It’s a common knowledge that, over the past few decades, English has become the prevailing language of business in the global economy. What is more, there is a specilised area of English relating to the language and communicative skills used by people to do business and perform their tasks at work. The above-mentioned  part of English is a branch of English for Specific Purposes and is referred to as business English.

The most popular subject areas of business English include accounting, banking, commerce, engineering, finance, HR, insurance, IT, law, logistics, marketing, pharmaceutics, production, and tourism. However, the term business English also encompasses English used in many office settings in general. It entails the ability to express ideas clearly using job-related vocabulary, business phrases and certain grammatical structures. For this reason, the learning process is focused more on developing indispensible communicative competencies rather than on language knowledge as a main goal.  

Nowadays business English skills are seen by many professionally active people as absolutely essential to succeed in their job and take their career to the next level. On the flip side, a myriad of students who aspire to have a good start in their field find it crucial to master the language of business and tend to focus on the area of business English related to the university major they have chosen. Here you can read about reasons why business English is important for your work. 

Typically, a business English course covers the language content associated with knowledge and competencies that the learners need in order to work effectively in an international environment. In other words, it places emphasis on honing the skills which will enable them to confidently write business correspondence, give presentations, participate in meeting, negotiate, handle phone calls, travel on business, attend conferences and receive visitors, just to name a few. In addition, the course activities should incorporate specific vocabulary and phrases relating to a given sector, e.g. specialist vocabulary used in commerce.  It means that the focal point is participants’ job and the main aim is to help them to become more confident and professional when using English in the workplace.

For the sake of comparison, it is worth noting that in the case of general English learners are expected to work on improving all the four skills namely speaking, listening, reading and writing in general context instead of emphasizing any area or themes in particular. Having said that, business English syllabus should consist of tasks and activities which will enable learners to develop the four skills but in the context of their job.

Often times teachers of English as a foreign language consider teaching business English to be a toll order. This is frequently due to the perception that they are expected to have extensive knowledge of the different aspects of business. In reality, even though any experience and expertise relating to the business world comes in handy, it is not a must. Teaching business English involves showing the learners how to use their English skills in a business setting and helping them to develop their communicative competencies so that they can perform their tasks in a professional way in an English speaking environment.

Simply put, it is all about understanding learners’ needs, goals and expectations as well as the context they are in, and then adapting a given course accordingly. 

Building up your reputation

First off, it is important to remember that the right impression really matters, especially when working with adults who, more often than not, hold high-level positions within their organisation. Teaching in a business-like way means not only being punctual, professional and competent but also being properly dressed. These are the crucial elements which, if taken into account, definitely lead to building a good reputation for oneself and earning learners’ respect.

Interviewing students

It is also necessary to bear in mind that not one student or a group of students is the same. It means that if, for instant, a trainer is to teach learners who work in the field of marketing and has a ready course which was previously used with a different group working in the same industry, such a course might still require to be modified to meet the specific needs of a new group. For this reason, the first class should be devoted to discussing with students what their realistic expectations are and what would be the most useful for them to learn, e.g. writing more professional business emails, giving better presentations, describing graphs and figures in more detail, etc. Teachers can additionally ask the learners to complete questionnaires in order to analyze their needs more precisely.

Right choice of materials

Next, it is essential to select materials which will help students achieve their objectives. Ideally, they should be as authentic and practical as possible, e.g. teachers can use some old emails previously produced by the learners in their workplaces in order to correct any errors and suggest improvements. This could help them to write better emails in the future.

On the other hand, the focal point is communication so there should be plenty of learner talking time and it is crucial to use a wide variety of speaking activities such as role-plays, mini-debates, discussions, presentations, etc. both in pairs and groups. Such interactions should closely resemble learners’ real-life work situations so as they can boost their performance next time. Teachers can even use authentic documents which learners use at work or assist them in preparing a presentation which they need for a meeting. This may turn out to be extremely useful and they will appreciate the course even more.

Keeping students motivated

Maintaining learners highly focused on their objectives is another challenge that many business English teachers face. Even though it can be tricky, it all boils down to making sure that each session is interesting enough by making use of a diversity of course materials and relevant activities in which students are expected to interact with one another and share experiences. This will gradually make them become better communicators and when they realize that they are making progress they will automatically get more motivated.

On top of that, there should be some novelty in each lesson, like a task that the students haven’t done before, a new structure, a useful phrase to practice, or a different method applied by a teacher.

Finally, it is of utmost importance to establish a good rapport with the learners by showing enthusiasm and bringing some fun to the classroom. People tend to connect more easily with those who demonstrate a real passion for what they do as it inspires trust and brings out positive emotions.

Teaching business English can be extremely rewarding. All it takes is professional approach, truly understanding learners’ needs and preparing classes that will help them achieve their goals in an enjoyable way.

Joanna Borzym | 20 August, 2021