и racy He is mainly accurate although there are a few mistakes (for
imple, ‘in this step’, meaning ‘on this floor’; ‘until a place’, meaning ‘to
д place’).
Flexibility and interactive skills cannot be demonstrated here.
In summary, we can see that this speaker has good ability and good
Strategies for communicating the main ideas, but still needs to improve
the fluency and organization of the message. He could work at increasing
the accuracy of his structure and vocabulary, and could also be made more
aware of the appropriacy of different kinds of language.
Speaker 3
This learner is of Turkish origin but now lives in Germany. In this
extract, he role-plays a telephone conversation with his trainer in which he
practises giving directions.
L How are you? It is nice to hear your voice. I never heard it.
T That’s right. We have written a lot of letters but never spoken. So
how are you enjoying your stay in England?
L Oh I am very glad. Yes. But only a problem with English
weather.
T You’re feeling cold?
L Yes. But I take enough pullover—no problem at the moment,
[pause]
T I got your message, and you suggested meeting this evening.
L Oh yeah.
T You are in Bath, is that right?
L Yes, it is okay.
T I’m in Poole, as you know. So I don’t in fact know Bath. Maybe
you can give me some directions and make some suggestions
about where we could meet?
L Yes. I have been with my colleague in a small pub in the city. It
was very nice. I recommend you to meet—er—Green Tree.
T Sorry. I didn’t catch that. What’s the name?
L Green Tree. The name of the pub— stay in Green Street.
T Could you give me some idea where that is? I’m coming by train
so I’d be walking up from the station. Is it far?
L It is not far. You go straight direction city and then—er—you
see—er—the big church.
T Is this Bath Abbey? Do you mean the Abbey?
L I think the name of the church is Sankt Paul. In the near is a big
shopping centre. The name of the building is Waitstore of the
right hand. And then you go the first left street. And then you see
on the left side ‘Green Tree’.
C om m entary
Size The learner’s responses are generally short, with little elaboration.
Speed Fairly normal.
Fluency He speaks quite fluently, with not much hesitation.
Comprehensibility His directions are not very clear. His pronunciation is
sometimes difficult to understand, and his mistakes could cause confu­
sion. He does not check if the listener has followed correctly, and does not
help the listener enough. (For example, when answering the question ‘Do
you mean Bath Abbey?’, he does not say categorically ‘No’.)
 pendence He is not a very independent speaker. The trainer needs to
Dmpr and clarify quite frequently to keep the interaction moving and to
I the right information.
terfcrence It is interesting that this speaker shows interference from
crm.in, which he knows better than English.
Wgr o f vocabulary He has all the words he needs in this conversation.
ptvpriacy His use of social language is appropriate, although he would
rd iо say more in order to sound more friendly.

turacy He makes a number of mistakes in both structure and vocab-

irv.

Utniing and interactive skills He seemed to misunderstand the question

on are in Bath, is that right?’—his response would be more appropriate
r the question 'Can we meet in Bath?’ Apart from this, he understood
id responded well. However, the trainer supported him by speaking
early.
summary, we can see that this learner still has quite a long way to go to
Crease his overall communicative effectiveness. He is likely to be rated as
iwcr in ability than he actually is because of poor pronunciation and
Curacy. He needs to work on these areas, and to practise exchanging
formation and clarifying. He also needs to extend his interactive and
cial skills.

The training gap

l he training gap can be defined as the difference between the starting
el and target level of a learner or group of learners. The training gap is

E ived at by establishing the starting level (through testing or interview-

and by carrying out needs analysis. It can be expressed in terms of
performance by reference to one or other of the accredited performance
м ales.
Ihe training gap in no way relates to any absolute lack of ability. Nor are
die objectives set at the highest level of the performance scale. The gap
'•lates only to the difference between current level and the target level as
defined by the job needs. The training gap may not be uniform across the
different language skills. A salesperson may need to speak and listen at a
ood level, but not require more than an intermediate level in reading and
writing. Nor will the gap be uniform within a skills area. For example, a
senior executive may measure high on the scale in spoken skills when
tested within a context where he or she is in control, and where the
subject matter is familiar. In this situation, the trainer might assume that
the learner’s needs are minimal. However, when put in a situation where
the learner is not in control or has to deal with unfamiliar subject matter,
he or she may show a much lower level of ability. If the needs analysis
indicates that the learner must achieve competence in this second type of
situation, then a training gap appears. Thus the training gap highlights
what should be the focus of training. If asked to define the training gap at
the start of a course, the trainer would expect to say, for example: ‘This
learner is good at communicating in situation X, but finds situation Y
complex and difficult.’
The training gap refers to what needs to be achieved in the long term
rather than what can be achieved on a particular course. Thus it is not the
same as the objectives for the course, although it will be important in
setting priorities.
The trainer may well be asked to estimate how long (in terms of hours of
tuition) the learner needs to achieve a target level. This is difficult to assess
accurately since learners of different ability progress at different rates, and
some may have more motivation, or more time and more opportunities to
practise than others. Table 6.1, drawn up by Brendan Carroll and Patrick
Hall for their book Make you r own Language Tests (see the Suggestions for
Further Reading), gives the average number of hours required to progress
from one level to another on an eight-point scale. As can be seen, it takes
proportionately much longer to progress from one level to the next at an
advanced stage than it does to progress from one level to the next at an
early stage.

Table 6.1: Estimate o f progress in tuition hours

2 90 190 340 540 820 1170

3 • 100 250 450 730 1080

Present 4 • 150 350 630 980

performance
levels 3 • 200 480 830
from 4 to 7 = 630 hrs
6 from 2 to 6 = 540 hrs • 280 630

7 • 350

2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Intended target levels
Progress estimates: Bands hours Bands hours
2- 3 =90 hrs 5-6 =200 hrs
3- 4 = 100 hrs 6-7 =280 hrs
4- 5 = 150 hrs 7-8 =350 hrs
Hie training gap is a valuable term of reference for both the learner and
he trainer when considering what is achievable and what is possible. It is
Jso very important for training managers and for the people who set up
raining programmes for companies or for educational establishments,
Krcause it provides the means for evaluating training in the short term
ind for setting the results of training in the context of long-term object-
yes. The definition of the training gap provides the means for making
hose involved in the training more accountable.
 JO B A N A L Y S IS

The first step in identifying the learners and finding out what needs they
arc likely to have is to look at the kind of jobs they are doing. Even if the
learners have not started their jobs yet, it will be possible to see what gen­
eral category they are going to fit into, and thus to predict what kinds of
needs they will have in the future and what will be useful to include in
their course.
Below, we set out the main categories of jobs together with some notes on
Ilow the training may be shaped according to these categories. We would
like to stress, however, that being able to make some predictions about
needs on the basis of the job description does not preclude the require­
ment for carrying out a full needs analysis as described in Chapter 8.
I here are a great many people whose jobs and needs do not fit neatly into
categories. This outline is to help build up a general pattern of under­
standing about business and what businesspeople do, and it will lay the
foundations for needs analysis and language analysis and the selection of
course components.

Job categories
In rhe next three sections, we draw distinctions between three very broad
categories: (1) managerial, (2) technical, and (3) secretarial/clerical posi-
t ions.

M anagers as learners
A large proportion of those who seek language training because of the
demands of their job are managers. This is because it is mainly managers
who work with international affairs and who therefore travel most and
deal most with people from other countries in face-to-face situations.
Also, as they are near the top of the pay scale, their companies are usually
more willing to spend money on training them.
Senior managers
Senior managers, in particular, are likely to ask for, and be given, indi­
vidual tuition. They have tight schedules and severe time constraints, and
they will not want to waste time by having to fit in with other people s
needs and programmes. They will want their course to be as specific and
as relevant to their own needs as possible.
Since they have to meet with important people from outside the com­
pany, they will want to give the best possible impression of competence
and authority and will require advanced language skills with a high degree
of refinement in terms of accuracy and appropriacy.
In terms of job skills (see the list in Chapter 5), senior managers will
probably need: chairing meetings, participating in meetings, negotiating,
giving formal presentations, and socializing—especially entertaining.
As they are involved with the running of the company as a whole, senior
managers will want to discuss global concepts such as the principles of
management, the organization of the company and its rationale, decision­
making procedures, long-term planning, and defining the company
image. They will also probably have special areas of responsibility such as
finance, human resources, or marketing.
Used to being in control and making decisions, senior managers will
probably take an assertive role in their own training. Most will be con­
fident but if they feel that their language skills are relatively poor, they
may be somewhat sensitive and embarrassed on this point. As intelligent
people, they will not wish to be talked down to, given activities which
seem facile, or given materials that lack credibility. The approach that will

We’Ll keep Lb
nice and simple for you,
shaU уиг ? Ч.С—*
work best with most senior managers is to enable them to demonstrate
their expertise by giving them the opportunity to explain what happens in
their company, to express their own ideas, and to discuss problems at a
high conceptual leveh They will want to be challenged by tasks which are
demanding and require imagination. They will also want to be given feed­
back on the language they are using and the overall impression they are
creating when using English.
Senior managers are used to concentrating intensively for long hours and
i hey will expect their English language trainers to do the same. Working
with people at this level can therefore be very demanding, but also very
rewarding.

Middle and ju n io r managers

Many of the comments on senior managers, above, apply also to middle
and junior managers, who may after all be the same people at an earlier
stage of their careers. There are, however, some differences.
Middle and junior managers may be offered individual tuition or may
join group courses of one kind or another. If the latter is the case, then
i hey will get a more general business training with less emphasis on their
own specific situation. On the other hand, many of them enjoy being in a
group because of the opportunities for lively discussions, role-plays, and
simulations. They will probably need less refinement than managers at a
senior level, although this will vary according to the actual job they do.
In terms of skills, middle and junior managers will also need meetings
kills but are less likely to need to chair meetings. They will need presenta-
non skills, but may not need to make very formal presentations. They are
more likely to need telephoning and report-writing skills as they will
probably not have support from highly qualified executive secretaries.
When dealing with people from outside the company, they will probably
be more informal. Other skills requirements will depend on the job.
Middle and junior managers work within a more closely defined area than
senior managers: they are not concerned with the running of the company
as a whole, but with a particular department or product area. They will
normally deal with very practical everyday matters such as procedures for
dealing with problems, budgets, targets, and staff relations. The same kind
ot approach to training can be used as with senior managers, but the kinds
of problems that can be introduced as a basis for discussion or role play
should ideally be those relevant to their own field or level of decision­
making.
T echnical s ta ff as learners
The term ‘technical staff is intended to cover in broad terms those people
who have come from an engineering or other specialized background. It
could include medical researchers in the pharmaceuticals industry,
chemists in the oil/petrochemicals industry, or computer specialists in the
data-processing department of almost any industry. They may be appoint­
ed to managerial positions, which means that they will require all the
skills mentioned on page 58, while also needing to talk in much more spe­
cific detail about highly technical aspects of their work. They may be
working in the research and development department of their company
and be required to co-operate with other departments, such as marketing,
or be able to communicate with clients or joint venture partners outside
their own company. They may be team leaders or project managers with
responsibility for developing a new product, for example, or seeing a con­
struction project carried out or a new data-processing system installed.
Because of the specialized nature of their work, these learners usually do
best in a one-to-one teaching situation. However, their companies may be
unwilling to pay extra for individual tuition, and they frequently turn up
in non-homogeneous groups where it is difficult to give enough attention
to their particular needs.
The problem for these people will be to communicate complex ideas
which may be hard for those outside their field to comprehend fully. They
therefore need excellent communication strategies, such as: addressing the
needs of the listener and choosing appropriate terminology; being aware
of how much others can or cannot understand and being ready to explain
things in different words; and being able to structure and organize informa­
tion clearly. Unfortunately, many technical staff have not developed these
strategies if they have previously worked in an isolated, monolingual situa­
tion. Many have not taken much interest in language before, and may
resent the new demands placed on them which they feel inadequate to
fulfil.
It is simplistic to regard the needs of these learners purely in terms of
vocabulary. Except at very low levels, the technical terminology is rarely a
difficulty: most learners already know the technical terms relating to their
jobs, and many of these terms may well be universal anyway. The training
priority should be to develop confidence in speaking and interacting with
others. The trainer can play a useful role in challenging the technical
learner to explain ideas in a way that a non-specialist can follow.
Technical staff may be more individualist than managerial staff. They are
less likely to have experience of social contacts with regard to their job, so
this may be a priority area for them.
Skills that are normally required by technical staff are:
- participating in meetings (usually informal)
- giving presentations
- describing and explaining things or giving instructions to others.
Some will need negotiating skills. They are also likely to need to read
technical manuals or specifications, reports, and sometimes contracts.
Some may need to write some of these documents.
I ypical language areas that will be important for technical staff are: struc-
uire, process, function, cause and effect, advantages and disadvantages,
.md problem-solving (involving hypothesis, possibility/probability, and
deduction).

Secretaries a n d clerica l workers as learners

Secretaries
Secretarial positions vary according to the level of the company at which
the secretary works. Executive secretaries act as assistants to senior man­
ners and usually carry a lot of responsibility. Some are in frequent con­
tact (both face-to-face and on the telephone) with people from other
countries, and are required to have advanced language skills with a high
degree of refinement. Departmental secretaries may not have much need
lor English unless it is an export department or one which deals interna­
tionally, but they may occasionally receive telephone calls or have to write
Inters in English.
( ourses for groups of secretaries can be highly efficient because it is poss­
ible to draw up a list of skills and language areas that are common to
nearly everyone. These include telephoning, writing letters, memos, and
faxes, and dealing with visitors to the office. Any differences in needs that
do arise within a group will mostly be due to differences in starting level
and the degree of language refinement required in different jobs.
Secretaries have the following needs: to be accurate, to use appropriate
levels of politeness, and to know conventions and formulaic language.
When dealing with visitors, they are likely to be performing definable
roles: welcoming, offering hospitality, responding to requests, and perhaps
describing the company. If they attend meetings, it will normally be to
take minutes rather than to put forward their own ideas. If these points
are borne in mind, it can be seen that they will require practice in very
different kinds of activities from managerial staff and it is not recom­
mended that groups should be formed to include both managers and
secretaries.
Clerical workers
This is a very broad category and the title may not be entirely correct for
some of the groups we have included here. They are: receptionists, tele­
phonists, book-keepers and accounts clerks, sales support staff,
import-export staff, computer operators, and many others. Their needs
for English may be quite specific and will vary according to the type of
job. Depending on the country of origin and the education system in that
country, workers in these kinds of jobs may have little or no English to
start with. They will therefore need basic language training first and fore­
most. They will probably also need special vocabulary—for example, for
understanding computer manuals or following instructions that are writ­
ten in English; or they may need accountancy or export terms. Those who
have to communicate by telephone or fax will need to learn appropriate
expressions plus the skills to deal with occasional non-routine situations.
Apart from receptionists, not many will have face-to-face dealings with
people from other countries.
Few clerical workers are given the chance to attend language training
courses. Most companies (fortunately not all) are unwilling to spend
money on sending them to language schools in the United Kingdom and
if they are given time off to attend a course, this will probably be in a
group, in-company. If they are lucky, the group they join will consist of
similar people with similar needs. The bigger and more forward-looking
companies will try to provide relevant training in homogeneous groups.
For example, staff may have the opportunity to join a course in telephone
skills or in reading computer manuals. Sometimes a departmental group
may have their own English course so that they can focus on the language
areas needed for their specific work. If such opportunities do not exist,
then these learners will probably end up following a very general type of
course and will have to teach themselves the language of the job as they go
along.

Departmental differences
This section deals with some typical departments within a company and
with the different concerns and training needs of the people who belong
to them. The company organogram (Figure 7.1) opposite illustrates how
different jobs and departments fit into the overall structure of a large
manufacturing company.
Figure 7.1: Company organogram

Supervisory board/
Executive committee

President

• internal
information
• external
information
• visitor
programme
• museum

• product • economic • plans, • research and • training

planning planning and forecasts, development • personnel
• sales— control research • environment administration
domestic • corporate • bulk • office
• sales— accounting products services
export • data • freight/ • food
____ processing shipping services

Production
M arketing a n d sales
First, it is important to recognize the difference between marketing and
sales. Marketing staff make decisions or proposals about product develop­
ment based on analysis of the market and the position which they hope
these products will occupy in the market (for example, high quality, low
volume, niche category or high volume, low price). They also make
decisions about marketing strategies. For example, they will be concerned
with ways to promote the image of products and the image of the com­
pany as a whole.
In addition to the department manager, the department will probably
consist of: product managers, who have special responsibility for one
product or one range of products; market researchers; and assistants who
carry out the day-to-day administrative work of the department.
Sales staff are concerned with setting and meeting sales targets. The
department manager will be looking for ways to motivate sales staff by
setting realistic targets and by offering incentives to achieve higher sales.
Selling methods are important, and big companies employ their own sales
trainers to improve the sales techniques of their staff To improve
customer relations, the more experienced and successful sales staff may be
given responsibility for certain important clients, and will then be called
‘account managers’.
The sales department may be organized according to sales regions, or type
of product, or both. In addition to the sales staff who work in the field,
there will also be support staff who answer telephone enquiries and pro­
vide information about technical details, purchasing procedures, insur­
ance. Other staff will process orders and pass on information to the
accounts department for invoicing, and to dispatch for organizing delivery
of products. If the products are being exported, the arrangements con­
cerning transportation, customs declarations, insurance, payment, and
delivery schedules will require a lot of documentation.
Not many people are involved in direct selling in a foreign country
because in most cases local sales staff are employed or agents are used to
make the initial contact. Most sales talk is therefore done in the mother
tongue. However, sales and marketing managers working internationally
will frequently need to meet and negotiate contractual terms with clients.
In multinational companies, sales managers and regional sales managers
are regularly required to report to headquarters on the sales situation, and
this has to be done in English if the language of the company is English.
Sometimes, reporting takes place at a meeting where each representative is
required to make a presentation to the others; sometimes the information
is given in a written report or is entered into the computer database. The
main areas of language here will be: describing trends; comparing budgets
with actual figures; giving reasons for fluctuations; reporting on com­
petitors; and making suggestions for increasing sales and market share.
Senior sales or marketing managers will be involved in strategy meetings
or in inter-departmental meetings concerning the company as a whole.
Sales and marketing staff may require English in order to attend training
which has been organized by the parent company at an international level.
The training may concern a new product which is due to be launched, or
it may concern sales and marketing strategies in general. Sometimes a
product launch may involve an international sales congress at a hotel.
Sales and marketing staff are used to dealing with a lot of different people
and are usually sociable and have outgoing personalities. On training
courses, they respond well to having plenty of activity and opportunities
for interaction.

Human resources
Smaller companies will have a personnel department: in a large company,
the personnel function is part of a much wider function known as human
resources.
A human resources department looks at the potential of its employees for
different kinds of work. Human resources staff will try to identify not just
the high-flyers, but also the particular talents of junior and middle man­
agers, technical staff, secretaries, and clerical staff. When job vacancies
arise, most companies will try to fill them internally first and will look to
recruitment only when they need extra numbers or a talent that is lacking
among existing staff. Appraising the staff may be done by the use of psy­
chological tests or by annual appraisal interviews. This work is normally
carried out in the mother tongue unless there is an international work­
force.
Sometimes, in a company which has overseas plant and subsidiaries, there
is a need to send staff on assignments abroad for periods of up to five
years. The human resources department will then have responsibility for
determining the working and living conditions in the foreign country,
briefing the employees and, if necessary, their partners, about the country,
and taking care of their needs while they are overseas. The staff who do
this will need to travel themselves to collect information and build
relationships with key people in the other country. Thus there will be a
requirement for them to be competent in another language, very often
English.
Another important area within the human resources field is training.
Large companies will have an extensive training programme for develop-
ing their staff in technical skills, management skills, personal development
skills, and of course language skills. A training manager will have respons­
ibility for setting up the training programme and overseeing the work of
the trainers, who may be employees or external consultants. There may be
one training manager or several, depending on the size of the training
programme and the number of employees. Many training departments
operate as independent profit centres and literally have to sell their courses
to other departments. Because training managers have to deal with con­
sultants and training organizations from outside—often from abroad—
they frequently have a need for English.
The more commonly known personnel functions involve setting up pay
structures and working conditions for different types of jobs within the
company. Personnel managers are therefore at the centre of any dispute
between employees and management concerning these issues. They are
involved in union negotiations and arbitration. Again, these functions do
not normally require knowledge of a foreign language.
If personnel or human resources managers require English training, it is
usually because they work in a multinational company and have to attend
meetings with their counterparts from other countries to decide on policy.
They may also need English to attend training courses abroad or interna­
tional conferences.
Thus these learners will want very broad communication skills at an
advanced level, especially for listening to talks, discussing problems, and
participating in meetings. Sometimes they will need to make prfesentations
or short speeches. They may want to be able to introduce a consultant at
the start of a training session or to chair discussions. They will want to
address the issues and problems that most concern them: for example, job
motivation, leadership qualities, team building, career development, and
job parity.

F inance
The finance department of a big company is normally divided according
to different activities and concerns. A clear line can be drawn between
accounting and financial planning or control.

Accounting
The majority of finance staff will be employed to deal with day-to-day
accounting. At the lowest level, clerical staff deal with payment of in­
voices, or with the issuing of invoices for sales of the company’s products
or services. Others calculate all incoming and outgoing transactions and
provide information on cashflow. They need to collect and consolidate
figures from different departments in the company. Accountants are more
highly qualified people who set up and monitor the procedures for dealing
with the figures. There may be non-routine situations where decisions
have to be made about how and where to record special kinds of income
or expenditure. The company will also want to present the figures in the
most advantageous light with regard to tax liability, and the senior
accountants will be experienced in looking for ways to do this. Accounts
departments have to produce financial reports monthly as well as
annually, and accounts from the subsidiaries have to be sent to head office
m be consolidated into the accounts for the company as a whole.
The need for English normally arises where the company is a multi­
national and financial reporting is required to be done in English.
Information about accounting procedures may also be distributed to the
subsidiaries in English. In this situation, accounts staff will need to know
all the relevant accounting terms in English and will need to be able to
read instructions about accounting procedures. Some may have to receive
visitors from head office or from other subsidiaries and be able to explain
aspects of their work. Staff dealing with payments may have to send letters
in English to demand payment, or use English to telephone or fax to fol­
low up problems. Senior staff and management will have to write reports
in English, and will need to attend meetings with their counterparts from
other subsidiaries, or with head office.
Trainers who teach English to accountants and accounts staff will require
a basic knowledge of accounting procedures and accounting terms. With
job-experienced learners, it is better to find out what procedures the client
company uses than to study the British system, because there are many
different national (and company) systems. Written documents outlining
company accounting procedures, as well as examples of accounts, can usu­
ally be obtained to help prepare for a specific course. It will be important
ro acquire a good Business English dictionary (see Suggestions for Further
Reading), or a dictionary of accounting terms.

Financial control
Financial control functions will include: short- and long-term financial
planning; investments, movement of capital, acquisitions or sales of assets,
calculating return on investment, managing loans, and managing the
company pension fund.
Financial planning will normally be carried out by senior managers or
directors of the company. However, they will need efficient data support
if they are to make good decisions. Thus a large company may employ a
team of economic experts to follow trends in markets, prices, equities,
interest rates, and exchange rates. These staff will work mainly with on­
line data systems in order to get the most up-to-date information; but
they may also get information from written financial reports or news­
papers such as the Financial Times. They will therefore need reading skills
combined with a good knowledge of the specific and often colourful ter­
minology used to describe trends. If reporting has to be done in English,
then writing skills or oral presentation skills will also be important.
Some staff may also carry out transactions: for example, applying to banks
for loans, switching loans to take advantage of lower interest rates or more
favourable exchange rates, and buying and selling stock. They will also
need to have up-to-the-minute information and will probably be in fre­
quent contact with banks and other finance institutions worldwide. They
will need a high level of confidence and competence in order to exchange
information and negotiate deals quickly and efficiently, usually by tele­
phone.
Yet other staff may specialize in acquisitions. They may look for smaller
companies with useful skills and products that the group could profitably
buy, either wholly or on a part-ownership basis. They may specialize in
property, plant, or other kinds of investment. These staff will need to
travel and to carry out detailed research into the financial pros and cons of
each prospective investment. Where the investment is planned in an over­
seas location, the need for English to make contacts and collect informa­
tion will again be paramount.
The people to be found in these financial control functions will be highly
qualified and expert in their own field. They therefore belong more to the
technical staff category (see page 60) than the managerial staff category
(see page 57), although of course some eventually become department
heads and senior managers.

P roduction
This department is relevant in companies where there is a physical prod­
uct, and a manufacturing process is involved in producing it.
There will be a large number of people who are engaged in the physical
manufacture of the product. Only where there is a multinational work­
force will there be any need for such workers to learn English. A typical
example where English is required is within the oil industry. There is
often a large number of expatriate workers in oil- or gas-processing plants
in the Middle East or the Far East, and locally-employed operatives need
to communicate with them to report on and solve production problems.
They may also need to follow training in English. Their needs will be nar­
row, highly focused, and technical rather than business-orientated.
In most cases, however, it is only the managerial staff who are likely to
require English language skills. If a company has overseas plants, man­
agers may be sent from the parent company to oversee the production and
make sure that the activities are carried out in line with company policy.
Even if the language of the country is not English, English may still be
used as the medium of communication. These managers will be involved
in building good staff relations with the local employees, and co-operating
with them to solve production problems. They may have specific respons­
ibilities such as modernizing the plant or improving quality or productiv­
ity. They will need to be very familiar with all the language relating to the
process itself, but probably more important will be the language and skills
required to relate to the foreign culture and develop a good understanding
of the people. Senior managers working overseas may have a lot of social
obligations: they will probably be expected to attend formal functions
with local dignitaries and government officials as well as other expatriates
such as embassy staff. Thus they will have a need for formal social
language such as the language of entertaining.
Production managers working in their own country may also need
English from time to time, particularly in relation to purchasing. In larger
companies, there is usually a purchasing department, which may belong
to the production department, or may be independent. All manufacturing
companies need to purchase both raw materials and production equip­
ment, from expensive machinery to nuts and bolts. A number of staff may
be employed to research prices and negotiate deals for the lower-cost
items and one-off purchases. Either the production manager or the pur­
chasing manager may be involved in negotiating for the more expensive
items, or for larger contracts with long-term suppliers. Here, obviously,
negotiation skills will be of prime importance and an advanced level of
English will be needed to negotiate with foreign suppliers. As many nego­
tiations are carried out over the telephone, telephoning skills will often be
important as well. Purchasing staff will also need to be able to read the
technical specifications of a product, and at higher levels they will need to
understand and negotiate supply contracts.
Other functions that the production manager will be responsible for
include the setting and meeting of production targets, reviewing budgets
and production methods, controlling quality, and improving productiv­
ity. In a multinational company, the production manager may need to
attend planning meetings in which these areas are discussed. He or she
will probably need to report regularly to head office, giving the latest pro­
duction figures and forecasting the figures for the coming months. Thus
meetings skills and reporting skills will be important, and learners will
need to be able to describe trends, forecast, compare targets with actual
figures, and describe the causes and effects of problems.
Another important area relating to production is the field of transport and
storage of goods. In the first place, raw materials needed for the process
have to be brought to the manufacturing site and stored prior to use. At
the other end of the process, the finished goods have to be stored and then
transported to the customer, perhaps via an intermediary such as a
distributor or retailer. In recent years, transport and storage has become
a high-technology activity. With modern computer technology, it is
possible to achieve ‘just-in-time’ delivery whereby the storage space and
storage time can be limited to the absolute minimum, thus saving costs. A
large company may have a logistics department or materials-handling
department which deals exclusively with this activity. Purchasers will need
to be familiar with company procedures in order to negotiate favourable
delivery terms. Managers will be looking for ways to update the system
and streamline the process even further. All employees dealing with this
area will need skills for describing process and procedure, and for making
comparisons between old and new systems.

This analysis of jobs within a typical company cannot, of course, cover

every possibility. We have not attempted to cover specific industries or
service sectors, many of which have their own organizational features and
a highly specific terminology (for example, banking and insurance).
However, it is intended that this should provide a framework into which a
Business English trainer can fit the knowledge and experience he or she
acquires on the job.
 INFORMATION
GATHERING

№c have seen that the chief tenet of Business English is to relate training
ID needs, but in order to do that it is first necessary to establish what those
leeds are.
K^e have so far looked at two key areas of needs. In Chapter 6, we looked
It how to define the training gap by assessing the level of ability the
learner has so far acquired and the target level which is needed for a
ipecific purpose. Chapter 7 addressed the kinds of specific purposes which
Business English learners are likely to have. By looking at different cat­
egories of jobs, we saw how it is possible to predict some of the skills and
training requirements of learners.
I о develop an efficient course, however, we need to select key com­
ponents, appropriate materials, and relevant tasks and activities which will
develop the learners and achieve the objectives. This requires a much
more detailed knowledge of the learners’ needs.
Success in learning can only come about if the learner is motivated.
Making the course relevant to job or study needs is usually a good way to
motivate the learner. However, there may be a few learners who are not
interested in talking about their specialization, or may not want to study
ihe language relating to it. If such a case arises, then a key part of the'
needs analysis will be to find out what will motivate the learner. The
diplomatic trainer can still find ways to practise valuable language skills
and language areas (excepting specialist vocabulary) through materials and
activities that stimulate the learner’s interest.

W hat do we need to know?

Inform ation abou t the learn er

This is information about factors which could affect the learner’s response
to training, motivation, and learning potential. These factors are:
- General personal data: age, sex, nationality, mother tongue
- Educational background: academic, professional, and vocational
- Knowledge of other languages and other language learning experience
- Attitudes and assumptions about language learning
- Learning style: for example, does the learner prefer to think problems
through and try to fit new information into a coherent system (a theo­
rist), or does he or she like to try ideas out and see how they work in
practice (a pragmatist); is he or she someone who needs time to think
before reaching conclusions (a reflector), or does he or she need to be
actively involved in doing something at all times (an activist)? (See
' Honey and Mumford (1986) for more details.)

D efining the learn in g pu rpose

In the case of job-experienced learners, this will be a breakdown of what
the learners do in their jobs. For pre-experience learners, there will be at
least two sets of needs: those relating to the study situation (following
courses, passing examinations) and those relating to their future careers.
In both categories, the key features that are important in defining the
learning purpose will be as follows:
- Activities and tasks: what the learner has to do in English
- Interaction: who the learner communicates with; the roles they each
play; the relationship between them
- Topic: what they communicate about
- Attitudes and tones likely to be expressed (for example, formal, polite,
strong, tentative)
- Mode of interaction (for example, letter, telephone call, face-to-face)
- Setting: place, time of day, time limits, and other situational factors
which influence the interaction.

Inform ation about the learn in g situation

The trainer is frequently assigned to a course that has been set up without
his or her involvement. However, understanding the forces at work
behind a training programme can be vital for its success, particularly if
there is any conflict between the various protagonists.
Questions to be asked are:
- Who decided that the learner should attend this course?
- What training needs does the learner perceive?
- What training needs does the sponsor perceive?
- What are the constraints of the learning situation: time, budget, group
size, group membership, assessment and evaluation procedures, stated
objectives?
Ways o f gathering the information
The next two sections will look at ways of gathering the information listed
here.

Job-ex perienced learners

Information can be gathered at three different stages in the training
process: (1) before the course begins; (2) at the start of the course; and (3)
during the course.

Before the course begins

Methods of gathering information before the start of a course will depend
on the physical situation. If the distance between the training organization
.md the learner is great, then the information will have to pass by tele-
phone or by the written word. Questionnaires are the most convenient
method for collecting information. A standard questionnaire can be pre­
pared by the training organization for use with typical clients and partici­
pants. This can be sent by mail or fax, and the participant can fill it in in
his or her own time and return it. Questionnaires are useful for providing
die participant’s personal details, educational background, and previous
language learning experience; they can also elicit brief information about
the job and the job skills which the learner sees as important. For ex­
ample, a checklist of job skills could be included and the learner asked to
tick those which he or she needs to work on. The learner might also be
asked to assess his or her level on a simple scale. In addition, some open-
ended questions can be constructed which will provide some indication of
the learner’s ability in English (for example, ‘Write a brief description of
your job’).
In addition to a questionnaire, it may be possible for the trainer or train­
ing organization to talk to the sponsor (for example, company training
manager) or even to the course participants themselves. Although this is
time-consuming and expensive, it is useful for establishing the sponsor’s
and the learner’s level. If the physical distance is small enough, the trainer
might be able to visit the company before a course starts, and talk directly
to the learners and/or others involved in setting up the course. Sometimes
the learner’s immediate superior can be useful in pinpointing his or her
needs and problems. Training managers may or may not have a very
tietailed picture of learners’ needs, depending on their own professional
background, knowledge of language training, and knowledge of English.
Alter analysing questionnaires and (if applicable) talking to the sponsor,
the trainer may wish to carry out some further background research. This
lould include learning more about the company by reading company
literature or articles about the company in the press. It could include
research into the type of industry the learners are involved in (for ex­
ample, banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals). Sometimes, learners can be
asked to supply information about their work by sending in examples of
documents which they commonly use: product specifications, contracts,
memos, or technical reports, for instance. These can be analysed both for
content and for the type of language they represent.
If a trainer is not familiar with the country or region that the learner
comes from, it may be helpful to learn more about the place and also
about the cultural background. It will be useful to know what kind of
behaviour patterns, learning attitudes, or language learning difficulties
could be expected.
The information which a trainer has access to before a course will vary
considerably. Sometimes key information will be missing, and the trainer
will have to rely on assumptions and intelligent guesswork in order to put
together an outline programme before the course begins.

A t the sta rt o f the course

Clearly it becomes much easier to establish the needs and objectives of the
learners once they are on-site and can talk face to face. However, the
extent to which needs and course objectives can be discussed with the
learners will depend on the training situation and on the type of course
being run.

Open group courses

A typical feature of open group courses is that they contain a mixture of
participants. Learners may have been assigned to the group on the basis of
their level of language, but it is quite likely that they will have very differ­
ing needs in terms of job-specific skills, topic interests, and language areas.
Thus the course will have rather broad objectives and it will not be worth­
while carrying out a detailed needs analysis when specific needs cannot be
met.
However, it is still important to get to know each learner well and to give
each a chance to talk about his or her own particular interests. Since it
would be time-consuming and boring for other learners if the trainer were
to interview each member individually, one approach in a group course is
to have learners interview each other about, for example, their companies,
their jobs, and their products (if applicable). The interviews can be con­
trolled by preparing interview task sheets that focus on the areas to be
covered. One or two examples of these are given at the end of this
chapter.
While the learners are interviewing each other, the trainer can circulate
among the pairs and note down any useful information that comes out of
the activity. The learners can also be asked to summarize the information
lor the whole group. It is a useful language activity and also helps the
learners to learn more about each other.

Closed groups
Depending on the rationale for bringing the group together, it is much
more likely that a closed group will have specific objectives that have
already been defined before the course starts. Most of the groundwork in
analysing needs and setting up a course programme will already have been
carried out. However, if the learners do not know each other, it could still
be useful to carry out the interview activity as described above.
Alternatively, the course could begin with a discussion session in which
learners can talk about their own needs and reasons for attending the
course. This can work very well if the members of the group already know
each other and feel reasonably relaxed. There is a danger, however, that
different opinions will be expressed about what the course should cover,
and the trainer will be left with the dilemma of trying to reconcile oppos­
ing points of view.

I ndividual tu itio n
In individual tuition, more than in any other teaching situation, needs
analysis is an integral part of the course and vital to its success. Depending
on the length of the course and the complexity of the learner’s needs, it
could be worthwhile to spend two or three hours on needs analysis at the
start of the course.

Most of this needs analysis will take the form of a trainer-learner inter­
view. Although the trainer may have some information about the learner
from, say, a completed questionnaire, it will still be important to check,
verify, and collect more details about the job and language needs.

Questions that can be asked at such an interview may focus on such

details as:

- The company: its size, location of its offices, what different divisions
there are, where its subsidiaries are, its products or services, and markets
- The division or department where the learner works
- The job which the learner does
- What the learner does in English: what skills needs he or she has, what
he or she talks about and to whom
* What he or she feels are priorities with regard to English training; what
are the main difficulties, and so on.
Included here are some extracts from actual needs analysis interviews as
examples of the kinds of questions that can be asked, and the likely
responses.
Extract 1
L I have been working for [Company] since 2 years now, for 2 years
now, and I use a lot of English in my work, and I need to be more
comfortable in my English speaking because I have some net­
working, some meetings in English, some presentations to do,
and that’s why I’m here.
T Okay, so you say you use English a lot in your work, do you use
English . . .?
L I use English everyday, I think, but, sometimes ten minutes each
day, but sometimes it is all the week. In meetings in London or
Bruxelles I need to speak English.
T And on this daily basis, who do you speak to?
L I speak to American people, English people, also with Dutch
people.
T And does this commonly take place by telephone or face-to-face?
L Most o f . . . it takes place by telephone, and day to day by tele­
phone, and of course if it’s a meeting or presentation it’s face-to-
face.
T And how often do you have these meetings—where you have to
speak in English?
L I think it’s almost once a month we have a meeting or presenta­
tion to do, or once a couple of months.
T Okay. And how many people will attend?
L Generally this meeting, it depends, but no more than ten people,
no more ten persons in this meetings.
T And what sort of things are talked about?
L I talk about problems concerning our chemical unit. I talk about
figures. I talk about. . .
T What, production figures?
L Yes, production figures. What we are expecting. What we expect
for the next month. What we are and where we go.
Extract 2
T You seem to have quite a good level already. Obviously the time
you spent in the States was useful.
L Yes, well actually, as a lot of French people I attended English
courses during my normal scholarity, but I couldn’t say that at
this stage my English was very good. Then I started my profes­
sional career. I didn’t speak a lot of English during the first one or
two years. This was back in 1975.
 I’ve always been based in Paris, but I travelled a lot to the US,
particularly in New York, but also in Houston, but it’s probably
on that occasion that I practised my English more frequently.
But I also had, have as you may imagine, a lot of meetings
with English or American bankers, so in Paris I speak fre­
quently English either in meetings or by telephone, not necessarily
with English-speaking people, I mean native English-speaking
people, but also with Dutch or German or Japanese, which may
create. . .
T Well, that’s one of the interesting things about English.
L That’s right, that’s right. Absolutely.
T It’s an international language.
L As for my professional language, this is probably an area where
I’m not too worried because these are really the same words in
French and English. I may make presentations, or listen to a pre­
sentation of a particular financing technique without any real dif­
ficulty. M y real difficulty is to understand and participate to a
marginal conversation.
T I think what you are saying is that when you are sure of the con­
text, there is no problem.
L Yes, that’s right . . . but also language, because if you speak very
rapidly I’m afraid I will not understand you . . . but you are right.
It is difficult to separate what corresponds to learning of a foreign
language and integration in different contexts and environments.
T Your English is very good.
L Well, maybe because it’s the morning. In the evening, I could
have some difficulty, sometimes.
Moth these speakers have a good knowledge of English, though there is
10 doubt that the second speaker is much more fluent. He is accurate

md precise in his reference to time. He uses an abundance of markers,

Hi h as V eil’, ‘actually’, and ‘I mean’. He responds promptly and with
■Mihdence: ‘That’s right, that’s right. Absolutely.’ His reaction to tlu^
••mpliment at the end is without hesitation. He has, however, certain^
i <jgnizable elements of mother tongue interference.

Ilu two interviews illustrate two different sets of needs. The first s|>cA<t£
A.mts to feel more comfortable in a business environment— ir
uul presentations. The second speaker says very definitely t
other needs— the problems that arise in marginal situation*!
vontext is not clear to him. For the first trainer, the approach I
focus should be on the language of meetings and prescniatifll
oiul trainer must avoid the irrelevance of the slight mother tl
Icrcnce: one or two weeks of expensive training is only ц«и«|
marginal difference to this. The main focus is going to be on helping the
learner to deal with unfamiliar contexts, and the development of conversa­
tional and social strategies.

Extract 3
In the third extract, a middle manager in a German car manufacturing
company describes his career.
L I start in 1965 in the factory and Гm working for one machine
for two years. After two years I change my job and I start to the
small leader in one department and repair machines and, and, and
do anythings what is found in the machines and so on. In 1970, I
go straight to supervisor and I start in supervisor in department
wh— pressing . . . and I worked there for six years to 1978. In
1978 I go over again to other department also for one super­
vision, only the different machines there for for . . . I don’t know
. . . I don’t know the name. In 1980 I go from [name of factory]
to Nigeria and I’m working there in the final assembly for the
section manager and in 1948 [sic] I come back from Nigeria and I
start in [factory name], also for supervisor in one department
who’s welding axle. And after this I’m working there only for six
or seven months. My big boss is coming and say OK you must go
to one new department is going up in [name of town] and I do
this job for 1985 to 1990.
C om m entary
This extract illustrates clearly a learner who has learned English on the job
without the benefit of a grounding in English at school. He is now 50
years old and is unlikely to make dramatic improvement in terms of
accuracy. He is outgoing and communicative, and speaks fluently, but his
output is often full of inaccuracies. His trainer will need to take a firm
hand to slow him down and make him aware of the language areas in
which he makes mistakes. He will need a pragmatic approach: not all his
errors can be targeted, so the focus should be on the ones that hinder
effective communication most. (For example, giving the date wrongly,
“working for one machine”—these are errors that could cause most con­
fusion for the listener.) He will need constant correction and reminders,
and even then will probably continue to make many habitual errors.

D u rin g the course

At the start of the (jourse, or soon after, the trainer must evaluate all the
information that has been collected and must make certain deductions
which will determine the objectives for the course. These objectives
should ideally be agreed by the learners.
Thus the outlines for the course will be laid down, but it will still be very
AlKailr to plan all the details of the content and materials to be covered
(ft tlu* course. This is because the trainer is constantly learning more about
learners as the course progresses. First, information about job-specific
E>pit s and language may be complex and detailed, and not everything can
covered in a couple of hours. Second, some information will be
insitive, and the learners will not want to divulge this unless an environ-
[lent of trust and confidence has built up over a period of time. Third,
>nu* information relating to the learners, such as attitudes to language
irning, motivation, and learning styles, cannot easily be discussed and is
fcpncrally communicated through behaviour during the course.
litis the trainer must be constantly responsive to new information that
u rges during a course and must be ready to adapt course content and
pprnach to deal with it. Even the most tightly-prepared course can be
iiulilicd—for example, by pruning the least useful parts, adding new
iatcrial or activities, increasing or decreasing the emphasis placed on a
iriuular aspect, or changing the order of components.
The trainer can also make specific efforts to add to his or her knowledge
bf the learner’s situation by introducing discussions or carrying out short
Interviews during the course.
Information that can be gained during the course includes:
I M ore details o f sp ecific work situ ation s
|u>r example: when the learner attends monthly meetings at head office,
*lu> else is present? What do they talk about? What happened at the
)rih( meeting? What kinds of problems were discussed? What solutions
did ihey reach? This kind of information will provide a useful basis for
irning discussion topics and building up role plays based on real-life
um.mons.
J M ore details a b o u t th e w ork d o n e by th e lea rn er
l or example: how does a risk surveyor set about assessing the risks in a
ilicnt company? Who does he or she talk to and what questions does he
ih she ask? What vocabulary is needed to fill out forms?

This kind of information will provide useful clues as to the functional,

uructural, and lexical areas of language needed to carry out various job
tasks.

Pre-experience learners
I he needs of pre-experience learners are quite distinct from those of job-
<xperienced learners, and the approach to needs analysis will therefore be
very different.
Generally speaking, it will not be left to the individual trainer to set up
the training objectives, course curriculum, or course design. These
decisions will either be determined by an examining body (internal or
external), or they will be made by senior members of the department, and
will be formalized and carried on from one year to another with perhaps
only minor modifications.
Needs will be assessed in general language terms rather than in relation to
specific job tasks. In some educational establishments, the language
programme may have as its objectives the same kinds of skills as are
important in working life: for example, giving presentations, writing let­
ters, telephoning, and participating in discussions. However, there may
also be other objectives that relate more specifically to the present need to
follow a course of study: for example, reading to extract the main points
from an academic text, or following and taking notes on a lecture. The
trainer will have to be able to relate the materials and activities used on
the course to these objectives, and will be given guidelines for preparing
lessons and for evaluating and assessing progress.
In some establishments, the course objectives and its programme will be
defined by the course materials used—either a published textbook or
internally-prepared material. However, in every case there will be some
room for choice of interpretation and selection of activities. The trainer
will make such choices according to the needs of particular groups.

M otiva tion
In any learning situation, we can distinguish between two kinds of motiva­
tion: extrinsic (the need is imposed from outside) and intrinsic (the learner
is deeply interested in the language and culture for its own sake). Among
pre-experience learners, the extrinsic motivation will stem from the need
to pass examinations and gain qualifications. Many learners will not be
aware of the needs they will have later in life and may not be able to see
the relevance of doing language courses. Even if they know they will need
English in their future jobs, the need is a distant one, and course partici­
pants may not want to devote a lot of time and energy to language when
there are so many other stimulating things to get involved in.
Thus, perhaps the main task for the trainer will be to find out what spe­
cial interests the members of a group have, and what kinds of activities
they will best respond to. In this way, the trainer can stimulate interest
and increase motivation.
There are several ways of doing this:
1 Introduce open sessions in which group members can talk about what
interests them most. Topics that arise can be followed up in later
 icvsions, with appropriate materials and activities. Even if the topics
itut come up may not seem very business-related, they can still be used
to develop valuable skills.
I thing in speakers from outside who are working in relevant fields and
who can give the learners an insight into the practical applications of
what they are studying. If any members of the group have some work
experience, they could be encouraged to tell the others about it.
3 I ncourage the group to talk about their attitudes to language learning
and about any difficulties they have. Discuss the problems openly and
suggest strategies that may help.
4 He ready to try out different kinds of tasks and activities, especially
those that actively involve the learners and develop useful skills. Those
dur were successful can be repeated, using different topics.

Practical problems in needs analysis

Needs analysis is rarely straightforward. Below are some typical examples
«>1 problems, and some suggestions for dealing with them.

I ( Companies do not supply the info rm a tio n you need

Solutions
I tv to build a relationship with someone inside the company: usually
и will be the training manager or personnel manager, but it could be a
wxrctary or assistant. Explain the importance of getting information
about the needs of course participants and get him or her to help you to
obtain that information by liaising with appropriate departments or
personnel.

1 Companies see the tra in in g requirements d iffe re ntly from the

learner or the tra in in g organization

Solutions
1 fry to negotiate with the person or people who are most influential in
setting up the training.
2 If this doesn’t work, try to reconcile the differences: steer a middle
course that satisfies both parties to some degree.
3 Aim to satisfy the needs of the learners first: training is unlikely to con­
tinue in the face of poor evaluation.
3 Th e course objectives that have been laid down are
inappropriate fo r the group

Solutions
1 Discuss with the group what they see as their main objectives. Match
this with your own professional judgement of what they need. Change
the course programme accordingly.
2 If this is impossible— (for example, it is an examination course or the
sponsor refuses to change the programme)—you will have to stick to
the given course outline, but you could try to spend some class time on
areas that relate more closely to the needs of the learners.

4 Th e needs w ith in a group are too divergent

This is a very common problem. There may be differences in level or in
job requirements, or it may be a question of strongly opposed personalities
or different learning styles.
S olutions
1 In the majority of cases, the trainer has to try to manage somehow by
finding the middle road.
2 If the problem is one of level, aim at the learners in the middle for most
of the time. It may be possible to devote some extra time to helping the
lower-level learners while the others are preparing something more
difficult. Some tasks and activities allow for participation at different
levels. For example, chairing a meeting is more challenging than being
a participant, and it makes sense, therefore, to give the role of the chair
to a higher-level member of the group.
3 If the problem is one of different job requirements, focus on the com­
mon core of needs—don’t try to address all the specific needs of indi­
viduals. Some activities will allow individuals to talk about their own
interests—for example, interviews and presentations, and of course
writing tasks.
4 In the case of different personalities, discuss the problem openly with
the group and try to agree on some common ground. It is useful to
point out that different people have different learning styles and that
sometimes, in a group, there is a need for the faster or more active
learners to be patient while the others catch up. This kind of discussion
will not solve the problem, but it may help to make the group members
more tolerant of each other.
5 In extreme cases, it may be possible to change the group or divide it
into two.
6 Another solution could be to introduce self-study sessions and pull
|H*oplc out for short periods of individual tuition.
7 Another possibility is to have learners work on different tasks in smaller
mb-groups.

$ Some learners do not th in k they need to attend the course

$*!utions
l ry to demonstrate that they do have needs by setting tasks that they
i .mnot perform adequately: show them the gaps in their knowledge and
%Uills. Recording them on tape is one way to do this. However, an
.ipparent excess of confidence can sometimes be a cover-up for deep
feelings of inadequacy. In these cases, it will be necessary to employ a
more tactful and gentle approach.
2 I i у to find materials and activities that will interest and motivate the
learners. Even if there is no genuine need for training, learning can still
be enjoyable.
Tables 8.1 to 8.4 on the following pages give examples of interview
task sheets which learners can use to ask each other questions about each
«•Ihers’ jobs, companies, etc. (See also page 74.)
Examples o f in terview task sheets
Table 8.1: Interview task sheet—company

Finding out about a company

1 Ask your partner questions about the company where he or she works. Use
the headings below as a guide.

2 Make notes about your partner’s company and be ready to present the
information to the group.

Company name:

Type of business:

Some important products or services:

Location of headquarters:

Approximate number of employees:

Main competitors:

Countries which the company deals with or exports to:

Approximate turnover: (if available)

1лЫе 8.2: Interview task sheet—-job

Finding out about a job

1 Ask your partner questions about the company where he or she works. Use
the headings below as a guide.

2 Make notes about your partner’s company and be ready to present the
information to the group.

)ob title:

Department:

ifie f description of job:

Special responsibilities/special difficulties:

Table 8.3: Interview task sheet—contacts

Finding out about contacts: regular contacts

1 Make a list of people you communicate with regularly in English:

2 Now select one of them and complete the details below:

Name: Company:

Job title: Division/department:

Nationality:

Most frequent means of communication: (circle)

face-to-face in meeting with others telephone letter/fax

Relationship: (circle)

friendly neutral formal

What do you find most difficult when you try to communicate with this person:

What would help you to communicate better:

Finding out about co ntacts: new contacts

How often do you make a new contact? (circle)

every week every month occasionally never

What nationality are the people you make contact with?

How do you usually contact them? (tick)

You telephone or w rite for an appointment

They visit you in your office
You meet them at international meetings or conferences
You meet them on social occasions
Other ways

describe one person who was a new contact recently:

Purpose of contact:
Personal details:
Company:
Job title:
Nationality:
How did you talk: (circle) face-to-face telephone
What did you find most difficult when you made the contact:

What would help you to make first contact more easily next time:
Table 8.4: Interview task sheet—company product

Finding out about the company’s products

Complete the following chart about one of your company’s products. Then ask
your partner for information about his or her company’s products and
complete the column on the right.

You Your partner

Name of product:

Market sector:

Function or use:

Brief description:

When introduced:

Total exports for

last year
(if available):
Market share in
your country
(if available):
What type of
customers buy
this product:
Who are your
main competitors:

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press

 DETERMINING THE

9 CONTENT OF THE
COURSE

\Ш chapter will demonstrate how to move from the outline stage (where
nirse objectives and main performance areas have been identified) to
[detailed planning stage (where decisions can be made about what to
lldc and how to deal with it).
(■ГС are two approaches to planning. The first is to take each of the
performance areas and break it down into its constituent parts: skills
ments, language functions, and the grammatical and lexical con-
tnts. The second approach is to analyse the language used in samples
from real life situations, or from simulations of real life situations,
as management training videos or output from the learners them-
rs (even though that may be imperfect). Here, also, the analysis yields
:y functions, structures, and features of language which a learner
to know: but the process involves observation rather than deduc-

Breakdown o f performance areas

tins section, a breakdown is given of five broad performance areas:
Meetings and discussions
’ <.iving information
* l elephoning
i И11siness correspondence
* Socializing.
u each area, a checklist of the key functions involved will be given. In
t Idilion, there will be: notes on the key parameters which provide the
basis for selecting appropriate language from a broad corpus; and notes
on other aspects that will be important for successful communication,
such as the correct use of underlying structures, stress, and intonation,
Vocabulary will not be dealt with in this section as this will depend on the
specialization of the learners and the topics they want to talk about.
However, some examples of vocabulary are given where their use is highly
predictable within a certain functional area.
This breakdown will provide a starting point for selecting the components
of almost any Business English course. However, it will be important to
carry out the steps of language analysis and to examine carefully the focus
of training as outlined on pages 102-111.

M eetings a n d discussions
This is a very broad performance area covering large, formal meetings,
small, informal meetings, and discussions of all kinds. W ithin this area,
three distinct kinds of behaviour can be identified: controlling, particip­
ating, and co-operating. Each requires specific kinds of language and
language skills.

C o ntro lling
In formal meetings this is the prerogative of the chairperson, but in
informal meetings anyone present can contribute to this role. To control
the meeting means: (1) making sure that the objectives are achieved (to
follow the agenda if there is one); (2) balancing the points of view of
the participants and seeing that everyone makes a fair contribution; (3)
recognizing and dealing with disruptive influences, such as participants
who try to dominate or misunderstandings of word and meaning; (4)
operating within agreed time limits; (5) working to a protocol (a manage­
ment style which is appropriate to the occasion). An example of protocol
is where participants are required to speak through the chair.
A good chairperson can only carry out this role if he or she has com­
petence in the language. Not least of the skills requirements is listening, as
it is impossible to summarize accurately without having both heard and
understood everything. Most meetings do not proceed in a linear fashion
because ideas are frequently reiterated, reformulated, and elaborated as
the group moves from defining problems towards finding solutions.
Participants are often so involved with their own thoughts that they do
not perceive the development of ideas within the group as a whole. It is
the chairperson’s role to point out the development and to summarize key
aspects of it.
Language functions relating to controlling meetings are:
 nmg the meeting
ip*>nnn.inng topics for discussion
[ftpritiiig topics
•king people to speak
rrping people on the subject
mtpolling a topic
inning back to a topic
rim ing to time
mmmarizing, restating, or rephrasing
including
liming the meeting.
i Itkiuilying the appropriate choice of expression for carrying out these
i turns, a key parameter will be formality versus informality (for ex-
iplr. ‘I declare this meeting open’; 'Right, let’s get started’).

structures which learners will need to be familiar with are (broadly):

dal verbs, verb tenses, conditional forms, connectors (for example,
i -iiisc, therefore, alternatively).

^rticipating
id vsuh controlling meetings, the most essential skill involved in success-
ill participation in meetings is listening. This is often overlooked in train-
dg "f at any rate is given less emphasis than the skills of putting forward
rguments and showing disagreement. Thus, each of the functions listed
rl«'\\ should be seen as two-way: learners will need to express these trans-
fk t и mis (though not necessarily overtly), but they will also need to under­
lain 1and respond to the transactions of others.
Iheie are some kinds of behaviours that are inappropriate in some cul­
t u r e s : for example, disagreeing or criticizing is not acceptable in some Far
I aw countries. It is important to be aware of differences in behaviour
*hcii dealing with people from an unfamiliar culture.
I jnguage functions relating to participating in meetings:
negotiating procedure
setting out facts and figures
expressing opinions
supporting an argument
agreeing, disagreeing
expressing reservation
adding new points
balancing points of view
expressing advantages/disadvantages
making suggestions
- evading, postponing, ignoring
- interrupting
- promising.
A key parameter in the choice of language will be diplomacy versus forcfl
fulness: for example, in making a proposal or expressing degrees of agrefl
ment or disagreement (‘Could I suggest. . ‘You m ust. . ‘I’m not su j
if I can go along with that’; ‘That’s unacceptable’).
The structures will be the same as for controlling meetings.

Co-operating
Co-operating is a major factor in international meetings where EnglislM
being used by non-native speakers. The principles of co-operation will f l
to reduce extreme forms of language and behaviour, and to establish J
neutral middle ground where people from different backgrounds call
communicate. The term co-operating is taken from the concept of ‘соч
operative principles’, first used by Grice (1975). It is used in the restricted!
sense of co-operation through language and behaviour in order to achieve
a mutually desirable business objective.
The language of clarifying is an important aspect of co-operating. In an!
atmosphere of co-operation, the assumption is that members of a meeting
will first try to understand and relate to the others, and second, will try to
work with the others to find solutions to common problems.
One aspect of co-operating behaviour is when the speaker notices that
others have not understood and stops to rephrase or restate a point, or
even to check (‘Did you understand?’). Listeners can show understanding
by giving various forms of feedback such as nodding the head, or inter­
jecting with ‘Hmm’ or ‘Right’, or by repeating parts of what they heard.
British and American participants use such devices all the time and expect
others to do the same. However, in some cultures it is not appropriate to
make noises while others are speaking; or it may be seen as a criticism ol
the speaker to say that you have not understood. These people may have
to learn to change their behaviour in the context of an international meet­
ing in order that the meeting can progress satisfactorily.
In the list of functions below, reference is made to following rituals and
routines, and these terms need to be defined.
Rituals are important for business people working internationally
because they meet a wide variety of different people, in situations where
time is often a constraint. Rituals provide clear ground rules for meetings,
enabling people to feel comfortable with one another in a short space of
time. Rituals include: welcoming, introducing, small talk before a meet­
ing, formal thanks, and saying goodbye. The language used in these
 i% often highly formalized. Rituals are often affected by cultural
rtnv In Latin American countries, for example, more time may be
Ird m developing a friendly relationship than in Scandinavia, for
y\c I'ven within Europe there can be noticeable differences. In
rn it is common for a guest to publicly thank, or propose a toast to,
№%t or hostess at a dinner table. In Britain, this public thanking is not
\*%necessary, although it may occur. It can be said that following such
Ihtu behaviour greatly enhances business exchanges, while the non-
|v4 ikc of rituals (such as the unwelcome introduction of business
(» during a social dinner with Japanese people) can sometimes be
Ifin live to a business relationship.
tomes are commonly accepted procedures for doing things which are
ih predictable. An example is the classic five-point routine for starting
ling:
lulling attention
ftif.nalling the start
laming background information
fti.n ing purpose
im icing the first speaker.
ihei routines may be used for taking turns to speak, closing meetings,
iral mg with questions, or interrupting. An important feature of routines
к lime limit. A routine should only take a certain amount of time, and
|he participants in a meeting will have certain expectations of the time a
fiMicinc should take. However, there may be cultural differences in expec­
tations of the time needed for certain routines. For example, greetings in
the Middle East go on longer than in Britain. (Note that routines are also
important in socializing: see page 101.)
t mguage functions relating to co-operating in meetings:
following rituals
following routines
clarifying
checking
rephrasing or restating to make a point clear
asking for explanations
concluding
showing understanding
confirming
referring to time boundaries
- dealing with lack of co-operation.
Key parameters in the choice of language relating to these functions arc;
formal versus informal; polite versus impolite; neutral forms vcrsim
deviant forms. Easy rather than complex language should be chosen if th*
language level of some participants is low. It will be important to avoid
specialist jargon unless it is familiar to everyone present; similarly*
company-specific terms, idioms, or language that is highly culture-bound
will create divisions rather than co-operation between the different parties.
Key structures will be question forms, especially tag questions, check
questions, and statement questions. (‘You need more time, is that right?'
‘I see, so what you mean is . . .’)

Table 9Л : Functions fo r expressing ideas—structural and vocabulary

components

Function Structures Vocabulary

describing structure ‘consists o f, ‘divided
into’, ‘whole’, ‘parts’
describing fu n ctio n ‘is used to . . .’, ‘is used
for -in g
describing process present tenses,
active/passive, sequence
markers
expressing tim e verb tenses, adverbials,
time prepositions
expressing condition conditionals
describing location, prepositions, adverbials
m ovem ent , a n d direction
describing changeltrends verb tenses ‘increase’, ‘decrease’
g iv in g reasons, expressing connectors: ‘because’, ‘as
cause an d effect a result o f, ‘therefore’
expressing sim ilarity a n d ‘the same as’, ‘similar to’,
difference ‘like/unlike’
com paring a n d contrasting -■er and -est forms ‘more’, ‘most’, ‘least’
expressing possibility , modal verbs sentence ‘could’, ‘may’, ‘might’ ‘it
probability , a n d certainty construction is likely that . . ‘we are
likely to . . .’
expressing intention ‘will’/‘going to’
 inform ation
►
m |h*i Iиj mance area relates to several different kinds of communication:

•hort items of factual information, given during meetings with one or

•kith several other people
Inhumation given over the telephone
Inn^cr, more structured communications in the form of presentations,
Mlks, nr speeches
пишем communications such as faxes, letters, memos, and reports.
к re .ne two aspects of giving information: the content, i.e. the ideas to
i mmiminicated; and the way in which the message is communicated.

'be content o f the message

*Me 9.1 (opposite) lists the functions that are widely used to communic-
|r -lifierent kinds of information in the field of Business English. They
Mv relate to a variety of different topic areas. For example, ‘describing
Im Hire’ is relevant to talking about the structure of a company (its
(irments/divisions) or the structure of a product. ‘Expressing simil-
.md difference' may be important in talking about product develop-
И* i, differences between the company’s products and competitors’, or
it«r* fences between one job function and another.

I low the message is communicated

Hi key feature of communicating a message are: (1) organizing the
in* age, (2) signalling intention, and (3) emphasizing important points.
O rganizing th e m essage
Tins involves both linguistic and non-linguistic skills. The non-linguistic
•lulls relate to how information is selected according to the needs of the
audience or readership, and to how the information is ordered—what
luml of logical sequence is applied. See Table 9.2 (overleaf).
S ignalling in ten tio n
This is an important device which a speaker or writer can use to commun­
icate more effectively. By signalling intentions, the speaker can prepare
the audience for what is to come. It is a common device in presentations
where the speaker introduces a topic (‘I’m going to talk to you about. . .’)
or explains the structure of the talk (‘First I will give you some back­
ground about . . . and then I will . . .’); and also in meetings (‘I’d like to
make a suggestion’; T have a question about pricing’).
Signalling intention is also a useful strategy for breaking down the details
of a complex message into manageable components—grammatically sim­
pler to express as well as easier to understand. This is especially useful for
Function Language
S how ing sequence Sequence markers: ‘first', ‘second', etc.
M arking boundaries Oral: ‘right’, ‘OK’, use of pauses, stress,
intonation
Written: headings, subheadings, paragraphs,
sentence boundaries
M arking n ew fgiven inform ation Oral: stress and intonation
Written: use of articles, demonstratives,
pronouns
Both: choice of vocabulary, giving definitions
R eferring to w hat w en t before or Use of appropriate expressions: ‘as I said’,
com es later ‘the above-mentioned
Linking a n d sh ow ing the Connecting words and phrases:
relationship betw een ideas ‘however’, ‘as a result’, ‘for example’
R eferring to visuals or to things Oral: ‘as you can see
outside the text. Written: ‘as is shown in Fig. 8

questions. For example, instead of the complex question, ‘Do you sell to
any other kinds of companies apart from the big car manufacturers?’ we
can ask:
‘About your customers’ (signalling topic)
‘I know you sell to the big car manufacturers’ (signalling what we already
know)
‘Who are your other customers?’ (actual question).
In written communications, there are different conventions for signalling
intention according to the type of communication. In a fax or letter, the
subject is indicated by a heading. In memos, there is a standard layout
where the writer can indicate in the appropriate box who the memo is for,
who it is from, and what it is about. Reports, especially longer ones,
usually have an introduction in which the writer specifies his or her inten­
tions and describes the content and structure of the report. In the main
body of the report, intentions are signalled by headings (for example,
‘Recommendations’), as well as explicit statements (‘The following list
indicates . . .’; ‘Here are some examples’). Table 9.3 lists functions and
language used in signalling intentions.
l^nction Language
P etting attention ‘Ladies and gentlemen’
‘John, can I have a word?’
Matm g that yo u w ant to speak I have a point to raise.
t$iroducing a topic ‘The subject of my presentation is
‘About those invoices
tu n in g purpose ‘I want to suggest some solutions.’
‘I’d like to explain the background.’
Watm g aims/objectives ‘The aim of this report is to . . .’
‘We have two objectives
d escrib in g the structure o f a talk Before I deal with this question, let me just
ft message

\loving to a n ew p o in t ‘Let’s move on to the next point’

postponing ‘I’ll come back to that later’
Identifying reasons/ ‘The reason is . . .’
Wtoblems!results ‘The problem is . . .’
‘Let me explain what happened’
\etroducing a conclusion or ‘So to conclude
Wttnmary ‘Let’s summarize the main points.’

/m phasizing im p o rta n t p o in ts
An with organizing the message, some aspects of emphasizing are non-
linguistic—for example, identifying the important points and placing
them in a prominent position in the text. However, indicating emphasis is
.1 specifically linguistic skill.

W.iys to show emphasis when giving information orally:

Lxplicit statement (‘an important point’)
►Use of intensifies (‘really’, ‘absolutely’, ‘definitely’)
ш Word order: (‘What is important is . . .’, ‘It is the cost which is import­
ant’)
* Use of intonation and stress
^ Use of pitch and pausing.
I^ays to show emphasis in writing:
m The first three points in the previous list apply to writing as well as
speaking, although the words used may belong to a more formal
register.
- Word order and sentence structure to show emphasis will be particu­
larly important in writing.
- Punctuation
- Sentence length (short sentences can be very powerful)
- Emphasis can also be shown in writing by means of layout and graph­
ical features (use of bold/underlining).

T elephoning
Telephoning can be distinguished as a performance area even though it
actually refers to a channel of communication and may cover a wide range
of situations and types of interaction. This is because the language used
on the telephone is highly conventional and formalized. Many words and
expressions are used only on the telephone, either because they relate to
the technology or because of the need for rituals and routines in a difficult
communicative situation.

TkalUL on ЪЩ Smith

'It's Bill Smith from London . Do you want to speak to him?'

Telephoning also requires well-developed skills in exchanging informa­

tion, clarifying, and explaining. Since the speakers cannot fall back on
visual support (graphics, figures, pictures, gestures, facial expressions, or
body language), the stress on the spoken word is greater than in any other
interactive situation. Table 9.4 lists some of the skills and their related
functions and language.
Skill Function Language
gettin g through requesting, introducing Vocabulary:
self, checking identity, caller, dial, exchange,
stating purpose of call hold the line
Appropriacy:
e.g. This is . . .’ v. ‘I
am . .
‘Is that . . .’ v. ‘Are you
у
Politeness:
e.g. Could I speak to
. . .?’ v. ‘Give me . . .’
taking/leaving messages offering/asking for ‘Who’s calling, please?’
information v. ‘Who’s that?’
Pronunciation:
numbers, spelling
making appointm ents accepting, declining, Structural:
confirming questions, modals, time
prepositions, adverbs,
exchanging inform ation clarifying, repeating,
time clauses
rephrasing, requesting,
repetition
making com plaints stating dissatisfaction,
apologizing,
requesting/ demanding/
promising action
fin ish in g the call confirming, checking, Stress and intonation
negotiating end of call,
saying goodbye

Business correspon den ce

As with telephoning, there are certain conventions that need to be
followed when writing business letters, faxes, or telexes—conventions that
are much more rigidly adhered to than the telephoning conventions. A
separate checklist of language functions and features is therefore included
here (see Table 9.5 overleaf).
Function Appropriate language
open in g a n d closing the Common abbreviation and conventions:
com m unication 21/03/94
Attn. C. Kennedy
Yr. ref.
Dear Sir/Yours faithfully
Dear Mr. Jones/Yours sincerely
stating purpose I am writing to let you know. . .
stating the subject Here is the report you asked for.
referring to enclosures Please find enclosed the report you
referrin g to previous requested.
com m unications
m aking an enquiry Would you please let us know
Please send. . .
We should be most grateful if you would
send. . .
thanking We are very grateful for. . .
apologizing Please accept our apologies for the delay
expressing dissatisfaction or We are concerned that. . .
com plaining Yet again we have to remind you that. . .
prom isin g action We will give this matter our immediate
attention.

Socializing
This performance area is not, of course, exclusive to Business English: in
fact, some might say that it does not belong to Business English at all.
However, a great many Business English learners feel insecure about the
social situations they must deal with and feel it is a necessary component
of their course.
What do we mean by socializing? There are three distinct types of situa­
tion and behaviour. The first is the transactional situation where the
speaker has a particular purpose—for example, ordering a meal in a
restaurant. In this situation, there are often set routines, predictable for­
mulae, and fairly predictable time boundaries. Skills for handling these
situations will be essential for anyone who travels to other countries, and
may be termed 'Survival English’. The second type of situation is where
people make contact with others for business reasons but, around the
actual discussion of business, will need to carry out certain social rituals in
English—for example, greeting and saying goodbye. The third is where
speakers interact with no fixed purpose other than to pass the time of day
or to create a more relaxed atmosphere in which they can get to know
each other better. This may be termed ‘Conversational English’.

Survival En g lish
Table 9.6 identifies areas which are useful for many Business English
learners who travel to countries where they will use English to get around.

Table 9.6: Functions and language fo r ‘S urvival English ’

Situation Function Language

O rdering meals in a Attracting attention Politeness:
restaur anty ordering ‘Excuse me . . .’,
requesting, offering,
drinks in a bar ‘Please . .
accepting, declining
‘Could I have . . .?’,
v. ‘Give me . .
D ealing w ith taxi asking for information Structural components:
drivers, ch anging money, questions: direct and
thanking, complaining,
h iring a car, fin d in g out indirect, modal verbs
apologizing
about tim es a n d
Cultural features: e.g.
schedules, asking the
use of Sir
way, asking about prices
Stress and intonation to
show politeness

Rituals

Table 9.7: Functions a n d language in rituals

Function La n g u a g e

G reeting people, introducing y o u rself Appropriacy of greetings based on

familiarity and cultural background
polite enquiries d u rin g the first fiv e e.g. ‘How do you do?’
m inutes o f a m eeting v. ‘Hi. How are you?’
thanking, com plim enting, responding to Formulae:
thanks a n d com plim ents e.g. ‘It’s very kind of you/
‘Not at all.’

Small talk between people who do not know each other well is also a ritual
and usually comprises very predictable topics and language. Learners can
be taught certain language routines involving typical question and answer
patterns. Topic routines include:
- the weather
- travel to the place of meeting
- accommodation
- previous visits to a country or town
- topics relating to the visitor’s own country or town.
Personal topics are usually avoided at first meetings—or are avoided
altogether in some cultures. However, in other cultures it may be com­
mon to ask about the family or about health. Questions and answers
about these topics are also highly ritualistic. Table 9.7 lists ritual situ­
ations in English.

Conversational En g lish
Conversation skills are deeply bound up with culture and personality and
are very hard to teach. Conversational interactions have no clear agenda
and may leap from topic to topic. Selection of topics can be from shared
experience of the past (memories of things people did together) or of the
present (weather, surroundings, topical events, etc.). Allusions and refer­
ences are often deeply rooted in personal relationships and the shared
experiences of the people involved. There are also strong cultural features
which affect, for example, the role of humour in conversation and the
kinds of topics that are considered acceptable. Time boundaries are also a
cultural feature affecting the amount of conversation that is expected to
take place before, after, or even during a business meeting.
It is difficult to predict the functional areas that might be useful, but
learners can be given strategies for raising topics, changing topic, and
accepting or rejecting new topics. Listening and reacting will be of utmost
importance—for example, picking up on something another person says
and turning it into a topic:
A I don’t live in London actually.
В Oh, where do you live then?
The use of discourse markers such as 'actually’, ‘then’, and ‘well’ could
also be examined and practised.
Aspects of conversation are referred to later in Part Three.

Language analysis
The above breakdown of business performance areas will provide a useful
corpus of skills and functions for a wide range of Business English courses.
But what happens when the need is more specific? What should the
trainer do if confronted with, for example:
■Ш group of bankers working in a foreign exchange department
■ tn engineer working in materials handling in the field of telecommuni­
c a t io n s
- a group of learners who want to follow a computer manual?
I low can the trainer arrive at the key functions, structures, and vocabulary
which need to be learned? A bottom-up approach is needed whereby
dimples of actual language used in specific situations are analysed to see
what language features should be included in the syllabus. An overall view
of tiow this language analysis step fits in with other analysis procedures is
.shown in Figure 9.1.

Vigure 9.1: Analysis procedures

Notions
Functions
Vocabulary and expression
Structures

Language analysis

Company docum entation

As mentioned in Chapter 8, a useful strategy in preparing for a course is
to ask the company for any documents that are typical of those the
learners must refer to in their work. These documents could be general
(relating to the company as a whole) or specific (relating to the learner’s
own job). The specific documents will be useful for analysing the kind of
language which the learner must acquire either an active or passive know-
ledge of.
Below are two extracts from such documents, followed by a brief com­
mentary of the kind of language analysis which can be made from them.

Extract from company brochure on d istrib u tio n o f

telecommunications products
Supplier to customer: Deliveries from the supplier direct to the
customer occur for articles of a high value and a low frequency of
use. The orders refer to specific objects with long lead times, for
example [named digital exchanges], private branch exchanges and
big cables. The aim is combined shipments, but the long lead times
give rise to problems both with supplier and customer, which can
lead to deliveries in steps. The local stores gather the articles in
special transit storerooms pending shipment to customer. Transit
storing is however very costly and is therefore avoided.
Analysis
Functions
Defining: what kind of articles are shipped direct to the customer?
Cause and effect: ‘long lead times give rise to problems . . . which can lead
to deliveries in steps.’
Stating aim: ‘The aim is . .
Stating disadvantages: ‘Transit storing is however very costly . . .’.
Structures
The use of the present simple for describing what usually happens; use of
linking words—‘but’, ‘therefore’, ‘however’.
Vocabulary
General sales and distribution vocabulary: ‘delivery’, ‘customer’, ‘supplier’,
‘articles’, ‘order’, ‘high value’, ‘transit’, ‘lead time’, ‘stores’, ‘shipment’,
‘costly’.
Telecommunications vocabulary: ‘exchanges’, ‘private branch exchanges’,
‘cable’.

Extract from a user’s manual on electronic m ail

With the Mail Function you can:
Electronically send letters and documents to an individual or group.
You can specify a priority of relative importance (high, low, and so
on); a class (first class, registered, or certified); security (private or
none); and you can encrypt mail. By using the directory, you can
locate users and create a mailing list.
 Mailbox—A file which is created by the system in the folder
your.dsk. An incoming.mbx [mailbox] file is created when you
receive mail. An outgoing.mbx file is created when you file a copy of
the mail you send. A phone.mbx file is created when you receive a
phone message. A phonelog.mbx is created when you file a copy of
the phone message you send.
Encryption—Coding which requires the recipient to use a keyword
for decoding so they can open the mail. Further explanation is given
in R5-5 (3 of 3), “Fields of the Electronic Mail Screen”.
Analysis
l4 иactions
Describing functions (what the user can do) and methods (how to do it):
‘by using . . Л
1)chning terminology
Describing what happens
Referring to other parts of the manual
Structures
Modal verbs: ‘can’
Present simple passive
Present simple active
Relative clauses
l ime clauses
Vocabulary
General office vocabulary: 'letters’, ‘documents’, ‘file’, ‘copy’, ‘mail’,
‘phone message’, ‘priority’, ‘security’, ‘list’, ‘group’.
Specific vocabulary: ‘first class’, ‘registered’, ‘certified’, ‘encrypt’, ‘direct­
ory’, ‘locate’, ‘create’, ‘incoming’, ‘outgoing’, ‘receive’, ‘recipient’, ‘key­
word’, ‘decoding’.
The usefulness of analysing these kinds of documents will vary consider­
ably depending on the learners and their needs. If the group needs to
learn how to use a computer manual, the manual itself will form the basis
for the course, which will then be highly specific in terms of objectives
and content. Such a group is likely to be at a low level in language ability.
Thus, the analysis of language in the manual will provide the bulk of the
syllabus in terms of function, structure, and vocabulary, most of which is
likely to be new for the learners. During the course, the trainer will then
focus on developing effective reading skills within the context provided by
the manual.
In the case of the telecommunications engineer, the usefulness of the
brochure is less clear. The selection of items to be taught will depend on
the existing knowledge of the learner, and also on specific skills needs:
whether to understand and follow or to explain the procedure to another
person. The language used in the brochure may be a useful reference for
the trainer, helping him or her to understand the principles involved and
to know the relevant terminology used in describing them. If the learner is
relatively low level or has difficulty expressing him or herself, the trainer
can refer to the language in the brochure for teaching and learning sup­
port. However, it will be important to remember that written language
differs greatly from spoken, and if the learner’s objectives are to explain
procedures orally, then the precise language of the brochure may be inap­
propriate, and may set false targets for the learner who sees it as a model.
(See also Chapter 12 on exploiting authentic material.)

Learner output
A readily available source of material for language analysis in the case of
job-experienced learners is the output from the learners themselves. This
source is by definition imperfect—probably in terms of structure as well
as vocabulary—but the functions are often clearly identifiable, and pro­
vide a base for the trainer to deduce the structure and vocabulary needs of
the learners.
As before, two extracts are included here with a commentary to show how
the analysis can be made.

Extract from a presentation given by an engineer w orking in

materials handling in the telecommunications in d u stry
We deliver materials different ways to the different store parts, and it
depends on what kind of material it is. We also have direct deliveries
from the supplier to the customer. It’s telephone exchange and big
PABX to big customers. But the administration is done by the tele­
com area, but the deliveries are direct.
We only make the agreements that we want, for example five big
exchanges for next year, and then the local telecom area order it
from the suppliers, and directly out to the customers.
And then we have a special deliveries for telecom and data sales and
. . . this kind of equipment is delivered directly from the suppliers
to the sales shops, not through the central warehouses.
Analysis
Functions
Defining: what kind of deliveries are made direct to the customer?
Describing procedure: what normally happens, what is done.
Sequencing.
£i*mtt4rcs
f|1u use of the present simple for describing what usually happens; and
*м-m simple passive. (The learner uses these successfully.)
Г «»! linking words to show sequence, contrast, and addition: ‘but’,
. then’. (The learner needs to develop this area.)
'tbuhtry
|»< ru ral sales and distribution vocabulary: ‘delivery’, ‘customer’, ‘supplier’,
Miroct’, ‘order’, ‘store’, ‘warehouse’, ‘agreement’.
I.f-communications vocabulary: ‘exchanges’, ‘PABX’. Some vocabulary
Inagc needs to be clarified and more precise alternatives found or examples
urn: ‘store parts’, ‘materials’, ‘telecom and data sales’. Although the
t imcr has a reasonable vocabulary, some work in this area would be use­
ful provided it is clearly directed and challenging.

Гч tract from a discussion by a group o f bankers on the role o f

flu* foreign exchange department
A The normal work of the foreign exchange department is to take
the risk from the customer into the bank . . .
В Yeh, or . . . prepare some cover, buying forward money and so
on, and to take the risk away from the bank as far as the refinan­
cing side is concerned. You could imagine that the bank is
granting, grants a loan in US dollars but has no refinancing in
that currency.
A But it’s not done.
В Okay, but we could think of that.
C It’s possible.
В You are absolutely all right, it’s the same with the borrowers, that
they have their income, let me say, in US dollars—they take a
loan in deutschmarks—and suddenly the interest rate increased
and they changed the deutschmark loan due to the fact that the
Swiss franc was very cheap on the interest level, and then beside
that they were affected by three types, first an exchange rate from
deutschmarks to Swiss francs exchange, then interest rate in Swiss
franc exchange, and also the dollar . . . and this again turns to a
credit risk to the bank.

Analysis
It is interesting to note that in this discussion the group do not talk about
their department as though they were addressing students, and giving
them information. When they talk among themselves they have a com­
mon knowledge and common terms of reference which do not need to be
explained. It is the language of banking and not the language of the class­
room.
Functions
Identifying a problem: the risk that the bank takes when granting a
foreign exchange loan.
Describing a sequence of events: as an example of the problem—not to
give information about procedures as this is already common knowledge.
Considering possible scenarios: “We could think of that”, “It’s possible.”
A more English expression would be: “Let's imagine what happens if . . .”
or “what would happen if. . .”.
Structures
Speaker В has the choice of the present simple, for describing a possible
scenario, or the past for a hypothetical scenario. (In fact he mixes the two
tenses.)
Modal verbs for possibility: ‘could’.
Vocabulary
Specific terminology: (obviously not a problem for these learners): ‘risk’,
‘cover’, ‘buying forward’, ‘refinancing’, ‘currency’, ‘granting a loan’, ‘interest
rate’, ‘credit risk’.
General vocabulary: The use of some words and phrases needs to be clari­
fied: ‘You could imagine that . . .’, ‘but we could think of that’, ‘You are
absolutely all right’, ‘It’s the same with the borrowers’, ‘let me say’, ‘beside
that’, ‘they were affected by three types’— the speakers have failed to
express the appropriate force and meaning in these examples. This clearly
demonstrates that it is not the technical vocabulary which presents a prob­
lem for learners at this level of ability, so much as the need to fine-tune
meaning and intention.
Observing learner output as a means of analysing language needs can pro­
vide many insights for the trainer. It is more accurate and reliable than
written documentation in showing what particular learners need to know;
however, it is also a considerably more challenging route for the trainers,
who have to bring all their resources and knowledge to bear in order to
deduce the meaning and translate it into comprehensible English.

T raining videos
For trainers working with pre-experience learners, or for those who work
mainly with individuals, it may be difficult to find out what sort of lan­
guage is really being used in business meetings and interactions around
the world. One useful source can be business training videos, particularly
those designed for work training in a native-speaker environment rather
than those designed specifically for language training. Although such
videos are scripted, and may lose many aspects of authenticity for the sake
of drama, clarity, and the training purpose, they contain many useful
r%.imples of the interactive and transactional functions that are common
mi business.

I xtract from the L T S video Systems One

I Ik- speakers in this extract are brainstorming the causes of a problem
mnccrning a computerized stock control system.
A The stock system does have a safeguard which might have
brought this problem to light much earlier, though it wasn’t
designed with inter depot transfers in mind. But this safeguard
was overlooked in operation, and not applied.
В What safeguard?
A It’s a procedure th a t. . . [explains the procedure]
В Now just a minute. I want to be quite clear about this. You keep a
record of all inter depot deliveries, and you match that against inter
depot receipts, and if they agree you cancel them out. Is that right?
A Yes.
В And if they don’t agree?
A There’s a monthly printout of all exceptions that haven’t been
matched.
В All cases where details of receipts and deliveries don’t agree?
A Right. So if warehouse A says it’s sent ten items and warehouse В
says it’s received nine items, there’s a mismatch and all the details
are printed out.
В Then what happens?
( This video was originally published by Melrose under the title What's so
Special about Computers?—see Appendix.)
Analysis
Functions
Describing procedure
Kxplaining what did or did not happen
(living information
Clarifying information
Confirming information.
The most interesting aspect of language in this extract is the different
means used by speaker В to check that he has understood:
Direct questions: (‘What safeguard?’)
Controlling the pace: (‘Now just a minute. I want to be quite clear about
this.’)
Summarizing information given: (‘You keep a record of all inter depot
deliveries . . . you match that against inter depot receipts . . .’)
Check questions: (‘Is that right?’)
lesting hypothesis: (‘And if they don’t agree?’).
 Vocabulary
The vocabulary used in this extract may also be useful if the learners are
involved in a similar kind of work. The telecommunications engineer
quoted above, for example, might find the content of this video extract
useful, as well as the strategies it exemplifies.
Again, this extract demonstrates an interaction in which problem-solving
is the main purpose. Information is rarely exchanged for its own sake in a
business environment; there is almost always an underlying element of
trying to achieve a goal.

The focus o f training

This chapter has concentrated on how to determine the areas of language
to be taught on a course of Business English, and has identified some of
the functions, structures, and vocabulary most likely to be needed.
However, it is important to remember that the overall objective of
Business English courses is to improve performance. This objective cannot
be achieved if the course devotes too much time to input and not enough
to output.
Much traditional teaching in Business English has consisted of the hand­
ing out of lists of gambits and formulae. Learners have found themselves
with long lists of phrases which are supposed to help them to agree, dis­
agree, put forward points of view, or interrupt. Our view is that trainers
should treat gambits as only one of several means of achieving certain
goals. They are useful as props, although they may not reflect native-
speaker use. Some research data shows that native speakers of English can
be limited in their use of gambits—see Williams (1988). They do not go
around saying ‘I disagree completely’ or ‘I can’t go along with that’. They
are much more likely to indicate disagreement rather than express it
overtly. Native speakers will probably use intonation and pitch rather
than fixed expressions to indicate the finer shades of meaning. Whilst
many learners will probably be unable to do this effectively themselves,
they may need to be aware of this feature.
It may be argued, of course, that learners need to use gambits because they
lack proficiency in the use of the subtler means of expression. However,
there should be a limit to the amount of stress placed on the teaching of
them. First, if the learners are given too many items to learn at the same
time, they will be unable to learn all of them and will be confused about
differences in their usage. Second, if it is an important objective of an
activity to use a newly-learned formulaic phrase, then many other impor­
tant skills may be overlooked—for example, listening to what other par-
Dei pants in a meeting are saying, or trying to be precise in giving
Iiformation or expressing the details of an argument.
rh is chapter has dealt with the problem of selecting the language areas for
I course. The question of how the different elements of a course may be
DUt together, balanced, and sequenced is considered in Chapter 13, page
109.
I’ART THREE

Activities and materials

IN T R O D U C T IO N

Afccr the trainer or training organization has thoroughly analysed the

n< 'Is of the learners and has set precise objectives for the course, the next
»!• |• is to select the type of materials which will best help the learners to
4* liu ve their objectives. The choices made will determine to a large extent
*lui happens during the course. First, the choice of materials determines
*lui kind of language the learners will be exposed to and, as a con-
v .jiu nce, the substance of what they will learn in terms of vocabulary,
nm. lures, and functions. The range and complexity of this language has
ь. in in with the learners’ needs, existing knowledge, and capacity for
I» lining. Second, the choice of materials has implications for the methods
techniques by which the learners will learn. Third, the subject or con-
ь ’ii of the materials is an essential component of the package from the
; i of view of relevance and motivation. Choosing appropriate mater-
м .m pose a number of problems for trainers. On the one hand, there is
и*-v .klays a great deal of published material for Business English trainers
i" . Iloose from; on the other hand, it often seems that none of the avail-
iMi material is exactly right for a particular lesson or for a particular
l« rimer or group.
Inexperienced trainers or, indeed, experienced but very busy trainers, like
и. be able to rely on a published coursebook, which makes all the
*li4iMons for them in terms of syllabus, content, and methodology. It
must be borne in mind, though, that publishers aim to reach the widest
possible market. Trying to meet the needs of the majority usually means
dut only some of the needs of an individual are satisfied: specific needs
• mnot be addressed. In situations where a group of learners is relatively
i urogeneous and the objectives for learning are non-specific, then a
oblished Business English coursebook may well provide an effective core
i material for a course, provided that its level and methodology are
impropriate. An individual, or a homogeneous group with specific needs,
II also require supplementary materials which trainers may wish to
velop and tailor to learners’ needs themselves.
Part Three examines three approaches to selecting and developing mater­
ials for Business English.
Chapter 10 deals with published materials and how to evaluate them.
Chapter 11 presents techniques for developing frameworks which access
the learners' own knowledge and experience. These techniques will enable
trainers to relate to the specific needs of individuals, whether in individual
tuition or in a group. Chapter 12 shows how a trainer can make use of
authentic material to devise tasks and activities that are specific and rele­
vant to the learner(s). None of these approaches should be taken as the
single best solution to the problem of choosing materials. Most trainers
will probably find that a combination of the three approaches (in varying
proportions) can best meet the wide-ranging needs of the different types
of learners they have to deal with.
Finally, Chapter 13 looks at some different aspects of classroom manage­
ment appropriate to teaching one-to-one and in groups; and at the kinds
of activities relevant to each. There is also a short consideration of course
design and of the factors involved in balancing the activities on a course.
 PUBLISHED

Ю MATERIALS

This chapter will consider two categories of published materials available

m the Business English trainer. The first includes all those materials aimed
n the teaching of English in a business context. The second category
•mprises materials which are aimed at the business skills training market,
•ul which are not specifically designed for the teaching of language,
Though they can provide a useful vehicle for language training at a more
ulvanced level. The first two sections give a breakdown of each of these
itegories in order to provide an overview of what is available on the
market. The third section looks at criteria for selection and suggests some
Miategies for evaluating the various options.

business English materials

f\icn faced with a row of books on a shelf, all purporting to target
lusiness English learners, it is essential to be able to recognize easily the
afferent aims and purposes of each one.
hat is the role of books in a Business English course? The following
action considers the different roles which a book (or usually a package of
took plus cassettes or book plus video) might have.

general business coursebook packages

*the package aims to be a comprehensive course in itself, it will try to
cal with all the aspects of language and skills development at the level
>ccified on its cover. Such packages will be based on a syllabus, which
Duld be structural, functional, or situational. The contents list will norm-
ly indicate the orientation of the syllabus. (See the examples in Figures
0 .1 , 10.2, and 10.3.) Although many coursebooks include some material
n all of these areas, there is usually a primary focus. Coursebooks aim
to provide material for use at each stage of the lesson: in principle, the
trainer need never look for materials elsewhere. Some coursebooks have an
ongoing story-line which constrains the users to work sequentially
through the course. (Video courses are often constructed in this way—for
example, the BBC’s Bid fo r Power.) Other coursebooks are modular in
construction, which gives the trainer the flexibility to select the elements
that are felt to be most useful, and in any order that seems appropriate.
These general business courses cannot address any job-specific interests
(for example, accounting) and usually select business themes that are of
interest to a wide audience.

Figure 10.1: Example o f a coursebook with a topic and gram m ar focus

Extracts from the Contents page of Business Targets by Simon Greenall

(Heinemann Educational Books, 1986)

CONTENTS
U nit on e Com pany organisation A

U nit tw o Job descriptions 12

U nit th re e Manufacturing 20

U nit four Finance and accounting 28

U nit five M arketing new products 36

STRUCTURE REVIEW 83

A rticles and num bers 83

Com pound verbs 8A

Conditionals 85

G erunds and infinitives 86

 ■gure 10.2: Example o f a coursebook with a storyline an d ju n ction al
. nguage focus

i racts from the contents page of F u n ction in g in B usiness by Knowles, Bailey, and
iillitt (Longman, 1991)

CO N TEN TS
►REFACE 5
JSING THE COURSE
■tionale; the Materials 7

NTRODUCTION

Introduction o f the story, the two main characters, and the companies,
important vocabulary is also introduced. 8

PISODE 1: Checking In
harles Blake checks in to the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco.
■Offering, Confirming, Agreeing, Requesting, Refusing.) 11

EPISODE 2: M aking an A ppointm ent

Blake makes an appointment with M ike Epstein over the telephone.
(Offering, Introducing, Greeting, Requesting, Suggesting, Getting
Attention.) 17

EPISODE 6: The Disagreement

Epstein and Graham make a difficult decision.
(Agreeing, Disagreeing, Giving an Opinion. 41

EPISODE 7: Keeping in Touch

Epstein tells Blake the decision, and they agree to keep in touch.
(Expressing Disappointment, Giving an Opinion, Qualifying,
Requesting, Accepting, Inviting.) 47
Figure 10.3: Example o f a coursebook with a language and skills focus:

Extracts from the contents page of Business O b jectives by Vicki Holiett (Oxford University
Press, 1991)

Contents
I Meeting People page 6

O bjective Topics Language Skills w ork

to meet overseas Describing jobs Prepositions - jobs Writing: a personal

contacts and get to Describing Present simple tense profile
know them responsibilities Wh- question forms Speaking: the conference
Describing tasks game
Personal details
Countries and
nationalities

4 Product Description p a ge 32

O bjective Topics Language Skills w ork

to describe a product or Description Adjectives Speaking 1: a crossword

service Size and dimension Dimensions Listening: presenting a
Describing what you It weighs/costs . . . new product to the
need sales team
Speaking 2: executive
toys

Supplem entary m aterials

These can be books or packages consisting of book plus cassette or book
plus video. They do not attempt to treat every aspect of language learning,
but instead choose to focus on a particular area such as listening, reading,
role play, or vocabulary. Some supplementary materials may focus on a
particular area of skills: for example, meetings or socializing. It is expected
that the trainer will normally use these materials in addition to a general
coursebook in order to provide extra practice in a required skill or lan­
guage area.
A trainer may choose supplementary materials in a different medium from
the one used for core teaching—for example, video (if not used with the
core material) or computer-based materials. Supplementary video mater­
ials will be arranged in modules, and may be used to practise functional
language or specific business skills, such as presentations. Computer-based
learning packages can be used to present business problems and involve
the learners in discussing and trying out different solutions which are then
analysed by the computer.

Job-specific m aterials
There are a number of books on the market which aim to provide lan­
guage practice within a defined job area—for example, banking,
import-export, secretarial, and accountancy. These are not usually intend­
ed to develop the general language skills of the learner in a systematic way,
but to provide some of the target language considered to be useful in these
specific fields. They usually cover specialist vocabulary and provide read­
ing or listening practice in a relevant context. They may also include
speaking and/or writing tasks, and functional or structural language prac­
tice. It is important to examine the content and methodology of such
books carefully. A book entitled English fo r Banking\ for example, may not
necessarily meet the needs of a group of bankers, particularly if the
members of the group already have a lot of work experience.

R eference books
These include specialist dictionaries, and also reference to books which are
designed to be used to look up the answer to a problem or query. There
are dictionaries for Business English in general, or specific ones for such
areas as Banking, Law, Economics, and Computers, which are useful for
the trainer as well as for the learner.
Handbooks or workbooks are aimed mainly at learners, whether or not
they are attending a course. They are often strongly vocabulary-orientated,
but may give explanations of key business language—functional and
structural. Some provide factual information or tips, for example about
how to behave politely or cultural differences. They often provide exercise
material and include a key for those learners working on their own.

Self-access m aterials
Some packages are designed specifically for the self-access market, and
some are designed to be used either in the classroom or for self-access.
In principle, any book containing exercise material with explicit explana­
tions and keys can be used for self-access. However, the majority of
learners will soon tire of working through endless grammar or vocabulary
exercises if there is no other stimulus to learning. Specially-designed self-
access courses aim to make the learning process as stimulating as attending
a class would be. These generally involve more than one medium.
Cassette courses are useful for workaholic businesspeople who want to
make use of the time they spend driving to work, or travelling by train or
plane. Video is a more exciting medium, and video learning packages for
Business English are becoming increasingly popular. Another field is com­
puter-assisted language learning, which lends itself well to self-access.
Many learners nowadays have a personal computer at home, at work, or at
their place of study, and there is a growing amount of software available
for language learning. One example of a self-access package for Business
English presents letter-writing conventions, together with exercises for
practising the language. Large companies and educational establishments
are now equipped with interactive video, which combines the stimulus of
video with the control functions of a computer. This enables the learner
to access the answers to questions, an on-line dictionary, and many other
learning support functions while watching a specially-prepared video.
Interactive video programmes are available for Business English (see
Suggestions for Further Viewing in the Appendix).

Business skills training materials

There is a growing amount of business skills training material on the mar­
ket, mostly aimed at company training programmes and business schools.
Although they are not designed for language teaching, and are often con­
siderably more expensive than dedicated language teaching material, there
are many good reasons why these materials (carefully selected) can provide
a valuable resource for Business English trainers. These materials are creat­
ed and designed by people with a lot of business and business training
experience. The target skills and practices have been carefully researched
and the contexts in which the training points are presented have a high
credibility. The market is more profitable and production budgets are
therefore higher than in the Business English market, and this results in
very high-quality products.
Business skills training materials provide a bridge between Business
English materials and authentic materials. They are produced for training
purposes and they cannot be said to model authentic language. However,
the scripting of business training videos usually comes closer to natural
English than that of Business English videos. They are valuable for train­
ers and learners who have not had business experience because they pro­
vide insights into typical business situations, behaviours, and procedures.
Even job-experienced learners may learn something from them (for
example, how to co-operate with others to solve problems, how to
negotiate more effectively). But the main objectives in using the material
for Business English purposes will be language-related. For example: a
business simulation game may provide an excellent opportunity for a
group of learners to discuss a business problem in English; a management
(raining video featuring a meeting may be a useful vehicle for introducing
key language, together with an opportunity to develop effective listening
skills for meetings.
Business skills training materials would normally fill a supplementary role
rather than providing the basis for a course.
There are several different kinds of material available, and further inform­
ation about two main categories, videos and games, is given below. A
third category which might be considered is case studies. These are
normally developed for management training and present a business case,
or problem, which a group of learners must discuss and find solutions for.
The main problem in using these with language learners is that they
normally involve a great deal of background reading, and often more time
may be spent in absorbing the details of the case than in discussing and
developing interactive skills. They are also difficult to obtain as they are
usually produced by management training schools and are not generally
sold to the public. Some Business English materials present case studies
which are much more manageable in terms of the amount of background
data provided, and the level of language used to present the data.
Depending on the needs of a particular group, it will probably be advis­
able to opt for these rather than actual management training case studies.

Video materials
These videos may focus on various themes: general business skills (for
example, how to run effective meetings, how to sell, how to structure a
presentation); personal development skills (for example, how to deal with
awkward customers, team-building, how to be a good boss); good busi­
ness practice (for example, project management, finance control, data
security).
Some videos take a serious approach to the presentation of the main train­
ing points, perhaps using a presenter to explain and short scenes of critical
incidents to illustrate. An example of this type is the video Going
International which gives advice to Americans doing business internation­
ally who could meet difficulties because of a lack of cross-cultural aware­
ness. Others use a humorous style of presentation, often involving a
somewhat comic character who does everything wrong. The Video Arts
series of training videos has many examples of this type. Others may use
drama: a serious situation develops in a company which could have been
avoided if the people responsible had been aware of certain important
business strategies. Examples of this type can be found in the Melrose
series of training films (see the Appendix for a list). All are entertaining to
some degree, although in the case of humorous videos especially, the
trainer must consider to what extent the style of presentation is suitable
for his or her learners.
Before using a business skills video, the trainer should think carefully
about the best way to exploit it from a language learning perspective.
Some videos can be purchased as a package including ready-made lan­
guage teaching materials. (See Appendix for a list.) Alternatively, the
school may have developed its own materials for use with the videos in its
library. Ideas for exploiting video materials are given in Chapter 12, page
169.

Business sim ulation gam es

These can be categorized in two main groups: in-context games and out-
of-context games. In-context means that the game simulates real life as
nearly as possible. This group includes sales and negotiation role plays,
problem-solving discussions, or simulated meetings set in a modern busi­
ness environment. Out-of-context games are those which practise the
target skills in unreal or unlikely situations. Games in this group may
require the participants to imagine that they are on the moon or living in
Ancient Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs.
Games are designed to train businesspeople in interpersonal skills, for
example, co-operation, listening, leadership. Apart from those that have
a specified target audience (for example, sales role-plays are for sales
representatives), they can usually be used with a wide range of people.
The main requirement is that the language ability of non-native speakers
should be high enough to enable them to participate. One of the principal
values of these games is that the participants become so involved that they
forget their fear of speaking English: they gain considerable fluency prac­
tice, and learn to interact and communicate with their fellow learners.
Certain language areas can also be targeted by the trainer, such as ques­
tioning, clarifying, suggesting, agreeing, and disagreeing. (A list of sources
for business skills training materials is given in the Appendix.)
Selection and evaluation
The selection of materials can be made at two levels. First, at the start of a
course, the trainer or training organization will probably want to make
some decisions about the coursebooks and supplementary materials that
will provide the core of material to be used (unless the organization has
developed its own materials). Exceptions would be highly specific courses
which would need materials to be developed specially, or one-to-one
courses for which a more flexible approach is needed. Second, the trainer
will need to make decisions about items of material to use for a particular
lesson. In both cases, the same factors will affect the trainer’s decision; but
in the first case, the criteria for selection must somehow apply to a whole
book, whereas in the second case, they need only apply to a particular
exercise or activity.
As already discussed, a major factor in selecting a book is whether the
book can fulfil the role required of it as coursebook, supplementary
material, etc. Other criteria which can apply whether one is selecting a
book or just one item of material for a lesson; these are considered below.

Criteria f o r selection

W ha t kind o f learner is the material to be used with?

Pre-experience learners have different requirements from job-experienced
learners, as we have already seen. Pre-experience learners will still be learn­
ing about both the theory and practice of business: the materials most
suitable for these learners should therefore provide more information
about the subject in question. Materials suitable for job-experienced
learners, on the other hand, should assume a background knowledge
of business. They should provide language input rather than business
input, and should set tasks which require the users to refer to their own
experience: for example, ‘describe your company’s products to a partner’.
The work area and type of job that the learners have, or will have in the
future, will also determine what kind of materials will be most relevant. A
lot of materials have been developed specially for secretarial and clerical
jobs, and these will be very different, in terms of the language and skills
areas covered, from materials which are aimed at learners in managerial
jobs. When looking for materials in a specific job area, it is important to
consider the level and knowledge of the job that the learners already have
and what they need to develop. Export managers do not need to concern
themselves with the details of completing export documentation, for
example; and senior bank staff do not need to be informed about how
foreign payments are made because they will know this already. When
selecting materials for a specific job area (either a present or a future job),
the trainer should look for tasks and activities that practise the target skills
areas: meetings, telephoning, or letter-writing, for example. It is not
enough simply to present material with an appropriate topic focus; the
skills focus is at least as important.
The language level of the learners will be a further factor: whilst general
business materials exist at all levels, it is often difficult to match job-
specific requirements with language level requirements. However, it is
possible to use some materials at a different level from the one they were
originally intended for. If the materials contain target language such as
vocabulary, it may be possible to simplify or omit some of the tasks used
in the materials. An imaginative trainer will be able to devise new tasks
that exploit the useful aspects of job-specific material at a level more
suited to the learners.
The age and cultural background of the learners must also be taken into
consideration. Different types of activity are likely to appeal to different
age groups: for example, games and imaginative activities will probably
attract young learners more. The use of pictures and colour in a book can
indicate the audience for which it is intended: older and more serious
learners could be put off by a book that contains strip cartoons or over-
bright colours. Trainers should also be familiar with the cultural prefer­
ences and taboos of the region where they are working. Ways in which
women are portrayed in video material could prove offensive: some cul­
tures may disapprove of women shown wearing mini-skirts; others (such
as Scandinavian countries) may take offence if the women are seen to be
in subordinate roles being patronized by men. Publishers nowadays do
take account of such factors, either by aiming materials at a specified geo­
graphical region, or by producing very neutral material that cannot offend
anybody. It is, nevertheless, important to be on the look-out for details
that could raise objections.
Another factor to consider is what methodology or style will be appropri­
ate for the learners. Learners coming from an education system in which
teachers are powerful and facts have to be learned by rote may not readily
accept open-ended activities not directly controlled by the trainer.
Conversely, learners who have become used to a practical approach may
not be able to cope with learning grammar rules. These are extreme cases,
but in any learning situation it is useful to consider what kind of activities
will be successful with a particular group. Preferences for a particular
approach to learning may stem from the educational background, cultural
background, or age; or they could be individual preferences. Every group
has its own dynamic and the mix of personalities can affect what kind of
activities will be successful or unsuccessful. The trainer should experiment
m find out what is the best approach to use with a particular group and
then select activities accordingly.

W hat are the tra ining objectives?

As already stressed above, the trainer must select materials which reflect
the skills and content needs of the learners at an appropriate language
level. For a particular lesson, the trainer should also have in mind the
target language area which he or she has chosen to focus on and, if select­
ing materials from different sources, must consider the role which such
materials need to play in the training process. Are materials needed which
present the target language in a convenient summary which learners can
larer refer back to (i.e. as a resource for the learners)? Is there a need for
material which demonstrates how language can be used, for example, by
means of an audio or video dialogue, or written text? Is the need rather for
practising the language in a controlled way? Or do the learners need a
vehicle for transferring their passive knowledge into active use, perhaps by
means of open pairwork practice, role-play, or simulation? Or perhaps the
need is to check what the learners already know, or to test that they
remember something already studied. Materials for checking and testing
knowledge will be different from those used to develop and practise
knowledge. At different times, the trainer will need all these kinds of
material. It is therefore important to be able to recognize what a particular
piece of material sets out to do.

Materials that w ill motivate the learner

A piece of material that meets the training objective and all the criteria
relating to the learner or group of learners may still be inadequate if it fails
to motivate the learner. It is therefore useful to consider what factors
might attract or put off the users.
Credibility Materials designed for Business English and aimed at learners
who have some knowledge of the subject must be seen to represent the
world that those learners are familiar with. It is unfortunate that many
Business English materials have been written by people who do not have
enough knowledge about that world. This may be difficult for the less
experienced trainer to recognize. However, feedback from the learners will
soon indicate what they find acceptable or not.
Up-to-date m ateriab Some Business English books have been on the
market for many years and though they may still contain a lot of useful
language input and practice, some aspects of their content now appear
dated. The trainer may decide to omit some exercises if they deal with
outmoded practice or present old-fashioned ideas or, especially, old-
fashioned language.
A ttractive m aterials However good a piece of material is from a teach­
ing point of view, it may be unacceptable if the presentation is poor—for
example, if the layout is cramped, the pictures are difficult to make out, or
the tasks are difficult to follow* Business people in developed countries, in
particular, are used to a very high standard of presentation and may be
put off by poor quality. If there is a choice, therefore, it is better to opt
for materials with attractive layout, good visuals, and easy access for the
learner. When evaluating audio and video tapes, it is important to choose
those which are well-acted and sound reasonably natural. Video materials
should look professional and the sound quality must be excellent.

Table 10.1: Checklist fo r evaluating published materials

1 W hat kind o f learner is the material aimed at?

- work area
- work experience
- language level
- cultural background
- educational background
- age
- learning style.
2 W hat are the main language objectives?
- skills
- functions
- structures
- vocabulary.
3 W hat are the main topic areas covered?
- does the material introduce the subject?
- does it use the topic area as contextual background?
- is the coverage of the topic content high in credibility?
4 W hat is the main methodological approach?
- demonstration of language in context through text, tape, or video
- explanations of grammatical rules
- presentation of functional language
- presentation of vocabulary
- controlled practice of language
- open practice of language
- skills development
or a combination of these?
5 W hat is the role o f the material?
- to present language
- to practise language
- to provide a resource for the learner
- to check or test knowledge.
6 Is the material attractive?
- clear layout
— good use of space
- useful, clear pictures and diagrams
— interesting context and tasks.
 FRAMEWORK
MATERIALS

Traditionally, language teaching materials have presented teaching points,

structures, vocabulary, or points which relate to the development of par­
ticular skills, either as straightforward exercises, or within the context of a
narrative or situational written or listening text. However, for some time
now many Business English trainers have been looking for ways of giving
learners materials that allow them to provide the context from their own
experience.
This direct use of the learner’s personal experience is very important when
teaching professionals. Such learners are used to holding down responsible
jobs, and performing well and efficiently. When learning English they can
feel extremely inadequate. Since the early 1980s, framework materials
have been developed as a means of avoiding this demotivating situation.
Some of the types of framework presented in this chapter allow the learner
to produce content and context which is directly applicable to him- or
herself. Even though the language might be poor, the task itself is seen to
have value. In this chapter, we discuss examples of materials which
encourage the learner to describe contrasts and similarities, to talk about
advantages and disadvantages, and to describe cause and effect. These very
basic conceptual activities are fundamental to language activity. The
framework allows the learner to perform this activity, using a context
which has not been chosen by the trainer, while at the same time engaging
in real language tasks. Frameworks are designed to be motivating and
relevant.

W hat are framework materials?

Frameworks are usually diagrammatic representations which can be used
to generate language. Some represent concepts—for example, the frame­
works for describing cause and effect (page 140); others encourage inter­
action. Some frameworks can be used to guide learners in expressing
ideas, giving short explanations or talks or describing situations.
Frameworks can be used by pairs or groups of learners to build dialogues
and conversations, and organize meetings.
Often, when students make language mistakes, these are the result of poor
organization. When the organizational problem is removed, the mistakes
either disappear or are minimized. Framework materials actively encour­
age the user to organize his or her thoughts and language: it can therefore
be assumed that any mistakes are more likely to be language mistakes, and
not due to problems of organization.
Frameworks are designed to prompt the production of language: they do
not present language. Some frameworks may be constructed to practise a
grammatical point, such as conditionals; some may practise functional
language such as making an invitation and accepting or refusing an invita­
tion. However, the framework does not prescribe exactly what words or
expressions the learner should use to carry out the task.

Advantages
1 Low in p u t: h igh o u tp u t
Frameworks are easy for a trainer to produce. They can be drawn on the
board, or they can be drawn on a sheet of paper or on cards for handing
out to learners. There are usually few or no words involved.
At the same time, frameworks can generate a great deal of language prac­
tice. Sometimes a single framework can be used as a basis for an extended
activity; sometimes, several frameworks can be used together to practise a
particular language area in different ways.
2 F ocus on orga n iz ation a n d discou rse
Because frameworks do not dictate precisely which language the learners
should use (particular vocabulary items or grammatical structures, for
example), they help the learner to focus on the message to be conveyed.
The framework enables the learner to organize ideas and to build up dis­
course according to logical and well-established sequences.
3 F ram eworks as a d ia gn ostic a n d tea ch in g to o l
Used at the diagnostic level, frameworks enable the trainer to listen and
analyse the weaknesses in the learner’s use of language. This might be sen­
tence structure, or how extended speech is handled—the use of the sound
system, the use of linking words, the consistency of tense and vocabulary.
Once the teaching areas have been identified and the structures or other
language focuses demonstrated, framework materials can again be used for
practice.
4 At d iffer en t levels o f a b ility
Because frameworks do not prescribe the language to be used, in many
cases the same framework can be used equally effectively with both low-
level and high-level learners. A low-level learner would be expected to
express an idea using simple constructions within a limited vocabulary
range; a high-level learner can express the same conceptual idea but with a
much greater range of expression and complexity of language.
Framework materials are also useful in mixed-ability classes, because each
learner can be given a task appropriate to his or her level of ability.
5 F or lea rn ers w ith d iffer en t interests
Because framework materials generally do not present a context, they
enable the learners themselves to choose a context in which to practise the
desired language. This is particularly encouraged through the use of the
setting box, which is explained in detail on page 142. The frameworks for
describing cause and effect, for example, can be used equally effectively
with economists, marketing managers, environmentalists, or psycholo­
gists. They have the effect of personalizing the task.
Because learners can use frameworks to talk about the things that interest
them, they will be highly motivated and will find the language practice
more relevant to their own needs.
6 M o d ifyin g th e m aterials
A framework is essentially a tool to be used, and can be modified to meet
the needs of an individual or group. For example, the cause-effect frame­
work (14) on page 141 could be modified so that there are two causes and
one effect.

When should framework materials be used?

These materials are not a replacement for other types of materials which
are available to trainers. They do no more than add an extra dimension to
what is already on the market. When deciding on whether to use a frame­
work or not, two main questions need to be asked. The first concerns the
trainer: is he or she happy to use material which does not set out to pre­
sent language, but which, apart from its organizational function, is there
to show what the learner can do with language? The second concerns the
learners: do they work in a visual way? Learners who are very visual in
their learning styles may well find them more appealing and useful than
those who are not.
Finally, it must be stressed that framework materials are not a final solu­
tion to the trainer’s endless quest for good materials. They should be used
wisely. Some learners might be at too low a level for certain activities. For
example, the setting box (page 142) might be too complex for some
groups of students. Also, trainers who deal with low-level learners should
not be put off by the high level of communication demonstrated by the
two learners discussing their setting box on page 143. Realistically, this is
probably not the right kind of task for learners at a low level.

Frameworks for different purposes

A nalysing

Fram ework 1
This task helps explain where the important lines of communication are
in any individual learners work situation. Like other analysing frame­
works it is also a chance to check the learner’s use of spoken English.
Explain that you would like the learner (A) to talk in English about his or
her contacts within the company, or with subsidiary companies: at a
higher level (B), at a lower level (C), and then on the same level (D and
E). At an elementary level, only the bare minimum information need be
obtained. With more advanced learners, the trainer might also expect to

Framework 1: Points o f contact in the company!organization

learn more about the reasons for contact, what kind of topics are dis­
cussed, how often and where these contacts take place. Points to listen for
include individual language errors, the ways in which the speaker starts,
the movement from one box to another, and how the set of four is finally
included.

Fram ework 2
This task helps find out more about those who attend meetings.

Framework 2

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press 1994

Framework 3
This task is useful in analysing individual language levels and habits at the
very beginning of a course. After analysis, the trainer can work towards
negotiating individual and group language objectives for the course. In
this example the group is a marketing group. Each learner chooses one of
the topics below and is given a short time to prepare a three-minute
presentation. Marketing people are fam iliar with presentations and they
should only need 30 seconds or so to orientate themselves. Tell the
learners to relate the topic to a product w ith which they are familiar.
- ingredients
packaging
- current trends
- advertising
- outlets
- pricing.
Exactly the same task, but with different topics, can be prepared for a
wide range of business functions, industry sectors, and professions.
 D escribing contrast a n d sim ilarity
Frameworks 4 -8
In the following frameworks the diagrams have these meanings:

These visual reflections of sameness and difference can be used to practise

the language of contrast and similarity. This involves grammatical forms
(-er forms, ‘less’, ‘more’, ‘as . . . as’, etc.) and specific linking words (‘on
the other hand’, ‘in contrast’, etc.). Sameness and difference can also be
expressed in other ways altogether, simply through the statement of fact—
‘Company X produces cars. Company Y produces trucks.’
An example of these five types can be seen in this sample controlled
exercise below:

Framework 4 Framework 6

Framework 5 Framework 7

Framework 8
Describe the similarities and differences of the three countries, A, B, and
C below:

A В C
Framework 4 Produces coal Produces coal
Framework 5 Produces poor Produces high
quality coal quality coal
Framework 6 Produces coal Does not produce
coal
Framework 7 Produces coal Produces coal Does not produce
coal
Framework 8 Produces poor Produces high Does not produce
quality coal quality coal coal

The examples below are of learners working on the type of comparison in

Framework 8, first before being shown the framework diagram. The sec­
ond set of examples are after looking at the diagram. The learners were
instructed first to show that although A and В are similar, there are also
some differences, but that country C is completely different.
L earner 1
Before
‘We have one country has high quality coal. And one country has
low quality coal. And one country hasn’t coal.’
After
‘We have three countries. Two of them has coal. The third hasn’t
any coal. The two country have coal, one of them has high quality
coal, the other has low quality.’

L earner 2
Before
‘While the coal of country A is higher quality than country B’s coal,
country C doesn’t produce any coal.’
After
‘Although country A and В both produce coal, in country A the
quality is higher. Country C doesn’t produce any coal.’
 C om m entary
The second learner is at a higher level than the first. In their first attempt,
both learners failed to identify immediately that A and В produce coal.
This is remedied in the second attempt as they had focused on showing
the similarity. Also, the attempt to show that there is, however, a differ­
ence between A and В is better stated in the second attempt. Again, in the
second attempt the contrast with country C is much more clearly stated.
Although it could be argued that more work on clarifying the organiza­
tion could be done, after the second attempt the trainer’s focus with
learner 1 is much more on grammatical features, such as agreement. The
second learner has produced clear and correct English. Later in the course,
the first learner went on to make a contrast along the lines of that in
Framework 8 about his own industry sector: 'Car-maker Suzuki produces
small off-road cars, while Rover produces bigger off-road cars. In contrast,
Volkswagen doesn’t produce any off-road cars.’
Frameworks for comparison and contrast can also be devised to show
membership of sets, with varying degrees of sameness and difference, and
trainers might develop quite complex structures to show these relation­
ships. But at a very simple level the following example shows how a basic
framework can form the basis for a complex presentation on the similar­
ities between products or processes, or how one product, or process, is
different from another.

Frameworks 9—11
Frameworks 9, 10, and 11 are for comparison and contrast— for example,
where several elements of a product or system or process are being com­
pared with another. It is also possible to use these frameworks to describe
advantages and disadvantages.

Framework 9 Framework 10

A В
Framework 11

Photocopiable material

In Framework 9, the speaker is asked to go from A to В step by step,

showing the similarities and differences. In Framework 10 all of the
points in A are covered first, before moving on to B. In Framework 11
only the main points are highlighted and compared.
The extract below is from a learner who had been instructed to follow
Framework 9 in his description of two pick-up trucks, A and B. When he
is describing A, he makes reference to a prototype, X.
I have some general statements for the comparison of A and B, and
next I have some specific datas in comparison. Both cars are pick­
ups, and they are light pick-ups. A has the basis of the X, and espe­
cially the 4-door X. There are many things from the X, the doors,
the engine. This [the student points at B] is a truck. A original truck.
It has a own driver frame chassis, and an load area. It’s a truck. This
[pointing at A] is a car. This car is about 17 yeas old and it was
developed in USA, in contrast to the, this truck was developed in
Japan, from Toyota, and it is, it was batched engineered for us, with
a little changes in the front end for the engine, it’s our engine, no it’s
a Japanese engine. This car is built, was built at Sarajevo, and this
one is built at Hannover . . .

C om m entary
This extract from a presentation clearly shows the learner moving from
one pick-up to another, with clear reference to different points of compar­
ison (the origin, the chassis, the engine, the factory). The trainer can focus
more on the language than the organization (the use of articles, for
example, and though not evident here, the sound system).
D escribing change

Fram ework 12
In this framework the two boxes represent the change that has taken place
in a single product (it could also be a process). Box A is as it was. Box В is
as it is. (Or, box A is as it is and box В is as it will be.) In this framework
we are not looking so much at change from one product to another, but
more at product development and improvement. Analysis and correction
is likely to focus on how the speaker expresses differences in time.

Framework 12

A lternatives
- Focus attention on the cause of the change or the reason for the change
- and/or focus attention on the benefits
- or focus attention on problems which have arisen as a result of the
change.

D escribing cause a n d effect

As with other frameworks, these can be used to identify difficulties people
have in expressing cause-effect relationships, or identify a limited means
of expressing them. They can equally be used to practise what has been
input at an earlier stage.

Fram ework 13
Describe a cause-effect relationship in your own department or company.
Framework 13
Fram ework 14
Describe a cause-effect relationship in your work where a single cause can
produce two or more effects.

Framework 14

Framework 15
Describe a Vicious circle' which can exist in your work. Follow the frame­
work, starting in box A.

D escribing sequence

Framework 16
A simple sequence is just a string of events, joined by linking words such
as ‘next’ and ‘then’, or ‘after’ and ‘when’-type clauses.
However, it is possible to focus attention on the objective of the sequence,
for example, or on one particular stage. In this sequence the learner is
asked to highlight the objective and, when mentioning the different
stages, to focus on one stage which can prove problematic.
Example: ‘The objective of this sequence is to put in place a new system,
computer system, for all the water industry. Maybe in twenty sites. And
the first stage is . . .’
Other examples can be used when more than one thing is happening—for
example, in critical path analysis—and are particularly useful for those
working on projects.

Framework 16

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press 1994

By drawing attention to the objective in this way, the speaker starts out on
the right foot, leaving the trainer to focus on language instead of organiza­
tion (for example, interference from the mother tongue (‘put in place’
instead o.f‘install’ or ‘set up’), prepositions, the sound system).

The settin g box

One of the great problems for the language trainer is to create enough
recognizable context in the language classroom for the learners to produce
exchanges which are relevant, and which are not hampered by lack of
authenticity, embarrassment, and sheer lack of something meaningful to
say.
The setting box is an attempt to overcome this problem. It asks the trainer
and the learners to create sufficient context for the task to be meaningful.
Before the learners start a dialogue, the setting box asks them to decide
who they are, where they are, what they are going to talk about, who
with, and why. It asks them to think of where they are, and so to refer to
the physical environment (for example, the company office, the fact that
it’s raining). It asks them to think of what they want to achieve, what
their business objectives for this specific language exchange are, and what
their immediate communicative objectives are (for example, asking for
clarification or evading a question).
Fram ework 17
In the following example, the setting box is for making recommendations.
The learners complete the setting box. They do this through discussion.

Framework 17

Task Making recommendations

Who am I? (A) '

Who am I? (B)
Where are we?
What are we talking about?
Why are we talking about this?

In all of these frameworks, where certain grammatical structures, or par­

ticular phrases or words, are used to indicate such relationships as cause or
effect, it is very much up to the trainer to decide what to focus on. When
analysing rather than actually practising how to show cause-effect, the
trainer should listen to see what language is produced rather than instruct­
ing the learner to use a particular form.
The following is an example of two learners preparing their setting box. It
is noteworthy that one of the learners actually identifies what they are
doing and sees the value of it. 'Ah, I see. Now this [heavily emphasized,
and referring to their discussion] gives us a good scenario. When you have
these targets. Yes.’
B ackground This activity took place in the second week of a group
course. One student is Hungarian (A), the other German (B). The con­
text between them is highly developed. The Hungarian is very aware of
the German’s interest in cameras.
A OK, let us say we are in a camera shop. You come to me and I
make a statement. I don’t want to buy . . .
В You don’t want to buy a . . .
A I don’t want to buy a . . .
В It’s too expensive.
A No, not because it’s er, too expensive, b u t. . .
В Too complicated?
A Too much electronics. Like a computer.
В And so my recommendation is . . .
A Which camera, is recommend me which is top quality, but which
is not top features, those electronics . . .
 В OK, so you like to have quality but not many features . . .
A Many features. I would like to, I would like to choose the kind,
the brand . . .
В Ah, not automatic, but m anual. . .
A Other features . . .
В I see . . .
A For example, built-in flash . . .
В Built-in flash?
A Yes.
В Date-maker . . .
A Erm?
В The date on the . . . OK, so I recommend you a special m odel. . .
A Oh, and I would like to bought a . . .
В To buy . . .
A To buy a six by six. And a second one?
В A second one?
A Yes, maybe a small one.
В Ah, I see. Now this gives us a good scenario. When you have
these targets. Yes.
A Well, I think you start. I answer. So, we are ready.
T You are ready?
A, В Yes.
T Could you briefly explain who you are and where you are and
what you’re talking about?
В Our scenario is in camera shop. He’s the customer, client, coming
in, stepping in, and I’m the, how do you call it, the seller, the
salesperson. He has the special idea and I give him the recommen­
dation.

This preparation itself has already provided valuable language practice.

The subsequent role play, involving making a recommendation, is set out
below.
В Good morning.
A Good morning. I would like to have some cameras. I have a spe­
cial idea. I would like to make photos, about buildings and
nature, but first I would like to be sure that I find the perfect
skene [scene].
В Skene? What is skene?
A Objective. For, er . . . my position . . . so, I would like to have
maybe a polaroid so I could have immediate feedback. And then a
 professional six by six camera which I can make the real picture
with.
В OK, so I will try to summarize your idea to find out if I did
understand well what your wishes were. And you need one cam­
era with a high quality, six by six, and another one as a polaroid
type, to first, and and to use them both together, to first make a
shot by polaroid, and then to make another one for a high quality
result.
A Yes.
В So, my recommendation would be to take only one camera to
save money, and to take a, let’s say a Haselbladt six by six, and to
buy a polaroid back.
A Mmm. How does it work.
В Well, you can . . .
A I never m e t. . .
В You can take off the normal back and er put the polaroid back
on, make a first shot for polaroid picture, look at it and decide as
if whether the quality is good, and then make another shot on the
real film.

C om m entary
This task, using the setting box, has produced a rich and recognizable lan­
guage exchange, placing the recommendation at the centre of a web of
other communicative purposes. This is in stark contrast to the functional
teaching of gambits (formulaic phrases, such as ‘If I were you I’d . . .’ and
‘My recommendation is . . It illustrates the way frameworking attempts
to access the resources available to all learners of English.

Framework 18
The following setting box can be used in a wide variety of circumstances,
both for individual learners and for exchanges between learners.

Framework 18

Who am I?
What am I talking about?
Where am I?
Who are my audience?
Framework 19
1 In this case only one learner finishes the setting box.

Use the framework below. Start off speaking, imagining you are addressing an
audience. This part is in box A. Then stop and check with a member of the
audience (the trainer) to see if the message is getting across. Finally, in box C ,
continue.

Alternatives are to use box В for other tasks, such as restatement, or giving
an example.

Framework 19

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press 1994

2 For two learners, using the same setting box as in (1) above. В has to
evade, or show surprise, interrupt and ask for clarification, interrupt
and make a comment, or interrupt and disagree.
In each of these cases the setting box w ill have been talked through in
detail first, in order to create enough context for the task.

For m eetings a n d discussions

Fram ework 20
This framework is suitable for learners from a similar job background,
or from the same company. The framework practises the language of
alternative opinions and balancing viewpoints, but in particular it
practises listening.

Learner I makes a statement about the com pany (strategy, plans, products, etc.),
then chooses a second learner and asks fo r h is or her support.

Learner 2 is unable to support Learner I , and makes an alternative comment,

giving a reason. Learner 2 then asks a third le a rn e r for support.

Learner 3 sees good reason to support L e a rn e r I , then asks Learner 4 for

support.
 Learner 4 sees good reason to support Learner 2 and asks Learner 5 for support.

Learner 5 sees good arguments for both Learners I and 2, and goes back to
Learner I for a comment, or moves on to Learner 6.

Framework 20

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press 1994

Framework 21: extended meetings

Set-up This framework is for a group of learners, probably from the
same company, and preferably from similar backgrounds. This would
allow them to talk about product development, marketing, strategy, for
example.
Alternative 1: stages 1-3 only.
Alternative 2: stages 1-4.
Tell the learners that they will be discussing and comparing possible
future product development, and that they should follow the procedure
outlined in the framework. Tell them that the objective of the exercise is
to analyse:
- Individual errors, according to the individual objectives set out before­
hand (at the start of the course, during discussion with the trainer, etc.)
- Ability to communicate effectively, in terms of controlling language
development, use of intonation and pitch, and projection
- Meetings skills, such as ability to interact, put forward points of view,
suggest, balance arguments, lead the meeting forward.
Other words can be substituted for 'product', such as ‘company strategy',
‘department strategy', ‘concerning . . ‘procedures’.

Stage / Divide into teams and in those teams decide on the type of product you
wish to develop. Boxes A, B, and C represent different characteristics of the
product. Each team should follow Alternatives I and 2, discussing two different
developments for their product. The characteristics of the product— which might
be, for example, positioning, price, customer benefit— are decided now.
However, there is no discussion about the merits of the characteristics in Stage I .
Stage 2 Discuss the comparative characteristics, comparing their merits— for
example, the customer benefit of alternative I as compared with the customer
benefit of alternative 2.

Stage 3 Come to a decision about the product. Choose the best alternatives fro m
each path and be prepared to present a profile of your product in Stage 4.

Stage 4 Meet with the other groups, and together hold a meeting to compare
your final products. This may be formal or informal.

Framework 21

Stage 1

Alternative 1 A В с

Alternative 2 A В с

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press I

Stage 2

1 2 1 2 1 2

|u g e 3

fram ework 22: meetings w ith participants fro m mixed business

backgrounds
I\plain that there is going to be a discussion. This will be in two parts.
I lu* first is a brainstorming session; the second the discussion itself.

1 low the fram ework.

Brainstorm a series of topics of general interest which you would be

.с I
pared to discuss. One person should control the procedure, writing down
* 11 suggestion as it is made. No suggestions should be challenged at this stage,
re is no discussion until this stage is over.

‘ 2 Evaluate the suggestions as a group, eliminating the obvious, and ending

•vith a short list. Select one from the short list.

v .у* 3 Create an agenda for your meeting. Do this in the same way as the
H»» «nistorming of the topic.

\t 4 Run the meeting.

<-KOpiabie material © Oxford University Press 1994

Framework 22
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

A custom er—
supplier sim ulation

Fram ework 23
This is obviously targeted specifically at those who have this kind of work­
ing relationship. Many business problems can arise with this kind of
framework, and the trainer should allow the class to discuss their positions
in detail. Remind the class of objectives concerning negotiation and/or
language skills (already agreed with individuals in the group).
Learners follow the instructions, bearing in mind that two separate discus­
sions are taking place, which in this procedure will run with the teams
switching roles between customer/supplier.
Alternatively, Team A can prepare before the activity. The Team A as
customers’ simulation is then played out in its entirety first.
(Adapted from Pilbeam 1991)

Framework 23

Stage Team A Team В

Act as customers Act as customers

Discuss together and decide on a Discuss together and decide on a

problem/complaint/request to put problem/complaint/request to put
to the other team to the other team
 Act as customers Act as suppliers

Present their problem to the other

team by letter/telephone/face-to-
face meeting

Act as suppliers Act as customers

Present their problem to the other

team by letter/telephone/face-to-
face meeting

Act as suppliers Act as suppliers

Discuss solution to the other Discuss solution to the other

team’s problem team’s problem

5
Act as customers Act as suppliers

Teams meet. В present their proposed solution to A. Follow-up discussion in

which both teams take part.

s
Act as suppliers Act as customers

Teams meet. A present their proposed solution to B. Follow-up discussion in

which both teams take part.

D escribing p rod u ction processes

Framework 24
This is one of several framework-type activities that appears in the
business English Teacher's Resource Book (Nolan and Reed 1992) and is
л further representative of activities which access learners5 professional
experience with a minimal amount of input on the page. The framework
can be used for a group or an individual. The learner(s) brainstorm
products which are produced using industrial processes. One product
is chosen, box 1 is filled in, and the learner(s) decide what is needed in
order to make the product. The learner(s) are then asked to prepare a pro­
duction process flowchart, using box 2. The product and process are then
presented.

Framework 24

T energy

equipment raw materials

time space

human resources
P roblem -solving

Fram ework 25
Explain that this framework practises the language of advantage and dis­
advantage by showing two different solutions to a particular problem, and
why one of them is better than another. In this example, each solution has
advantages and disadvantages. The framework is of particular use to those
who deal with procedures which involve problem-solving.

Framework 25

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press 1994

Conversation

Framework 26
When creating role plays for conversations, learners should not be told
what to say. However, they must be given enough context for conversa­
tion to become possible.
In conversation there is no pre-set agenda—compared with social survival
exchanges (for example, in a restaurant, booking a room) where the
agenda is explicit.
The setting box for conversations allows the trainer to build up three
kinds of time. The first is present time, which refers to everything that is
going on at the moment. This includes the physical environment, the
people in the room and what they are doing and wearing, the weather, the
state of the company, and the current political climate. Present time is
shared. Everyone knows all the details. The second kind of time is periph­
eral time, which again is shared. Peripheral time is time in the past and
what can be expected in the future (for example, the people in the conver­
sation below know that there is going to be a meeting). The third kind of
time is not shared. This is personal time, which is different for each per­
son. Personal time includes individual constraints and worries, individual
beliefs, and individual activities. Personal time, being different for each
person in the conversation, provides the information gap so vital to idle
enquiry—‘So, what did you do last night?’
When setting up conversation practice, explain that as a trainer you will
be concentrating on some of these aspects of conversation:
- opening conversations (naming a topic to talk about)
- developing topics (accepting the topic)
- changing topics
- turn-taking (listening, interrupting, guiding)
- negotiating topics (finding a suitable topic, and rejecting some as
unsuitable)
- negotiating meaning (finding out what people mean)
- supportive behaviour (acknowledging, helping)
- closing conversations.
In the following two settings, the first uses only present time and periph­
eral time. There is no personal time.

Setting 1
Present tim e Two colleagues arrive in their office at w ork. The day is
bright and clear, but there is a lot of snow on the ground.

Peripheral tim e It snowed heavily during the night. There is a meeting in half
an hour, at eight thirty.

Settin g 2
Present tim e Tw o strangers are sitting in a train on the way from
Edinburgh to London. Another two people in the
compartment are asleep. The train is stationary in the middle
of nowhere. It is an early winter afternoon, and getting dark.
Peripheral tim e The two strangers had seen each other, though not met, on
the platform in Edinburgh. It was raining very hard, but has
now stopped. The train has just braked very suddenly and
come to a stop, though not at a station.

Personal tim e A: You would like to talk to B. You are a visitor to Britain.

Personal tim e B: You would be happy to talk to A and are thinking of what
to say when the train stops. You live in Edinburgh and are
travelling to London to visit relatives.

An example of a conversation based on setting 1 is given below. The

topics raised are natural, and not a source of surprise. The speakers make
allusion to the snow, and create images. The conversation is recognizably
authentic, apart from the greeting and the obvious language mistakes. The
first topic is about the snow and the difficulties it has created, but there
are also other comments— ‘Very nice. The winter is beginning/ and ‘It’s
beautiful when the sun is shining/ The change to the second topic, the
meeting, is again quite natural and unforced, as is the speaker’s indication
that she wants to get away and prepare for the meeting.

Fran^oise Good morning, Serge. How are you?

Serge Good morning, fine. Fine. Hi, Fran^oise, how are
you?
Fran^oise Fine, thank you. Did you, er, do you see the snow in
the streets?
Serge Yes. Very nice. The winter is beginning.
Framboise Yes, it . . . I had problems with, this morning, with
my car.
Serge With the car? Did you have gummi, snow gummi,
winter gummi? [snow tyres]
Fran^oise No. No, no. I had to go out . . . feet.
Serge On feet.
Fran^oise On foot. Yes.
Serge Walking? You walked?
Framjoise Yes. Yes. And it was very, er, slippery.
Serge Yes. I went with my car. It was very difficult to drive.
It’s nice. I liked it. I like it.
Fran^oise It’s beautiful when the sun is shining.
Serge Yes.
Fran^oise Did you prepare anything for this meeting?
Serge No.
 Frai^oise Ah, yes. Because I have to prepare something, and as
I arrived . . .
Serge Too late . . .
Fran^oise Too late.

Conclusion
In this chapter there has obviously only been limited space for what is a
very rich area. Frameworks can be developed for a great variety of pur­
poses, and are particularly helpful in devising relevant simulations for
specific target groups—for example, product managers or production
planners. It is important to remember that they are a tool, first to analyse
what language the learner needs to be taught, then to organize the lan­
guage, and finally to provide a framework for meaningful practice. They
do not and cannot replace materials which are designed to input and
explain structures and other language items. There will always be some
learners who work better with them than others.
 AUTHENTIC
MATERIALS

Definition and use

Authentic material is any kind of material taken from the real world and
not specifically created for the purpose of language teaching. It can be
text, visuals, or audio material; it can be realia such as tickets, menus,
maps, and timetables; or it can be objects such as products, equipment,
components, or models. Some people say that as soon as a piece of
authentic material has been altered in any way (for example, by cutting,
selecting, simplifying, or transferring from one medium of communica­
tion to another), it immediately ceases to be authentic. However, any of
these strategies may be applied if it can be justified in relation to the needs
of learners.
For Business English training purposes, the authentic material that is most
useful will be produced by companies for use by their employees, for
client information, or for general publicity. However, material produced
for public consumption but with a business content can also be drawn
upon: for example, journals, newspapers, and off-air transmissions. A
more detailed breakdown of types and sources of authentic material is
given on pages 158-62.
There are several reasons why a trainer might use authentic material.
First, authentic texts (audio or written) will have a number of features that
are often lacking in texts and dialogues created for learning English. They
will exemplify the particular register to which they belong (academic,
legal, or journalistic, etc.) and will often contain specific terminology and
jargon and sometimes typical organizational features and sentence pat­
terns. The language used will reflect the genuine purpose for which the
material was created and will also target the expert reader or listener for
whom it was intended. It will not be simplified or distorted by attempts
to include structures or expressions aimed at the language learner. In
short, authentic text will include the type of language which the learner
may need to be exposed to, to develop skills for understanding, and
possibly even to produce.
Second, the material may provide information about real-life situations or
events. In this case, it is the content of the material rather than the lan­
guage which is useful for the trainer or for the learner. The information
conveyed is likely to be more accurate and to have high credibility, and
will probably be more up-to-date than most Business English training
materials. It may also be very relevant to the learner’s special interests and
can thus be used to fill gaps in materials published for learners of English.
Authentic material may provide the core of a very specialized course if the
course objective is, for example, to develop skills for reading manuals,
instructions, contracts, or financial reports, or to develop letter-writing or
report-writing skills. At the other extreme, authentic material may be used
only occasionally on a course— to supplement Business English material
by adding interest and variety.
There are many more ways of using authentic materials other than as
reading or listening comprehension exercises. For example, they can: pro­
vide a realistic context for a role-play, letter, or report; stimulate debate;
provide information for a project or presentation; or practise the skills of
describing, explaining, instructing, and exchanging information. (See
pages 162-85 for more detail about ways of exploiting different kinds of
authentic material.)

Types and sources

Below is a list of the different types and sources of authentic material that
are appropriate for Business English teaching, together with suggestions
for obtaining them.

Books
Business books may have been written for study purposes at colleges and
universities, or may be aimed at people in work who want to brush up on
their business knowledge or skills. Some may be very academic, some
more practical, and some humorous. It may be possible to find them in a
good general bookshop or (in the case of academic textbooks) in a univer­
sity bookshop. Some can be found in libraries (for example, British
Council, USIS, or university libraries). Clearly, the trainer would not
want to use the whole book, but may find certain chapters, paragraphs, or
diagrams in them that could be relevant to the learners. A list of such
books is included in the Appendix.
Th e media
N ew spapers>m agazines, a n d sp ecia list jo u rn a ls Single items or articles,
chosen for their relevance and interest, are most likely to be useful, but
advertisements (for products or jobs), or illustrations and diagrams, may
also be selected. English-language newspapers and magazines are available
in major cities throughout the world, or can be ordered on subscription.
Specialist journals are usually only available on subscription or from
libraries.
R adio a n d TV The BBC World Service has for many years provided an
opportunity for listeners around the world to tune into authentic English.
News broadcasts are particularly useful, but other kinds of information
programmes can be exploited as well. Information about wavelengths and
programmes can be obtained from local British Council offices and from
the magazine BBC W orldwide (see Appendix).
With the advent of cable and satellite TV, it is now possible for viewers to
tune into English-language news and documentary programmes in many
countries. BBC World Service television is broadcast by satellite (and by
cable in Europe), and aims to provide a worldwide service. Details of how
to receive it, and information on programme schedules, can be obtained
from the BBC at the address given in the Appendix under ‘Further
Viewing5. CBS news provides access to American English. (Note that
there are laws restricting the recording of off-air programmes other than
for personal use.)

Company-specific materials
This is a very broad category and covers many different types of materials.
The A nnual R eport This contains company accounts, details of directors
and company structure, changes made in the previous year, and a report
on the financial standing of the company.
P ro d u ct in form a tion Most companies produce glossy brochures for
their clients about their products and services. Some of these will have a
general content aimed at non-specialists; others may contain specific tech­
nical information for people in the trade.
N ewsletters a n d m agazines o r o th er PR m a teria l We can distinguish
between glossy magazines produced by companies for public consumption
and more basic newsletters aimed at staff. Both contain news and general
information about the company, its staff, and its products or services.
C om pany vid eos Many large companies now produce videos for PR pur­
poses, and these can provide useful classroom material. Some give general
information about the company and its products, some describe the
company’s history, focus on its concerns for the environment, or show
manufacturing processes. There will probably be an English-language
version even if the company is registered in a non-English-speaking
country. Some videos have no speech, only music as a background to the
images portrayed.
All of the above material can be obtained direct from a company. They do
not contain confidential material and can therefore be used without caus­
ing concern.
C orrespondence Letters may be routine, non-routine, formal, or informal,
and can have a range of different functions. Faxes are not very different
from letters, although they are usually shorter and less formal. Very few
people use the telex machine nowadays.
Letters, faxes, etc. may be obtainable if the trainer has contacts within a
company. Course participants who are at work can be asked to bring
samples if relevant to the course.
R eports a n d m em os These may simply be short notes— not even
expressed in sentences; routine reports may be written by completing a
form; some reports are sent by electronic mail and are never committed to
paper. On the other hand, a report may be a long and carefully considered
document containing a lot of detailed information about, for example,
finance, marketing, or technical developments. Some reports are for
internal consumption only, while others are prepared for clients or for
other companies co-operating in joint ventures, for example.
Both internal and external reports are likely to be confidential and the
trainer will only get access to them if a learner has a specific need and
brings them along to the course.
M inutes o f M eetings Sometimes these are composed in very formal
language and make use of a number of conventions. In other situations,
the minutes are brief and possibly even in note form. They usually report
the topics discussed and the action taken. Depending on the nature of the
meeting, they will probably be confidential.
C ontracts These may be standard or non-standard and can have varying
degrees of complexity and obscurity. American contracts are the most
lengthy and detailed, whilst the British ones may use more difficult legal
jargon. Contracts produced in English by other legal systems are usually
relatively easy to read.
It is easy to get hold of standard insurance, hiring and purchasing con­
tracts, but specific contracts relating to financial transactions, buyer-
supplier relations, joint venture relations, etc. are likely to have restricted
access.
Manuals a n d w ritten instructions These are grouped together because
they have a common purpose and similar use of instructional language,
although they may refer to either technical or administrative procedures.
Manuals are typically rather long and are commonly produced in print for
л wide range of users. An example would be computer software manuals,
produced by the software house for its users worldwide. Instructions for
using and maintaining equipment or machines could also be included in
this category. Other kinds of instructions, however, are more temporary
and usually shorter. They may be issued by the parent company to its sub­
sidiaries, detailing procedures for carrying out routine tasks—for example,
accounting and book-keeping. They may be issued in the form of an
internal memo.
It is not difficult to get access to manuals if learners need to work with
them: usually they can be provided by the learners, the company or train­
ing institution, or by the supplier. Company instructions for internal use
are more likely to be confidential, but it should be possible to obtain
examples if an employee has a special need.

I to d i t m o tiv a te s

*ublic inform ation material

This category comprises all types of documents, brochures, leaflets, and
ideo materials which are supplied by governments or national institu-
ions for the general public. It is clearly a very wide-ranging category, but
xamples which are relevant for Business English are as follows:
- Tourist information (lists of restaurants and hotels, maps, information
 about tourist sights, history and geography of a region, tourist videos,
timetables, etc.)
- Information produced about the London Stock Exchange and Lloyds
of London (educational videos can also be purchased—see Appendix)
- Information about postal and telecommunications services
- Information produced by banks about accounts, loans, financial
services, etc.
- Customs and VAT forms and regulations
- Information produced by electricity companies and water boards (for
example, about environment, energy saving)
These can be useful sources of material for people who work in the
United Kingdom or sometimes travel to the United Kingdom or other
English-speaking countries. Some kinds of information may be available
in English in other countries—especially tourist information.

Recording live events on audio or video

Depending on the training situation, it may be possible to gain access to
live events and situations which would provide useful material in the
classroom. Examples are: lectures, seminars, and demonstrations (useful in
the case of students and trainees); company visits—especially to a work­
shop or factory; and (if not too confidential) meetings and presentations.
If the trainer has access to a camcorder, video camera, or even just an
audio tape recorder, these events can be exploited as often as desired. The
results may require a certain amount of editing (particularly for audio
recordings, which are more difficult to use successfully without the visual
element), but can provide excellent examples of authentic spoken lan­
guage. Commentaries on professionally-made videos or TV broadcasts are
scripted and therefore represent a different variety of English.

Selection and exploitation o f authentic

materials
When selecting material to use, it is very important to keep in mind the
three key questions:
1 Who is it for?
2 What is the training purpose?
3 How can the material be exploited?
Ways of exploiting material will depend on the type and content of thj
material, and a successful exploitation will have to relate to the needs Л
the learners in terms of skills requirements, language requirements, level
and interests.
Text m aterials
Text materials provide a model of authentic written language. The use of
text materials and their exploitation, therefore, needs to be seen in relation
to the needs of the learners. Do the learners need to develop reading
skills? If the answer is yes’, then the text can be presented in its original
form (or edited for low-level learners), together with suitable reading tasks
or activities.
Depending on its content, the text could be used for language activities
which focus on the vocabulary, structures, or functions it contains. The
trainer would need to think about what is most useful for the learners and
whether they need to use this language actively or merely be able to recog­
nize its meaning when reading. Language which is only found in written
texts should not be the focus of an oral production activity.
However, a large proportion of Business English learners need speaking
and listening skills, and to provide this kind of practice, the text will have
to be exploited or adapted in some other way. For example:
1 The text could be used by the trainer only for its information content
(i.e. it is not seen by the learners).
2 If the learners need listening skills rather than reading skills, then the
teacher could use the content of the text to present information orally
to the learners. (Note that if the text is read aloud and recorded word
for word on tape, it does not provide a model of oral language, so it
will be necessary to phrase the ideas in different words.)
3 Facts, figures, or situations from the text could be used to devise role
plays. (See the example at the end of this chapter.)
4 If there are diagrams or charts accompanying the text, information-
transfer activities could be devised. An example of an information-
transfer exercise is one where the learners are given a chart which has
some information missing and they complete it with facts or figures
from the text.
5 Information-transfer activities can be based on an oral version of the
text, given by the trainer or another learner (i.e. as a listening task).
Both (4) and (5) could be followed up by asking the learners to present
the information in the completed charts in their own words. The
trainer can help or support with details from the text. Learners could
complete different charts and then describe them to each other.
6 Jigsaw reading: the text is divided into parts and different parts handed
out to different learners to read and take notes. The learners then use
their notes to pass on the information orally to each other and to work
 together to build up a summary of the complete text or to answer
questions on the complete text.
7 Texts (particularly news items and magazine articles) can be used to
stimulate discussion and debate, and to practise summarizing and fore­
casting possible outcomes, and making comparisons with their own
experiences.
8 Reading and oral practice can be followed up by a writing task (if
appropriate).* preparing a written summary; writing a letter to the news­
paper or magazine; writing a report for the company; or (if the text is
itself a letter or report) replying to it or commenting on it.
Different types of text material are evaluated below in terms of which
groups of learners could most benefit from using them, what teaching
purposes (in terms of target language and skills) they could be used for,
and what kinds of activities can be developed to achieve the teaching pur­
poses.

1 Books, articles fro m journals, newspapers, etc.

These are particularly useful for pre-experience learners if the content is
relevant. They are also useful for job-experienced learners, especially at
managerial level, but should be selected according to needs. A prerequisite
to setting a reading task based on a book extract or magazine article
should be that the learner would be interested in reading the text if it were
in his or her own language.

Table 12.1: Language activities using books and articles

Skills Language Activities

Reading: skim/scan, gist Vocabulary Jigsaw reading
reading, detailed Information transfer
Comparison
reading Role play
Forecasting
Summarizing
Fact v. opinion
Information exchange
Verb tenses
Discussion
Modal verbs
Writing reports,
Conjunctions
summaries, memos
Reference markers

2 Pictures, charts, diagrams, etc.

These are useful for producing language, not for providing a model
(unless accompanied by a text). They will appeal especially to learners
who are visualizers, or who work a lot with visual material— for example,
engineers and technical people, systems designers, sales and marketing
staff. Charts containing figures will be appropriate for finance staff and
others who have to present financial or sales results. Visual materials are
also important for pre-experience learners who will later enter these fields.

Table 12.2: Language activities using visual materials

Skills Language Activities

Presenting information Numbers Information transfer
Information exchange Describing trends Pair/groupwork
Writing reports Comparing Presenting with
Listening Contrasting overhead projector
Describing cause-effect

3 Advertisements
Job advertisements can be used with pre-experience learners who may
want to apply for jobs in English. They can stimulate letter writing,
preparation of a CV in English, and even interview role plays.
Product advertisements can be used for making comparisons, discussing
advertising techniques, or relating to the learners5 own products. They are
thus useful with a wide range of learners, both pre-experience and job-
experienced.

Table 12.3: L anguage activities using advertisem ents

Skills Language Activities

Reading Vocabulary Pair/groupwork
Information exchange Numbers Product presentations
Discussion Comparing Role play
Interviewing Contrasting Creating own
Letter-writing Evaluating advertisements
Describing features W riting CVs and letters

4 Realia
Realia such as airline tickets, hotel information, timetables, and menus are
useful for anyone who needs English to travel abroad, particularly if their
language level is pre-intermediate or below. They are very useful for secre­
taries and others who may need to make travel arrangements. Menus are
useful for business people who have to entertain clients in restaurants.
Menus in the learners5 mother tongue can also be used to practise explain­
ing food, etc. to English-speaking visitors.
Table 12A: Language activities using realia

Skills Language Activities

Telephoning Times, dates Role play:
Writing letters, faxes Requesting making/ changing
Discussing schedules Clarifying bookings, asking for
Social survival Confirming information, ordering
Suggesting food in a restaurant
Explaining

5 Company material
This is most likely to be available and appropriate to trainers working
with job-experienced learners in-company. Some examples may be inter­
esting for pre-experience learners preparing for future jobs.
A nnual reports These are especially useful for finance and a ccou n tin g
staff, for people whose job involves assessing companies from an invest­
ment point of view (several reports would be needed for comparison),
and for any employees who need to be able to present his or her own
company.
Table 12.5: Language activities using annual reports

Skills language Activities

Information exchange Numbers Pair/groupwork
Talking about accounts Accounting/Finance Presenting
Understanding financial vocabulary accounts/graphs/diagrams
reports Describing trends Information transfer
Making presentations Company structure Completing text
Tenses: past and Comparing accounting
present perfect systems
Forecasting

Contracts These are useful for company lawyers and pre-experience

learners studying company law. They are also useful for buyers, suppliers,
and others who may need to refer to contracts in their work.
Table 12.6: Language activities using contracts

Skills Language Activities

Reading contracts: Specific terminology Search for answers to
scanning, detailed for: terms, conditions, specific questions
reading obligation, inclusions, Explain/summarize
Negotiating restrictions, reference. terms, provisions
Writing letters Conditional sentences Role play: negotiating
Modal verbs changes to a contract
Clarifying
Suggesting
C orrespon den ce Correspondence is particularly useful for secretaries and
commercial staff—pre-experience or job-experienced. It is also useful for
anyone else who has to deal with their own correspondence (fairly com­
mon even for managers now).

Table 12.7: Language activities using correspondence

Skills Language Activities
Reading letters Letter conventions Jigsaw reading
Writing letters Style Information transfer
Telephoning Organizational features Completing a letter
Exchanging information Role play
Replying to a letter

R eports a n d m em os These are only relevant to people who have to read

them or write them. Check what kind of reports the learners have to deal
with, and obtain samples. Pre-experience learners may have to write
reports for their courses of study, but these may have a very different style
and structure from company reports.

Table 12.8: Language activities using reports and memos

Skills Language Activities

Reading for (depends on type and Jigsaw reading
information content) Restructuring a report
Report writing Organizational features Rewriting
Telephoning Style Comparing oral/written
Discussion skills Vocabulary language
Presenting Role play:
meeting/telephone call
to discuss report

M inutes o f m eetin gs These will be important for those who have to read
them (people who attend international meetings) and for those who have
to write them (mainly secretaries, but also managers, technical staff, etc.).

Table 12.9: Language activities using minutes

Skills Language Activities

Listening Reported speech Acting out the minuted
Summarizing Passives meeting
Writing minutes Past tenses Taking minutes from a
video or role play
M anuals a n d in stru ction s These are only useful for those who have to
read or write them. Check what the learners have to deal with and obtain
samples. Written instructions could be reproduced as oral instructions if
this is appropriate to the learners’ needs.

Table 12.10: Language activities using instructions

Skills Language Activities

Following instructions Imperatives Search for answers to
(oral/written) Modal verbs questions
Giving instructions Modal passive Information transfer:
Explaining Prepositions complete flow
Demonstrating Time clauses charts/create flow charts
Conditionals Ordering in correct
Sequence markers sequence
Specific vocabulary Matching
written/aural/visual

P ro d u ct broch u res a n d sp ecifica tion s The trainer can make use of the
text, the specifications (figures and technical details), or pictures and
diagrams relating to a company’s products. These materials are more obvi­
ously relevant to job-experienced learners, but could provide a stimulus
for pre-experience learners too.

Table 12.11: Language activities using brochures

Skills Language Activities

Reading for Numbers Search for answers to
information Vocabulary for size, questions
Describing/explaining appearance, function, Information transfer
Presenting information features Pair/groupwork
Negotiating Comparing/contrasting Matching text to visual
Telephoning Stating advantages Sales presentations
Describing how it Role play: sales
works negotiation, product
development meeting,
ordering by telephone,
answering product
enquiries

PR m aterials Some of these can be of general interest to both company

employees and people outside the company. Brochures about the com­
pany’s environment policy, for example, could be interesting to some pre­
experience learners.
For examples of language activities, see Table 12.1 on newspapers, maga­
zines, and journals, page 164.

Audio a n d video m aterials

Authentic audio and video materials provide a model of spoken language,
which differs in many features from written language. However, as already
pointed out, scripted audio or video tapes do not represent natural speech,
and may even have more in common with written language: sentences
will be complete, there will be no rephrasing or repetition, no hesitations
or false starts, and no grammatical mistakes. In media recordings, natural
speech is likely to be heard in interview situations, but apart from this,
nearly everything will have been scripted. There is even a recognizable
style for TV reportage, which may or may not be an appropriate model
for business people. Recordings made at live events are much more likely
to reflect all the imperfections of natural speech. However, professionally-
recorded material provides useful listening practice and can be a stimulus
for many oral and written activities.
It should be noted that the language used in authentic audios and videos
recorded for a native-speaker audience will generally be too fast and too
complex for low-level learners to follow. If it is appropriate, low-level
learners could be exposed to such videos, but with a relatively simple task
(for example, gist listening), and very short extracts should be chosen. For
learners at any level, a short extract (three to five minutes of audio or
video material) per session will be sufficient. To sit through half an hour
of video demands too much concentration. An exception can be made for
high-level learners who need to practise note-taking or minute-taking
skills.
As with text materials, audio and video recordings can be used simply as
background information for the trainer, or for listening practice, for lan­
guage work, or as a stimulus for a variety of oral activities. Video record­
ings can be played with or without sound: without sound gives the
viewers the opportunity to guess what is going on from the actions and
body language of the people in the film, and to guess their relationships
and their reactions to new events. This can be especially useful in the con­
text of social English and for developing cross-cultural awareness. Videos
of a manufacturing process can be played without sound for learners to
create their own commentary, or simply to point and name if they are at a
low level. Both audio and video recordings can be stopped at strategic
points to ask learners to predict what will happen next, or what will be
said next (for example, after a question is asked). The freeze frame facility
on a video recorder is useful for discussing a particular scene, pointing and
naming things, or talking about the people in the film and what they are
doing.
As with text material, the subject-matter of a video can be exploited in a
number of ways. Information-transfer activities can be devised; role plays
can be set up; learners can be asked to summarize, to write reports, to act
out scenes using their own words, and so on.
Some specific ideas are given in the tables below.

1 T V and radio news

Clearly, this is best when ‘fresh’ and would normally be recorded on the
same day that it will be used in class. It is especially useful for journalists,
PR staff, the information services staff of companies, economists, and
others who have to follow reports or make reports themselves. In general
interest terms, it can be useful for almost anybody since people who travel
need to be able to follow and talk about current events. Businesspeople
often complain that they find it hard to carry on a conversation during
a business lunch, for example: news items can often provide useful
topics for conversation. The implications of news items for business, for
companies, or for a nation provide useful discussion points.

Table 12.12: Language activities using TV and radio news

Skills Language Activities

Listening for gist Vocabulary: political, Pair/groupwork
Detailed listening economic, geographic, Information transfer
Summarizing etc. Comparison of different
Reporting Tenses: past, reports
Discussion skills present perfect Preparing own report
Conversation skills Forecasting (oral/written)
Fact v. opinion
Cause and effect

2 Documentaries
These will be selected according to the relevance of their information con­
tent. The trainer might want to focus on a business or economic theme,
or on something of wider interest (for example, the EC, the environ­
ment). The learners could have a special interest—for example in a
foreign country that they do business with, or will travel to. Document­
aries about new scientific or technical developments are useful for people
working in a related technical field.
Table 12.13: L anguage activities using docum entaries

Skills Language Activities

Listening for information Specific vocabulary Search for answers to
Describing Tenses: past, specific questions
Explaining present perfect Taking notes
Summarizing Forecasting Information transfer
Interviewing Comparing Completing chart of
Divscussion skills Cause and effect arguments for/against
Writing reports Questioning Describing with sound
Giving opinions down
Role play: interviews,
meetings, debates

3 Company videos
These are mainly useful for people working in the company which has
produced the video, or in its subsidiaries or affiliates. They could be useful
for customers of the company. Some company videos provide investment
information, and this could be of interest to learners working in the fields
of finance or banking.
The table given for documentaries (12.13) applies also to company
videos.

4 Public info rm a tio n videos

These are produced by, for example, the London Stock Exchange, The
British Department of Trade and Industry, and the Tourist Boards of
some regions.
I he Square M ile is an educational pack consisting of a video and booklets
with further information and questions about the City of London, the
Stock Exchange, and Lloyds of London. This kind of material is particu­
larly useful for pre-experience students on Business Studies courses who
have a reasonably good level of English. It will probably have less appeal
to job-experienced learners unless they are working in or deal with this
.irea.
1he British Department of Trade and Industry has produced some videos
Tout the European Community, mainly directed at British companies
who need to be more informed about changes in trading practice. This
Und of material could be useful in countries thinking of entering the EC,
for use either with pre-experience or job-experienced learners.
1ourist videos will have a more general application, and could be used to
umulate practice in talking about their own country to foreign visitors.
л this respect, videos of the mother country are more valuable than
For a more detailed breakdown of possible skills, language, and activities,
see Table 12ЛЗ on Documentaries.

Examples o f tasks and activities

The last section of this chapter will give some examples of tasks and activi­
ties developed to exploit authentic materials.

1 Using au then tic m aterial to develop speaking skills

Basing a telephone role play on an authentic fax

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Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press 1994

A ctivity
O bjective To practise negotiating on the telephone.
L evel Lower intermediate to upper intermediate.
Target a u d ien ce Job-experienced learners who will need to make
purchase orders by telephone. Pre-experience learners
preparing for this kind of work.
When After introducing basic telephone language and
practising simple telephone activities (e.g. message­
taking, making enquiries, and exchanging information);
when you want to extend the learners’ ability to deal
with more complex matters on the telephone.
Time 45 minutes.
Preparation Discuss with the learners what happens when an agent
or distributor receives goods that are not perfect.
Give the fax to the learners to read. Deal with any
vocabulary (‘seat’, ‘trim’, ‘roll’, ‘lead time’, etc.). Discuss
the situation referred to by the fax. What do the learners
think happened before this fax was sent? Why is the
Japanese company sending rolls of cloth? What was the
problem? Could there be any other solution? W hy does
Mr Henriksen need the cloth urgently?
P rocedure Explain to the learners that they are going to role play a
telephone call. Divide the group into pairs and tell the
pairs that one will play the part of Mr Henriksen, and
the other the part of Mr Sakurai. They will imagine the
conversation that might have preceded this fax.
Hand out the role cards and allow about five minutes
for preparation. The role-play can be done by pairs
working simultaneously: (1) in the classroom, back to
back; or (2) using the internal telephone system; or (3)
in a language laboratory.
On a one-to-one course, the trainer should play one of
the roles. It is useful to record the conversations for
feedback and review.
2 Using au then tic m aterial to p ra ctise extracting
inform ation fr o m a text
Understanding computer manuals

With the Mail Function you can:

Electronically send letters and documents to an individual
or group. You can specify a priority of relative importance
(high, low, and so on); a class (first class, registered, or
certified); security (private or none); and you can encrypt
mail. By using the directory, you can locate users and
create a mailing list.

Terminology
• Mailbox — A file which is created by the system in the
folder your.dsk. An incoming.mbx (mailbox) file is created
when you receive mail. An outgoing.mbx file is created
when you file a copy of the mail you send. A phone.mbx file
is created when you receive a phone message. A
phonelog.mbx is created when you file a copy of the phone
message you send.
• Encryption — Coding which requires the recipient to use a
keyword for decoding so they can open the mail. Further
explanation is given in R5-5 (3 of 3), ''Fields of the
Electronic Mail Screen''.

A ctivity
Objective To practise extracting information from a computer
manual text.
Level Elementary to intermediate.
Target audience Job-experienced people working with computers (for
example, in finance or clerical jobs). Pre-experience
learners studying how to use computers or word
processors.
When The learners will have already acquireda reasonable
vocabulary of the terms found in the relevant computer
manuals, and will have done previous reading activities
based on understanding key structures and functions.
Time 20-30 minutes.
Procedure Hand out the task sheet and text.Point out that learners
need not read the whole text first. They should read the
items on the task sheet and look for the answer in the
relevant section of the text. (See sample instructions
below.)
S am ple in stru ction s f o r task

Which of these things can you do with the Mail Function’ Loot for ft * MiujQPt Щ
the text on the next page.

W rite down the number of the line where the information can be found

1 Send a letter electronically to a single person

2 Send the same letter electronically to several people

3 Receive telephone messages

4 Access other people’s letters and messages

5 Send confidential mail that only one person can read

6 Find out who are the other people who have access to
the system

7 Collect the names of people that you often want to send

letters to

8 Show how important your letter is

9 Send pictures and graphics

10 Store copies of all the messages you receive

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press 1994

3 Using au then tic m aterial to develop listening skills

U sing graphs o r charts

Activity
Objective To introduce or practise recognition of the language of
economic trends (increase/decrease; vocabulary such as
‘to reach a peak’; correct use of prepositions ‘to’, Ъу\
‘in’, etc.).
Level Lower intermediate to intermediate.
Target audience Job-experienced learners working in economic or
financial areas. Pre-experience learners studying
economics or business studies.
Photocopiable material © Oxford University Press 1994

When After presenting the language of trends and before

asking the learners to try to produce the language
themselves.
Time Listening only: 20 minutes. With stage 3: 45 minutes.
Source materiall Graphs showing economic trends taken from
adaptation newspapers and finance journals (e.g. The Economist).
The titles of the graphs have been removed, and also
some details such as numerical values given on the Y
axis. A script describing the graphs has to be prepared
and may be recorded on tape. (See sample script below.)
Preparation Start a brief discussion on the eco n o m y and ask what
factors are often used as economic indicators (elicit
‘inflation’, ‘unemployment’, etc.). Explain as necessary:
retail sales, industrial output, unemployment, average
earnings.
Procedure Give the graphs to the learners. Read or play a recording
of the script. Learners follow and identify what each
 graph refers to. In a second stage, learners can add
numerical values to the graphs. As a third stage, they
may be asked to describe the graphs themselves.
S am ple scrip t
As you can see, unemployment has declined steadily since January 1993.
At that time it stood at 9 per cent; a year later, in January 1994, it had
reached a very satisfactory 7 per cent.

Unfortunately the figures for industrial output during the same period are
not so good. After hitting a low at the end of January 1993, the industrial
output index increased to 108.3 points a month later, and rose steadily to
almost 111 points in the middle of the year. The index fluctuated during
the next three or four months, then fell dramatically, bringing the figure
back to 109.8 points at the end of the year.
Over the period in question, retail sales have shown a general upwards
trend, but with seasonal fluctuations. Retail sales reached a peak of 141
points at the end of September 1993, fell slightly in October, rose again
in November, and, surprisingly, fell dramatically in December. However,
they rose again to 140 points in the first month of 1994.
The increase in average earnings has also shown a movement upwards. At
the start of January 1992 the increase over the previous year was 7.5 per
cent. This rose slightly at the end of March, then remained constant for
six months, rising again to 8.5 per cent in the last three months of 1992.
This remained constant for five months, and, despite rising to 9.25 per
cent in August and September, finished the year at 8.75 per cent.

S am ple in stru ction s f o r tasks

The graphs show four aspects of the British economy:

- retail sales
- industrial output index
- unemployment
- average earnings (percentage increase over previous year)

1 Listen to your trainer’s presentation, and label the graphs.

2 Listen again and fill in any numbers you hear on the vertical axis of each graph.
4 Using au then tic m aterials to im prove learn ers’
com prehension o f presentations

Adapting an article fo r oral presentation

A ctivity
Objective To practise listening to a longer text and extracting
specific information. To extend vocabulary relating to
logistics and distribution.
Level Intermediate to upper intermediate.
Target audience Job-experienced people or pre-experience learners who
need to be able to follow lectures and presentations and
who may be interested in logistics and distribution.
Time Listening only: 15 minutes. W ith other follow-up: one
hour.
Source material/ An article from a business journal. The article itself is
adaptation not given to the learner. The trainer uses the
information in the article to prepare a script for a
presentation (adapting the language so that it is more
appropriate to an oral presentation) and this can be
recorded on tape. The diagram is copied from the article
and its labels are erased (see below).
Procedure 1) Learners listen to the tape and label the diagram.
2) Learners answer comprehension questions and
questions that focus on language features (e.g.
vocabulary) used in the tape. (Not included here.)
3) Learners use the diagram to practise making their
own mini-presentations.
 DISTRIBUTION

How a streamlined logistics system

can make all the difference
Sub-contracting w as the secret for newly merged French and
German interests in the field of consumer electronics

Im p o rts
from
Far E ast

D o m e stic
p u rc h a s e s

New logistics at
E u ro p e a n Thomson Brandt
Im p o rts in Germany
In the great drive to contain costs, managers always fourth brand, Dual, will be integrated into the
get around, in the end, to looking at inventory, system next year.
handling and distribution figures. These can be All four brands were acquired by Thomson
horrendous and, in the case of some marketing- Brandt in the past six years, as part of its drive into
oriented companies, can constitute the bulk of fixed consumer electronics. Nordmende was purchased
overheads. in 1978. Saba was acquired from General Tele­
The problem is worsened in Europe by the phone & Electronics Co. (GTE) of the United
existence of the national boundaries of 16 sovereign States in 1981. Dual - which, like Nordmende, was
states and, more recently, by the wave of takeovers, independently owned - joined the fold in 1982.
mergers and the struggle for market share that has And Telefunken was acquired from the ailing
afflicted many industries, foremost among them electronics giant, AEG, only last year.
consumer electronics. By subcontracting and streamlining its entire
Now one company - Saba, a German sales distribution effort, Saba is claiming to have saved
subsidiary of the Paris-based consumer electronics substantial costs and improved customer service.
giant Thomson Brandt - has come to grips with its The streamlining spanned nearly three years from
own distribution problems and, in the process, initial studies to proof of savings.
established a pattern for two other Thomson With Thomson Brandt’s results now proven,
brands, Nordmende and Telefunken, to follow. A other manufacturers in Germany and elsewhere arc
showing keener interest in rationalizing distribution So successful has the company been in tin
systems, says Horst Gade, a senior consultant at endeavour that some of Thomson Brandt’s rivals m
Knight Wendling (formerly Knight Weggenstein), consumer electronics, including Philips, ITT and
which worked with Saba in the restructuring. Grundig, have been taking note of the reorgani/.»
Knight Wendling is now deeply involved with a tion. “We get a lot of inquiries from them,” s.i\ •
German chocolate maker to devise a similar Loeding. “They are very interested in adoptirif:
streamlining. And Thomson Brandt, impressed by some of our ideas.”
Saba’s improvements, is considering a revamp of irs A few years ago, indeed, Grundig was touting ilu
distribution systems throughout Europe. idea of a distribution system for the whole «*1
Knight Wendling has high hopes of persuading Europe that would embrace every company ili.u
companies in other European countries to do more wanted to participate. But this came to nothing. S«i
to improve effectiveness, and cut costs, on the Thomson Brandt, whose products account l«u
distribution front. “Even small companies, employ­ about 25% of the German market in consul mi
ing fewer than 200 people, can make significant electronics, decided to make its own improvemcniN
savings if they look at the problem as a whole,” says Saba, with $172 million annual sales in Germans
Detlef ,Munchow, director of Knight Wendling’s and $276 million sales worldwide last year, emerged
London office. He says stock levels in Britain, for as the pathfinder under a new chief executive, I >r
example, could be reduced by as much as 30%, Alexander Lentze, who arrived three years ago.
simply by turning over stock much faster (see
box). T h o ro u g h a n a ly s is
Essentially, what Saba has done is route its “Setting in train a thorough analysis of tin
television sets, videos, hi-fi equipment and radios distribution costs was the first thing I did,” Lcnw«
through just three central warehouses, then ship remarks. He points out that Saba is a vm
them overnight to regional distribution centres, for company, the manufacturing being done by an« >i1
onward delivery to customers by local transport the er Thomson Brandt affiliate, Dagfu. As such i
following day. “We have achieved savings of 20% major fixed costs are those concerned with logLi i-
so far,” says Dieter Loeding, Saba’s logistic manag­ So Lentze was coming to grips with the main <■>
er. That means a reduction of millions of marks in base.
warehousing, materials handling and distribution. Saba had been relying on a central warehou •
Saba will not cite precise savings. comprising 23,000 cubic metres, and 17 snull.i
regional warehouses, totalling 16,000 cubic nu n. •.
of capacity. Products were transported by a l«n
warding agent from the central warehouse to tlie-
Why materials handling regional warehouses, where a fleet of 19 company
costs money trucks distributed 86,000 cubic metres of equip­
ment, in 80,000 separate consignments, to 3.000
Detlef Munchow, of Knight Wendling’s Lon­
outlets, most of them retail stores.
don office, produces the following figures to
Although this system worked smoothly, the n»ti
illustrate what he sees as room for improvement
of maintaining the warehouse space, the trucking
in materials handling and distribution among
fleet and the attendant staff was burdensome.
British companies, for example:
Loeding points out that about half of S.ilu'»
Stock turnover ratio in engineering companies business is done in just four months of the year. I;«f
Britain 3-6 times a year the other eight months, expensive fixed assets went
West Germany 10-12 times a year standing idle or underutilized. In addition, theft
Japan 15-20 times a year were shortcomings in customer service. Deliveries
could be made only two or three times a week,
Total cost o f materials handling a n d distribution
resulting in delays of several days if an order misled
in British manufacturing companies
one delivery.
Up to 20% of turnover Knight Wendling’s Gade, along with two other
Up to 30% of value added consultants and a good internal team from Thom*
son Brandt, spent six months, off and on, analysing
Other statistics
the old distribution system and working out iht
Seventy to 80% of the material lead time in
new concept. Then a further 18 months were spent
manufacturing is time of waiting. By bringing
on implementation. “As well as working closely
material into flow more quickly, it would be
with the Saba people, there were many coord inn»
possible to decrease stock levels in British
tion meetings with the other brands, to ensure
industry by 20% to 30%, Munchow claims.
weren’t crossing too many wires,” Gade says.
 As a result of these deliberations, Saba closed all There was a problem, however, in persuading
its regional warehouses and comcentrated inventory Saba’s own branch officers that the change would
at three locations - a warehouse near Stuttgart that be a good one. The marketing people objected that
handles imports from Italy and Germany; Bremen, putting several brands on one truck was just not
in north Germany, where the warehouse is near a acceptable.
manufacturing plant and its proximity to the port “Their argument was that customers were used
enables it to handle imports from the Far East; and to our own trucks delivering the goods, and that we
Wuppertal, which exists to serve the many custom­ might even lose sales to other brands,” Lentze says.
ers in the western part of the Federal Republic. “But I saw this as emotional, rather than practical,
All the brands currently involved in the scheme resistance from our people.”
turn send their products from the factory to these To get beneath the unthinking emotion, he
warehouses, with the exception that Telefunken called two-day seminars that were attended by the
still runs its own warehouse at Hannover, storing branch officers, and invited them to spell out all
products from its factory at Celle, rather than use their reservations, which were then dissected and
the Bremen warehouse. examined. “The object of the exercise was to
reinforce the advantages of change and minimize
U sin g o u ts id e rs any disadvantages,” Lentze says. “Maybe there is a
From these warehouses the branded products are genuine disadvantage insofar as the relationship
trucked by night to 24 distribution points, all over between the salesman/rep and the merchandiser at
western Germany, then transferred into smaller head office is interrupted, to some extent. The man
vehicles for onward transmission to customers in the field liked to say to the customer, ‘Okay, I
within a 50 to 80 kilometre radius. And apart from will get on the phone to head office and speed
the on-line network that transmits orders via a things up’. But, because everything was speeded up,
i crural computer, Saba staff are not involved in this that was no longer necessary. I can understand why
operation, which is handled by two forwarding some people felt that, in a sense, their job was being
«.ompanies, Dietrich in southern Germany and devalued.”
Kuchne Nagel in the north. Since the new logistics system was introduced,
“There was no problem persuading the company however, the level of complaints and minor delivery
to use outsiders because the basic philosophy of emergencies has fallen, says Lentze. As for the
Thomson Brandt is that they are specialists in argument that customers would turn to other
electronic equipment,” Gade says, “and not dis­ brands, nobody at Saba believes that any more.
tribution experts. So they said from the beginning Now, the company is able to offer a 48-hour
that if experienced partners could be found to delivery service. From Wuppertal, indeed, it is a
distribute their products in an economical way, that 24-hour service. This has led to far more satisfied
was okay by them.” customers than disgruntled ones.

Sam ple ta p escrip t

JW Good morning. Can I start by introducing myself? My name’s John
Webber, and I’m a consultant at Knight Wendling, which, as you
know, is a business systems consultancy firm. My firm has recently
completed a project in which we worked together with the German
company, Saba. Saba, you may know, is a German Sales subsidiary
of Thomson-Brandt, which specializes in consumer electronic
goods—TVs, Hifi systems, that sort of thing.
So, what I’d like to do today is to describe briefly the project we
undertook with Saba which was to streamline the distribution
system.
Well, first let me explain the distribution system which Saba used to
have and why we thought it necessary to change the system.
In the past, Saba had one central warehouse comprising 23,000
 cubic metres, and 17 smaller warehouses totalling 16,000 cubic
metres of capacity.
Products were transported from the central warehouse to the
regional warehouses by a forwarding agent. From the regional ware­
houses, a fleet of 19 company trucks were used to distribute the
equipment—altogether about 86,000 cubic metres of equipment
would be delivered each year, in 80,000 separate consignments to
3,000 different destinations—mostly small retail outlets.
DJ Sorry to interrupt, but could you give us those figures again, please?
JW Certainly. That was 86,000 cubic metres of equipment in 80,000
separate consignments going to 3,000 outlets.
DJ And how many trucks did you say?
JW 19 trucks, owned by the company.
Well, this system worked smoothly enough, but it was expensive.
The warehouse space had to be maintained, and the trucks. The staff
had to be paid, of course, on a year-round basis.
Now, one of the features of the consumer electronics industry is that
about half the year’s trading is done during four months of the
year—the four months leading up to Christmas. During the rest of
the year, the other 8 months, company capital was tied up in ware­
housing and trucks—expensive fixed assets—which were not being
used to full capacity. In addition to these problems, there were often
delays in delivery. Deliveries were made two or three times a week,
so if an order missed one delivery, this could result in a delay of
several days. So customer dissatisfaction was another problem.
Now, Saba—as I’ve said before— is a sales company. And as a sale
company, the major fixed costs are those concerned with logistici
And that’s where cost savings had to be made.
So what changes did we make?
As you can see from the diagram, Saba has now closed all its regioni
warehouses, and its inventory is concentrated at three locations.
There’s one warehouse near Stuttgart that handles imports from
Italy, and domestic purchases from within Germany; one warehouse
at Bremen, in the north—that’s near the manufacturing plant and
also near the port so it can handle imports from the Far East; then*
there’s a third warehouse at Wuppertal which serves customers in
the western part of Germany . . .
DJ I have a question . . .
JW Yes?
DJ Saba is one of several Thomson-Brandt subsidiaries, isn’t that right?
JW Yes.
DJ Could you tell us whether the other Thomson-Brandt subsidiaries,
like Telefunken, have also been involved in this project?
JW Yes, they have. Saba was the first one to rationalize its distribution
system. But Telefunken, and another subsidiary, Nordmende, have
now been integrated into the new system too; and a fourth
subsidiary—Dual—will be integrated next year. All the brands
involved in the scheme now send their products from the factory to
one of these three warehouses.
DJ And who does the distribution? A forwarding agent?
JW Two forwarding companies, actually—one in the north and one in
the south. The products are carried on big trucks from the ware­
houses to 24 distribution points. Then, at each distribution point,
the goods are transferred on to smaller vehicles and distributed to
the customers, who are all within a radius of 50 to 80 kilometres.
DJ And the whole system is controlled by computer?
JW That’s right. There’s an on-line network which transmits orders to a
central computer.
DJ And would you mind telling us what improvements there were—as
a result of the changes?
JW As far as costs are concerned, we’ve achieved savings of 20 per cent
so far. In addition, we can offer a 48-hour delivery service— in some
areas it’s only 24 hours— and we’ve got a lot more satisfied
customers.
DJ Hmm. That’s pretty impressive . . . [FADE]
5 Using au then tic m aterial to extend letter-w ritin g
vocabulary

Com pleting a business letter

A ctivity
Objective To extend knowledge of letter-writing vocabulary; to
develop awareness of the differences between spoken
and written language.
Level Intermediate.
Target audience Anyone who has to write business letters.
Time 30 minutes.
Adaptation o f Some words have been omitted to create a gap-filling
source task.
If you are going to create this kind of task yourself, it
will be important to choose a suitable letter (in terms of
content and language difficulty) and to select words to
be omitted according to: (a) which words can be guessed
from the context, and (b) which words the learners need
to have in their active vocabulary.
Procedure Learners can work in pairs to try to guess the missing
words. They should be allowed to use a dictionary. To
make the task easier for lower-level learners, or to focus
more on developing passive vocabulary, a list of the
missing words can be supplied. The task will then be to
recognize and select the best word to fill each gap.

Sample instructions f o r task

Read the letter from the London branch of a bank. T ry to find suitable words or
phrases to complete the letter. If you cannot find any suitable words, your trainer
will give you a list to choose from.
 [ name and address o f company. ]

At tent io n : Mrs [name o f recipient]

Dear [name]
Re: RETAIL BANKING

On the attached you will find the Bank's proposed Schedule of

Charges which will
as from 1st January 1994, and will be annually.

We very much that we are unable to continue

offering ''free banking'' to our customers. This recent change of
policy is due to costs, and we feel that
if we are to continue to the professional level of
personal service that we have provided to our
since 1984, we must now obtain a contribution towards our
You will note that our charges are below the average by
the UK Clearing Banks, as we wish to remain competitive in this
market.

The charges will be to your account monthly,

in

The minimum elegible balance requirement for those accounts which

are interest bearing has been from
USD 100,000.00 or currency equivalent, to USD 50,000.00 or currency
equivalent. This in the minimum balance
requirement will therefore
for some of the charges which will be paid by yourselves.

If you have any questions the new

charges, would you please telephone either myself, or my colleague,
Mr [name] .

Kind regards,
Yours sincerely,

Wendy Cash
Manager

Photocopiable material © Oxford University Prttt 1994

 MANAGING
ACTIVITIES IN THE
CLASSROOM

The management style of a teacher or trainer will depend on his or her

personality, background, and experience. Equally, the trainer should be
ready to make some modifications to his or her style in accordance with
the needs of the learners. As already pointed out in Chapter 8, the learn­
ers' expectations of their trainer will vary with their cultural or educational
background and previous job or training experience. Some learners will
expect the teacher to play a dominant role in setting objectives and tasks,
and in controlling their learning behaviour; others will be happier if they
themselves are able to contribute to the organization of their course. Some
learners expect the trainer to correct every language mistake; in some cul­
tures, however, emphasizing a learner’s mistakes may lead to a ‘loss of
face’ and will cause severe embarrassment and resentment.
Deciding on strategies for developing a good working relationship with an
individual or group is the subject of this chapter. Four key areas are con­
sidered:
1 One-to-one v. group tuition
2 Individual tasks: setting up and giving feedback
3 Role-play and simulation: setting up and giving feedback
4 Course design: putting it all together.

One-to-one v. group training

There are advantages and disadvantages to both one-to-one and group
training. The choice will depend largely on how much the company is
willing to pay, but also on the learner’ needs. Some aspects of one-to-one
and group training are compared in Tables 13 Л to 13.5, below.
Table 13.1: Trainer—learner relationships
One-to-one Groups
If the learner expects the teacher to be Some groups may be competitive,
dominant, he or she may be shy and others co-operative. In a competitive
defensive, and will need atmosphere, shy learners will need
encouragement to speak out. encouragement to contribute, while
strong personalities will dominate. In
co-operative groups, all learners will be
able to participate effectively. Use
team-building activities to build
co-operative skills.
The learner is involved at all times and The pace is usually faster. It is
is under stress to concentrate. He or important to involve the learners by
she will become tired more quickly. It varying the types of interaction:
will be important to vary the pace and teacher-learner/learner-learner/ use of
type of activity, and to give short audio or video or text as stimulus.
breaks—for example, by setting a
reading or writing task or time for
general conversation, if needed.
The learner may find it difficult to A lot of stimulus can come from the
contribute a lot of ideas without collective ideas and experience of
stimulus from other learners. The group members. An effective strategy is
trainer must then provide stimulus. to encourage contributions and group
interactions.

Table 13.2: Activities fo r one-to-one n d group training

One-to-one Groups
Learner-centred activities are especially The time allowed for individuals to
appropriate (see Chapter 11.). Any speak in monologue will be
speaking tasks that involve the learner constrained by the size and patience of
in presenting, describing, or explaining the group. Activities which involve
are valuable. learner-learner interaction are
important for increasing the time that
each learner can speak (pair/group work).
Role-play and simulation are possible, Role-play and simulations will be
with the trainer playing one of the important elements of the course.
roles (two-way interaction only).
Discussion activities will require the Discussion activities should be
trainer to take an active part (e.g. by successful given good group dynamics.
asking for opinions, agreeing or The teacher will be usually be in the
disagreeing). role of observer.
If the learner does not have many Brainstorming activities are useful for
ideas, brainstorming activities may not involving everybody and encouraging
work well. contributions.
Table 13.3: M aterials fo r one-to-one and group training
One-to-one Groups
A single coursebook is unlikely to meet A coursebook may be appropriate on
all the needs of the individual, unless some kinds of group courses.
his or her needs are very non-specific.
The trainer may not need to bring The trainer will need to be
many materials to the course if the well-prepared with materials and
learner has something specific to work activities for each lesson.
on (e.g., preparing a presentation or
report).
Supplementary materials will be useful Supplementary materials will be useful
for dealing with specific language for creating variety and changing the
problems or developing skills. pace.
Audio and video materials will be The same is true for groups.
important for exposing the learner to
new voices and accents and for
providing a change of pace.

The trainer should be flexible in The trainer will have to make some
bringing in materials as needs arise. decisions about materials before the
start of the course.

Table 13.4: Which learners benefit most from one-to-one or group training!
One-to-one Groups
Job-experienced learners who have very Pre-experience or low-experience
specific needs. learners or learners who do not have
very specific needs.
Job-experienced learners who have Learners who need English for
severe time constraints, either because interacting in meetings.
their work schedule does not allow Learners who need to acquire
much time for training, or because interactive skills, such as co-operating,
they have some urgent need—e.g. a listening, asking questions.
presentation, a trip abroad.
I earners with strong personalities who Learners who work well as members of
would dominate or feel frustrated a team.
trying to co-operate in a group.
Learners who are shy of speaking in Learners who enjoy the social aspects
front of others. of being in a group.
Table 13.5: G iving feedback
One-to-one Groups
The trainer will develop a deeper The trainer will not know the
understanding of the learner’s special individuals in a group as intimately as
problems. in a one-to-one situation.
It will be easier to be open with the There will be less time and fewer
learner with less risk of embarrassing opportunities to give detailed feedback.
him or her.
The trainer will develop a role of Sensitive areas will have to be dealt
counsellor or consultant in diagnosing with outside the classroom on a
problems, discussing them with the one-to-one basis.
learner, and advising strategies.
Some of the feedback may relate to Individual feedback is more likely to
personal factors such as motivation, relate directly to language problems
learning style, attitude to the course. and will deal less with learning or
communication problems.
Strategies for learning or for
communicating effectively which relate
to the whole group can be discussed
openly.

The subject of feedback will be dealt with in more detail on pages 200-8.

D ealing w ith individuals

The following points apply particularly to one-to-one training in a busi­
ness or professional context. For a comprehensive discussion of individual
teaching, see One to One by Peter Wilberg (Language Teaching
Publications, 1987).
- Learners are very demanding, and many wish to be pushed even though
they may not say so.
- Some learners may be quiet and not forthcoming. This may be because
they are tired, but it may also be that they are not used to managing
themselves in a learning situation where the reins of control have been
removed. In such cases the trainer has to be open and straightforward:
there is nothing wrong with talking openly with the learner about the
kinds of activities he or she prefers, or sees as important, and the
specific content/topic areas that are deemed important—indeed this is
an ongoing part of needs analysis.
- Very often a learner is undisciplined, and does not show any concrete
learning strategies at all. On a short course there is little one can do to
 remedy that problem, but recognizing that it exists can help in the
choice of material and the pacing of the course.
— A frequent complaint from learners is that they are not corrected
enough. Whatever the views of the trainer on error correction, if the
learner feels that insufficient attention is being paid to errors, he or she
will regard the trainer’s performance as inadequate. The classroom is
not the time for a debate on pedagogical correctness. Systematic mon­
itoring and feedback, and the use of the tape recorder or video, are the
best ways of building a sense of progress for the learner. It is in the one-
to-one course, not the group course, that the most satisfactory kind and
degree of feedback can be developed. The trainer has only the one
learner to consider; the learner is not compromised by correction in
front of others; the course itself benefits from a mix of intensive and
less intensive feedback, and a thorough variety of feedback (the sound
system, vocabulary, grammatical structure, appropriacy, discourse
elements, socio-cultural competence, communicative skills) that is
achieved as a result of on-going dialogue and agreement of needs.

Course design a n d the in d ividu a l learn er

Unlike courses for groups, which have to be carefully planned in advance
(see pages 209-14), the individual course allows for much more freedom.
As a result of discussion with the learner, or observation of the learner’s
progress, an existing plan may be changed or rather vague ideas may be
firmed up into a clear syllabus and course design. In these circumstances,
it is more helpful to look at the overall mix of factors that need to be con­
sidered when creating the course for the individual, rather than setting out
foolproof structures.
The following procedure is helpful for most learners:
1 Find out about the learner and his or her needs.
- Go through any information you have about the learner and the
company beforehand (questionnaires, product literature).
— Do any background reading you need to do beforehand (about what
a pathologist does, or a systems analyst, or a production manager).
— Interview the learner during the first session in order to establish
needs.
2 Choose from the following:
- The learner needs to improve general speaking/listening skills for
business purposes (meetings, telephoning, social).
- The learner needs to improve specific speaking/listening skills for
business purposes (telephoning, presentations, negotiations).
— The learner needs to improve reading/writing skills for specific busi­
ness purposes (letters, documents, reports).
3 Take account of the following:
- Initial language level: it is easier to make noticeable improvement
when the learner is at a lower level than at a higher level.
- Age and background: it may be more difficult to raise the language
level with an older learner than with a younger one.
- Expectations: what does the learner expect of the course in terms of
work-load, pace, and final performance?
- Business needs: these will be established on the first day and as the
course develops. The material and the language work should reflect
those needs, and reflect the type of business environment (where
possible) in which the learner works.

4 Choose from the following activities:

- Activities which analyse accuracy with tenses and time
- Activities which improve performance with tenses and time
- Activities which analyse accuracy with modals
- Activities which improve performance with modals
- Activities which practise basic functions of rational exposition and
enquiry (Wilkins, N otional Syllabuses, 1976), such as comparison
and contrast, cause and effect, condition, result and consequence,
justification, describing trends
- Activities which practise other useful functions, such as recommend­
ing, complaining, complimenting, etc.
- Activities which develop basic rhetorical skills, such as building up
arguments, balancing points of view, putting forward opinions
- Activities which analyse and improve accuracy with questions
- Activities which analyse and improve performance with language
relating to space (dimension, location, motion)
- Activities which analyse and improve performance with various
means of referencing (to people, to time, to objects)
- Activities which analyse and improve the ability to make
spoken/written text coherent (linking and signalling devices, appro-
priacy, register, consistency, development of theme)
- Activities which analyse and improve the language of business skills
(telephoning, presentations, negotiations, chairing)
- Activities which improve interactive skills (naming topics for discus­
sion, responding to others, developing themes)
- Activities which develop strategies for learning, such as repair tactics
(Til just say that again, I’m afraid I don't the name in English, but
it's like a . . /)
- Activities which help co-operation, such as repetition and clarifica­
tion, rephrasing and restatement
- Activities which promote vocabulary development
- Activities which promote cross-cultural awareness
 — Activities which analyse and improve social and survival skills
—Activities which are aimed at improving basic language skills (gram­
mar review, grammar explanation, spelling, numbers, pronunciation)
—Activities which are aimed at developing listening skills
— Activities which are aimed at developing reading skills.
5 Take into account the following:
— How much of a mix does the learner need?
— How shall I pace the day/lesson?
— Am I giving the input that is really necessary?
— What exactly do I hope to achieve with this task?
— Have I given the learner enough time to prepare for this task?
— Does the learner know why the task is being done?
— How does this task relate to the learners overall needs and the
syllabus?
— How does this particular activity relate to other activities we are
doing today, or during the course?

Som e examples o f learners' work

Below, we are including four short extracts of learners’ work in order to
show the process of setting-up, analysis, and feedback, and to emphasize
the intensity of the trainer-learner relationship in individual tuition
classes.

A Scandinavian telecommunications engineer (low-level)

S et-up
The learner used Framework 1 on page 134 which relates to needs analy­
sis. The framework was explained, and the learner was given a short while
to think about what he wanted to say.
I am using the diagram you will have, and the arrow-up pointed at
my boss and talk about social matters, holidays and which jobs are
going on. The arrow-in persons in the company, persons clerical
level, persons technical support and the personnel who do the job
working as project. The arrow-out look at the owner of houses
where the cables goes and persons in the community, and the down
arrow we don’t use because I don’t have some under me.
Analysis
This short description gives the trainer a clear idea of the lines of commu­
nication. There are statements which need clarification. The 'owner of
houses’ means the person who owns the buildings in which sub-stations
are housed, and ‘the persons in the community’ refers to decision makers.
The control of the sound system is poor. The speaker has problems with
agreement and tense; the text is also not held together very well, either by
linking words or phrases, or through the voice. The immediate impression
was quite poor, although actual analysis of what was said shows that the
speaker knows rather a lot of English, probably at a passive level.
This is the kind of speaker who is likely to respond well to a two-week
intensive course. Apparent inaccuracies and poor projection often hide
considerable passive awareness.
The speaker needs the basic faults—concordance and tense structure—
pointing out, but the trainer felt that what this extract showed was not
lack of correctness, or accuracy, but lack of practice.

A French financial manager (high level)

Set-up
This learner wanted to practise formal presentations and interactional lan
guage, and the short extract below is from an example of the latter. This
was an exchange at the beginning of the course; it took place just after the
British general election in 1992. (T = Trainer, L = Learner)
T . . . especially now, with everybody considering the implications
of the election.
L That's right, that’s right. I was in London last week during the
election day, and the day after, and I registered all the reactions.
T Oh, right.
L Of this surprising result. Yes. Yes, it’s rather strange. I don’t know
if this due to a mistake in the polls, or if it is due to a short term
movement which is due to . . . it’s interesting to listen to the reac­
tions . . . you have to be able to, with some care, to avoid, how
you say that, you say ‘walking on the eggs’?
Analysis
This learner is evidently at a very high level. His interaction is very natural
(‘That's right, that’s right’), and he is very idiomatic. With people at this
level, materials need have only very bare outlines; the greatest source ol
material is their own experience, and this is what has to be accessed.
Points for the trainer to be attentive to here are: (1) ‘How you say that?’—
a mistake with question forms. Very probably there will be errors or odd
usage occurring because of influence from the first language (‘registered’,
‘the eggs’).
A French statistician (intermediate level)
Set-up
This learner needed practice in the language of meetings. On this occa­
sion she was putting forward a point of view in a discussion concerning
the influences of cultural differences and attitudes on management styles.
[Talking about Japan and the United States]
But this is due to the fact that the way of managing people seems to
them more different. They, the same when they have the production
in another country. But, they say that our European and American
businessmen must have not this thing, when they have business with
Japanese people, and I think that . . . do a lot to reconcile business
people— the Americans and the Japanese—and the fact that Japan
used to copies, they say we have to compete in a different way . . .
Analysis
There are few problems with vocabulary, or the willingness to try complex
statements. There are problems with organization, and this is what the
training should concentrate on. For example, when she says They, the
same when they have the production in another country’, it is as though
her thoughts are outpacing her speech. She needs to slow down and think
things through more before speaking. Organization framework materials
could help her a lot. It would be a great mistake to see this problem as
something merely grammatical.

A Scandinavian o il executive (high level)

Set-up
This is an extract from a formal presentation on the future of a company.
The person in question is in a position of responsibility, and frequently
has to speak in public.
We have to develop the culture of the company, maybe in the direc­
tion of being more international, maybe we are going to be speaking
English as the company language in the company. We have to
develop people, we have to recruit people. In comparison with inter­
national oil companies we have a staff, that is, that don’t have, er,
without the international experience. This means we have to recruit
and develop people in the meantime. The financial situation of the
company may be too weak. It is a resource-demanding decision. We
had to take resources and put into the development of the interna­
tional part of the company, and that means we have to take
resources from other parts of the company it might as interesting as
this part.
 But nevertheless it’s a high-risk decision. It’s a long-term decision.
It’s a resource-demanding decision. I think it’s difficult to take that
decision this year. The company is becoming an international com­
pany.
My conclusion is that the management of the company should
develop a strategic plan within this year and present it to the board,
and that within ten years from now 25 per cent of the resources of
the gas and oil is located outside of this country, and that within ten
years we also have production outside of this country.

A nalysis
In fact, the speaker has a good command of the sound system, so that
what he said sounded better than an analysis of it when written down.
There are certain obvious points to look at from a grammatical point of
view—tense, for example. The real problems are with linking and refer­
ence words. The word ‘It’ in ‘It is a resource demanding decision’ in fact
weakens the statement because the referent is not totally clear. Speakers at
this level can benefit greatly from training which focuses on the way they
organize their ideas in English, and the way in which they hold them
together—rather than looking at grammar at the sentence level. The
implications are that attention will be to elements of discourse which are
cohesive in nature—such as reference devices, lexical fields and lexical
collocation, complex clauses, reference to time, general appropriacy of
expression, and overall consistency of use.

Role play and simulation

Setting up the activity

Role play differs from simulation in that the participants are asked to
adopt a new character who may have different attitudes and opinions
from their own. For example, the learner could be given a role card which
explains that he or she is a sales manager in a company which produces
cosmetics, and that in the meeting which will be acted out, he or she must
speak in favour of proposal X, or against proposal Y.
Role plays have to be prepared in detail in advance (there are lots of ready­
made ones to be found in books or management training materials). They
are suitable for mixed-interest groups and groups who do not have specific
needs and they usually work better with imaginative learners who can
think themselves into the role they are assigned. Pre-experience learners
will be more likely to respond well to role play than job-experienced
learners, perhaps because they are less likely to have strong opinions of
their own.
Simulations, on the other hand, allow the learners to be themselves. There
will be a situation to be acted out (a business dilemma or a problem), but
they can express their own ideas and opinions as if they themselves were
in the imagined situation. In this respect, simulations are easier for some
personality types. Both role play and simulation can focus on a variety of
business skills such as meetings, telephone calls, and social situations.
Simulations can be ready-made (as with role plays), or can be devised by
the trainer for individuals or groups who have a need to deal with a spe­
cific situation. In this case, the trainer will need to get help from the
learners in order to build up a credible problem with facts and figures that
the learners can provide from their own experience.
In order to get this information, the trainer will need to ask a lot of ques­
tions, such as: ‘What normally happens in this kind of situation?’ ‘Who
do you discuss it with?’ ‘Do you meet face-to-face or discuss it on the
phone?’ and so on.
The following is an example of a simulation built up with a group of
learners. The group (all from the same company) consists of engineering
and technical staff who are responsible for purchasing equipment for their
departments. They sometimes buy from foreign suppliers and need to
practise negotiating skills in English.

The trainer discusses with the learners how the simulation will proceed.
First, it is established that some group members will represent the sup­
pliers (the name and nationality of the supplier company is decided by the
learners, as is the type of equipment that they supply), while the others
will be themselves. Second, it is established that the buyers and suppliers
have had previous contact, and that a meeting has been set up to discuss
the purchase of a certain type of equipment (the learners provide technical
details of the equipment they want—product brochures from an actual
supplier could be used here). The learners draw up a list of points that
would be discussed in the negotiation—-for example, price discount, pay­
ment terms, delivery arrangements, maintenance contract.
Each group (buyers and suppliers) then meets separately to prepare for the
negotiation: buyers will decide what demands they will make; suppliers
decide what their offer will be.
The trainer can co-ordinate this process by monitoring the discussion in
each group. If it becomes apparent that more information is needed by
both groups for the simulation to work, then this can be discussed by
both groups together.
In both role plays and simulations (whether ready-made or created by the
learners), time for preparation is essential if participants are going to play
their parts successfully. They must be very familiar with the background
information and must have a clear idea of what shape the interaction will
have, and what they are trying to achieve.
Language preparation will also be essential. In the simulation of a buyer-
supplier negotiation referred to above, the language of negotiation would
have been treated earlier on the course, as would other important
language, such as giving technical specifications, and comparing and
contrasting.

What can g o w ron g?

There are many risks involved in running a role play or simulation, par­
ticularly in group teaching.
1 There is too much background information (it is time-consuming to
prepare and the learners cannot keep the details in mind).
2 There is too little information (the participants have to invent it during
the role-play, which can upset the course of discussion).
3 The discussion goes on too long.
4 The participants get so involved that they lose sight of the objectives
(i.e. to practise certain kinds of language or behaviour).
5 The discussion becomes personal and confrontational. Individuals
become so involved with arguing from a particular standpoint that it is
then impossible for the group to reach a solution or a decision.
(Learners often exhibit quite different behaviour in role plays from that
which they would show in a real-life meeting because they know they
have nothing to lose.)
6 If there is a chairperson, he or she fails to exert control and the meeting
becomes chaotic.
7 Usually as a result of (6), the more confident participants dominate and
others feel more and more frustrated as they are unable to contribute.
8 The participants do not listen to each other—they continue to repeal
the same arguments again and again.
9 If it is a mixed nationality group, the participants may not understand
each other well, or may have different attitudes concerning how a meet
ing (for example) should run.
Strategies f o r red u cin g the risks
1 A ready-made role play must be carefully selected, taking into con­
sideration the level and experience of the learners. It is important to
avoid complicated situations with a lot of background data if time is
short, if the learners’ level is too low, or experience too limited. This
applies particularly for role plays which were originally created for
native English speakers.
2 When preparing a role play or simulation, particularly if it has been
created specially, take plenty of time to discuss it with the participants
in detail: what they want to say, how they plan to back up their argu­
ments, what they will propose and so on. Gaps in the facts may then
become apparent and can either be filled, with the full knowledge of
everyone, or can be disregarded as unimportant to the situation. Role
plays which are used again and again can be modified in the light of
experience.
3 It is vital to set a time limit for the action stage of the role play or
simulation, and make sure that participants are kept aware of the time.
This should discourage time-wasting. However, extra time could be
allowed if it is necessary for a discussion to reach a successful conclusion.
4 It is very useful to take a break during longer role plays in order to
discuss how things are going and to remind participants of language
or behavioural objectives (interim feedback). The break could be
decided in advance, and may occur naturally. (For example, in a nego­
tiation role play it is normal for teams to break after demands have
been made so as to discuss how they will respond to them.) If there
is no obvious occasion to take a break, the trainer may decide to
interrupt if things are not running smoothly.56
5 In the case of meetings and negotiations, it is a good idea if, before the
start, the participants are told that they must try to reach agreement.
They could be reminded that a role play or simulation tries to imitate
real life and that co-operation is nowadays seen as a more effective
business strategy than aggression. If participants behave aggressively in
the role play, this should be pointed out during interim feedback.
6 The choice of a chairperson is vital to the success of a simulated meet­
ing. The chairperson should be someone with a good command of
language and a strong enough personality to be able to take control.
He or she should also be a good listener and have good clarifying and
summarizing skills. If no such person can be found in the group, the
trainer might consider taking the role of the chair. The chairperson (if
it is a learner) should be carefully briefed on his or her role and helped
to prepare an agenda or structure for the meeting. The chairperson is
 responsible for keeping the meeting to its time limit, for bringing the
group to a decision, and for opening and closing the meeting.
7 The chair should also control the dominant speakers and should
encourage the quiet participants to contribute. If he or she does not
do so, this must be pointed out during the interim feedback.
8 Before starting the role play, it is useful to remind participants that
effective participation in meetings involves developing good listening
skills. This principle can be reinforced during discussion practice: at
some point in the middle of a discussion, stop the activity and ask
individual learners: ‘What was X’s point of view?’ ‘Who else agreed?’
‘Who put forward the point of view that . . .?’ ‘What arguments did
they have?5 Once learners get used to the idea that they will be asked
these questions, they will start listening to each other more carefully.
9 It is always difficult to deal with problems that arise when one (or
more) participants has poor pronunciation and cannot be understood
by the others. Encouraging groups to be supportive and co-operative
helps, but may not solve the problem completely. Make sure that the
learners have plenty of practice in the use of language for clarification.
10 Dealing with different cultural attitudes to meetings can also be a
thorny problem which of course mirrors real life. A good approach is
to bring the problems out in the open and discuss them. Ask each of
the learners to say what they think makes a successful meeting, and
what they think good meetings behaviour should consist of. Put the
main points on the board and then look at any differences. See if the
group can accept these or find compromises.

G iving feedback
In te rim feedback
Phis should focus on the success of the role play or simulation as a whole
rather than on the performance of individuals. However, as mentioned
above, it may be necessary to remind the chairperson of his or her role. A
good strategy is to ask the participants to give their evaluation of the
meeting so far. If there are problems that they do not mention, the trainer
can add comments; on the other hand, if the learners are over-critical of
themselves, the trainer can be reassuring. In general, the comments the
trainer makes will focus on interaction within the group. The trainer
might ask one or more participants to summarize what has been said so
far. This is useful to check if the points made were well understood by the
others. If there was a misunderstanding, could this have been clarified?
Where there has been disagreement, what was the reaction of the other
participants? If some people expressed their opinions too strongly, how
did the others feel? Feedback at this stage should not deal with the
language mistakes which were made, unless these gave rise to a misunder­
standing. Key words (or numbers) which were expressed wrongly and
which have implications for the ensuing discussion should be corrected,
however. The interim feedback session should take about five minutes.

Feedback after the role play has ended

A different approach to feedback can be taken if the trainer has access to a
video camera to record events. An audio cassette player can also be used
but is less effective in a group situation in longer role plays (it is difficult
to identify the speakers and less interesting to play back). If there is no
possibility of recording the activity, the trainer must observe and take
notes carefully.
The procedure below can be used when a recording has been made.
1 Immediately after the role play ends, hold a second feedback session
similar to the interim feedback session. This will have the same orienta­
tion as the interim feedback and will follow up on points raised in the
interim feedback (was there any improvement?). There should be
plenty of positive points to make at this stage. Appraisal should relate
to the learner’s expected performance level, not with a hypothetical
native speaker playing the same role. Major language problems can be
dealt with here, but not in too much detail. This feedback session will
probably take about five minutes.
2 Video or audio review could provide useful material for several sub­
sequent sessions. Use of the video should be carefully prepared: it is
tedious for the participants to sit through a re-play of the whole role
play unless it is less than 10 minutes.

Although it is time-consuming, the trainer should, if possible, view the

video alone and select (by counter numbers) the parts of the role play
that are most interesting to play again. Extracts can be selected because
a participant has used language or behaviour successfully, or because
language was not used appropriately, or because an opportunity to use
certain language was missed. This helps to reinforce learning. Similarly,
extracts can be selected because they illustrate effective use of beha­
viours (checking, clarifying, summarizing) or lack of these behaviours.
If someone has failed to convey information accurately, or has not
understood accurately, this may also provide a point for discussion, and
the trainer can suggest how communication could be improved. Small
language mistakes which are due to slips and which did not affect
communication should not be dwelt upon. It is unrealistic to expect
 learners to speak with 100 per cent accuracy during a role play: there
will probably be an even higher rate of errors than normal, because
the learners will have concentrated on communicating rather than on
language accuracy. Errors which are due to a lack of knowledge could
be taken up and explained if appropriate at this stage of the course.
Vocabulary could be introduced where a word has been misused.
Overall appraisal should focus on how well the learners communicated
and how well they interacted with each other: these are the goals of
every role play and simulation.
Below are extracts from a simulation that was carried out by two different
groups. On each occasion, the simulation was set up in a different way. It
is interesting to compare the language used and the overall effectiveness of
the activity in each version. The situation on which the simulation is
based is as follows:
A small hi-tech company runs into financial difficulties and decides
that they will have to move out of London to reduce their costs on
rent. A committee meets to discuss the benefits of two alternative loca­
tions: Bristol (100 miles or 160 kilometres west of London) or
Livingstone (a new town near Edinburgh).
The participants have prepared and exchanged information about the two
locations and have now reached the decision-making phase of the meet­
ing, which lasted 30 minutes altogether.

Group 1
The group which participated in the first example consisted of six people:
two Germans, three Spanish, and a Finn.
The two learners who were given the role of supporting Bristol are shown
in the script as B l and B2; those supporting Livingstone are shown as LI
and L2. A fifth participant is neutral (N), as is the chairperson (Ch).
Points raised in the discussion touch on the following facts which were
given in the background to the role play:
- The company will have to pay a lump sum to the staff to compensate
them for the move (calculated at a total of £50,000).
- Most of the staff are expert engineers who spend five months or so a
year travelling abroad.
- Houses in Livingstone are about half the price of houses in London.
The extract comes after about 25 minutes of a 40-minute role play.
 Feedback notes
N The problem is we have to
move—the company has to move.
Who wants to stay in the
company, he has to move. I agree
that we build up a team—a Wrong tense: should be ‘We
qualified team of engineers. We have built up ’
need these people. It is difficult to
get these people. You can find
them in London, or in certain
areas. But we have to move, and it
doesn’t matter— to Bristol or to
Livingstone.
[Several people try to interrupt here]
B1 The ideal solution for the family is The chair needed to control the
not to move. interruptions .
LI But this is not the ideal solution.
[More interruptions and talking at
once]
Bl Yes! Yes! Because you don’t need B l u ses‘Yes'because he
to pay the £50,000 for the doesnJt know a better way to
compensation for moving. You strengthen his argum ent . He
don’t need to pay the £3,000 for could say: ‘I t is a go od solution
the relocation . . . because
B2 If the families can stay in their
homes where they are now, they
haven’t—when they move to
Bristol—they have not to move to
another house near Bristol, they
can stay near—in London, or
where they are now.
LI So, this is a high cost of transport LI draws a go o d conclusion
for them. here.
B2 There is no costs.
LI If I well understood, you mean LI clarifies the m eaning very
that the people will remain in effectively here.
London and will go everyday to
Bristol to work.
B2 You said before that most of the
people are out of—are abroad,
LI Yes, but this is not—oh . . . I
mean, yes . , ,
B2 So the families have not to move
with the whole household to
another area. They can stay in the
near of London, and only the
company will have to move to
Bristol and er—if—er er the
households will not move, you
have not to pay this lump sum, Grammatical error here: not
only for five or six . . . ‘h ave n ot’ but d o n ’t h a ve’.
LI Could you give me some reasons Good strategy to askfo r
why some families could stay in reasons.
the same place?
Ch Well I think we are now in a large The chairman is not strong
discussion . . . enough in stopping the discus­
Bl [interrupts] We are people that sion. He needs a strong phrase,
work for this company and that is e.g. 4R ight! Let’s summarize the
our feeling. position so far. ’
Ch Jose, I think er . . .
L2 But you are missing one p o in t. . .
Bl Nobody likes moving.
L2 No, I don’t think so. L2 means that he disagrees. It
would be clearer i f he said
4Sorry, but I disagree. ’
Ch But it’s necessary. Yes? The chairman should not
[L2 shrugs, unable to find an answer.] respond with an opinion but
should encourage him to speak
and to say what he means.
Bl It’s necessary to move the B l s way o f arguing is to keep
company but the best solution repeating the same message. He
would be: move the company, and doesn Vgive facts or reasons as
not move people. Don’t move the back-up. Yes’ is not a very
families. Yes! appropriate strengthener.
[Several people start to talk at once. L2
indicates that he wants to speak.
Someone says ‘Ssh!’.]
L2 You are missing one point. I have
here a newspaper reference. People
doesn’t very much agree moving. He means that 'people don V
They understand that company’s m ind m oving.
situation and they are ready to
move.
[More interruptions as others disagree.]
Not all, b u t . . .
LI But they understand the situation.
The other solution is to close the
company.
B1 No, the solution is . . .
B2 The solution is to move to Bristol.
L2 One point. A point. This 'One poin d —not quite
particularly person here—he is English usage, but a useful
going to get £100,000 for his way to com e in.
home and he can buy two same
kind of house in Livingstone.
LI Yes.
L2 Is he going to change his mind?
LI And if I may add something. They This idea needs to be clarified:
will receive an average of £50,000. d id he mean that employees
This is very convenient for them. w ould all receive £50,000 by
So this could be a way to selling their homes or has he
compensate, or . . . misunderstood how muc ’i
B1 I’m not sure about this. I’m not compensation the company
sure if people prefer to get this— intends to pay?
er—£50,000 of compensation and
pay £50,000 for a new house—
er—in the middle of nowhere.
LI Sorry. I disagree completely. This He did n ’t really need to say 7
is not in the middle of nowhere. disagree completely ’ here.
This is the most industrialized area
in—in— in Scotland, so don’t . . .
please be serious!
B1 In my opinion, people prefers not
to move far away.
Ch Do you think it’s possible not to The chairperson should not be
move people, but move the asking this question at this
company? stage o f the discussion. The
B1 Yes! Sure! group has been m oving round
Ch Do you think it’s an alternative to in circles andy at this pointy
they need (under the chair's
B2 Then we can save a lot of this leadership) to start evaluating
lump sum. Most of the people do the advantages and
not move with their households in disadvantages o f the
the area of Bristol and I would alternative proposals. A good
suspect that you could save nearly intervention w ould be: ЮК.
£40,000. Let's see what the effects o f
you r proposal w ould mean fo r
the com pany.'

Overall, we can see a number of the problems mentioned on page 198:

weak chairing; one or two participants unable to make a contribution
while others dominate; the participants not listening to each other, and
not employing good arguing strategies. They need to have these things
pointed out and then to be given the chance to try to improve their per­
formance. Positive points can be made about some of the interventions
and about the attempt of the Livingstone pair to clarify the proposal made
by the Bristol pair.
Group 2
The group which participated in the second example consisted of two
Swedes, a German, a French woman, and a Hungarian. The initials used
to distinguish the speakers in the tapescript (T, F, K, and Z) are the first
name initials of the participants. In this version, participants were not
asked to support either Bristol or Livingstone, but simply to solve the
problem in the best way for the company. In this extract, the chairperson
controls the discussion much more strongly, and validates the points
made by writing them on a flipchart under headings: Advantages for
Bristol/For Livingstone, Disadvantages for Bristol/For Livingstone.

Feedback notes
Ch What other suggestions, ideas, and
topics have we to look at?—Do we
have?
F Yes. I think there is a question
regarding the family—perhaps a
question of quality. The family is . . .
T Schools. Vs contributions are always
F Schools and, er yes, but also short. He caused some
regarding the moving by itself. I confusion with this
think the family should be less interruption.
frustrated to go to Bristol rather
than Livingstone. It’s er also the
same reason: it’s near London so
they are not completely less all the 'not completely w ithout'
things they are, did, before. They
can go back to London at the
weekend and see friends or family
o r. . .
Ch So I put it on this side.
К I agree with you. That’s a big favour \a big advantage'
for Bristol. It isn’t good to move so
far away from relatives and so on.
As I can see—er—many people,
many employers are not at home so She m eant 'employees'
very much so it’s a bigger problem
for the family who stays at home to
have some sort of security in the
relatives.
Z Just a moment. Er, the objective is
to move to find a cheaper location
and there is no big difference
between Bristol and Livingstone—
in annual, er,— two thousand or Z becomes confused with the
less. One hundred and five figures and fails to explain his
hundred—one thousand five poin t completely .
hundred pounds per year.
Ch Which number are you looking for? ‘Which figu re are you looking
Z Annual rent and rates. atV
Ch Yes, this is for Bristol nineteen
thousand seven hundred and . . .
Z Seven hundred, yes you told. And if Again, he does not complete his
I take the percentages, only in the argument.
annual salary—but I suppose there
is another cost.
T The travel costs will be higher.
Z Yes, and this—this is only over five He probably meant ‘o nly
per cent in the salary. This is not a about fiv e p er cent difference
big difference. If we want to have— in salary
. if we want to reduce the cost, from
 the cost point of view I say that
Bristol and Livingstone are the
same.
Ch You mean—er—did I understand The chair works hard to g et at
right when I say, when I try to say the m eaning
in my own words that costs which
are obvious, which we have on the
paper here are nearly roughly the This was Vs point. Z wanted
same, but that we have to focus on to refer to the problem fo r the
trip costs—costs for trips? families.
Z Trip costs and some er—some He wanted to say it was a
subjective er—can I say subjective personal question rather than
er for example . . . an econom ic one.
Ch Topics?
Z For family. Yes, yes, yes.
Ch So, I should put down on the paper:
Bristol for the trip costs is better
probably?
Z Sure.
Ch OK.

At the end of this simulation, the group was asked if they felt it had been
successful, and if so, why? Everyone reported that they felt it had been
successful because they had all had a chance to make a contribution and
to have their views considered; they had reached a decision easily and
without anyone feeling frustrated or isolated. The meeting had been
handled efficiently and well by the chairperson and all the participants
were satisfied with their performance.
Course design: putting it all together
Being able to select materials and decide on appropriate tasks and activ­
ities are skills that all teachers need to develop from the very start of their
career. To acquire the art of drawing up a course plan—i.e. to achieve a
good balance of activities as well as maintain a steady progression in the
build-up of knowledge and skills—is a less obvious need. There are, how­
ever, many teaching situations that demand it.
If teachers follow a coursebook, or course materials already prepared by
their school or institution, then much of the work of course planning will
have been done for them. However, they will still need to think about
what supplementary materials to bring in and when.
There are, on the other hand, many kinds of Business English courses
which a general business coursebook cannot cover—for example, short
intensive courses and highly-specific courses for individuals or homoge­
neous groups. In the case of intensive courses, a coursebook does not
work because of the way in which the momentum is built up and main­
tained. Most coursebooks contain too much material and progress too
slowly. The emphasis has to be on diagnosing needs and finding a short
route to practical solutions with frequent opportunities to try out language
and develop good communication strategies. In the case of very specific
courses, there is unlikely to be a coursebook which will meet all the needs
of the learner(s) in terms of language areas treated in an appropriate
context and appropriate skills development at the right level of difficulty.
The methodology we have most strongly advocated in this book may have
tended to stress the need for flexibility and awareness of the learner’s
requirements. W hy then is course design important?
Particularly on group courses, the trainer needs to have an overall picture
of what the course is about and where it is going. The long-term
objectives of the learners have to be kept in mind so as to avoid time-
consuming distractions and red herrings. This is important for the trainer
from the point of view of managing what goes on in any lesson, and also
from the point of view of the learners, who need to see why they are doing
the tasks they are set, and what they are going to achieve at each stage of
the course. A course plan is vital for maintaining motivation, especially on
longer-term extensive courses.
The learners also need to have a variety of different kinds of activities so
that their interest is maintained; and this means varying the pace as well as
the focus of training and the method of practising. A good course plan
should prepare for this need.
The fact that a course has been tightly planned does not imply that the
trainer can no longer react flexibly to the learners’ needs. It is much bettor
to make a decision to diverge from a clear path and then return to it again
than it is to wander around without a particular direction.
In order to plan a course, the trainer needs to do the following:
1 Write down three or four main performance objectives (see Chapter 5).
2 List the main language areas that need to be covered in order to achieve
each of those objectives (grammatical, functional, lexical).
3 Decide in what sequence these language areas can best be dealt with—
allowing for progression from easy to difficult and for a certain amount
of recycling of language points.
4 Decide approximately how much time needs to be spent on each,
according to how easy or difficult a particular area is, and how
important it is (the time allowed can be adjusted later if necessary).
5 Decide how these areas can best be practised in order to develop the
skills defined in the performance objectives.
6 Decide how to balance the time needed for introducing new language
as against time for practising both new and known language—the need
for practice and feedback time can rarely be over-estimated.
The following outlines give some ideas for approaching the task of course
design for a group of learners.

An intensive gen era l Business English course p la n

Sta rt o f course

Do th e gro u p m em b ers k now ea ch o th er?

Yes
The learners could introduce each other to the trainer.
No
Start with brief introductions.
Learners could interview each other in pairs and afterwards report back to
the group.
Could use a Tun' group activity where learners have to interact with each
other in English. This breaks down barriers, encourages co-operation, and
focuses on interactive skills. It also helps the trainer to identify the train­
ing gap.
N ext one o r two sessions
Use these to review basic language areas. Choose language that will be
useful later in the course, for example, numbers, spelling, describing the
job, describing the company, asking questions, exchanging information,
and clarifying information. These early sessions should not put learners
under too much stress, but should help to build confidence in speaking
and listening.
Is th e cou rse h eld in an E nglish-speak ing co u n try?
Yes
If necessary, provide input and practice in survival English: the money,
where to find banks, etc., opening and closing times, polite requests.
No
Could include a session on social English: language for meeting people
from other countries, with (at a higher level) discussion of cross-cultural
aspects.

Th e middle days
It is good to have a ‘shape5to the day. Below are two examples of plans for
the middle days of intensive courses:
Example 1 (low to intermediate)
Language review
Review direct question forms
New language input
Listening/ reading
Introduce indirect questions (polite forms)
Introduce telephone language: listening to model, identifying language
Short practice activities
Pairwork practice: telephone language
(l u n c h )

Output activities
Role-play, simulation, presentations, projects, games, writing, etc.
Telephone role-plays: asking for information on the phone.
or
Extensive listening
Video or guest speaker
Follow-up
Discussion
Final session
Something completely different, e.g. social English, game, or discussion.
Example 2 (intermediate to advanced)
Language review
Discussion language using a short activity, conditionals
New language input
Introduce language for forecasting (expressing possibility, probability):
listening to model
Short practice activities
Practise conditionals
Extensive listening
Video: documentary looking at the future
Follow-up
Discussion
Output activities
Problem-solving activity: evaluating different courses of action (‘What
might happen if we do this?’).

End o f course
It would be appropriate to have a general review of language covered dur­
ing the course, or even a test.
There could also be a ‘grand finale’ activity: for example, presentations, or
a simulation of a meeting or a negotiation, or a role play with feedback.
Another possibility would be a ‘fun’ activity, such as a game, a debate, or a
discussion, plus advice from the trainer on how the learners can maintain
or improve their language skills after the end of the course.
Finally, collect feedback from the participants about the course.

An extensive gen era l Business English course p lan

The same approach can be used to start and finish the course as on an
intensive course, although the length of time given to the activities may be
different.
As with intensive courses, a general shape or pattern for each session is
useful. Below is an example of a lesson plan, based on a 60-minute ses­
sion.
Start
Short, lively activity to get participants to relax and start thinking in
English (5 minutes).
Review language from previous session(s) (5—10 minutes). This is import­
ant to show that sessions are linked and progressive.
M iddle
Introduce new language: listening/reading (20 minutes)
Practice exercises (10 minutes)
F inish
Transfer activity: short role-play/discussion or game (15-20 minutes)
These activities should recycle language from previous sessions as well as
practising language introduced in the present one. There should thus be a
build-up of strands of language which continually recombine and inter­
lace.
Some sessions may be completely different from the pattern, however. For
example, they may be entirely taken up by role-play, a video, project
work, or presentations. This helps to create variety.

Specific Business English course plan s

Example l
A three-day course for a group of six, all working in the marketing depart­
ment of a pharmaceuticals company and mainly needing presentation
skills.
Day 1
Introduction to the course
Discussion activity: spending on advertising
Language review: tenses; handling numerical data
Video: example of a presentation
Input on presentation language and organization
Reading and language review based on the company report
Day 2
Describing trends: listening activity and language study
Giving reasons and causes
Short presentations by the participants presenting a chart or graph
Input on forecasting and predicting
Discussion activity: future trends in pharmaceutical marketing
Day 3
Long presentations by the participants: job-related topics
Feedback and analysis of presentations
Language review
Summary of course
Example 2
A five-day course for an in-company group comprising finance an
accounting staff with needs for reading (memos and instructions), louc
writing, telephoning, and some social skills for receiving visitors.
Monday
Greetings and introductions
Asking questions and clarifying information
Telephoning: getting through to the person you want
Video: Data Insecurity episode 1
Talking about accounts: the income statement and balance sheet
Letter writing

Tuesday
Talking about cost, amount, and quantity
Describing your company
Telephoning: taking messages
Video: Data Insecurity episode 2
Writing skills: linking sentences and organizing information
Social English: conversation

Wednesday
Language of reporting: comparing and contrasting
Giving instructions
Telephone simulation: giving instructions
Video: Data Insecurity episode 3
Foreign banks and international payments
Discussion language

Thursday
The language of reporting: changes and trends
Giving instructions in writing
Reading and information exchange task
Video: Data Insecurity episode 4
Social English: entertaining a visitor

Friday
Language review
Reading and information exchange task
Video: Data Insecurity final episode
Role play: receiving visitors
Outstanding questions and summary of course
 CURRENT TRENDS IN
BUSINESS ENGLISH

This final chapter considers some of the current trends and concerns in
teaching English to business and professional people. It is important to
stress again a point made at the beginning of this book—namely that we
have used the term ‘Business English' to cover the English that is taught
to a wide range of professional people, and people still in full-time educa­
tion preparing for a business career. Within this range we find people with
commercial jobs, research jobs, and very technical jobs—for example, in
refineries or the computer field—as well as people working at manage­
ment level. The issues referred to below must be seen in relation to people
in all these areas, and in other professional (non-business) areas.

Language training v. skills training

One of the questions which is often debated among Business English
teachers is: are we teaching language or skills? As we have seen, Business
English courses often focus on such areas as meetings, presentations, and
negotiations: areas which are also addressed in management skills training
(usually in the mother tongue), where behavioural strategies and tech­
niques play an important role. Many teachers feel that they do not have
the expertise and should not be concerned with matters beyond teaching
the language; whilst others have been keen to move into new fields and
develop themselves professionally.
Our own opinion is that there are certain aspects of skills training which
are better addressed in the first language and which can be taught without
attention to the language being used. Equally, there are aspects of meet­
ings, negotiations, and presentations where it is difficult or indeed
impossible to focus on language without some consideration of the skills
involved. Table 14.1 (overleaf) highlights the interrelationship between
skills and language.
Table 14,1: Skills training v. language training
Skills training Language training
P resen tation s Use of visual aids Referring to visual aids
The content matter of the Organizing the content of the
introduction introduction
The content matter of the Organizing the content of the
body body, including signals and
link words
The content matter of the Organizing the content of the
conclusion conclusion
Rhetorical skills: putting Handling rhetorical skills in
forward views the second language
Balancing arguments
Style Choosing language for the style
Tactical questioning and Using appropriate forms in the
tactical handling of questions second language to achieve
tactical ends
Body language

M eetin gs Relationship building Using appropriate forms of the

second language to be polite,
avoid offence, and create the
right climate
Chairing skills Using the second language
clearly and appropriately to
control the meeting
Rhetorical skills: putting Using the second language
forward views, balancing clearly and appropriately to
arguments, introducing ideas, participate in the meeting
drawing conclusions
Listening skills Developing listening skills in
English
Participating and co-operative Using the second language for
skills interaction, support,
questioning. Using the second
language to restate,
reformulate, summarize.
Body language
Tactical moves
 Skills training Language training
N egotiations (In addition to the above) (In addition to the above)
Relationship building, Using appropriate forms of the
including cross-cultural second language to build a
considerations relationship effectively
Establishing the ground: Using appropriate forms of the
agreeing objectives, agreeing second language to achieve
procedure tactical ends
Establishing options
Bidding and offering Developing sufficiently good
command of the second
language to interact with clarity
and precision
Bargaining and stating
conditions
Formal summarizing and
concluding
Establishing agreement

The implication is that while the language trainer need not feel that he or
she is teaching skills, attention has to be paid to the way the learner uses
language in order to achieve particular ends. This will include attention to
structure (if thought necessary), to projection and authority, to clarity,
and to appropriacy. In so doing, the language trainer does not have to

/ think wte need to do a.

approach a course from the point of view of setting out the stages of a
negotiation and developing the participants’ skill at negotiating by getting
them to become manipulators of these stages. But the language trainer
does have to know what these stages are, otherwise there will be no focus
in the language training, and the learners may be unable to relate what
they have learned to the real situations in which they should apply it. If in
relating the teaching of English to the skills of negotiation the teaching of
English is improved, then it can be argued that the language trainer is also
a negotiations trainer—but always first a language trainer.

The influence o f management training

A major trend in EFL generally is a growing awareness of the importance
of teacher development. Part of this development involves finding out
how learners learn. There is now much more cross-reading between
disciplines and the value of studying behaviour theory and the psychology
of learning is more appreciated among language teachers. Books such as
Honey and Mumford’s M anual o f Learning Styles, written about learning
and teaching styles, have attracted the attention of many EFL trainers.
In the field of business skills and management training, considerable
research has been carried out into how people learn most effectively.
There has been a move towards experiential learning, for example, where
learners develop awareness of new concepts through active participation in
tasks.
A number of business games and simulations which have been created as a
vehicle for experiential learning of management skills are now being used
in some Business English courses for language training. They are attractive
to Business English teachers because they are well-designed, easy to use
and offer interesting task material.
It is likely that this trend will continue and that, as management and busi­
ness skills training develops, Business English teachers will borrow ideas,
techniques and materials and incorporate them in their courses.

Methodologies
The Business English, or Professional English, environment is far-ranging
and eclectic. As trainers operate in many different countries and cultural
backgrounds, and have themselves many different views on teaching, it is
not surprising that one can find just about every kind of methodology in
the field of teaching Business English.
There is no one ‘best’ methodology—any teaching situation is an inter­
action between the learner, the trainer (or teacher or facilitator), and the
activity itself. There are certain countries and certain groups in those
countries where one particular approach may work well. Equally, with
another group in that country, or with a group from another background,
it may not work so well, or may work badly.
The question is not ‘Is Suggestopedia a good methodology?’, or ‘Is it right
to give grammar rules?’. The question is ‘What is right for this group, or
this individual?’. There may be several good choices, but there may be
only one choice which is right for the particular mix of learner, trainer,
and any other factors that may be important.
As a general rule, hard-line supporters of particular methodologies as
exclusive tools will not be able to respond to the wider ranges of learning
environments that exist within the field of Business English. Methodo­
logies which put the learner at the centre of the learning process are
likely to be the most effective when working with professional people —
particularly job-experienced learners.

Cross-cultural awareness
Awareness of the importance of one’s own culture in relation to those of
others has become a growing issue in the field of Business English. This
trend mirrors awareness in the business field of different management
styles, and different attitudes and expectations as a result of varying cul­
tural influences. It is not yet clear just how much this will affect develop­
ments in terms of training within the context of Business English. It is
probable, however, that cross-cultural differences as a topic for discussion
will become increasingly common.
From the trainer’s point of view, there are two reasons why an under­
standing of cross-cultural differences could be important. The first is that,
inside the language classroom, differences in culture can affect relation­
ships and interactions. A native-speaker trainer working abroad, or in his
or her own country but teaching mixed nationality groups, is going to
encounter different attitudes and behaviours and must develop ideas
about how to manage these differences sensitively. The second is that the
trainer may want to prepare the learners for communicating internation­
ally, especially where the learners have not travelled much, or have not
met many people from outside their own culture.
In the second case, some trainers may feel tempted to try some of the
case studies, role-plays, and simulations that have been developed specific­
ally for cross-cultural awareness training. We would, however, remain
sceptical about the value of these activities in the language classroom
unless they relate directly to the objectives agreed in advance by the
sponsoring organization and unless the trainers have a lot of knowledge
and experience in this field.
For those who wish to pursue their interests in cross-cultural awareness
further, certain titles are listed in the Appendix.

Growing professionalism
As Business English teaching develops in terms of diversity, richness, and
depth, the demands placed on the teacher are ever increasing. Some
trainers may find a particular niche in which to specialize, while others
may prefer to meet the challenges of teaching a wide variety of learners
from different jobs, cultures, and educational backgrounds. As we hope to
have stressed in this book, the first requirement for any Business English
trainer is to be an expert in language teaching; the second requirement is
to develop awareness of the needs and concerns of businesspeople and to
become flexible enough to respond to those needs. This professional
development is ongoing throughout a trainer's career and there is no
room for complacency at any stage.
We hope that this book will play a part in contributing to trainers'
professionalism whatever field they are working in and whether they
are already experienced or not. Our ultimate aim is to bring a higher
recognition and status to our profession and to see Business English
trainers reaping greater rewards in terms of their own job satisfaction as
well as increasing the value placed on them by companies, educational
establishments, and employers everywhere.
GLOSSARY

course objectives: The goals of a course in English, as indicated by the

needs analysis, and expressed in terms of what the learner should be able to
do. This may include success in an examination or test, or an improved
ability to operate at work in English.
extensive training: A term applied to courses which are carried out over a
period of weeks or months, usually for one to three hours per week on a
regular basis. Contrast intensive training
feedback: The evaluation given by a trainer to a learner at the end of a
task, during a course, or at the end of a course, focusing on the learner’s
strengths and weaknesses in language performance. It can also refer to the
evaluation of training.
gambits: Formulaic expressions used to indicate the purpose of what
someone is about to say. Examples could be ‘I suggest. . .’ or ‘What about
. . .’ to indicate a suggestion.
in-company training: Training courses organized by a company for its
staff at the company’s expense. The training may be carried out on com­
pany premises, or residentially in hotels.
intensive training: A term applied to courses which are carried out during
a short period of time, varying from a single day to a couple of weeks or
more. Training will normally last the whole day. Contrast extensive train-
in g
jo b analysis: The methods used to obtain a detailed description of a
learner’s job (or learners’ jobs) with particular regard to the use of English
in the job.
job-experienced: Learners who have already worked in a certain job for at
least a few months. They are able to define their language needs in terms
of that experience, and to exploit their knowledge and skills in language
learning tasks in the classroom. Contrast pre-experience.
learning style: An individual approach to acquiring skills or information
which can be described or characterized according to well-accepted
norms.
meetings: Formal or informal discussions between two or more people
which are scheduled for a specific time and place. They would normally
be held for the purpose of giving or exchanging information, discussing
ideas, planning, reaching decisions or solving problems.
needs analysis: A method of obtaining a detailed description of a learners
needs (or group of learners’ needs). It will take into account the specific
purposes for which the learner will use the language, the kind of language
to be used, the starting level, and the target level which is to be achieved.
The information could be obtained from a range of different people: com­
pany staff, trainers, and the learners themselves. It will have implications
for the approach to training that will be taken.
negotiating: A well-established system (or set of systems) for achieving
agreement which may be mutually beneficial between parties who have
separate and individual goals.
perform ance objective: One of the goals of training defined in terms of an
improvement in a specific skill such as being able to participate in meet­
ings or to receive visitors to a company.
pre-experience: Learners who have not previously worked in any kind of
job. Generally they will still be undergoing full-time education.
presentation: A pre-planned, prepared, and structured talk which may be
given in formal or informal circumstances to a small or large group of
people. Its objective may be to inform or to persuade.
skills training: Language instruction which specifically addresses the
behaviour of learners in business-oriented skills such as report-writing,
giving presentations, negotiating.
teacher: A person who imparts knowledge or information about a subject
and is primarily concerned with the education and personal development
of the learners in their charge. Contrast trainer.
trainer: A person who enables learners to develop their skills within the
context of their profession. Contrast teacher.
training gap: The difference between the starting level and the level which
the learner needs to reach in order to perform in a job. It is not necessarily
the level which he or she will reach at the end of a course.
transactional: A term used to describe language which has an immediate
and well-defined purpose.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BBC/ELTDU. 1972. English fo r Business)Bellcrest File. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.
Carroll, B. 1982. Testing Communicative Performance. Oxford: Pergamon
Press.
Carroll, B. and P. J. Hall. 1985. Make you r own Language Tests: A
Practical Guide to Writing Language and Performance Tests. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.
Council of Europe. 1992. The Threshold Level 1990. London: HMSO.
English Language Teaching Development Unit. 1975. Stages o f
- Attainment Scale. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Firth, J. 1971. British Banking. London: Cassell.
Greenall, S. 1986. Business Targets. Oxford: Heinemann.
Grice, H. P. 1975. ‘Logic and conversation’ in P. Cole and J. L. Morgan
(eds.): Syntax an d Semantics III, Vol. 3: Speech Acts. New York: Academic
Press, pp. 41-58.
Hollett, V. 1991. Business Objectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Honey, P. and H. Mumford. 1992 (new edition). A M anual o f Learning
Styles. Maidenhead: P. Honey.
Kellor, E. 1979. ‘Gambits: conversational strategy signals’ Journal o f
General Pragmatics 3 :2 1 9 —38.
Knowles, P. and F. Bailey. 1987. Functioning in Business. Harlow:
Longman.
Knowles, P. L., F. Bailey, and R. Jillet. 1991. Functioning in Business
(second edition). Harlow: Longman.
Mole, J. 1990. M ind you r Manners. London: Industrial Society Press.
Nolan, S. and W . Reed. 1992. Business English Teachers* R esource Book
Harlow: Longman.
Pilbeam, A. 1979. ‘The Language Audit'. Language Training 1/2.
Wilberg, P. 1987. One to One. Sussex: Language Teaching Publications.
Wilkins, D. A. 1976. Notional Syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Williams, M. 1988. ‘Language taught for meetings and language used in
meetings: Is there anything in common?' Applied Linguistics 9/1: 445-58.
A P P E N D IX

Suggestions f o r fu rth er readin g

1 Companies and Language Tra in in g

Embleton, D. and S. Hagen. 1992. Languages fo r Business: a Practical
Guide. Sevenoaks: Hodder and Stoughton.
This book deals with language training for companies in the UK, rather
than English for companies in non-English-speaking countries. It is
useful for gaining insights into company needs and perceptions.
Inman, M.E. ‘Corporate Language Strategies for Global Markets’.
Language Training 10/4.
Pilbeam, A. 1991. ‘Corporate Language Training in the 1990s’.
Language Training 12/1.
Rasanen, A. ‘Matching individual and corporate needs’. Language
Training 12/2.
These articles provide a good overview of company needs and how
training organizations can react to them.

2 En g lish fo r Specific Purposes

Hutchinson, T. and A. Waters. 1987. English fo r Specific Purposes—A
Learning-centred Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Robinson, P. 1990. ESP Today. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice-Hall.
These books provide a good account of approaches and strategies foi
ESP teaching, although they refer mainly to teaching pre-experiend
learners in colleges and universities, and not much is specific tl
Business English.
3 Syllabus and course design
Nunan, D. 1988. Syllabus Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Yalden, J. 1987. Principles o f Course Design fo r Language Teaching
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
This book gives a good account of how to set about analysing and idem
tifying the language to be taught. Although it does not refer specifically
to Business English, the approach advocated will be effective for
Business English learners.

4 U sin g computers and videos fo r language teaching

Jones, C. and S. Fortescue. 1987. Using computers in the language class­
room. Harlow: Longman.
This book gives more information on using computers for language
teaching and makes many helpful suggestions on finding and creating
materials.
Lonergan, J. 1984. Video in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
This book gives information on using video for language teaching with
helpful ideas for how to exploit different kinds of video material.
Stempleski, S. and B. Tomalin. Video in Action. Hemel Hempstead:
Prentice Hall.

5 Dictionaries
Adam, J. H. 1985. Longman Concise Dictionary o f Business English.
Harlow: Longman.
This provides useful definitions for most of the terms commonly used
in the world of business and economics.
Bannock, G., R. E. Baxter, and R. Rees. 1985. The Penguin Dictionary
o f Economics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
This book is aimed at native speakers and provides definitions for terms
and concepts relating to economic theory.
International Chamber of Commerce. 1985. Key Words in
International Trade. Netherlands: Van Boekhoven Bosch.
Perry, F. E. 1979. A Dictionary o f Banking Plymouth: McDonald and
Evans.
Very clear definitions of banking terms, including wider definitions of
key concepts.
Tuck, A. (ed.) 1993. Oxford Dictionary o f Business English fo r Learners
o f English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
An up-to-date dictionary aimed at language learners, which provides
useful definitions, plus tips on usage and pronunciation.

Business En g lish reference books

Brieger, N. and J. Comfort. 1992. Language Reference fo r Business
English. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice-Hall.
Strutt, P. 1992. Longman Business English Usage. Harlow: Longman.

Books on cross-cultural awareness

Adler, N. 1986. International Dimensions o f Organisational Behaviour.
Boston: Kent.
Damen, L. 1987. Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension in the
Language Classroom. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.
Holland, D. and N. Quinn. 1987. Cultural Models in Language and
Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Harris, P.R. and R. T. Moran. 1987. M anaging Cultural Differences.
Houston: Gulf Publishing.

Journals
Language and Intercultural Training (formerly called Language Training).
Language Training Services, Bath.
This journal focuses specifically on language training for companies.
Subscription address: LTS, 5 Belvedere, Lansdown Road, Bath, Avon
BA1 5ED, UK.
English fo r Specific Purposes. New York: The American University.
This encompasses a broader spectrum of specific language training.
Editorial offices: ELI, University of Michigan, 2001 N. University
Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Business textbooks
Black, R. 1987. Getting Things Done. London: Michael Joseph.
Chapman, E. N. 1980. Im proving Relations at Work. London: Kogan
Page.
Drucker, P. 1990. The New Realities. London: Mandarin.
Examines political and economic issues over the coming years, and
their implications for business and society.
 Handy, C. 1992. Understanding Organizations. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
An examination of organisational structure and culture, and the role of
people in organisations, with some interesting extracts from other
research.
Harris, T. A. 1973. Vm O K - You re OK. London: Pan.
Harvey-Jones, J. 1988. Making it Happen. London: Fontana.
The sections on the roles of the chairperson and the board are espe­
cially useful.
Mulligan, J. 1988. The Personal M anagement Handbook. London:
Warner.
Peters, T. J. and R. H. Waterman. 1983. In Search o f Excellence:
Lessons from America's Best-run Companies. London: Harper and Row.
An examination of key factors leading to success in a selection of
American companies.
Winston, S. 1989. Organised Executive: New Ways to M anage Time,
Paper and People. London: Kogan Page.

Suggestions f o r fu rth er view in g

1 Videos designed fo r Business En g lish learners

Oxford University Press

Business Assignments
M eeting Objectives
Longman
Visitron: Presentations
Visitron: Negotiations
Cambridge University Press
International Business English Video
BBC
The Bellcrest File (with Oxford University Press)
Bid fo r Power
The Sadrina Project
The Carsat Crisis
Starting Business English
York Associates The York Training Packs:
Effective Presentations
Effective Meetings
2 Videos designed fo r management tra in in g and adapted fo r
language training:

LTS/Melrose
Systems One
The Project
(Available from LTS—see address above under Journals.)
LTS/TV Choice
The Corporation
Data Insecurity

3 Authentic video sources

M a n a gem en t tra in in g film s

Melrose Film Productions Ltd.
16 Bromells Road, London, SW4 OB4, UK
Video Arts
205 Wardour Street, London, W1
TV Choice Video Productions
27 Swinton Street, London, WC1X 9NW, UK
BBC Training Videos
Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London, W12 OTT, UK
Give and Take (getting the most from your meetings)
Speak fo r Yourself
The Troubleshooter Series

E ducational film s
Thames TV
Seymour Mews House, Seymour Mews, Wigmore Street, London,
W 1H9PE, UK
The Square M ile
The Stock Exchange
Information and Press Department, London, EC2N 21HPy UK
My Word is my Bond
The Stock Exchange an d You
The Unlisted Securities Market
The Gilt-Edged Market
Traded Options
Banking Information Service
10 Lombard Street, London, EC3V 9AT, UK
4 Te le visio n and radio

B B C W orld S ervice radio

For frequencies and times of English-language broadcasts, consult:
BBC Worldwide, P.O. Box 765, Bush House, The Strand, London
WC2B 4PH, UK
BBC W orld S ervice television
Broadcasts hourly news as well as current affairs and documentary series
including business topics.
For details of how to receive World Service Television in your country,
and for programme schedules, contact:
BBC World Service Television Ltd., Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London
W12 OTT, UK.
Details of schedules are also published in many local newspapers.
Europe, M iddle East, South East Asia, and Indian sub-continent
General enquiries: Tel: (+44) (0)81 576 2719 Fax: (+44) (0)81 576 2782
Scheduling enquiries: Tel: (+44) (0)81 576 2751
Asia and Africa
General enquiries: Tel: (+44) (0)81 576 2248/2102 Fax: (+44) (0)81 743
9256
Scheduling enquiries: Tel: (+44) (0)81 576 2751 Fax: (+44) (0)81 743
9931

Business English examinations

Spoken English fo r Industry and Commerce (SEFIC), English fo r Business,
English fo r Commerce
London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Languages Section,
Marlowe House, Station Road, Sidcup, Kent DAI5 7BJ, UK
SEFIC is an oral exam only, although it can be taken in conjunction with
the English for Business written exam. SEFIC can be taken at four levels:
Preliminary, Threshold, Intermediate, and Advanced, which are defined
in general performance terms.
Oxford International Business English Certificate (OIBEC)
University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations, Ewert House,
Ewert Place, Summertown, Oxford, OX2 7BZ, UK
This is a totally task-based exam aimed at executives (or professionals at
executive level) who need English for a wide variety of business situations.
It can be taken at two levels (First level and Executive level). It covers
speaking, reading, writing, and listening.
Test o f English fo r International Comynunication (TOEIC)
Educational Testing Service, PO Box 6155, Princeton, NJ 08541-6155,
USA
This is a multiple-choice test that includes a listening, a reading, and a
sentence-completion section.
Carroll, B. The Business English Test
Language Training Services (for address see LTS under Journals)
This test was designed for company use and the listening and reading sec­
tions can be set and scored by non-natives with no language teaching
background. There is also a writing test and guidelines for assessing oral
performance. Scoring provides an assessment on a five-point scale.
Certificate in English fo r International Business and Trade
UCLES/RSA, RSA Exam Board:
1 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB1 2EU, UK

P erform an ce scales
Useful scales for measuring the attainment and performance of Business
English learners are available from:
British Council, IELTS Unit, English Language Division, Medlock
Street, Manchester M l5 4AA, UK.
LTS Training and Consulting 5 Belvedere, Lansdown Road, Bath BA1
5ED, UK.

P rofessional associations
LATEFL (International Association for Teachers of English as a Foreign
Language).
Within IATEFL, you can join the Business English Special Interest
Group (BESIG).
Apply to: IATEFL, Kingsdown Chambers, Whitstable Kent CT5 1DJ,
UK.
TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)
1600 Cameron Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314-2751, USA.
A worldwide teachers’ organization based in the USA with branches fail
many countries. Useful for networking.
Business skills train in g m aterials: sources
Melrose
(see address under videos)
Gower-Northgate Training
Gower Publishing Company Ltd., Gower House, Croft Road, Aldershot,
Hants. GY11 3HR, UK
Union Bank of Switzerland
PO Box, CH-0121, Zurich.
A useful source of banking-related information.
IN D E X

Entries relate to the Introduction, Chapters 1 to 14, the glossary, and the appendices. References to
the glossary are indicated by ‘g’ after the page number.

ABF, Sweden 21 tuition 21

accounting staff, training needs 6 6 -7 British Council,
activities, performance scales 45, 231
management in classroom 187-214 sponsored centres 22
using authentic materials 157-85 brochures (company),
adult learning centres 21 authentic materials 168
Advanced Diplomas (CITS) 28 language analysis 104
advertisements, authentic materials 165 business correspondence,
AFPA, France 15, 21 authentic materials 184
American-sponsored centres 22 performance area 99-100
analysing frameworks 134-5 business coursebook packages 117-20
analysis see job analysis; language analysis Business English, definitions and varieties 3 -1 3
annual reports, authentic materials 159, 166 Business English Special Interest Group
apprentices, as learners 16 (BESIG) 3, 231
aptitude, job-experienced learners 18 Business English Teacher's R esource Book (Nolan
assessment 46—53 and Reed) 151
attractiveness of published materials 128-9 Business English Test (Carroll) 231
audio materials, authentic materials 162, Business O bjectives (Hollett) 5, 120
169-72 business simulation games 124
audio review, of role plays 201-2 business skills 3 6 -7
authentic materials 157-85 training materials 122-4, 232
authentic video sources 229 Business Targets (Greenall) 118

BBC, Cambridge First Certificate of Proficiency 47

training videos 229 Cambridge Integrated TEFL Scheme (CITS) 28
World Service 159, 230 Carl Duisberg Centres, Germany 21
behavioural skills 5 Carroll, B. 231
B ellcrest File, The (BBC/OUP) 4 and P. Hall 54
BESIG (Business English Special Interest cassette courses 122
Group) 3, 231 cause and effect, frameworks 140-1
B id fo r P ow er (BBC) 118 CBS news 159
books, Certificate in English for International Business
authentic materials 158, 164 and Trade 47, 231
published materials 117-21 chairing meetings 90-1
British Banking (Firth) 3 - 4 Chambers of Commerce, Italy and France,
British Chambers of Commerce, France and Italy, tests 47
tests 47 tuition 21
change, frameworks 140 diagnosis, through framework materials 132
CITS (Cambridge Integrated TEFL Scheme) 28 Diploma in Teaching English for Business 28
clarifying, in meetings 92 discussions,
clear communication 9 frameworks 146-50
clerical workers, as learners 62 language analysis 107-8
closed group courses 75 performance area 9 0 -4
colleges 21 documentaries, authentic materials 170-1
Commercial Colleges and Schools 15, 21
communicative approach 37 educational institutions 21
company materials, ELTDU (English Language Teaching
authentic materials 159-61, 166-9, 171 Development Unit), Stages of Attainment
language analysis 103-6 Scale 4 4 ,4 5 ,4 6 ,4 7
company-specific materials 159-61 emphasizing, in information-giving 97-8
company videos, authentic materials 159-60, English clubs 23
171 English f o r Business (BBC/OUP) 4
comprehension of presentations, improvement English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 3
178-83 English Language Teaching Development Unit
computer-assisted language learning 122 see ELTDU
consultants 22 English-speaking country learning 23, 24
consulting groups 22 English Speaking Union (ESU) scale 45, 46
content, error correction 191
of courses 89-111 ESP (English for Specific Purposes) 3
of messages 95 ESU (English Speaking Union) scale 45, 46
contracts (company), authentic materials 160, European Business schools 15
166 evaluation, of published materials 125-9
contrast frameworks 136-9 examinations, published 47, 230-1
controlling meetings 90-1 extensive training 212-13, 22 lg
Conversational English 102 extrinsic motivation 80
conversation framework 153-6
co-operating in meetings 9 2 -4 fax, use in telephone role play 172-3
‘co-operative principles’ 92 feedback 221 g
correspondence, in meetings 92
authentic materials 160, 167 in one-to-one and group teaching 190, 191
business 99-100 on peformance 39
coursebook packages 117-20 in role plays and simulations 200-8
course content 89-111 finance departments, training needs 6 6 -8
course design 191-3, 209-14 financial control staff, training needs 6 7 -8
course objectives 38, 82, 221 g Firth, J. 3
course plans, formulaic language 4
extensive general Business English 212-13 in social contacts 8, 101-2, 110-11
intensive general Business English 210-12 framework materials 131 -5 6
specific Business English 213-14 Franco-British Chamber of Commerce see
courses, for trainers 28-31 Chambers of Commerce
credibility, of published materials 127 functional areas 4
cross-cultural awareness 18-19, 21 9 -2 0 F unctioning in Business (Knowles and Bailey)
cultural differences 18-19, 219-20 4
curiosity, trainer’s 27 fu n ctio n in g in Business (Knowles, Bailey and
current trends 215-20 Jillett) 119
customer-supplier simulation, framework 150-1
gambits 4, 110-11, 221g
departments (company), training needs 62-70 General English, differences from Business
Department of Trade and Industry, public English 10-13
information videos 171 giving information 9 5 -8
design of courses 191-3, 209-14 G oing International 123
 Index 235

Greenall, S. 118 technical staff 61

Grice, H.P. 92 job-specific materials 121
Grone Schule, Germany 21 journals, authentic materials 159, 164
group dynamics 37-8 junior company members, as learners 16
group training, v. one-to-one training 187—91 junior managers, as learners 59

Hollett, V. 5, 120 Kellor corpus 4

home country learning 23, 24 knowledge, trainer’s 31-3
Honey, P. and H. Mumford 218 Knowles, P.L. and F. Bailey 4
hours of tuition 34 and R. Jillett 119
human resources department, training needs K ursverksam heten 2 1
6 5 -6

IATEFL (International Association for Teachers language analysis 102-10

language schools 22
of English as a Foreign Language) 3, 30,
language training, v. skills training 215-18
231
LCCI (London Chamber of Commerce and
images, authentic materials 164-5
Industry), examinations 28, 47
in-company training 2 2 -3 , 22 lg
learners,
in-context business simulation games 124
benefit from one-to-one and group teaching
individual tuition 75
189
information,
characteristics and needs 5 -7, 15-18
extraction from text 174-5
gathering, about learners’ needs 71 -8 8 examples of work 193—6
individuals and groups 188-93
giving 95-8
information about 71-88
input, v. output 38
involvement in course design 38
instructions (company), authentic materials
job analysis 57-70
161, 168
intensive training 210-12, 213-14, 2 2 lg language analysis of output 106-8
relationships with trainers 188
intention, signalling 9 5 -7
suitable materials 125-9
interacting skills 36
learning purpose, defining 72
International Association for Teachers of
learning situation, information about 72
English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) 3,
learning styles 72, 82, 222g
30, 231
length of tuition 54
interview task sheets 8 4 -8
letters see correspondence
intrinsic motivation 80
letter-writing vocabulary, extension 184-5
listening skills 36
job analysis 57-70, 22 lg
job categories 57-62 development 175-7
live events, on audio and video 162
job-experienced (learners) 2 2 1g
location of learning 23, 24
characteristics and needs 5 -7 , 17-18
London C alling 159
choice of training institution 23
gathering information about 7 3 -9 London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
learning purpose 72 (LCCI) examinations 28, 47
suitable published materials 125-7 London Guildhall University 28
low-experience learners 5 -6 , 16
job skills,
LTS scale 47, 231
accounting staff 67
clerical workers 62
financial control staff 68 magazines, authentic materials 159, 164
human resources departments 66 Make yo u r ou>n L anguage Tests (Carroll and;
marketing and sales departments 6 4 -5 Hall) 54
middle and junior managers 59 management training, influence 218 ;
production departments 6 8 -7 0 managers,
secretaries 61 as learners 57-9
senior managers 5 8 -9 of training 21, 66
M anual o f L earning Styles (Honey and performance levels 4 3 -5 5
Mumford) 218 performance objectives 3 5 -9 , 222g
manuals (company), performance scales 4 4 -6 , 231
authentic materials 160, 168 periodicals, authentic materials 159, 164
language analysis 104-5 personality, trainer’s 27
marketing departments, training needs 6 4 -5 personal skills, trainer’s 27
materials, personnel departments, training needs 6 5 -6
authentic 157-85 pictures, authentic materials 164-5
framework 131-56 Pilbeam, A. 150
fo r o n e -to -o n e and group teaching 189 p re-ex p erien ce (learners) 222g
published 117-29 characteristics and needs 5 -6 , 15—16
media, authentic materials 159 choice of training institution 23
meetings 222g information about 79—81
frameworks 146-50 learning purpose 72
minutes, authentic materials 160, 167 suitable published materials 125-7
performance area 9 0 -4 presentations 222g
Melrose training films and videos 109, 124, 229 comprehension, development 178-83
memos (company), authentic materials 160, 167 language analysis 106-7
messages, content and communication 9 5 -8 private sector educational institutions 21
methodologies 218-19 PR materials, authentic materials 159, 168
middle managers, as learners 59 problem-solving framework 153
M in d Your M anners (Mole) 18 product information, authentic materials 159,
minutes of meetings, authentic materials 160, 168
167 production departments, training needs 6 8 -7 0
Mole, J. 18 production processes, frameworks 151-2
motivation 80-1 professional associations 231
through published materials 127-9 professionalism 220
public information materials 161-2, 171-2
needs analysis 4 3 -8 8 , 222g public sector educational institutions 21
negotiating 222g published materials 117-29
trainer’s skills 27 published tests and examinations 47
see also interacting skills; participating in purpose of business language 7 -8
meetings
newsletters, authentic materials 159 questionnaires, information gathering 73
newspapers, authentic materials 159, 164
Nolan, S. andW . Reed 151 radio, authentic materials 159, 170, 230
reading skills 36
objectives see course objectives; performance realia, authentic materials 165-6
objectives; training objectives recordings, audio and video, authentic materials
OIBEC (Oxford International Business English 162, 169-72
Certificate) 47, 230-1 reference books 121
one-to-one training, v. group training 187-91 reports (company), authentic materials 160, 167
One to One (Wilberg) 190 resources 25-33
open group courses 7 4 -5 rituals,
oral presentations 178-83 in meetings 9 2 -3
organizing the message 95, 96 in socializing 101-2
organogram, company 63 role play 196-208
out-of-context business simulation games 124 routines, in meetings 92-3
output, v. input 38 RSA/Cambridge courses and qualifications 28,
Oxford International Business English 48,231
Certificate (OIBEC) 47, 230-1
sales departments, training needs 6 4 -5
participating in meetings 91-2 school-leavers, as learners 16
performance areas 89-102 schools,
 Index 237

language 22 TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of

specialist and commercial 21 Other Languages) 30, 231
secretaries, as learners 61 testing 4 6 -5 3
SEFIC (Spoken English for Industry and Test of English for International
Commerce examination) 47, 230 Communication (TOEIC) 47, 231
self-access materials 121-2 tests, published 47
senior managers, as learners 58-9 text materials, authentic materials 163-9
sequence, framework 141-2 TOEFL 47
setting box, frameworks 142-6 TOEIC (Test of English for International
signalling intention 95-7 Communication) 47, 231
similarity frameworks 136-9 tourist information, authentic materials 161,
simulation 196-208 171
games 124 trainers, xiv, 2 8-31, 222g
skills, relationships with learners 188
trainer’s, acquisition 28-31 role 19
see also behavioural skills; business skills; job training xiv
skills training gap 5 3 -5 , 222g
skills training 37-9, 222g training groups 22
v. language training 215-18 training managers, in companies 23, 66
socializing 8, 100-2 training objectives, role of published materials
sound recordings, authentic materials 162, 127
169-72 training videos, language analysis 108-10
speaking skills 36 transactional language 7 -8 , 222g
assessment 48-53
development 172-3 United Paper Mills see UPM
specifications, authentic materials 168 universities 15, 21
Spoken English for Industry and Commerce University of Cambridge Local Examinations
examination (SEFIC) 47, 230 Syndicate (UCLES) 47, 231
Stages of Attainment Scale see ELTDU University of Oxford Delegacy of Examinations
Stock Exchange (London), public information 47, 230
videos 171 UPM (United Paper Mills) scale 4 5 -6
study circles 23 up-to-dateness, of published materials 127
supplementary materials 120-1 US-sponsored centres 21
Survival English 101
syllabus 9-13
Video Arts training videos 123, 229
video courses 122
task-based learning 39
video materials 123-4, 162, 169-72, 228-9
TBV, Sweden 21
see also training videos
teachers 222g
video review, of role plays and simulations
role, cultural differences 19
201-2
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
visual materials, authentic materials 164-5
Languages (TESOL) 30, 231
Volkshochschulen 21
teaching, distinction from training xiv
technical staff, as learners 60-1
TEFL qualifications 25, 28 Wilberg, P. 190
telephoning 98-9 writing skills 36
role play 172-3 written in stru ctio n s (company), authentic
television, authentic materials 159, 170, 230 materials 161, 168
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