A Preliminary Study of Business English Teaching Application

溫莉

【Abstract】With the deepening of Chinas reform and opening-up，and Chinas accession to the World Trade Organization，Chinas trade transactions and business communication with other countries have become increasingly prevalent.Business English has obtained more concern from an increasing number of people and has gradually turned into a popular branch of academic study.

【Key words】Business English；Business English Teaching；Characteristics；Definition

1 Business English courses

In the last two decades， with the global political and economic great changes and speedy development， English courses have become popular with an increasing number of people. Business English， of its own characteristics， enjoys more interest and awareness. Business English， however， as a branch of ESP （English for Specific Purposes）， is a field seldom studied by linguistic researchers， who prefer to work on other-more easily defined-areas of ESP.

Business English has much in common with General EFL （English as a Foreign Language）， but has some difference in many aspects， for the aims of a Business English course may be radically different from those of a General English course. The aims of Business English – whether broad or narrow for a particular course – will always relate to students future jobs. Sometimes this will mean developing generalized business skills （such as giving presentations）， and sometimes it will mean something much more technical or academic （if the students work is highly specialized， or if the students need to learn how to take notes and participate in meetings or prepare for a training course conducted in English）. Course organizers need to differentiate between Business English and ESP or EAP （English for Academic Purposes）， and between Business English and General English. In order to know what Business English is， we should make it clear what ESP is， and what its relations with Business English are.

2 The prominent features of Communicative Approach

What is the Communicative Teaching Approach？ In fact， it is not merely an integration of grammatical and functional teaching. Its comprehensiveness makes it different in scope and status from any of the other approaches. The goal of language teaching is to develop and increase what Hymes [1]referred to as “communicative competence”. This means the ability to use language appropriate to a given social context. As Littlewood （1981） pointed out， “One of the most characteristic features of the communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language.”endprint

At the latest achievement in the studies of linguistics， the contribution of Communicative Approach in the field of foreign language teaching is that it handles correctly the dialectical relation between linguistic competence and communicative competence. Presently， the function of language as the main vehicle in transmitting information has been considered more and more important in modern life. Therefore， in foreign language teaching， people have been paying more attention to the studies of social environment， in which the language is used， than simply the studies of the learners psychology and the forms of the target language they teach. In a word， they take the social function of a foreign language as the core of teaching and learning， emphasizing social necessity as the impetus of foreign language learning. That is why the Communicative Approach and the concept of communicative competence came to peoples minds.

3 Teaching process/ Lesson stage

Just as we have discussed above， one of the main characteristics of Business English is the emphasis on performance-training students to become operationally effective， that is to say， make them understand various business messages and get them across in business context. As a result， Business English Teaching should place a high emphasis on the cultivation of listening ability and speaking ability to facilitate business communication. In the following teaching process， the author will focus on how to promote the two abilities in business communication during the process of Business English Teaching. It is important that a teaching process should be phased by the teacher. In accordance with her own teaching experience， the author sums up three stages in teaching Business English.

（1）Stage 1→ Presentation （when the teacher gives a brief introduction to a new commercial item or a new subject matter）

（2）Stage 2→ Pre-communicative activities （or Practice） （when the students practice under the teachers guidance）

（3）Stage 3→ Communicative activities （or Production） （when the students try to use the language themselves in an appropriate way）

3.1 Stage one

At the beginning of a course， it is important to discuss with the students the course objectives and the methods for achieving these objectives. At this stage， teachers will make a brief introduction to a new lesson subject by making a presentation on the goal of the lesson， and the reason why certain types of activities and materials have been chosen. Generally speaking， at this stage some new commercial knowledge and business skills are also mentioned to the students， helping them to understand some definitions and some business knowledge. This teaching process works best if the contents or examples are as vivid and interesting as possible. Even some objects and real documents can be used for teaching aids. If they are interesting， the students will pay more attention and so understand and remember the unknown business knowledge better. In the presentation stage， teachers have to take a lot of time to get prepared by consulting dictionaries or other reference books.endprint

Lets take Unit 4 ---‘Public Relations[2]for example. “What is public relations？” This is a question that needs to be explained for the students first. Teachers can give a general explanation about the phrase from three respects： the duties and responsibilities of public relations， the benefits of good public relations， and how to organize a public event. Students will be aware that Public Relations Department， as an indispensable and important department， plays a dramatically vital role to a companys existence and development. When they realize the importance of public relations， they will be interested in the lesson， and their motivation will be aroused.

3.2 Stage two

At the second stage， the students need to finish given exercises with the help of their teachers so that they will be familiar with some vocabulary and sentence structures， and further understand the business knowledge they have learned. Simultaneously， the teacher can check whether they understand what they have just learned. It is therefore important for the teacher to monitor closely so as to help the students who are having problems and make sure they understand this knowledge. Exercises can range from listening to gap-filling， and to limited oral practice. At this stage， the students have the opportunity to deepen the understanding of business knowledge and practice the new words or structures to form their own knowledge and experience. By personalizing and localizing the information or situations in the textbook， the students can adapt and expand written texts or dialogues in useful， meaningful， interesting， and beneficial studying practice. In addition， it is always essential that students need to master some key vocabulary and useful phrases before they begin Stage 3； otherwise the teacher will have difficulty in later teaching， and even frustrate the students.

Here we take listening exercise for example. Business communication is a two-sided process： a message cannot be communicated unless there is someone to receive it. Listening emphasizes the development of the students ability as the receiver of spoken messages. According to Widdowson （1978）[3]， listening refers to the ability to understand how a particular sentence relates to what else has been said and its function in the communication. It is at this stage that the listener selects what is relevant to his purpose and rejects what is irrelevant. Thus we never listen without a purpose. Teachers should ask a student to identify a purpose that relates to the communicative value of the tapescript. The purpose should be as realistic as possible so as to help the student relate what is doing in the classroom to something he might want to do in real life in the foreign language. The author would like to take the lesson “Public Relations” for example.endprint

Activity

Objective To introduce the duties and responsibilities of PR Department and introduce or practice recognition of the language of describing the role of the PR Department and describing duties and responsibilities. （Maintaining goodwill， dealing with the press， company reputation， product pricing， public awareness of company values， etc.） And to be familiar with the language features of interview.

Level intermediate

Target students Sophomores majoring in Economics， International Trade and Marketing.

When After presenting the language of the role of the PR Department and describing duties and responsibilities and before asking the learners to finish the exercise.

Time Listening only： 5minutes

Source material An authentic material adapted from an interview between a journalist and Eillish OShea， Public Relations Manager at Skoda UK.

Preparations Start with a brief discussion on Public Relations and ask the students whether they have interest in this profession （the importance to a company）. Explain if necessary： brand development， communication with the press， television and radio， development of the companys reputation.

Procedure Give the multiple choice and vocabulary-match exercises to the students. The students read useful information given about some responsibilities. At the second stage， the students finish these exercises following the instructions. At the third stage， they may be asked to describe the duties of a staff member in the PR department.

The following instructions could be given to a student with a tape recording about Public Relations.

Listening： 1）Ellish OShea， Public Relations Manager at Skoda UK， talks about her job. Before you listen， decide whether the following are the responsibilities of the PR or Marketing Department at Skoda.

Communication with the press

Research into the publics needs

Development of the companys reputation

Brand development

Decisions about product pricing

Public awareness of company values

Note that this task is detailed. The student needs to understand every detail， or he will have the question of difference between the PR Department and Marketing Department and may fail to accomplish later classroom practical activities.

3.3 Stage three

The practice of classroom activities the students attend is paramount to the development of students speaking ability in Business English Teaching. Compared with the listening ability， the speaking ability focuses on the development of the students ability as sender of spoken message. The basic fabric of a Business English course should contain tasks which simulate business activities in the real business context as closely as possible. These tasks must have specific objectives which can be clearly defined at the outset， and which relate to the learners overall objectives in following the course as well as to his or her level of ability. During the final stage， the teacher should provide the students with the opportunity to use the business knowledge and language previously learned and practiced during the lesson in a communicative context. These practice tasks may be long or short. They may include， for example， asking a student to describe one of a companys products or to compare two different products， make an inquiry to your customs by phone， setting up a simulated meeting， getting students to prepare a short presentation on a certain viewpoint. The students have to take what they have learned （or revised） and use it to achieve some end， with little or no help from the teacher. The students should be encouraged to express their ideas， opinions， and feelings in these practice tasks. The important element of fun can be injected into this stage with such classroom activities as role-play， simulation， etc.endprint

Among classroom activities， role-play and simulation rate high as suitable vehicles to be used. They can reduce the artificiality of the classroom， provide a reason for talking and allow the learner to talk meaningfully to other learners. 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. 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 students who can think themselves into the role they are assigned.[4]

Now lets take a look at an example of role-play to develop speaking skills：

Basing a telephone role-play on a fax

Activity

Objective To practise negotiating on the telephone

Level Lower intermediate to upper intermediate.

When After introducing basic telephone language and making inquiries， and exchanging information； when you want to extend the students ability to deal with more complex matters on the telephone.

Time 30 minutes—45 minutes

Preparation Discuss with the learners what happens when an agent or distributor receives goods that are not perfect from his suppliers.

Ask the students to read the fax. Deal with any vocabulary （‘summer collection， ‘catalogue， ‘item， ‘a(chǎn)rticle number， etc.） Discuss the situation referred to by the fax. What do the students think has happened before this fax is sent？ Why have buyers decided to cancel other lengths of the skirts？ What is the best solution to this problem for suppliers？

Procedure Explain to the students 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 Mrs. Korinna， and the other， part of Antonella. 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.

Next， in the given time， every two students make a role-play and finally give a presentation before the whole class. One of the features of role-play is that they have an element of freedom of choice for the students. The students will choose whatever language they please or to develop the character or situation as they wish. So the activities can enable the students to have full opportunities to practice and can enhance students motivation dramatically. Where there is freedom there is also the opportunity for the learner to experiment--- enhancing his knowledge of the foreign language as he will have to do in real life.endprint

In fact the role-play provides practice in particular language functions within a narrow situation. Role-play within a simulation on the other hand allows for extended interaction between students. In a simulation the student is given a task to perform or a problem to solve； the background information and the environment of the problem is simulated. They can express their own ideas and opinions as they themselves were in the imagined situation. In this respect， simulations are easier for some personality types. The learning technique simulations were originally used in business training and the outcome of a simulation was of paramount importance. Both role-play and simulation can focus on a variety of business skills such as meetings， telephone calls， and social situations.27Simulations can be ready-made， or can be devised by the teacher for individuals or groups involved in a specific situation. In this case， the teacher needs to get help from the students in order to build up a credible problem with facts and figures that the students can provide from their own experience.[5]

The following is an example of a simulation built up with pair work. The students are divided into pairs in which they play the roles of Mr. Johnson （a bicycle importer from Canada） and Mrs. Xu （Sales Manager of the Shanghai Bicycle Factory）. Mr. Johnson wants to get more information about the bicycles of the Shanghai Bicycle Factory， such as specifications， model， quality， price， etc. Mrs. Xu affords all the information he wants. The students need to practice negotiating skills in English.

The teacher discusses with the students how the simulation will proceed. First， it is established that every pair of students will play the parts of importer and sales manager respectively. Second， it is established that a conversation has been set up to discuss the inquiry of the importer （the sales manager will provide some details of the product according to the questions of the importer）. The two students should draw up a list of points that would be discussed in the negotiation—for example， specifications， quality， price discount， payment terms， delivery arrangement， and insurance. Each pair of students meet separately to prepare for the negotiation： the importer will decide what demands he will make； the sales manager will decide what her offer will be.

The teacher can coordinate this process by monitoring the discussion in each pair of students. The simulation which is most likely to give the students their chance of business “reality” without stresses of the outside situation is given and they evolve their own roles. The students in the simulation will face the task or problem with their partners or the group， and their roles are determined by their own personality within the group， and the job that they finish. The students are most likely to get some aspiration and insights if the product is near their own experience.endprint

In both role-plays and simulations， time for preparation is essential if participants are going to play their parts successfully. They must be very familiar with the background information and make adequate language preparation.

Developing the students communicative skills in business context is one of our most important goals in Business English Teaching. Now more than ever before， speaking and listening skills are essential for business communication. To accomplish the goal of developing the students communicative skills， we need to encourage interactive discourse and self-expression of the students. Classroom activities that enhance the students abilities of speaking and listening and promote interaction among the students for communicative purpose will help us to reach this goal. Such activities can be implemented at all stages of the lesson and in conjunction with the teaching of the other basic skills. The Communicative Approach offers us a free realm of options and ideas for encouraging and enhancing students communicative ability.

【Bibliography】

[1]See Richards， Jack C. & Rodgers， Theodore S， Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching： a description and analysis， （Cambridge： Cambridge University Press， 1986）. P 69.

[2]See PASS Cambridge BEC Vantage （student book）--- Unit 4， P47-50.

[3]Widdowson， H. G.， Teaching Language as Communication （Oxford： Oxford University Press， 1978）.

[4]See Livingstone， Carol， Role Play in Language Learning， （London： Longman Group Limited， 1983）.

[5]Jones， Ken， Simulations in Language Teaching （Cambridge： Cambridge University Press， 1982）.

[6]Adelstein， Michael E. & Sparrow， W. Keats.（1983）.Business Communications. London： Oxford University Press.

[7]Bogert， Judith B. W. & Worley， Rebecca B.（1988）.Managing Business Communications. New Jersey： Prentice Hall.

[8]Brumfit， Christopher. h（1984）.Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.

[9]Brumfit， C. J. and Johnson， K.（1979）. The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching. Oxford： Oxford University Press.

[10]Ellis， Mark & Johnson， Christine. （1994）. Teaching Business English. Oxford： Oxford University Press.

[11]Finocchiaro， Mary & Brumfit， Christopher. （1983）. The Functional-Notional Approach. Oxford： Oxford University Press.

[12]上海對外貿(mào)易學(xué)院 國際商務(wù)外語學(xué)院編， （1997）， 《商務(wù)英語教學(xué)探索》， 上海： 交大出版社.

[13]徐強(qiáng).（2000），《交際法英語教學(xué)和考試評估》， 上海： 上海外語教育出版社.endprint