My teaching has included business English since I started teaching in September 2011. I have taught on site, one to ones and to small groups in class. This page tries to pull together the lessons that I have learnt so far from my teaching over the past few years. It is intended to be useful to those who were in a similar position to the one I was in a few years ago.
1. The importance of a training needs analysis
Seems obvious doesn't it? Business people who are having on site English lessons are, almost by definition, busy senior people within that organisation. They know they need to improve or maintain their English level but understandably may not know their specific needs. In my experience the range of requirements can vary from not always appreciating their level and common (or fossilised) errors through to just wanting a managed conversation in English to maintain their level.
Agreeing the training needs and reviewing them on a regular basis is of course essential. Not being afraid to amend and update them as the course progresses is also key to a successful course.
2. Don't expect to find a book that perfectly matches the student's needs
There are of course a number of useful business English books out there but in my experience - which admittedly has only been with upper intermediate and advanced students - books are best used to help generate ideas/thoughts and to provide some useful topics, exercises and listening activities. Clearly all English lessons (general, exam based, business English etc) should include material to supplement a coursebook to help develop learning points, provide a different explanation/activity or just to break up the lesson. In my experience, this is particularly the case for teaching Business English to higher levels.
3. Think about the course's structure
So, you've agreed what the students want to do and need to do and can't find a book that will help you deliver this bespoke course. What next? What has so far worked for me is to develop a draft series of topics or themes for the duration (or just the first few months) of the course. This provides a structure to introduce the agreed learning points. Topics can be business related e.g. team building, leadership, communication, business planning etc, sector specific (logistics, pharmaceuticals, printing etc) or just something the students are interested in (films, travel, music etc). Or maybe a mix of all three! Information and activities can then be linked together from the various sources at our disposal (see a future blog for some suggestions).
4. Teaching English in a business doesn't have to be teaching business English
In my first few months of teaching English in businesses I focussed solely on business related topics and the language and structures around them. It was only when I did a couple of sessions on "small talk" that I realised some students were just keen to improve their communication and they were interested in using a range of - often non-work - topics to do this. Often they already had the technical work vocabulary so the lessons were able to broaden out whilst still concentrating on the learning areas around structure, pronunciation, non-technical vocabulary. I also found that students were less likely to see the lesson as work and more as an enjoyable break from their busy and stressful job. This hasn't been the case for everybody I have taught in the business context but deviating from solely business themes has gone well in most classes. How often it is done is obviously something for discussion and agreement with the students.
5. How to monitor progress?
So you've taught some great lessons which have pulled activities from a variety of sources. You are sure/think/hope the students have progressed in line with the agreed training needs but how do you check.? "Test what you teach" has been drilled into me from the start of my teaching which clearly makes a lot of sense but it's a bit more complicated if you're missing that "units 1-3 progress test" from a book at the end of each term. The student needed to be able to conduct a staff appraisal in English so we used an vocabulary activity from Intelligent Business, a listening from Market Leader, a couple of YouTube clips of appraisals (including the one from The Office) to practice listening and vocabulary around reviewing them and we also conducted a mock appraisal in class. How can this be evaluated and reviewed?
Some students may be happy that they now feel they have the confidence and tools to do the task successfully but others may want more. Students can always take a mock Cambridge Business English Certificate (BEC) to monitor their English but it unlikely to test specifically what you've taught in the lesson. I develop a series of flashcards (or pieces of paper in reality) during the course which highlight emerging new vocabulary or expressions, pronunciation errors and structural difficulties. These are used for revision during the course at increasingly infrequent intervals as the students become more confident and remember more. If appropriate words and expressions have been noted this is one way of reviewing progress. As is the frequency with which the new language is produced without prompting during relevant conversations. Such progress should be highlighted to students. Another way I have used to monitor progress is to record conversations. As well acting as an immediate way to highlight students' strengths and difficulties (particularly in one to one classes) they can also be stored for later playback. Sometimes students may cringe a bit at this but I have found it works really well.
I hope this list of "things I wish I knew a few years ago" helps some - any comments, further thoughts, disagreements etc, please let me know.
1. The importance of a training needs analysis
Seems obvious doesn't it? Business people who are having on site English lessons are, almost by definition, busy senior people within that organisation. They know they need to improve or maintain their English level but understandably may not know their specific needs. In my experience the range of requirements can vary from not always appreciating their level and common (or fossilised) errors through to just wanting a managed conversation in English to maintain their level.
Agreeing the training needs and reviewing them on a regular basis is of course essential. Not being afraid to amend and update them as the course progresses is also key to a successful course.
2. Don't expect to find a book that perfectly matches the student's needs
There are of course a number of useful business English books out there but in my experience - which admittedly has only been with upper intermediate and advanced students - books are best used to help generate ideas/thoughts and to provide some useful topics, exercises and listening activities. Clearly all English lessons (general, exam based, business English etc) should include material to supplement a coursebook to help develop learning points, provide a different explanation/activity or just to break up the lesson. In my experience, this is particularly the case for teaching Business English to higher levels.
3. Think about the course's structure
So, you've agreed what the students want to do and need to do and can't find a book that will help you deliver this bespoke course. What next? What has so far worked for me is to develop a draft series of topics or themes for the duration (or just the first few months) of the course. This provides a structure to introduce the agreed learning points. Topics can be business related e.g. team building, leadership, communication, business planning etc, sector specific (logistics, pharmaceuticals, printing etc) or just something the students are interested in (films, travel, music etc). Or maybe a mix of all three! Information and activities can then be linked together from the various sources at our disposal (see a future blog for some suggestions).
4. Teaching English in a business doesn't have to be teaching business English
In my first few months of teaching English in businesses I focussed solely on business related topics and the language and structures around them. It was only when I did a couple of sessions on "small talk" that I realised some students were just keen to improve their communication and they were interested in using a range of - often non-work - topics to do this. Often they already had the technical work vocabulary so the lessons were able to broaden out whilst still concentrating on the learning areas around structure, pronunciation, non-technical vocabulary. I also found that students were less likely to see the lesson as work and more as an enjoyable break from their busy and stressful job. This hasn't been the case for everybody I have taught in the business context but deviating from solely business themes has gone well in most classes. How often it is done is obviously something for discussion and agreement with the students.
5. How to monitor progress?
So you've taught some great lessons which have pulled activities from a variety of sources. You are sure/think/hope the students have progressed in line with the agreed training needs but how do you check.? "Test what you teach" has been drilled into me from the start of my teaching which clearly makes a lot of sense but it's a bit more complicated if you're missing that "units 1-3 progress test" from a book at the end of each term. The student needed to be able to conduct a staff appraisal in English so we used an vocabulary activity from Intelligent Business, a listening from Market Leader, a couple of YouTube clips of appraisals (including the one from The Office) to practice listening and vocabulary around reviewing them and we also conducted a mock appraisal in class. How can this be evaluated and reviewed?
Some students may be happy that they now feel they have the confidence and tools to do the task successfully but others may want more. Students can always take a mock Cambridge Business English Certificate (BEC) to monitor their English but it unlikely to test specifically what you've taught in the lesson. I develop a series of flashcards (or pieces of paper in reality) during the course which highlight emerging new vocabulary or expressions, pronunciation errors and structural difficulties. These are used for revision during the course at increasingly infrequent intervals as the students become more confident and remember more. If appropriate words and expressions have been noted this is one way of reviewing progress. As is the frequency with which the new language is produced without prompting during relevant conversations. Such progress should be highlighted to students. Another way I have used to monitor progress is to record conversations. As well acting as an immediate way to highlight students' strengths and difficulties (particularly in one to one classes) they can also be stored for later playback. Sometimes students may cringe a bit at this but I have found it works really well.
I hope this list of "things I wish I knew a few years ago" helps some - any comments, further thoughts, disagreements etc, please let me know.