Business English trainers – knowing our limits,
developing our competencies
- summary slides
Ian Badger, BMES, Bristol
www.bmes.co.uk
IATEFL BESIG PCE Harrogate, 7.4.10
Business English trainers - some
general observations
Very limited pool of specialist business English trainers who have
high level of credibility with clients
Complaints that I hear from business clients when training people
who have attended ‘general’ business courses, e.g.: too much
focus on UK/UK business/business transactions, irrelevant case
studies and exercises, fun but non essential vocabulary and overattention to ‘correct’ grammar
Trainers with limited knowledge of foreign languages.
‘Business’ specialists who do not have high language teaching
competence
Demands on Business English trainers
Language training competence
Interest in and knowledge of business
Understanding of the language which is needed in
everyday business transactions
Language learning competence
Understanding communication
channels used in everyday business
Face-to-face meetings
One-to-one telephone calls
Three/four-way Teleconference
Fifteen-way Web conference
Everyday emailing
Instant messaging
Texting
Three tiers of business English
– what degrees of competence are required
from trainers?
Highly specific
Semi-technical
Core
Key considerations at a core level
speaking and listening skills at a core level - means working on
clarity of speech and pronunciation and understanding different
varieties of English
core everyday social and business vocabulary and function
English structure and function which facilitates clear
communication in speech and writing
Examples of core business English
Everyday telephone language
Everyday language for emailing and messaging
Manipulating numbers and figures
Making/changing/cancelling arrangements
Setting up meetings – virtual and face-to-face
Giving short presentations
Talking about home life, home town etc
Practical language for travelling
Key considerations at a semi-technical
level
speaking and listening skills working on clarity of speech and
pronunciation and understanding different varieties of English
business/technical vocabulary and function relating to a ‘work group’ such
as purchasing and sales, engineering, core medical language
writing and telephoning, web conferencing skills as appropriate to general
job function
English structure and function appropriate to particular work functions
(Such language will be specific to a range of learners but we must not fall
into the trap of making our materials/training too industry or business
specific).
Example of ‘Semi-technical’ language
syllabus
Describing a job
A tour of the workplace
Tools and equipment
Suppliers and contractors
Buildings and installations
Maintenance
Troubleshooting
Safety in the workplace
Environmental matters
(Contents from ‘Everyday technical English’, Pearson Longman)
Key considerations at a ‘specific’ level.
speaking and listening skills focussing on everyday needs, eg working
with Chinese and Indian colleagues, working with a UK subsidiary in
Manchester
business/technical vocabulary and function relating to specific job function
– implementing new IT systems (eg.replenishment, refurbishment, accrue,
picking, VMI), working in a Global Finance group, language of order
handling and dispatch etc
writing and telephoning, web conferencing skills as appropriate to job
function – working with the language which learners need in their
everyday work
English structure and function as needed to facilitate clear communication
in the specifics of daily work
– far greater demands on the trainer
Notes during a presentation given by a
Finnish C1 speaker of English (with a London
accent)
1. A feasible way of continuing
2. A seamless organisation
3. Incentives/incentivising
4. To differentiate offerings
5. A notorious process
6. Differentiated processes
7. To incur costs
8. Pooling of people
9. Asset optimisation
10. I’ll dig out a chart
English support for SAP roll-out project in
Strasbourg, France – Course feedback
“Very useful”
Video from person involved in the project. Because in direct
connection with the subject, and also realistic cases of
people from different nationality (Indian , german , etc …) that
we will face during the rollout.
Final and individual evaluation from the trainer at the end to
each trainee. Good points to identify improvement
opportunities
Always relevant to have a part on grammar, as we generally not
have time to train grammar out of the courses
Progressing from general to specific
business – demands placed on trainers
Different areas of business – different challenges, eg – a lot of everyday
language in some functions such as HR, whereas other areas such as
Finance, Law, IT, Technical specifics can be very challenging
Also some functions are easier to cover, such as everyday socialising,
simple presentations and negotiations, talking about yourself and your
family. But other functions such as high level negotiations and
presentations are not the domain of the everyday EFL teacher
So, knowing our limitations – when do we need to hand over to ‘the
experts’ (whoever they are) because when training budgets are limited,
companies will only have money for essential ‘business critical’ training.
Experiences of working with projects – what is our role? What is the role
of the content specialist?
So, how do we develop our competences?
From training courses
On the job – working alongside skilled practitioners
From the published materials which we choose to use.
From general resources – eg company web pages, news, brochures
etc
From specific resources – in-company video and audio recordings –
in BMES case recently from project offices in Germany and
Finland, sales offices in Turkey and Russia, production units in UK
and France
References
SOME CORE BUSINESS ENGLISH MATERIALS:
Badger, I and P. Menzies, ‘English for Business Life’, Heinle Cengage
Learning (Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate
course books and self study guides)
Badger, I, ‘Everyday Business English’, Pearson Longman
SOME ‘SEMI-TECHNICAL’ BUSINESS ENGLISH MATERIALS:
Badger, I and S. Pedley, ‘Everyday Business Writing’, Pearson
Longman
Downes C. ‘Cambridge English for Job-hunting’ CUP
Flinders, S. ‘Key Terms in People Management’, York Associates
Lambert, V and E. Murray, ‘Everyday Technical English’, Pearson
Longman