Breaking the Ice with Business English (original) (raw)
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2022
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) theory emphasizes the mutually integrated and symbiotic relations between language and disciplinary knowledge. Based on this perspective, this study analyses the "Double Focus" teaching mode implementation that combined business knowledge with English language skills. This is implemented in a Business English course at higher vocational college to enable talent cultivation focus to shift to the internalization of business knowledge while continuing to improve English proficiency. The "Double Focus" teaching strategy adapted authentic business tasks simulation and practice from actual Foreign Reception Training Course like airport pickup task via a plan, do, check, action (PDCA) approach. This study found that the integrative element promoted better association between language and business knowledge, raise awareness of using English in situational contexts and foster effective internalization of content knowledge among students. The successful implementation of such integrated CLIL can serve as a reference for the cultivation of language as well as business skills among undergraduates of English at higher vocational colleges.
Toward an Integrated Model of Teaching Business English in Tertiary Education
2018
Effective use of English in the international business context requires not only knowledge of business domains, such as micro- and macro-economics, marketing, finance and fundamentals of business law, but also professional, intercultural and interpersonal skills. All these components should be taken into consideration while designing Business English (BE) syllabi. The article discusses some of the important issues connected with designing BE courses for the tertiary education level and analyzes Bhatia’s (2002) tripartite model for teaching English for business purposes, which, drawing to the concept of professional expertise, aims to combine teaching subject knowledge and business practices with developing students’ discursive competence. The framework cultivates facilitating their business expertise and skills, rather than merely teaching discrete knowledge of the subject and a special language register. On the practical front, the author recommends adopting the case study approach...
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JETLe (Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning)
This paper aims to describe the use of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach in developing English language material for Business and Marketing major in vocational high school. It emphasizes on learning a subject and language all at once in language teaching. The study explores the needs of 21st century vocational students, CLIL advantages related to current curriculum, and its material resources. The results offer some relevant theories and considerations in developing the materials to improve students’ English competence on their workplace.
Introducing business English students to peer-learning
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This paper addresses the issues of cooperative learning and peer-learning by presenting the case of introducing a group of 15 students of Business English to such practice. The participants took Business English 4 as an elective course in their 4th semester of study at the Faculty of Economics, University of Split. The motivation to design the course curriculum around this practice was twofold. First, we responded to the need to create a more learner-centered classroom and introduce more varied, engaging and up-to-date topics. Second, since students learn from each other in many different ways, we wanted to transform this spontaneous and unpredictable process into an organized and controlled classroom activity. Having completed collaborative and peer-learning assignments, the students filled in a questionnaire developed by the authors to obtain feedback and explore the students’ motivational disposition. The paper focuses on the following areas: the theory behind collaborative/peer-...
Importance of Integrating Effective Teaching Methods in Business English Classroom
European Scientific Journal ESJ
The paper will highlight the importance of integrating effective teaching methods in teaching English for Specific Purposes, in particular Business English. Based on the survey, where 48 BE instructors participated from different countries, the article will demonstrate the significance of Lexical Approach, Task-Based and Project-based Learning by evaluating the outcomes of integrating them in teaching practice and beyond. The results once again confirmed the hypothesis. The survey consisted of both open and close-ended questions and aimed at voicing the opinion of BE Course Instructors globally. The target audience was exposed to the above-mentioned teaching methods. At the same time, the survey provides recommendations for beginner BE Lecturers on how to ensure maximal approximation to the authentic environment via practicing most useful teaching methods and making the learning process more result-driven, engaging and enjoyable.
Benefits of Applying the Clil Conceptual Framework in Business English Classes
2020
The present paper aims at providing an insight into the benefits that content and language integrated learning (CLIL) can bring to the teaching of business English in higher education, given the place of the English language in the European Union and the competitive advantages it offers on the international labour market. The first part of the paper puts emphasis on some historical facts related to CLIL, presents the EU position with respect to this teaching approach and introduces its characteristics. The second part shows how, in the absence of the dual-focus CLIL, this methodology can be adapted and successfully integrated in business English classes, by applying the four elements of the CLIL conceptual framework: content, communication, culture and cognition.
Towards an integrated approach to teaching Business English: A Chinese experience
English for Specific Purposes, 2007
This paper reviews the practices in the teaching of Business English in China over the past 50 years and two perspectives on Business English that have been influential in conceptualizing a new approach to curriculum design. The review demonstrates that there has been an evolution from intuition-led practices to content-based teaching, and to more research-based practices. Two perspectives, ESP and business discourse studies, have both contributed insights into Business English and have led us to a working definition of Business English. On the basis of this new conceptualization, the paper proposes a tripartite curriculum for teaching Business English, which aims to cultivate business expertise rather than just teaching language skills and discrete knowledge of the subject areas as is often promoted in the ESP literature.
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teach English for Business Purposes
To design of a syllabus for teaching English for Business Purposes using an Interdisciplinary Approach for Specific Purposes a descriptive, qualitative investigation was done, with the use of methods such as analysis, synthesis and hermeneutics and not less important the technique The techniques used were: Documentary review to teach English for Business Purposes (EBP) and Previous investigation done by the author in which15 students of the last semester and professionals were included in a previous investigation to develop a Book for Business English which is the correspondent material to develop the syllabus. To collect the data, the instrument designed was a guide for documentary review and the Book EBP by Muñoz (2018).The information obtain from the application of documentary review was tabulated manually. The data were taken to figures and tables using the Microsoft Excel program. The results obtained that the students did not have knowledge of terminology, specific phrases, vocabulary and communicative functions which is caused by the lack of resources, materials and also the lack of knowledge of ESPB at the university that coincides with previous studies about the creation of the importance of have a Business Book and a syllabus developed for students in order to achieve the process of English of Business. It is concluded that the creation of a syllabus will increase the process to develop a future investigation in which it can be apply in a course.
Implementation of Communicative and Participatory Approach in Teaching English for Business
2020
Teaching English as Foreign Language (EFL) is quite challenging because teachers should prepare materials properly as well as the teaching technique that will be applied in EFL classroom. The teachers should also pay attention to the communicative purpose of teaching EFL. This study investigates the application of teaching techniques and approaches done by EFL teacher. The researcher observed the teaching techniques applied by the lecturer as well as teaching learning process experienced by college students in English for Business classroom. Based on the research findings and discussions, it can be inferred that the lecturer applied Communicative Language Teaching and Participatory Technique which are involved in two different approaches in his class of English for Business. The two approaches are communicative and participatory approaches. Those two are applicable and appropriate to be conducted in the classroom of students in higher education. Further, it is suggested for EFL teac...
English for Specific Purposes, 2018
Although business English is a major branch of ESP, published reports showing how business English learners' needs were first identified and then addressed are rare, and even rarer are reports illustrating how existing research can inform needs analysis and syllabus design. The present paper proposes a research-informed approach to curriculum development for specific business English topics. It illustrates the approach by reporting the key stages in the curriculum development process, namely, needs analysis, syllabus design, course implementation and course evaluation. Specifically, it shows how the curriculum development of a module on business meetings for undergraduate students at a university in Hong Kong was informed by both the findings from an in-house needs analysis and insights from existing research, in particular, studies related to business English discourse and second language pedagogy. This research-informed approach to identifying and addressing needs helped to determine the linguistic content of the module and to derive a pedagogical model for the topic of business meetings. Data from course evaluations and learners' reflections show the effectiveness of the module. The approach to curriculum development illustrated in this paper can be applied to other ESP topics. It is recommended that more topic-specific, research-informed curriculum innovations in ESP be published to strengthen the link between research and curriculum development.