English for Specific Business Purposes - Theses

University of Oran

The English Doctoral School

EDALPCBS

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A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of a Magister

Degree in

Business English

Supervised by Presented by

Pr. Yacine Rachida Hentit Nabila

Chairperson : Pr. Belkhenchir Khadoudja University of Oran

Supervisor: Pr. Yacine Rachida University of Oran

Examiner :

Examiner :

Dr. Benhattab Lotfi Abdelkader

Dr. Djaileb Farida

University of Oran

University of Oran

Faculty of Letters, Languages, and Arts

Department of Anglo-Saxon Languages

Section of English

2014-2015

Members of the Jury Soutenue le 10 Fevrier 2015

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IV

Dedication

I dedicate this modest work to my parents, without whom nothing could be achieved

and who have always stood by my side during all my studies. I dedicate this work to my

grandmother, who never stops praying for my success, to my sisters who have always been

around to support and help me whenever I needed.

V

Acknowledgments

First I would like to thank God for giving me the strength to finish this study.

The preparation of this work would not have been possible without the support, hard

work and endless efforts of a large number of individuals.

My gratitude to Pr. Rachida Yacine for giving us the opportunity to pursue academic

studies and for having been a real guiding force to us through her worthy, continuous

assistance, her invaluable pieces of advice, and her patience to help me produce a respectable

piece of work.

I also owe a great debt to all those teachers and students I met during my studies at the

Doctorate school EDALPCBS and for their inspiration and the lively discussions we had. My

gratitude to my teachers: Pr. Bouhadiba Leloucha, Dr. Boukrerice Louafia, Dr. Zitouni

Mimouna, Dr. Dani Fatiha, Dr. Dekdouk, Mrs. Bensafi Wafaa, Miss Zaghar Fatima, Mr.

Djamane and Mr. Adnani.

I would like to thank the members of the jury who have devoted time examining the

present work. And I wish good success for all my colleagues from EDALPCBS.

And lastly to all the respondents for all their full cooperation that made them a big part

of this study.

VI

Abstract

With the great demand of English for Specific Business English Purposes training in our

country, and with the absence of any ESP department in the Algerian universities, all Business

English teachers are graduated from ELT department who have no initial preparation for their task as

Business English teachers. Consequently, General English teachers are supposed to be the best

qualified to assume ESBP courses. Naturally, novice teachers are faced with a complex network of

issues, and finding an efficient way for professionalism is the challenge that ESBP teachers in Algeria

have to face.

Teachers of English for Specific Purposes courses, and thus those of Business English have

often been criticized for lacking the specialist knowledge necessary for a complete comprehension of

target materials’ content. In fact, this dissertation has the purpose of investigating the situation of

ESBP teaching in Oran and attempts to determine the way Business English teachers manage their

professional development when specific training is insufficient or unavailable.

Key words: ESP, Business English, ESBP, teachers’ specific training, self-development,

business language, business subject matters, business vocabulary, ESBP learners, business English

teaching.

Résumé

Avec la forte demande des professionnels pour la formation en anglais des affaires, et en

l'absence d'un département d’anglais langue de spécialité dans les universités algériennes, tous les

enseignants d'anglais des affaires sont diplômés du département ELT et n'ont pas reçu de formation

initiale pour leur assignation d’enseignants d'anglais des affaires.

Par conséquent, les enseignants d'anglais général sont considérés comme les mieux qualifiés

pour assurer les cours d’anglais des affaires. Naturellement, les enseignants débutants sont confrontés

à un réseau complexe de problèmes, en l’occurrence trouver un moyen efficace pour évoluer dans la

spécialité présente un défi que les enseignants dans la spécialité doivent relever.

Les enseignants de l'anglais de spécialité, et donc ceux de l'anglais des affaires ont souvent été

critiqués pour leur manque de connaissances spécifiques nécessaires pour une compréhension

complète du contenu des matières ciblées. En fait, cette thèse a pour but d'enquêter sur la situation de

l'enseignement de l’anglais des affaires pour les professionnels à Oran et de tenter de déterminer la

façon dont les enseignants de l'anglais des affaires gèrent leur évolution professionnelle lorsque la

formation spécifique est insuffisante ou indisponible.

VII

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures

List of Abbreviations

General Introduction

Chapter One: English for Specific Business Purposes as a Type of ESP

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………..

2. English for Specific Purposes: ………………………………………………………….

2.1. Definition………………………………………………………………………....

2.2. Aims of ESP……………………………………………………………………....

2.3. Types of ESP……………………………………………………………………...

2.4. English for Specific Purposes vs. General English……………………………….

3. Business English………………………………………………………………………....

3.1. Types of Business English………………………………………………………….

3.1.1. English for General Business Purpose (EGBP) …………………………...

3.1.2. English for Specific Business Purpose (ESBP) …………………..............

3.2. Business English Language Register…………………………………………….....

4. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….........................

Chapter Two: Teaching ESBP Implications

1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………

2. ESBP learners……………………………………………………………………………..

2.1.Needs analysis……………………………………………………………………….

1.1.1. Placement testing…………………………………………………...

1.2. Job analyses ………………………………………………………………………

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VIII

1.2.1. Position differences. …………………………………………………

a. Managers as learners ……………………………………………...

b. Technical staff as learners ……………………………………......

c. Secretaries and clerical workers as learners ……………………....

1.3. Learners’ expectations …………………………………………………………....

3. Teaching ESBP…………………………………………………………………................

3.1. Requirements………………………………………………………………….......

3.1.1. Knowledge ………………………………………………………….......

3.1.2. Skills……………………………………………………………….........

3.2. Material selection in ESBP teaching.....………………………………………......

2.2.1. The training objective……………………………………………….......

2.2.1. Credibility and attractiveness………………………………………......

2.2.3. Use of authentic material in ESBP teaching…………………………....

3.3. The role of the ESBP teacher………………………………………………………….....

4. ESBP Teaching Contexts……………………………………………………….................

5. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………........................

Chapter Three: The Teacher’s Business Language Content and Context Acquisition

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………......................

2. ESBP content………………………………………………………………..……………..

2.1.Business English vocabulary…………………………………………………………..

3. ESBP context knowledge………………………………………………………………….

4. Ways for English Teachers to Acquire specific Business Content and Context………….

4.1. Specific training……………………………………………………………………….

4.2.Self-development………………………………………………………………………

4.2.1. Work shadowing……………………………………………………………….

4.2.2. Authentic materials…………………………………………………………….

4.2.3. Reference books……………………………………………………………….

4.2.4. Corpora and concordance. …………………………………………………….

4.2.5. The learners…………………………………………………………………....

5. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………….......

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Chapter Four: ESBP teaching in Oran

1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..…

2. Exploration of the Terrain…………………………………………………………………

3. Methodology……………………………………………………………………………….

3.1.Overall Design of the Study……………………………………………………...

3.2.The Research Questions………………………………………………………….

3.3.Hypothesis………………………………………………………………………..

3.4.The Educational Approach Used…………………………………………………

3.5.Description of the Study’ Setting and Subjects…………………………………

3.6. The Data Collection Instrument………………………………………………….

3.6.1. The Questionnaire………………………………………………………...

3.6.1.1.Aim of the Questionnaire…………………………………………..

3.6.1.2.The Language of the Questionnaire………………………………..

3.6.1.3.Types of Questions…………………………………………………

3.7. Analysis of the Data collected and Discussion………………………………….

4. Findings for the Research Hypotheses……………………………………………………

5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….

General Conclusion and Recommendations……………………………………………………

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………................................

Appendices…………………………………………………………………..................................

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List of Tables

Chapter three

Table 3.1: Vocabulary (Dudley-Evans, 1997: 83)

Table 3.2: Different meanings of the same word in GE and BE (Zhu & Liao,

2008 : 95)

Chapter four

Table 4.1: The Education Level of the Participants

Table 4.2: The Impact of the Participation in Teachers’ Network for BE teachers

Table 4.3: The Impact of Observation Visit in a Company

Table 4.4: The Impact of Work Shadowing

Table 4.5: The Impact of Accessing Company Documentation and Website

Table 4.6: The Impact of Authentic Materials’ Use

Table 4.7: The Use of Information Technology by the Respondents and its Impact

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List of Figures

Chapter one

Figure 1.1: ESP classification by experience (Robinson, 1991: 3)

Figure 1.2: ESP classification by professional area (Dudley-Evans, 1997: 6)

Figure 1.3: English for Science and Technology (Swales, 1985: X)

Figure 1.4: Pickett representation ((Dudley-Evans & St John , 1998:55)

Chapter two

Figure 2.1: Authentic Vs Non-authentic Materials (Adams, 1995; Miller, 2003)

Figure 2.2: The teacher’s central position ( Champeau de Lopez, 1994: 10)

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XI

Chapter three

Figure 3.1: Skills training v. Language training (Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 216- 217)

Figure 3.2: Concordance for Sentences Containing the Word Business (BNC

Commerce Corpus, http://www.lextutor.ca)

Chapter four

Figure 4.1: The Ratio of Male and Female Participants

Figure 4.2: The Different Ages of the participants

Figure 4.3: The participants’ Experience as GE Teachers

Figure 4.4: The participants’ Experience as ESBP Teachers

Figure 4.5: Institutions where the Participants have Worked

Figure 4.6: Employment Status as ESBP Teachers

Figure 4.7: Participation in Courses/ Workshops

Figure 4.8: Participation in BE Teaching Qualification Programme

Figure 4.9: Participation in Teachers’ Network for BE teachers

Figure 4.10: Specific Training Duration

Figure 4.11: Observation Visit in a Company

Figure 4.12: Training in a Company (Work Shadowing)

Figure 4.13: Access to the Company Documentation or Website

Figure 4.14: The Use of Authentic Materials’ Frequency

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XII

List of Abbreviations

BE: Business English

EAP: English for Academic Purposes

EBP: English for Business Purposes.

EEP: English for Educational Purposes

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

EGBP: English for General Business Purposes

ELP: English for Legal Purposes

ELT: English Language Teaching

EMP: English for Medical Purposes

EOP: English for Occupational Purposes

ESBP: English for Specific Business Purposes

ESP: English for specific Purposes

EST: English for Science and Technology

GE: General English

LSP: Language for Specific Purposes

TSA: Target Situation Analysis


GGeenneerraall IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn


1


Business English, as a part of English for Specific purposes, is the language especially

related to international trade. The use of this specific English is more and more extended since

the globalization of business environment. Moreover, international companies and

multinationals are expected to increase. Every day, thousands of international native to non-

native or non-native to non-native communications are undertaken in a great number of

business settings, and this may be the reason of discomfort for those whose first language is

not English. Thus, many non-native speakers come to Business English courses to learn how

to perform in English skills they already master in their native language such as presentations,

negotiations, meetings, small talk, socializing, correspondence, report writing, and so on.

The command of business language in the case of business people is a constant

preoccupation of employers, employees and of course, instructors. In fact, they are

permanently in need for specialist knowledge of Business English in order to be able to

function in a certain number of situations and fulfil specific tasks. Hence, the needs to

understand the requirements of learners’ professions and willingness to adapt to these

requirements differentiate Business English teachers from their colleagues teaching General

English language. The role of Business English teachers has been viewed as something

different from that of general English teachers. Business English teachers need to be equipped

with a variety of skills other than teaching methodology. Such skills may include some basic

knowledge of their students’ subject area.

Business English teaching assumes teaching of English as a foreign language

regarding business profession, subject or purpose. However, this doesn’t mean that the teacher

needs to be an expert in business subject matter. His task is to train businesspeople to

communicate in English about the subject they are specialized in. Nevertheless, it is important

to be able to relate the learners and their needs and this is easier if the teacher understands

what their jobs involve and, consequently, fits the new information into a familiar pattern.

Teachers of English for Specific Purposes, and thus those of Business English have

often been criticized for lacking the specialist knowledge necessary for a complete

comprehension of target materials’ content. As a result, many ESBP teachers may feel

anxious in the classroom, lack self-confidence, and become excessively susceptible to the


2

views of specialists vis-à-vis the course design, materials, and class activities. Actually,

novice ESBP are quite comparable to learners in their need to be familiar with the language of

the target subject, and in their weakness when it comes to understanding the target material.

As primary EFL teachers, they do not possess the required grasp of the subject matter and

consequently they may not be able to exchange ideas which contribute to reach the intended

learning outcomes. Moreover, teaching Business English means teaching English with a

specific Business content which is normally mixed with general topics. Thus, EFL teacher are

those who are exclusively qualified for the task, and we should pave the way for them in order

to undertake efficiently the job.

With the great demand of ESBP training in our country, and with the absence of any

ESP department in the Algerian universities, all Business English teachers are graduated

from ELT department who have no initial preparation for their task of teaching Business

English or any type of ESP. Therefore, General English teachers are supposed to be the best

qualified to assume ESBP courses. Naturally, novice teachers are faced with a complex

network of issues, and finding an efficient way for professionalism is the challenge that ESBP

teacher in Algeria has to face. So, what are the means available for English language teacher

to acquire the specific content and context knowledge of business English? Do the schools

and institutes offering ESBP language training for companies in Algeria give their recruits pre

and in-service Business language teaching training? In short, is ESBP teaching professional

development in Oran, by means of specific training or self-development?

The present work will unfold itself into four chapters. The first chapter deals with the

different definitions of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Business English (BE)

available in the literatures and the different classifications of ESP and BE, especially the one

taught for professionals , English for specific Business Purposes (ESBP), which is the major

concern of this work.

The implications of Business English teaching is the subject of the second chapter.

This section reviews some major implications and aspects of teaching ESBP that can

contribute to the overall effectiveness of the teaching/ learning process. It deals first with

learners’ need analysis according to their jobs analysis i.e. position differences then their

expectations from the training. The second point of this chapter deals with the requirement of


3

teaching ESBP. It means the teacher’s skills and knowledge, materials selection and finally

his/her role as a teacher.

The third chapter will be devoted to the content and context of English for specific

business purposes. The first point will deal with the different types of business vocabulary and

what an ESBP teacher needs to know about the content of the subject he or she is teaching to

learners. The second point of the chapter will discuss the different paths that an ESBP teacher

can follow to develop him/herself in mastering the context and content of the specific subject

that he or she will teach.

The last chapter will be a mainly quantitative study of ESBP teacher development in

Oran. It will attempt to define how EFL teachers in this area manage to develop their

professionalism before and while venturing in teaching ESBP in and for companies. The

chapter is an attempt to confirm or not the following research questions’ hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: Very few or none specific training are available for professional

development in teaching ESBP. Different means are accessible for self-development.

Hypothesis 2: Institutions offering ESBP training rarely or never give their recruits pre

or in-service Business language teaching training.

Hypothesis 3: ESBP teaching professional development in Oran is rather through self-

development than with specific teacher’s training.

Chapter One Business English as a Type of ESP

4

CHAPTER ONE

SSppeecciiffiicc BBuussiinneessss EEnngglliisshh aass aa TTyyppee ooff EESSPP

1. Introduction

2. English for Specific Purposes

2.1. Definition

2.2. Aims of ESP

2.3. Types of ESP

2.4. English for Specific Purposes vs. General English

3. Business English

3.1. Types of Business English

3.1.1. English for General Business Purpose (EGBP)

3.1.2. English for Specific Business Purpose (ESBP)

3.2. The Register of Business English

4. Conclusion


5

1. Introduction

Learning English is no more considered as an end in itself, but rather a means to fulfil

specific needs and expectations. Consequently, new trends and different approaches have

been applied to supply the learners’ specific aims and purposes for learning English.

Accordingly, English for Specific Purposes (henceforth ESP) and, almost at the same time,

Business English emerge as new branches in English language teaching (ELT). However, this

chapter will be an attempt to define ESP and Business English and their different types

respectively by reference to relevant published research.

2. English for Specific Purposes:

Since the 1960s, English for Specific Purposes has become an imperative activity

within the Teaching of English as Foreign or Second Language movement influenced by the

growing importance of global English in professional contexts;

“The study of languages for specific purposes has had a long

and interesting history going back, some would say, as far as the

Roman and Greek Empires.”

(Dudley-Evans & St John, 1997: 65)

For Hutchinson & Waters (1987:8) ESP is a phenomenon resulting from human

activities’ development “...ESP was not a planned and coherent movement, but rather a

phenomenon that grew out of a number of converging trends.”

The development of ESP is considered as a logical result of a number of converging

movements which the most important are:

1. The expansion of demand for English after the 2nd

world war to suit specific needs of a

profession.

2. Development in the field of linguistics (the use of language in real communication)

3. Educational psychology (learner’s need and interest have an influence on their

motivation and effectiveness of their learning).


6

“The growth of ESP, then, was brought about by a combination

of three important factors: the expansion of demand for English to suit

particular needs and developments in the fields of linguistics and

educational psychology. All three factors seem to point towards the

need for increased specialisation in language learning.”

(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987:8)

2.1.Definition

However, the definitions of ESP in the literature are relatively late in time, considering

the fact that ESP began in 1960’s. Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 19) defined ESP “...as an

approach not as a product. ESP is not a particular kind of language or methodology, nor

does it consist of a particular type of teaching material.” ESP then is a language learning

approach based on learner needs, founded on the very simple question: “Why do these

learners need to learn English?” Hutchinson & Waters (1987:53). Mackay & Mountford, in

their definition refer to the practical aspect of ESP in that it is ‘generally used to refer to the

teaching of English for a clearly utilitarian purpose’ (Mackay & Mountford 1978:2)

In his definition of ESP, Strevens’ (1988) distinguishes between 1) absolute

characteristics: language teaching is designed to meet specified learner’s need, in relation to

particular discipline, occupation or activities content ; centred on the language proper to those

activities and analysis of the discourse, designed in contrast with General English, and 2) two

variable characteristics: ESP may be limited to the language skills to be learned, e.g. reading

only, and not taught according to any predetermined methodology.

Clearly influenced by Strevens’ definition, Dudley-Evans (1997) defines ESP as:

Absolute Characteristics

1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners

2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves;

3. ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, and register), skills, discourse and

genres appropriate to these activities.


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Variable Characteristics

1. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines.

2. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of

General English.

3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or

in a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school

level.

4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students. Most ESP courses

assume some basic knowledge of the language systems, but it can be used with

beginners.

Robinson (1991) defines ESP on the basis of two criteria; ESP is normally ‘goal-

directed’, and ESP courses develop from a needs analysis which ‘aims to specify as closely as

possible what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English’ (Robinson,

1991:3). She explains, within a number of characteristics, that ESP courses are generally

constrained by a limited time period in which their objectives have to be achieved and are

taught to adults in homogenous classes in terms of the work or specialist studies.

2.2.Aims of ESP

The purpose of ESP is to develop linguistic competences of a specific group of learners

who need the language to perform their activities. For Hutchinson & Waters (1987:21) ‘...ESP

is an approach to language teaching which aims to meet the needs of particular learners.”.

As a consequence, the concept of needs analysis is essential in ESP. In relation to that,

Mackay points out:

“Learning aims can be defined in terms of these specific purposes

to which the language will put, whether it will be reading scientific

papers or communication with technicians in an oil rig”

(Mackay, 1978: 3)

Needs analysis is “the process of determining the needs for which a learner or group

of learners requires a language…” (Richards et al., 1992). Theories in adult learning have

made it clear that adult students seem to be less interested in learning for learning’s sake than


8

in learning to achieve some immediate life goals. From his part, Munby establishes clearly the

place of needs as central to ESP with his model of need analysis (1978).

Thus, in order to establish needs, the target situation for which learners were being

prepared has to be defined. Chambers (1980) describes this latter as follows:

"By the language I mean the language of the target situation. Thus,

needs analysis should be concerned with the establishment of

communicative needs and their realizations, resulting from an

analysis of the communication in the target situation- what I will refer

to from now on as target situation analysis (TSA)."

However, the pedagogic needs analysis comes to complement target-situation needs

analysis. This consists of three types of analysis: deficiency analysis gives us information

about what target-situation needs learners lack or feel they lack (Allwright, 1982); strategy

analysis seeks to establish learners' preferred learning methods and strategies (Allwright,

1982); means analysis examines the educational environment in which the ESP course is to

take place (Swales, 1989). Strongly related to that Mayo mentioned in her paper:

“In looking at the target situation, the ESP course designer is

asking the question «What does the expert communicator need to

know in order to function effectively in this situation? » This

information may be recorded in terms of language items, skills,

strategies, subject knowledge...etc.”

(Mayo, 2006: 216)

In view of this concern, Kaur points in his article that there are various ways of interpreting

‘needs’, the concept of ‘learner needs’ is often interpreted in two ways:

as what the learner wants to do with the language (goal-oriented definition of needs) which

relates to terminal objectives or the end of learning; and

what the learner needs to do to actually acquire the language (a process-oriented definition)

which relates to transitional/means of learning.

Broadly speaking, the aim of ESP courses is to develop in the learners a good command of

receptive skills (i.e. listing and reading) and productive skills (i.e. speaking and writing),


9

ESP

EOP

Pres-experience

Simultaneous/

In-service

Post-experience

EEP/EAP

For study in a specific discipline

Pre-study

In-study

Post-study

As a school subject

Independent

Integrated

mainly required to understand and communicate in language. For Munby (1978 : 57) , ESP

courses are : “Those where the syllabus and the material are determined by the prior analysis

of the communicative needs of the learners”.

2.3. Types of ESP

Traditionally, ESP has been divided into two main areas according to when the ESP

courses take place; Robinson (1991):

English for Occupational Purposes (EOP): involving pre-experience, in-service and post-

experience.

English for Academic Purposes (EAP): for study in a specific discipline (pre-study, in-study

and post-study) and as a school subject (independent and integrated)

However, this classification is presented in a tree diagram in figure 1.3.1

Figure 1.1 ESP classification by experience

(Robinson, 1991: 3)


10

English for Specific Purposes

English for Academic Purposes

English for (Academic) Science and Technology

(EST)

English for (Academic) Medical Purposes (EMP)

English for (Academic) Legal Purposes (ELP)

English for Management, Finance and Economics

English for Professional Purposes

English for Professional Purposes

English for Medical Purposes

English for Business Purposes

English for Vocational Purposes

Pre-vocational English

Vocational English

This diagram has a practical division of courses according to when they take place.

These distinctions affect the degree of specificity adequate to the course.

In Dudley-Evans (1997: 6) EAP and EOP have been divided according to discipline or

professional areas:

English for Academic Purposes (EAP): It involves English for (Academic) Science and

Technology (EST), English for Medical Purposes (EMP), English for Legal Purposes (ELP),

and English for Management, Finance and Economics.

English for Occupational Purposes (EOP): It includes English for Professional Purposes

(English for Medical Purposes, English for Business Purposes: EBP) and English for

Vocational Purposes (Pre-vocational English and Vocational English)

This division is clearly presented in the following figure:

Figure 1.2 ESP classification by professional area

(Dudley-Evans, 1997: 6)


11

In this classification the term EOP refers to English that is not for academic purposes,

but rather professional ones relative to administration, medicine, law and business, and

vocational purposes for non-professionals in work or pre-work situations. Thus, a distinction

is made between studying the language and the discourse of any given discipline, for

example, medicine for academic purposes is intended for medical students. When studying for

occupational purposes means those courses designed for General Practitioners.

What is to be noticed is that this classification places English for Business Purposes as

type within EOP, when sometimes seen as separate from EOP; “as it involves a lot of General

English as well as Specific Purposes English, and also because it is such a large and

important category” (Dudley-Evans, 1997: 7)

From their part, Knight, Lomperis, van Naerssen & Westerfield (2010) further clarify

ESP when they divide language learners who need ESP into two categories:

-Language learners who are in the process of developing expertise in their fields need English

communication skills as tools in their training.

-Language learners who are already experts in their fields need English communication skills

as tools in their work. To illustrate this, Harmer says that:

“An Air Traffic controller needs English to guide aircraft

through skies... the businessman may need English for international

trade...”

(Harmer, 1983: 1)

Along with EOP and EAP, English for Science and Technology (EST) has developed

rapidly during the last few years. It aims at developing the different communicative skills that

the learners will use in their job or their research as well. As pointed by Widdowson:

“A knowledge of EST can derive from what the student knows

of science and the function of his own language in association with

what he has learnt of English usage”

(Widdowson, 1979:47)


12

Swales (1985) suggested a diagram about EST through which he presents the division

of topics according to subject matter:

Figure 1.3 English for Science and Technology

(Swales, 1985: X)

2.4.English for Specific Purposes Vs. General English

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and General English (GE) are the two branches of

English Language Teaching (ELT). GE and ESP share the same principles which are effective

and efficient learning as the main objective. In this respect Hutchinson and Waters point out:

“Though the content of learning may vary there is no reason to

suppose that the processes of learning should be any different for the

ESP learner than for the General English learner.”

(Hutchinson and Waters, 1991: 18)

They continue and claim that there is no methodology specific for teaching ESP but

methodologies that have been applied in ESP classrooms, and which could have been used in

the learning of any kind of English. For Barnard and Zemach (2003: 306), ESP should not be

regarded as a distinct division of ELT but simply an area whose courses are usually focused in

their objectives and use of more restricted range of topics. Moreover, ESP courses: “...are

quite commonly viewed as miniature versions of regular ELT courses with appropriate

specialist vocabulary worked into them” (Cowan, Payne, ed.: 1979).

EST

Science

Earth Sciences

Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Chemistry Physics Maths

Engineering & Technology

Mechanical Electric Civil Chemical


13

For Holme (1996), the process of specialisation of ESP should not result in the total

separation of one part of the language from another:

“One cannot simply hack off pieces of a language or of skills

and then expect them to exist independently of anything else. Every

discipline refers to others and each draws on the same reservoir of

language”

(Holmes, 1996: 3)

In fact, the main difference between ESP and GE lies in the awareness of a need. As

stated by Hutchinson and Waters:

“What distinguishes ESP from General English is not the

existence of a need as such but rather an awareness of the need. If

learners, sponsors and teachers know why the learners need English,

that awareness will have an influence on what will be acceptable as

reasonable content in the language course and, on the positive side,

what potential can be exploited.”

(Hutchinson and Waters, 1991: 53)

And they continue later;

‘... a definable need to communicate in English that distinguishes the

ESP learner from the learner of General English.’

(ibid: 54)

Strongly related to that Bastrurkmen mentions:

“Whereas General English Language teaching tends to set

out from point A toward an often pretty indeterminate destination,

setting sail through largely uncharted waters, ESP aims to speed

learners through to a known destination.”

(Bastrurkmen, 2006: 9)

However, she means by “to speed learners” going from A to a definite B in the most

time and energy- efficient manner. This leads to consider ESP as an essentially practical

endeavour.


14

3. Business English

Business English is the English required when we do business. It is about teaching

English to adults or university students, working or preparing to work in a business

environment. Many non-native English speakers study the subject with the goal of doing

business with English-speaking countries, or with companies located outside the Anglosphere

but which nonetheless use English as a shared language or lingua franca. It involves teaching

English to adults working in business of one kind or another, or preparing to work in the field

of business (Donna, 2010:2).

It is a part of ESP:

“Business English must be seen in the overall context of English

for Specific Purposes (ESP), as it shares the important elements of

needs analysis, syllabus design, course design, and material selection

and development which are common to all fields of work in ESP”

(Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 3)

Nevertheless, they regard Business English as different from other varieties of ESP in

that;

“...it is often a mix of specific content (relating to a particular job

area or industry), and general content (relating to general ability to

communicate more effectively, albeit in business situations).”

(ibid: 3)


15

Frendo defines Business English as;

“... an umbrella term for a mixture of general everyday English,

general business English, and ESP. It is not limited to words or

phrases that only appears in some special business world”

(Frendo, 2005: 7)

He even considers Business English as a new type of English, a lingua franca that non-

native speakers use in Business communication and which has developed and is developing to

meet their needs.

Abarca (2010), in her definition of Business English, states:

“The term can be used to describe courses that range from an

essentially English for General English Business course that includes

the teaching of some business lexis, to very specific courses, either in

particular skills such as participating in or chairing meetings or

report writing, or in particular disciplines such as finance or

marketing”

(Moreno,2010: 100)

Moreover, Pickett (1986) emphasises on the fact that there is more than one face to

business communication with one of it being “a lot nearer to everyday language spoken by

the general public than many other segments of ESP” (1986: 6). For this purpose, he uses a

diagrammatic representation in which he suggests two particular aspects to business

communication; communication with the public (external to the company) and

communication within a company or between companies:


16

General English

communication with public

Business English

communication among businesses

specialised language of particular businesses

(such as insurance, pharmaceuticals)

Figure 1.4 Pickett representation

(Dudley-Evans & St John , 1998:55)

However, for Dudley-Evans & St John (1998) the distinction made by Pickett is not

fine enough for today’s wide-raging business activities. According to them, the language

requirement even within a particular business can differ and consequently: ‘The purposes of

the interactions, the topics covered and the professional relationships will all affect the choice

of language” (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998: 55). In the same respect, Ellis & Johnson point

out:

“As with other varieties of ESP, Business English implies the

definition of a specific language corpus and emphasis on particular kinds

of communication in a specific context.”


3.1. Types of Business English

In the same way as ESP can be divided into English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

and English for Professional Purposes (EPP), we can talk of English for General Business

Purposes (EGBP) and English for Specific Business Purposes (ESBP).


17

3.1.1. English for General Business Purpose (EGBP)

It is Business English for pre-experience learners or those at the very early stages of their

career (Dudley-Evans & St John , 1998:55). Language is taught within groups, which are

usually formed on the basis of language level rather than job in a very theoretical way.

“Pre-experience learners will have two kinds of needs: (1) Their

present situation may require them to read textbooks in English or

follow lectures in English in order to gain the qualifications they are

seeking...(2) they will need to prepare for their future working life in

Business.”


In relation to that Frendo states that:

“Pre-experienced learners have little or no experience of the

business world. Typically, they are learning business English because

they intend to follow a business career; they may be university

students, for example, or even secondary school students. Because of

their lack of experience they will often need to teacher to provide a

window on the business world”

(Frendo, 2005: 1)

In such courses, the business language is presented through listening and/ or reading,

followed by exercises to practise grammar and vocabulary, and to develop fluency in one or

more of the four skills. They are similar to general EFL courses with the materials put in

business contexts (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998:55).

Nevertheless, this kind of knowledge remains insufficient and very theoretical, far

from real-life business situation, as stated by Ellis & Johnson:

“They will be less aware of their language needs in terms of

communicating in real-life business situation, and their expectations

of language learning will be moulded by their experiences from

school, and thus by the educational policies of the country in which

they grew up.”



18

Besides, this kind of learners are preparing for examination. “The examination

curriculum will provide the basis for the syllabus and will set out very specific objectives for

the course.” (Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 6). Consequently, the task of setting objectives will not

be left to the teacher or to the learners themselves.

3.1.2. English for Specific Business Purposes (ESBP)

English for Specific Business Purposes means Business English taught for job-

experienced learners (Ellis & Johnson: 1994) or “who bring business knowledge and skills to

the language-learning situation” (Dudley-Evans & St John,1997: 56). Courses are frequently

intensive in small groups of 6-8 and senior staff may opt for one-to-one tuition. In this kind of

courses “the practical use of language will be more important than theoretical knowledge

about the language” (Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 6). Business persons are in need of these courses

to be able to achieve more in their jobs. In other words, they come to the language course to

learn to perform in English; tasks that they can already perform in their mother tongue. As

stated by Frendo:

“Job-experienced learners know a lot about their business and

their own jobs, and often have very precise notions about why they

need business English. In contrast to pre-experienced learners, they

do not need or expect the teacher to help them understand the world

of business.”

(Frendo, 2005: 1)

In the case of Job-experienced learners, as in (Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 6), the objectives

for the course and its content are the product of a negotiating process between the learners or

the sponsor and the trainer. The training parameters are flexible and it is quite difficult to give

a precise assessment on the training success.


19

3.2. The Register of Business English

A language register is considered by McCarthy (1990) as a result of

vocabulary choice governed by a set of elements and the relationship between them:

‘Vocabulary choice is significantly governed by who is saying

what, to whom, when, and why. It is this relationship between the

content of a message, its sender and receiver, its situation and

purpose, and how it is communicated, which is often called register.’

(McCarthy, 1990: 61)

Sharing the same idea, Halliday (1978) considers registers as the language used in

different situations. He defines language registers based on the three recognised parameters:

field (what is happening or activities involved), tenor (participants’ status and roles) and mode

(type of language and communication channels). Considering register as a functional variety

of language, he also associates three functions of the language with these three situational

dimensions: the field is shown in the experiential meanings of the text the tenor is found in the

interpersonal function, and the mode in the textual meanings.

The main motive behind register analysis was the pedagogic one of making the ESP

course more relevant to learners’ needs. The aim is to focus on what is called the elements of

sentences (vocabulary and grammar). The assumption behind this analysis is that, while the

grammar of ESP writing does not differ from that of General English, certain grammatical and

lexical forms are used much more frequently. These are what constitute a register.

“Changing approaches to linguistic analysis for ESP involve

not only change in method but also changing ideas of what is to be

included in language and its description.”

(Robinson, 1991: 230)

About the same point Mackay and Mountford (1978) mention:

“The only practical way in which we can understand the notion of special

language is as a restricted repertoire of words and expressions selected

from the whole language because that restricted repertoire covers every

requirement within a well-defined context, task or vocation.”

(Mackay and Mountford,1978: 4)


20

For Sinclaire (1979: 39) the notion of language variety contributes to the description

of specialised forms, he adds: “...recognisably different situations were likely to involve

different selections or structures, vocabulary and even phonology or writing convention.”

According to Frendo (2005: 6) a group of people use language in different ways which

are not as familiar to outsiders; “they use specialist word to make communication, within the

group, easier and more efficient. Every profession does this”.

Unfortunately, and as noted by Dudley-Evans & St John (1998: 64-65), much of the

business language research has been on written documents, yet spoken transactions are

essential to business. On the other hand, little of the research has given importance to

interaction between no-native speakers though this kind of communication remains

predominant internationally. Moreover, they state, as Robinson (1991), that there was no

specific core grammar and lexis for Business English, “but some broad areas to focus on”.

They add later: “...there is not as yet an established ‘common-core’ of business Language in

the way that there is in EAP” (p. 79). Brieger (1997) discusses the grammar and lexis of

Business English but only in terms of who is talking to whom and in what situation. His

definition of Business English is much concerned with its pedagogical side rather than any

linguistic analysis of the language of business.

But what distinguishes Business English language from other specific English

languages is the fact that it is a mixture of general everyday English, general business English,

and ESP (Frendo, 2005: 7). As pointed out by Dudley-Evans & St John:

“We see business English as an umbrella term used similarly, to

the term English for Specific Purposes to embrace both general

courses in the appropriate lexis and grammar for business

communication.”


Besides, as noted by Pickett (1986) it is a lot closer to the everyday language spoken

by the general public than many other types of ESP. In his view (1986: 16) Business English

is close to general English when Business topics are communicated with the public; it is more

specific when it occurs in communication among businesses and it is highly specific when it

is within particular businesses such as insurance or pharmaceuticals. He even considers


21

Business English as a dialect which is defined by an activity, occupation, subject matter or

situation, i.e. a ‘work language variety’. For this he coined the term ergolect-work language to

replace the term register used for many years by linguists. This ergolect is created by the

poetics of business language. Consequently, general language flows into the Business English

situations and adopts new combinations and meanings. These meanings are classified

according to their comprehensibility. Thus, there is lexis of business created by the process of

poetics which result in a layering of language. Pickett compares Business English to ‘lay-

language’:

“Conversely, of course, the extent to which it departs from lay

language depends more on the nature of the business than on any

autonomous subject area it occupies all to itself. Thus if we take three

different firms, one in insurance, one in pharmaceuticals and one in

fashion, their language to the public will be much the same and no

more specialised than can be avoided. Their internal specialist

languages, however, will be respectively those of insurance,

pharmaceuticals and fashion, not business in general.”

(Pickett, 1986:1)

He argues that Business transactions, and consequently, a large part of business

language, are ruled by common actions that take place in any kind business, e.g. the Bill of

Lading, the VAT enquiry etc. (1986:2). This is certainly true concerning written

communication and Pickett argues that it must also be true to a certain degree in spoken

exchanges of a ritual nature, for example, the committee meeting and the annual staff

interview. Nevertheless, spoken language is less easy to describe:

“...what makes for real business communication is a whole

gamut of subtly graded conversations sensitive to the subject matter,

the occasion, the shared knowledge and social relationships holding

between speakers.”

(Pickett 1986: 2)


22

4. Conclusion

This section gave an overview of the different definitions of ESP in general and Business

English in particular available in the literature. Through these definitions, one can notice that

what mainly characterises an ESP course is the strong focus on learners’ needs. In fact, a good

analysis of these needs determines the degree of motivation of ESP/ BE learners and thus the

success or failure of the teaching/learning process.

Chapter Two Teaching ESBP Implications

23

CHAPTER TWO

TTeeaacchhiinngg EESSBBPP iimmpplliiccaattiioonnss

1. Introduction

2. ESBP learners

2.1.Needs analysis

2.1.1. Placement testing

2.2. Job analyses

2.2.1. Position differences:

a. Managers as learners

b. Technical staff as learners

c. Secretaries and clerical workers as learners

1.3. Learners’ expectations

3-Teaching ESBP

2.1. Requirements

2.1.1. Knowledge

2.1.2. Skills

2.2. Material selection in ESBP teaching:

2.2.1. The training objective

2.2.1. Credibility and attractiveness

2.2.3. Use of authentic material in ESBP teaching

2.3. The role of the ESBP teacher

4- ESBP Teaching Contexts

5- Conclusion


24

1. Introduction

This chapter reviews some major implications and aspects of teaching ESBP that can

contribute to the overall effectiveness of the teaching/ learning process. In fact, Business

people attending BE courses have different expectations and needs which necessary change

our teaching’s content and manner. As William Bradridge states it; ‘teaching Business

English means saying goodbye to crowded classrooms of unmotivated noisy teens and hello to

negotiating your own time schedule and better pay with very motivated and highly intelligent

professionals’

2. ESBP learners

2.1.Needs analyses

Needs analysis is the first step in course design and it provides validity and relevancy

for all subsequent course design activities (Johns, 1991). It is “the process of determining the

needs for which a learner or group of learners requires a language…” (Richards et al.,

1992). In fact, learners’ needs analysis is an attempt to make students aware of their learning

needs. As claimed by Brookfield:

‘Many researchers have decided that it is just as important to

study learning from the learner’s viewpoint as it is to study how

teachers view their students’ learning.’

(Brookfield, 1990: 35)

From her part Schleppegrell states that the particularity of ESP learners, and

consequently BE ones, remains in the fact that they bring to class reason for learning English

and a real life context for its use; they should have knowledge of the specific vocation the

course is addressing, well-developed learning strategies as well. (Kral, 1996)


25

Indeed, the fact that learners are conscious of the reason why they are learning a

language is a great advantage on both sides of the teaching/ learning process. The learners are

consequently motivated, and this enables the teacher to meet learners’ needs and expectations

more easily.

Richards (2005) identifies the following purposes for needs analysis:

- To help determine if an existing course adequately addresses the need of potential

students.

- To determine which students from a group are most in need of training in particular

language skills.

- To identify a gap between what students are able to do and what they need to be able

to do.

- To collect information about a particular problem learners are experiencing.

Donna (2000) suggests arranging interviews in order to confirm initial comments or

conclusions about needs. However, these interviews include ones with in-company course

coordinators, others with learners’ managers for better overview of training needs and

requirements, and interviews with individual students to analyse learners’ precise needs.

Beside, as Donna mentions:

‘Interviews with students can also help motivation because

your clearly focused questions will make it clear to students that you

are interested in improving the language they need to use at work.’

(Donna, 2000: 13)

About the same point Schleppegrell states;

‘The purpose of a needs assessment is fourfold; first, the

teacher must become acquainted with the sponsoring institution and

its requirement. Second, the needs assessment identifies how learners

will use English in their technical fields... thirds; the needs assessment

gives the teacher initial insight about the prospective students’ current


26

level of performance in English. Fourth, the needs assessment

provides an opportunity to collect samples of authentic texts...’

(Kral, 1996: 237)

From their part Hutchinson & Waters (1987:59) propose a simple framework

to outline the type of information that an instructor needs to gather in order to analyse

the learners’ target needs;

Why is language needed?

- for study;

- for work;

- for training;

- for a combination of these;

- for some other purposes, e.g. status, examination, promotion

How will the language be used?

- Medium: speaking, writing, reading, etc.;

- Channel: e.g. telephone, face to face;

- Types of text or discourse: e.g. academic text, lectures, catalogues, etc.

What will the content areas be?

- Subjects: e.g. medicine, biology, commerce, shipping, etc.;

- Level: technician, craftsman, postgraduate, etc.

Where will the language be used?

- Physical setting: e.g. office, lecture theatre, hotel, workshop, library;

- Human context: alone, meetings, demonstrations, on telephone;

- Linguistic context: e.g. in own country, abroad.

Who will the learner use the language with?

- Native speakers or non-native;

- Level of knowledge of receiver: e.g. expert, layman, student;

- Relationship: e.g. colleague, teacher, customer, superior, subordinate.


27

When will the language be used?

- Concurrently with the ESP course or subsequently;

- Frequently, seldom, in small amounts, in large chunks.

Nevertheless, what must be pointed out is that the teacher shouldn’t explore and consider

needs only before setting up a course of instruction; in fact, needs analysis also plays a role in

refining and evaluating ongoing ESP courses (Basturkmen, 2010).

As stated by Donna;

‘Although the process of needs analysis should be started

before a course begins, it should certainly also continue throughout a

course if students’ needs are to be identified correctly and

satisfactorily filled.’

(Donna, 2000: 124)

2.1.1. Placement Testing

Along with interviews, placement testing is crucial to determine the learner’s level. The

objective behind this is to constitute homogenous learning groups. In addition, as perceived

by Champeau de Lopez, this kind of testing helps the teacher to be aware of the schemata or

knowledge structures the learners possess; ‘What is their background Knowledge or

experience with relation to the material to be studied?’ (Kral, 1996: 12). These schemata

concern two general areas: “content” schemata, or background knowledge of the content area

under study, and “formal” schemata, the knowledge regarding the language itself, rhetorical

structure of reading texts, etc. (Carrell 1983).

Business English placement testing can be based on in-house or commercially

produced tests. They cover productive as well as receptive skills via written tests and oral

interviews.


28

2.1.2. Job analyses

The first stage in identifying the learners and finding out what are their needs is to look at

the kind of jobs they are doing in their company. The aim of this step is to shape the language

training according to the needs of each job’s category and the different kinds of business

language as well. As Frendo founds:

“The basic aim of a needs analysis is to collect, and examine

critically, information about the current situation, in other words

where the learners are before teaching begins, and the target

situation, which is where they would like to be at the end of the

teaching.”

(Frendo, 2005: 15)

2.1.2.1.Position differences

Ellis & Johnson (1994) draws a distinction between three very broad categories taking

into account position criteria: managerial, technical, and secretarial/clerical position.

a. Managers as Learners

Because of the demands of their job, managers represent the largest proportion of

those who seek language training. It is in relation with the nature of their tasks within the

company since they work with international affairs and who consequently travel most and

deal most with people from other countries in face-to-face situations.

However, individual instruction is arranged to managers regarding their tight

schedules. Naturally, they want their course to be as specific and as adequate to their job

needs as possible. They require advanced language skills “...with a high degree of refinement

in terms of accuracy and appropriacy.” (Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 58).


29

b. Technical staff as learners

We mean by ‘technical staff’ those people who have an engineering or other

specialized background. They need to talk in more specific detail about highly technical

aspects of their job. They may be team leaders or project managers with responsibility for

developing a new product.

“The problem for those people will be to communicate complex

ideas which may be hard for those outside their field to comprehend

fully. They therefore need excellent communication strategies...”


In fact, with this kind of learners, the technical terminology is rarely a difficulty. Most

of them already know the technical terms relating to their jobs, and many of these terms may

be universal.

c. Secretaries and Clerical Workers as Learners

Executive secretaries act as assistants to senior managers and carry a lot of

responsibility. They may be in frequent contact with people from other countries. So,

advanced language skills with a high degree of refinement is required. Department secretaries,

on the other hand, have much less international contact unless it is in a department which

deals internationally. Nevertheless, they may occasionally receive calls or have to write

correspondence in English. Broadly speaking, secretaries may need;

“...to be accurate, to use appropriate levels of politeness, and

to know conventions and formulaic language.”


It is meant by clerical workers; receptionist, telephonists, book-keepers and accounts

clerks, sales support staff, import-export staff, computer operators… etc. Their job may

require them to read manuals or follow instructions written in English. Those who have to

communicate by telephone or fax will need to learn appropriate expressions.


30

2.2.Learners’ expectation

Unlike young children and teenagers, adult learners have a clear understanding of why

they are learning and what they want to get out. They have expectations about the learning

process, and come into the classroom with a rich range of experiences which allow teachers to

use a wide range of activities.

“The expectations of business people can differ substantially

from those of secondary and tertiary level students and place very

different demands on providers of ESP courses.”

(Dudley-Evans & St John,1997: 65)

These expectations may concern the physical resources, the management of the course

and the learning strategies. However, this kind of learners may expect to attend in groups of

no more than 6-8 people, or to have one-to-one tuition in intensive courses since time is a

valuable product for them. Thus, each session needs to be well paced with clear objectives to

avoid any waste of time. The state of places where the courses are held is very important;

“…carpets, whiteboard, overhead projectors, small tables and

comfortable chairs are minimum requirement and handouts need to be

more up-market than the ubiquitous wads of blurred photocopies.”

(Dudley-Evans & St John, 1997:66)

In addition, learning strategies need to be tuned according to the group’s needs, and

their work style to get the maximum involved within the course. The teacher may bring

learners with extra material to be use outside the class as individual learning; listening to

audio types when travelling to work can be very practical, or CD-ROMs can be also very

practical to be used at home or even in the office.

Moreover, Business English learners need to feel they are being treated respectively

whatever their level in English. Undeniably, addressing learners appropriately is essential in


31

the Business English context (Donna, 2011). This will make them more willing to cooperate

with the teacher;

‘Addressing students appropriately –as respected equals- is a

key to developing an appropriate relationship with students, as well as

being motivating and useful in practical terms.’

(Donna, 2000: 124)

3. Teaching ESBP

3.1. Requirements

3.1.1. Knowledge

Cochran-Smith and Lytle: 1993 ( from I.Arends & Kilcher , 2010: 12) identifies the

importance of making distinctions between two kinds of teacher knowledge: (1) knowledge

about effective practice (or information about education); and (2) knowledge about one’s own

practice. The first kind consists of information in the form of theory and research that

provides knowledge about practice i.e. information about education. This includes knowledge

about subject matters, about how students learn, and about how and why to use particular

instructional strategies. A second kind of knowledge is knowledge of one’s own practice. This

is knowledge about particular practices individual teachers use in their classrooms and the

effects these have on students’ motivation and learning.

About language teacher’s knowledge J. Fox states:

‘A teacher of language thus needs to be knowledgeable in

three areas: the nature of language per se, and of the relation of the

native language to second languages under study; secondly, methods

for teaching the target language; and thirdly, what the student brings

linguistically, psychologically and culturally to the study of the

foreign language.’

(J. Fox, 1979: 13)

What is important to stress is that Business English teacher is primary a language

teacher. He or she does not need to be an expert in any particular business. Nevertheless,


32

being able to talk intelligently to learners about their work is of a great importance that the

teacher should be seen as an expert in presenting and explaining that kind of language that

learners’ are in need of.

According to Hutchinson & Waters (1987); ESP teachers require three main things

which are: 1) a positive attitude towards the content; 2) a knowledge of the fundamental

principle of the subject area; 3) an awareness of how much they probably already know. In

short, those elements which bring the teacher ‘the ability to ask intelligent questions’

(Hutchinson & Waters :1987). So, Business English teachers should not be a teacher of

subject matter, but rather an interested student of the subject matter.

3.1.2. Skills

According to Goodwin (1997) an accomplished teacher is:

‘Self-reflective and self-critical, prepared to experiment, able to

provide appropriate guidance and response, tolerant and promotes

tolerance amongst learners, an excellent communicator, clear,

articulate and responsive to others.’

(Goodwin, 1997: 123)

From his part Brookfield goes further and defines the perfect teachers as;

‘Teachers who care passionately about their practice can

easily become obsessed with a role model of the exemplary teacher.

This role model offers a perfectly balanced composite of admired

behaviours and personality traits.’


Hence, EGBP teaching may not differ totally from that of General English in

methodology but nevertheless, there is one basic difference that may affect the methodology

and becomes more evident as the teaching become more specific:


33

“...this that the teacher is not the position of being the

‘primary knower’ of the carrier content of the material.”


On the other hand, a minimum command of the language the teacher is teaching, at

least adequate for class purposes. The teacher will need a reasonable understanding of the

material he is teaching with. When, for example, teaching writing a business report, it is

essential that the teacher adopts the position of the consultant. So, a minimum knowledge of

the expressions and techniques for writing such business document is required.

The management of learning is a crucial part of teacher’s classroom skills to learn how

to assess from moment to moment the progress of each learner and how to manage the

activities so that most able learners are not bored by being held back, while the slowest are

not frustrated by being left behind. In fact, the teacher should make research about the

students learning experience as claimed by Brookfield:

‘As a critically responsive teacher, your practice exhibits a

constant interplay between action and analysis. Although you are

guided by a clearly defined organizing vision, you change your

methods, content, and evaluative criteria as you come to know more

about the ways these are perceived by students. Which knowledge and

skills to explore next and how best to examine these are decisions

made in the midst of the teaching activity itself, rather than being

planned in detail from the outset.’


For Dudley-Evans & St John (1997), a skilful ESP teacher is the one with the

willingness to be flexible and to take risks when teaching;

“ESP teachers also need to have a great deal of flexibility, be

willing to listen to learners, and to take an interest in the disciplines

or professional activities the students are involved in.... ESP teachers

must also be happy to take some risks in their teaching.”



34

Beside professional skills, personal skills are in equal importance to the former. First,

it is essential to have an outgoing personality, to like contact and interaction with people. A

second skill is to be a good negotiator. Some learners, particularly managers, are used to

dictate their own terms. So, in this kind of situation, it is important for the teacher to establish

his or her credibility and professionalism so as to negotiate with tact and diplomacy the way

to structure the course and agree the principles on which to work.

For Ellis & Johnson (1994); anyone thinking of Business English teaching as a career

needs to ask him or herself these questions:

- Do I really like people?

- Am I open-minded?

- Am I good at handling people?

- Am I genuinely interested in business topics?

3.2. Material selection in ESBP teaching

The instructor selects materials and activities to move from an input to a task, and to

teach language in a specific business context. This latter helps identify vocabulary and other

language components and the situations in which they are employed. ‘ESP courses do not use

artificial tasks that teach arbitrary vocabulary and drill grammatical structures out of

context.’ (Shleppergrell, 1994: 234)

Moreover, the teacher should select the teaching material according to given criteria;

3.2.1. The training objective

The teacher needs to choose suitable published materials and look for extra material

when the available ones are not suitable or enough to reach the course objective;

“ESP practitioners often have to plan the course they teach and

provide the materials for it. It is rarely possible to use a particular

textbook without the need for supplementary material, and sometimes


35

no really suitable published material exist for certain of the identified

needs”


The teacher needs also to assess the effectiveness of the used material whether this

latter is published or self produced. Because materials are the teacher’s partner in the course;

they must be well selected. As Sim mentions in her article:

‘Teaching Business English is more than just teaching

English, it is more challenging as it involves highly specific goals

which ask for carefully selected materials and activities. It is about

business as well, so professional skills and language skills are equally

needed.’

Dudley-Evans & St John (1997) give four reasons for using materials which seem

significant in ESP context; 1) as a source of language, 2) as a learning support, 3) for

motivation and stimulation and 4) for reference. Therefore, the material as the language

medium (source and reference) must be selected “to reflect the skills and content needs of

the learners at an appropriate language level” (Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 127).

They suggest three initial questions to ask when selecting materials:

1- Will the materials stimulate and motivate?

2- To what extent does the material match the stated learning objectives and your learning

objectives?

3- To what extent will the materials support that learning?

3.2.2. Credibility and attractiveness

There is a large range of different teaching publications available; they can save the

teacher a lot of work. On the other hand, they provide a solid framework to work with, which

is particularly useful for the less experienced teacher or one who is under time pressure.

Since, many of the pedagogic decisions, such as course content and methodology, are already

made. They are designed with a professional look which is normally important and attractive


36

for Business English learners. In addition, many of these coursebooks come as a part of a

package that includes supplementary materials for the learners, self-study materials, audio and

video resources... Nevertheless, these coursebooks can’t fit in one hundred percent the needs

of learners that is why the teacher needs to bring additional material or adapt these

coursebooks as Frendo mentions:

“... Business English teaching is about meeting the needs of

the learners and /or their sponsors, and it is rare that a coursebook

can do this completely successfully without any additional material, or

without being adapted in some way...They can include culturally

inappropriate content,...”

(Frendo, 2005: 43)

As cited above, the cultural background of the learners must be taken into

consideration. However, “the trainer should also be familiar with the cultural preferences and

taboos of the region where they are working” (Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 25). The solution is to

choose a neutral material or just an adequate one to suit the culture of the learners because such

kind of detail can raise objection among the learners.

One point that must be taken into consideration when selecting the material is the age

of the learners. However, different types of activities are likely to appeal to different age

groups. Games and imaginative activities will probably attract young learners, when more

‘formal’ activities are adequate to older learners especially those holding top positions in the

company.

On the other hand, the credibility of the materials’ content used by the teacher is very

important. Since, it is designed for learners who are familiar with the business world and

unfortunately these materials have been written by people who do not have enough knowledge

about that world. This may call into question the credibility of the course. Indeed and as stated

by Dr Djaileb (2012): “The material used in the classroom should be realistic and updated.”


37

3.2.3. The use of authentic material in ESBP teaching

The structures intended to be taught for Business English learners are basically the

same with those taught for General English students. The difference is in context and

vocabulary. Thus, vocabulary can be best learnt in context that is why authentic materials are

recommended in ESP teaching. As clearly mentioned by Dr Djaileb in her unpublished

dissertation; “A text can be authentic in the context which it was written, and this is the case

of ESP” (2012).

Nunan (1989: 540) described an authentic material as: “any material which has not

been specifically produced for the purpose of language teaching”. For Bacon & Finnemann

(1990): “Authentic materials are texts produced by native speakers for a non-pedagogical

purpose”. The same definition is given by Jordan (1986:113). Rogers and Medley (1988: 467)

consider them as “appropriate” and “quality” in terms of goals, objectives, learner needs and

interest and “natural” referring to real life and meaningful communication. An authentic

material can be spoken as written, from different sources like newspapers / magazines, radio,

television/ video, internet and so on.

Authentic Materials (Adams, 1995)

Non-Authentic Materials (Miller, 2003)

Language data produced for real life

communication purposes.

They may contain false starts, and

incomplete sentences.

They are useful for improving the

communicative aspects of the

language.

They are specially designed for

learning purposes.

The language used in them is

artificial. They contain well formed

sentences all the time.

They are useful for teaching

grammar.

Figure 2.1 Authentic Vs Non-authentic Materials

Indeed, the use of authentic text and materials in general is beneficial in the specific

language learning process. It increases learners’ motivation and make them be exposed to the

real language. Nevertheless, the questions about the situations in which authentic materials

should be introduced and how they should be used remain controversial.


38

However, most of the teachers agree that authentic texts or materials are beneficial to

the language learning process since they increase students’ motivation for learning and make

the learner be exposed to the real language, but what is controversial is when authentic

materials should be introduced and how they should be used in a language classroom.

In her article, Sim lists the advantages of using authentic materials in Business English

courses in six points:

1. Authentic materials provide exposure to real language, to a reality level of

Business English.

2. Authentic materials drawn from periodicals are always up-to-date and constantly

being updated.

3. Authentic materials relate more closely to learners’ needs and provide them with a

source of up-to-date relevant materials for learning Business English.

4. Authentic materials have a positive effect on learner motivation.

5. Authentic materials provide authentic cultural information.

6. Authentic materials offer a more creative approach to teaching.

Nevertheless, some authentic texts often contain difficult vocabulary items and

complex language structures, which can cause a burden for the teacher in lower-level classes

(Martinez, 2002: 253). Some researchers claim that authentic materials can be used with

intermediate and advanced level students only Kilickaya (2004) and Kim (2000), when others

believe that all levels of students even lower levels, are able to manage using authentic

materials (McNeil, 1994; Miller, 2005). The solution might be for teachers to be thoughtful

enough to decide when and how to introduce authentic materials taking into account

especially the students’ level of English. When considering the use of authentic materials,

Widdowson wrote:

“It has been traditionally supposed that the language presented

to learners should be simplified in some way for easy access and

acquisition. Nowadays, there are recommendations that the language

presented should be authentic”

(Widdowson, 1990: 670)


39

In addition, Lee (1995) lists four important factors to be taken into consideration when

selecting authentic materials; first, textual authenticity; second, suitability of content; third,

compatibility with course objectives; and fourth, exploitability. From his part, Breen (1985)

identifies four types of authenticity within language teaching. He points out that these types

are in continual interrelationship with one another during any language lesson. They include:

1. Authenticity of the texts which we may use as input data for our learners.

2. Authenticity of the learners’ own interpretations of such texts.

3. Authenticity of tasks conductive to language learning.

4. Authenticity of the actual social situation of the language classroom.

3.3.The role of the ESBP teacher

Generally speaking, a thoughtful and intelligent way of looking at the world, a

willingness and ability to learn, having some knowledge of the academic world, the ability to

work well in a team, the ability to listen to and motivate his/her learners, highly developed

critical thinking are all important characteristics of a successful ESBP teacher. In addition,

language teachers have such responsibility as to keep context and comprehensibility primary

in their instruction to select and adapt authentic materials for use in class.

ESBP teacher, as an ESP teacher, should have several roles which require both content

and formal schema knowledge in Business English because a language teaching program,

according to Bell (1981), consists of three stages; input, process and output. The first stage

includes determination of student needs, material preparation and designing of syllabus. The

second stage is the implementation of the program and last stage is the assessment of the

students’ performance and reorganizing the program for the following year. For this reason,

the teacher needs to be a course designer and material provider for the first stage. Due to the

variation and continuous changes in the scientific world, it is rarely possible to use a

particular textbook without the need for supplementary material and sometimes no really

suitable published material exist to meet student needs. Therefore, teachers often have to

provide the material for the course.

“The role of ESP teachers as ‘providers of material’ thus

involves choosing suitable published material, adapting material


40

when published material is not suitable, or even writing material

where nothing suitable exists.”


Secondly, the teacher should be a facilitator to function well in the process stage; in

learner-centred, task-based, interactive learning contexts, language learning becomes a

collaborative effort where the teacher’s role is that of an advisor and facilitator of student’s

communicative attempts (Dudley-Evans & Jo St John, 1997).

Lastly, the teacher is expected to be an evaluator in the output stage of the program

because he is often involved in various types of evaluation, testing of students, evaluation of

courses and teaching materials to assess whether the learners have been able to make use of

what they learned and to find out what they need to be taught, and this during all course

duration.

“Evaluation course design and teaching materials should be

done while the course is being taught, at the end of the course and

after the course has finished.”


It is obvious that the role of the language teacher in general and Business English

teacher in particular is not as simple as it formerly was. Everyday researchers are discovering

new aspects that may play a part in language learning. Today, for Champeau de Lopez (1996),

knowledge of the linguistic structure of the language is only one of the requirements of a good

language teacher. Thus, the teacher should have background knowledge of the social

environment that influences the learner, social and cultural aspects of the target language and

techniques for analysing certain psychological characteristics of learners. She adds later:

‘For a language is much more than lists of vocabulary and

sets of grammar rules, and language learning is not simply a matter of

acquiring a system of linguistic formulas. Language is a form of

communication among individuals in a specific social context. But

even more than that, language is a way of thinking and of processing

information.’

(Kral, 1996: 16)


41

According to Champeau de Lopez, the teacher is in the central position in the teaching/

learning process and in order to perform his role correctly he should have access to three main

types of information about the learners: (1) psychological factors, (2) personal needs, and (3)

social factors. She illustrates the way to use these types of information along with linguistic

knowledge for effective teaching in the following figure:

Figure 2.2 The teacher’s central position

( Kral, 1996: 12)

Information about Students

1. Psychological factors

a. schemata

b. cognitive style

c. affective factors

2. personal needs

Language Teacher

(with knowlege of linguistics, pedagogy, educational psychology & sociology )

Selection of appropriate materials

(1a;2)

Presentation of materials

(1b)

creation of affective environment conducive to

learning

(1c; 3a & 3b)

3. Social factors

a. general environment

b. personal environment


42

4. ESBP Teaching Contexts

Business English teachers for professionals normally work within one or more of

the following teaching context:

Private language schools and chamber of commerce: They exist in most cities of the

world. The teaching may take place in the institution’s own premises, or the teacher may be

expected to move to the customer’s location.

In-company: teaching in-company includes working at the client’s premises, and can

vary from part-time to full-time job. Besides, the trainer either comes in from outside, or

being employee of the company itself. Teachers practising in-company get to know the

company’s need very well. He/she is permanently in touch with learners working

environment. This may give the teacher the possibility to attend meetings, do work

shadowing, accessing company’s documentation and intranet, etc.

5. Conclusions:

This chapter is an attempt to cover the different ESBP teaching implications. Several

experts’ opinions have been quoted through which we can notice that the learner is put in the

centre of learning process in this type of teaching. Hence, the teacher has the tough

responsibility to be not only professional in language, but also to develop awareness of the

needs and requirements of business professionals and to become flexible enough to respond to

those needs. Certainly, there is no best methodology; any teaching situation is an interaction

between the teacher, the learner and the selected activity. That’s why the teacher needs to

make proof of flexibility and eclecticism. Today, the focus on real effective business

communication is the main feature of Business English teaching.

Chapter Three The teacher’s business language content and context acquisition

43

Chapter Three

The Teacher’s Business Language Content and Context

Acquisition

1. Introduction

2. ESBP content

2.1.Business English vocabulary

3. ESBP context knowledge

4. Ways of ESBP content and context acquisition

4.1.Specific training

4.2.Self-development

4.2.1. Work shadowing

4.2.2. Authentic materials

4.2.3. Reference books

4.2.4. Corpora and concordance

4.2.5. The learners

5. Conclusion


44

1. Introduction

Business English teaching assumes teaching of English as a foreign language

regarding business profession, subject or purpose. Many professional people are eager to

improve their business English. They need trainers with the skills to help them achieve this

end, like most people in business, they are looking for results. This means that they expect

their trainers to be fully qualified to teach business English, and this implies the knowledge of

the subject matters.

This chapter is devoted to the content and context acquisition of English for specific

business purposes. The first point will deal with the different types of business vocabulary and

what an ESBP teacher needs to know about the content of the subject he/she is teaching to

learners. The second point of the chapter discusses the different paths that an ESBP teacher

can follow to develop him/herself in mastering the context and content of the specific subject

that he/she will teach.

2. ESBP Content

As mentioned in the previous chapter, teachers use needs analysis to gather information in

order to determine the course content. Unfortunately, this content may be unfamiliar to the

course instructor. Not from the grammatical structural point of view; since the structures are

the same as those of General English, though some particular grammatical structures are

present more frequently. The difficulty, however, arises with specialist or core vocabulary that

the teaching material contains. As Hutchinson & Waters (1987) points out:

“Teachers who have been trained for General English teaching or

for the teaching of literature may suddenly find themselves having to teach

with texts whose content they know little or nothing about”

(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987: 160)


45

However, if we see these specialized materials (written or oral) form, they are not

different in genre from that of general English materials. But more formalized and sometimes

less complex, but heavier loaded of specialist vocabulary. However;

“… the linguistic knowledge needed to comprehend the specialist

text is little different from that required to comprehend the general text. The

difference in comprehension lies in the subject knowledge, not the language

knowledge”

(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987: 161)

Yet Business English is distinctive for many reasons; ESP community and more

particularly business community do variety of things with language, they socialize, predict,

analyse, negotiate, buy, write, persuade, compromise, telephone, compete, market, sell,

produce, deal…. All these and others are done in a specific business context, and for

business objectives. Besides, the language used in international business may be different

from the one used by natives. It is a lingua franca; sometimes considered as a new type of

English developed to meet the needs of the business world (Frendo, 2005: 7).

2.1. Business English Vocabulary

A good knowledge of vocabulary is more than necessary for effective communication,

although grammar and vocabulary remain complementary. In this respect Wilkins (1972)

states that; ‘without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be

conveyed’. In fact, specialists of a certain field need a specialised vocabulary to effectively

communicate concepts and notions specific to their professional area; i.e. the technical

terminology characterising their profession. Sometimes this professional terminology is

labelled as jargon.


46

It is important to notice that words in a given language, English language for

example, are not of equal status and some vocabulary may be more central to language use

than other;

‘We shall then look at how different vocabulary is employed

by different users in different contexts, and how vocabulary helps to

structure longer stretches of languages as coherent discourse.’

(McCarthy, 1990: 49)

Baker (1988) from (Hutchinson & Waters :1987) lists six categories of vocabulary.

They are:

1. Items which express notions general to all specialized disciplines;

2. General language items that have a specialized meaning in one or more

disciplines;

3. Specialized items that have different meaning in different disciplines;

4. General language items that have restricted meanings in different disciplines;

5. General language items that are used to describe or comment on technical

processes or functions in preference to other items with the same meaning;

6. Items used to signal the writer’s intentions or evaluation of material presented.

From these six categories, Hutchinson & Waters (1987) brings together two broad

areas: vocabulary that is used in general language but has a higher frequency of

occurrence in technical description and discussion (essentially categories 1, 5 and 6);

and vocabulary that has specialized and restricted meanings in certain disciplines and

which may vary in meaning across disciplines (baker’s categories 2, 3 and 4). And in

terms of teaching ESP, it is the first category that should be given priority, and this

area is referred to (by Hutchinson & Waters) as semi-technical or core business

vocabulary, when the second category is an aspect of technical vocabulary. As

illustrated in the following table;


47

Type of Vocabulary Examples

General vocabulary that has a

higher frequency in a specific

field

Academic: factor, method, function, occur,

cycle, evaluative adjectives such as

relevant, important, interesting; tourism:

verbs such as accept, advise, agree,

confirm; collocations, such as make a

booking, launch a campaign

General English words that

have a specific meaning in

certain discipline

Bug in computer science; force,

acceleration and energy in physics; stress

and strain in mechanics and engineering.

Table 3.1 Vocabulary

(Dudley-Evans, 1997: 83)

Pickett compares Business English to ‘lay-language’:

‘Conversely, of course, the extent to which it departs from lay

language depends more on the nature of the business than on any

autonomous subject area it occupies all to itself. Thus if we take three

different firms, one in insurance, one in pharmaceuticals and one in

fashion, their language to the public will be much the same and no

more specialised than can be avoided. Their internal specialist

languages, however, will be respectively those of insurance,

pharmaceuticals and fashion, not business in general.’

(Pickett 1986a:1)

He argues that business communication is governed by common actions that take

place in any business, no matter what kind e.g. the Bill of Lading, the VAT enquiry etc.

(1986a:2), and to a certain extent in spoken exchanges of a ritual nature like, ‘the committee

meeting’ and ‘the annual staff interview’. He indicates that words in a business environment

take on new meaning. As illustrated by Zhu & Liao in this table:


48

Words Meaning in GE Meaning in BE

minute one sixth part of an hour, equal to 60

seconds

a brief summary or record of what is

said and decided at a meeting; make a

note of sth. in an official memo

round shaped like a circle or a ball (of a meeting) in which the

participants meet more or less as

equals

principal person with the highest authority in

an organization, especially in certain

schools and colleges

(finance) money lent or invested on

which interest is paid; capital sum

liquidation pay or settle close down (a business) and divide up

the proceeds to pay its debts

portfolio flat case for carrying loose papers,

documents, drawings, etc

set of investments owned by a person,

bank

composition

thing composed, e.g. a piece of

music, a

poem or a book

(of business) paying off debt,

liquidating

disposal action of getting rid of sth. deal with or sell a bankrupt company

turnover

face in another direction by rolling amount of business done by company

within a certain period of time rate at

which workers leave a company, etc

and are replaced

outstanding exceptionally good; excellent not yet paid, done, resolved, etc. , an ~

cheque

acquisition action of acquiring Action of taking over another

company; merger and Acquisition

(M&A)

draft a rough written version of sth. that is

not in its final form

a written order to a party to pay money

to sb.

cove to include to protect sb. against loss, injury, etc.

by insurance

Table 3.2 Different meanings of the same word in GE and BE

(Zhu & Liao, 2008 : 95)


49

Besides, for Pickett Business language variation depends on different communication

partners in business that are; business to public, business to business, and business to

business area, i.e. discussion within a company’s own field. Within this context, the lexis we

can find in Business English would be:

Function words, as in general English: debt, boom, etc.

Sub-technical terms, i.e. terms that are found in general English but have different

general technical meanings. These terms are thus established to have a broad

distribution across disciplines, but may peak in a specific discipline: depreciation,

slump, order, issue, invest, etc.

Technical terms only created in a given area: check, discount, invoice, etc.

Here, what is expected from the EBSP teacher, with his/her background as a General

English, is to be as familiar as possible with the specialist vocabulary that he/she can meet

when using the course material. Thus, learners may be more motivated by such kind of

specific materials, because they make the language seem more relevant. And if they feel that

the teacher is uncomfortable with the use of such materials, they will soon lose their interest

for the selected material.

3. ESBP context knowledge

Indeed, Business English users need to know the words (i.e. the business jargon), but

they also need to perform skills that they already master in their own language. In short, they

need to learn to employ appropriate words in the appropriate context. However, this latter

may differ from company to company, from job position to another, as from department to

department. As Frendo asserts:


50

“... there are some other things which make business English

distinctive. Firstly, business people do a variety of things with

language; they socialized, predict, analyse, negotiate, buy, write,

persuade, compromise, telephone, compete, market, sell, produce...

These are done in a specific business context, and for business aims.”

(Even Frendo, 2005: 7)

Understanding the business situation where the learner will be using the language is

very important. Unfortunately, most Business English teachers have a general language

teaching background and do not have experience of the context and even the content of the

business world. Howe (1993: 148) describes how, after some criticism of her effort, she sets

out to learn about the law because she had to know a great deal about the law and its language

before she could tangle with the Law School again.

Besides, as stated by Dudley-Evans & St John (1997: 60), for an effective business

communication the learners need verbal language proficiency along with personal and

interpersonal skill. Consequently teachers working in-company or on company-specific

courses are delivering both language and skills. They cite five areas that the trainer need to

acquire the knowledge:

a knowledge of the communicative functioning of English in business context;

an understanding of the business people’s expectations and learning strategies;

an understanding of the psychology of personal and interpersonal interactions in cross-

cultural setting;

some knowledge of management theories and practice;

first-class training skills.

In the same respect, Ellis & Johnson (1994: 215) assert that there are some aspects of oral

communication like meeting, negotiations, and presentations where it is difficult or even

impossible to focus on language without some consideration of the skills involved. They

proposed a table in which they show up the interrelationship between skills and language:


51

Skills training Language training

Presentations Use of visual aids

Referring to visual aids

The content matter of the introduction Organizing the content of the introduction

The content matter of the body

Organizing the content of the body,

including signals and link words

The content matter of the conclusion

Organizing the content of the conclusion

Rhetorical skills: putting forward views

Handling rhetorical skills in the second

language

Balancing arguments

Style

Choosing language for the style

Tactical questioning and tactical handling of

questions

Using appropriate forms in the second

language to achieve tactical ends

Body language

Meetings Relationship building Using appropriate forms of the second

language to be polite, avoid offence, and

create the right climate.

Chairing skills Using the second language clearly and

appropriately to control the meeting.

Rhetorical skills: putting forward views, balancing

arguments, introducing ideas, drawing

Conclusions

Using the second language clearly and

appropriately to participate in the meeting

Listening skills Developing listening skills in English

Participating and co-operative skills Using the second language for interaction,

support, questioning. Using the second

language to restate, reformulate, summarise

Body language

Tactical moves

Negotiations Relationship building, including cross-cultural

consideration

Using appropriate forms of the second

language to build a relationship effectively

Establishing the ground: agreeing objectives,

agreeing procedure

Using appropriate forms of the second

language to achieve tactical ends

Establishing options

Bidding and offering Developing sufficiently good command of

the second language to interact with clarity

and precision

Bargaining and stating conditions

Formal summarising and concluding

Establishing agreement

Figure 3.1. Skills training v. Language training

(Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 216- 217)


52

According to Ellis & Johnson, the implication is that the teacher doesn’t need to feel

as he is teaching skills. The aim is to pay attention to the way learners use language in order

to achieve specific communication ends. This language use involves good structures’ use, a

good projection and authority, clarity and appropriacy (Ellis & Johnson, 1994: 217).

Moreover, as a result of needs analysis and actual published material, seven key

communicative events are identified. Five events that require oral language; socialising,

telephoning, making presentations, taking part in meetings and negotiating, and others

requiring the written form; corresponding and reporting (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1997).

Furthermore, the context of these communication events differ from one business category to

another and sometimes even within the same business.

Obviously, professional development is more than essential for this kind of specific

teaching. Thus, which is important to be mentioned is that an ESBP teacher is not a business

person and does not need to be an expert in business subject matters, but he needs to define

the different situation in which his learners will use the language, in other words defining the

learning purpose. This can affects positively the learners’ response to the course, their

motivation and their learning potential as well. Ellis & Johnson( 1994) gives the key features

to take into consideration when defining the learning purpose, which are:

-what the learner has to do in English.

-who the learner communicates with.

-what they communicate about i.e. the topic.

-attitudes and tone likely to be expressed (formal, polite, strong, tentative...)

-mode of interaction (letter, e-mail, telephone call, face-to-face...)

Dudley-Evans & St John (1997: 70) summarizes these features in three questions:

“what do learners do in their job? What are the fundamental concepts and

attitude? What do people communicate about and how do they go about it?”


53

For Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 163); “ESP teacher do not need to learn

specialist subject knowledge, they require three things only:

- A positive attitude towards the ESP content;

- A knowledge of the fundamental principles of the subject area;

- An awareness of how much they probably already know.

This can be summed up as ‘the ability to ask intelligent questions.”

“…the ESP teacher should not become a teacher of the subject matter, but rather

an interested student of the subject matter.” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987: 163)

4. Ways for English Teachers to Acquire specific Business Content and

Context

A professional English language teacher must be able to switch from one professional

field to another without being obliged to spend months on getting started. He/she simply

brings the necessary specialist language as a tool for effective and efficient teaching. The

basis of this language is vocabulary (the content) and the situation where this vocabulary is

employed, that is the context. As pointed out by Gorosh:

‘Often LSP (Language for Specific Purposes) is said to be the

same as terminology just of the great part played by vocabulary in a

job context; that is why terminological studies should form an integral

part of the training programme for teacher of LSP.’

(Gorosh, 1979: 30)

In fact, the teacher acquires the content (vocabulary and the grammatical structures)

and the context (the situation in which this content is employed) of the specialist business

language may be through either specific training or teacher’s self-development or even both.


54

4.1. Specific training

The diversity of the ESP and the many discipline and professional concerned do not

allow to prepare pre-service teacher students for all possible ‘S’s in ESP (Kaltenbock and

Mehlmauer-Larcher, 2002), particularly those ‘S’s in ESBP. And it is true that some people

seem to be able to develop themselves through hard work, while others need to be trained.

Taking courses is a way of speeding up the development process, and recognized

qualifications are sometimes required for job’s selection

Zoumana (2007), from Maleki, in concluding a study on pre-service ESP teacher

training, argues that,

“We can design ESP teacher training courses which are both

content-oriented and intended for learning methodology. He thinks

that basic knowledge in business, science and technology is required

in rendering an ESP teacher operational; however, teachers trained

this way build on the basic knowledge they have acquired.”

General English teacher may be considered as an ‘ expert’ regarding to general

English subject, but once this teacher embarks on ESBP teaching experience he /she becomes

on a more equal playing field with his/her students. The teacher will undoubtedly know more

about the language through which meaning is negotiated, but the students often have a greater

understanding of the core concepts, and depending on their age, even some of the conventions

and idiosyncrasies of the discourse community (Swales, 1990).

However, specific training, for ESP teachers and for Business English, are available

all over the world. They may be pre-service or in-service, in special institute or with E-

learning solution. Broadly speaking, these kinds of training can be in a form of short course,

seminars or workshops with very specific training objectives. They may cover a range of

topics, areas and methodology for business English teaching. The aim is not looking only at

the language for business, but also at becoming more effective in teaching this language.

Besides, this kind of training may be useful for teachers who already teach Business English,

but who would like to refresh or expand their range of ideas in teaching Business English.


55

‘Most teachers, as participants in staff development activities,

professional development workshops, or graduate study, are

themselves learners. Participating in formal educational activities

provides a rich source of insights regarding how it feels to be a

learner.’

(D. Brookfield, 1990:37)

4.2. Self-development

Underhill defines teachers’ development and declares;

‘Development may be a move from unconscious incompetence

(where we are unaware that we are doing something badly) to

unconscious competence (where we do something well without having

to think about it). In order for this to happen we have to become

aware of our incompetence (conscious incompetence) and know that

we have made it better (conscious competence)’

(Underhill 1992: 76)

Self-developing results from the teacher’s awareness about his incompetence in

Business English language and context. In order to enhance professional and personal growth,

conscious teachers try to develop their teaching competence and knowledge along with or

without specific training, using different reflective methods and tips developed later in this

title.

First, what a Business English teacher has to bear in mind is that;“…the ESP teacher

should not become a teacher of the subject matter, but rather an interested student of the

subject matter.”(Hutchinson & Waters,1987: 163). In this respect, Dudley-Evans & St John

assert;


56

‘An EBP (English for Business Purposes) teacher is not a

business person and does not need to be one. What EBP teachers

need, just like any ESP teacher, is to understand the interface between

business principle and language. What do learners do in their job?

What are the fundamental concepts and attitudes? What do people

communicate about and how do they go about it.’


Indeed, many business teachers or ESP teachers find it difficult to understand ESP

subject matter. Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 162) gives four reasons for this problem;

1. Traditionally languages have usually been allocated to the Humanities camp that is

why English teachers often receive little or no education in the sciences.

2. Many ESP teachers have been obliged by economic pressure to emigrate and this does

not engender a great desire to learn about the new field.

3. Little effort has been made to retrain teachers or at least allay their fears.

4. The general attitude in ESP seems to be to expect teachers to conform to the

requirement of the target situation.

For acquiring business language and its subject matters, different ways or initiatives

can be undertaken by the teacher;

“Acquiring such knowledge and skill takes time and comes

from reading, from talking to people-perhaps shadowing them at

work- from attending courses and conferences, and through

experience”


4.2.1. Work shadowing

Work shadowing, can be an excellent tool for getting to understand the learner’s daily

professional life. This can be by following them around, listening and observing which can be

a fascination learning experience (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1997). Besides, Work shadowing


57

provides a far richer experience than reading a job description or doing an informational

interview during which an employee describes his or her work.

However, this way of gathering information needs time and personal effort and tact

from the teacher. Besides, it may be issues of confidentiality in meetings or simply some

persons do not want to share their work experience.

4.2.2. Authentic materials

Undeniably, authentic materials provide the teacher with knowledge of business

language used in its real context. These materials involve language naturally occurring as

communication in native-speaker contexts of use (Morrow 1977).

Fortunately, plenty of authentic materials are available to be read or listened to; course

books for Business studies/ MBA courses; magazines and journals, business pages of

newspaper may provide a picture of current concerns, as do radio and TV programmes.

Special videos training for business skills are useful for illustrating the real interaction that

business people can have. However, this kind of material cannot be said to model authentic

materials but provide a link between business English materials and authentic materials

(Dudley-Evans & St John, 1997).

Actually, this reading and listening may be in English or other language, since the aim

in this stage is to be familiar with the business world. Nevertheless, the advantage with

English-medium sources is that at the same time as acquiring the business concept the teacher

can also acquire the lexis and typical phrases and expression relating to business language,

besides the fact that theses lexis and expression can be completely different from one

language to another.

Learning about the company is very important. As Dudley-Evans & St John points out:

‘These documents could be general (relating to the company

as a whole) or specific (relating to the learner’s own job). The specific

documents will be useful for analyzing the kind of language which the

learner must acquire either an active or passive knowledge of.’



58

In fact, the teacher can carry out some background research by reading literature or

articles about the company in the press or visiting the company website. It includes research

into the type of industry the learners are involved in (banking, insurance, energy and oil...).

4.2.3. Reference books

Reference books are books intended to be used when a fact or piece of information are

needed. Those used as a reference for ESBP teacher can be encyclopaedias, handbooks (a

single-volume reference book of compact size that provides concise factual information on a

specific subject, organized systematically for quick and easy access)1.

The most available and used reference book for language teachers is the dictionary.

There are three types of dictionaries: bilingual, monolingual, and bilingualized, found in

either paper or electronic form. The monolingual access provides more detailed and accurate

information about idiomatic usage, common collocations and connotations. A bilingualized

entry includes in general: L2 definitions, L2 sentences information and L1 synonyms of the

headword. These combination type dictionaries basically provide translations, in addition to,

the good features of monolingual dictionaries. Using this kind of dictionaries is more efficient

than using separately bilingual and monolingual dictionaries. They offer a certain flexibility

vocabulary acquisition.

Using a Business English dictionary can be very helpful. If a learner asks a question

about a specialized term unknown for the teacher, checking the dictionary can be a solution.

In such a situation, it is better for the teacher to be honest if there is a term he or she does not

know.

There are dictionaries for Business English in general or more specific ones for such a

field as Economics, baking, Law, and Computers. On the other hand there are Business

English handbooks which are often strongly vocabulary-oriented and may provide

explanations of key business language-functional and structural (Ellis & Johnson, 1994 :121)

1 ODLIS -- Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science


59

4.2.4. Corpora and Concordance

The usefulness of a language corpus for teaching depends on the fact that it offers a

possibility for teachers to discover facts of actual language usage; information which is hard

to obtain with other means.

‘A corpus is the name given to a set of texts which has been

put together for some purpose, usually though not necessarily, in

computer-readable form.’

(Wray, Trott & Bloomer, 1990:213)

In their definition of a corpus, McEnery and Wilson state:

‘A corpus typically implies a finite body of text, sampled to be

maximally representative of a particular variety of a language, and

which can be stored and manipulated using a computer’

McEnery and Wilson (2001:73)

From his part Tribble defines a corpus as: ‘A collection of texts from written or spoken

sources; in this case, in a form that can be read by a computer’ (Tribble, 1997a: 254).

A corpus can be a valuable resource. It is now relatively easy to gain access to large,

computerised language databases. These give the teacher accessibility to genuine languages,

both spoken and written. Corpora offer the opportunity to examine the context in which a

lexical item occurs, its collocation (Scott and Johns, 1993).

Along with corpora, there is what we call concordances. Tribble defines them as:

“A list of occurrences of a word (or words) printed with a

context. This context can be single line of characters with the target

word printed at the center, a sentence, or another context. One of the

most common ways to print out information is the keyword-in-context

(KWIC) concordance”

(Tribble, 1997a: 253)


60

It is a list of phrases, each showing the same word or language feature taken from a

corpus, which allows users to focus on a particular lexical, or discourse subject. Moreover, it

gives an idea of how often a specialist word or phrase may be used in real language. A

concordance is generated electronically and may be accessed via internet.

‘Concordancing software enables you to discover patterns

that exist in natural language by grouping text in such a way that they

are clearly visible […] The real value of the concordancer lies in this

question of visibility.’

(Tribble & Jones, 1997:3)

Actually, a computerized concordancer searches through large range of electronic texts

at a relatively high speed, picking out all instances of a keyword or phrase selected by the user

(e.g. business, report, negotiation…), then the results are presented in context on the screen.

As illustrated below;

Figure 3.2 Concordance for Sentences Containing the Word Business

(BNC Commerce Corpus, http://www.lextutor.ca)


61

4.2.5. The learners

One way to acquire business knowledge is the learner. This approach can be very

productive. With job-experienced learners the advantages of this are immediately obvious.

However, the best who can tell the teacher about the learners’ job and its requirements is the

learner himself;

“The aim of using the learner as a resource is to get content

from the learner; the teacher remains the language expert.”

(Frendo, 2005: 50)

This can be through purposeful and focused chatting with the learners or by asking

them to bring their office material (letters, reports, email, brochures etc) into the class. The

aim is to collaborate with the learner to generate the language used. ESBP teaching is indeed a

mutual learning process. This kind of initiative is very appreciated by the learners because

they have their personal print in the lesson.

5. Conclusion

Teachers need to be provided with the necessary knowledge and tools to deal with

their own students’ specializations. Thus, teachers’ professional development in Business

English is more than essential to meet the new language requirement. But, it should be

remembered that a Business English teacher is not a business person but a teacher of English

language. The aim is to help students, who know business subjects better than the teachers do,

develop their competence in their field using English language as a medium.

Chapter Four ESBP teaching in Oran

62

CHAPTER FOUR

EESSBBPP TTeeaacchhiinngg iinn OOrraann

1. Introduction

2. Exploration of the Terrain

3. Methodology

3.1.Overall Design of the Study

3.2.The Research Questions

3.3.Hypothesis

3.4.The Educational Approach Used

3.5.Description of the Study’ Setting and Subjects

3.6. The Data Collection Instrument

3.6.1. The Questionnaire

3.6.1.1.Aim of the Questionnaire

3.6.1.2.The Language of the Questionnaire

3.6.1.3.Types of Questions

3.7. Analysis of the Collected Data and Discussion

4. Findings for the Research Hypotheses

5. Conclusion


63

1. Introduction

As a variety of ESP, Business English implies specific context and content and its

teaching might look like a frightening task for some teachers, when in fact, it only proves to

be a matter of preparation. Besides, it has grown in leaps and bounds in the last decade in our

country. Yet, this growth has not been sufficiently supported by teachers’ preparation.

This chapter attempts to investigate the reality of teaching ESBP in Algeria. To

explore better this situation, a case study in the area of Oran has been carried out as an

educational approach to collect valuable data through the use of a questionnaire. The data

collected were then analysed and interpreted. At the end of this chapter, the findings are

compared with the research questions’ hypotheses in order to confirm or infirm them.

2. Exploration of the Terrain

With the development of international trade and the use of English language as a

lingua franca in Algeria, many business people are expected to participate in such English

medium courses that provide them with the necessary language baggage that will serve them

well throughout their professional life. So, English language educators are expected to cope

with the changing needs of learners.

Regarding the fact that there is no ESP department in any Algerian university, all

Business English teachers in Algeria are graduated from ELT departments and have no initial

preparation for their task as Business English teachers or any other type of ESP. Therefore,

General English teachers are supposed to be the best qualified for handling ESBP courses,

especially with the great demand of ESBP training in our country. Naturally, novice teachers

are faced with a complex network of issues, and finding an efficient path for professionalism

is the challenge that the ESBP teacher has to face.


64

3. Methodology

3.1.Overall Design of the Study

As mentioned in the previous chapter, there are two paths that a teacher can follow to

reach certain professionalism in ESBP teaching; either specific training or self-development.

This study is an attempt to define how Algerian English language teachers manage to develop

their professionalism before and while venturing in teaching ESBP in and for companies.

The study basically depends on quantitative data collection methods. A questionnaire

was used as the data collection instrument. The data obtained are analysed and interpreted

using descriptive statistics. Nevertheless, the respondents are provided, at the third part of the

questionnaire, with an opportunity to write free responses and explanation in their own

words which they could not have done due to the limitations of pre-set categories of responses

in part 1 and 2 of the questionnaire. These answers were later transcribed for qualitative

analysis.

3.2.The Research Questions

The current study intends to answer the following questions:

1- What are the means available for English language teachers to acquire the content and

context knowledge of business?

2- Do the schools and institutes offering ESBP language training for companies in

Algeria give their recruits pre and in-service Business language teaching training?

3- ESBP teaching professional development in Oran; is it through specific teacher’s

training or self-development?


65

3.3. Hypothesis

This work attempts to highlight some problems surrounding the professional

development of ESBP in Oran by setting up its nature and dimensions, and to propose some

remedial suggestions for those problems tackled in the research questions. The main objective

behind this is to achieve a more efficient preparation for ESBP teachers. Sarantakos affirms

that:

“A hypothesis can be defined as a tentative explanation of the

research problem, a possible outcome of the research, or an educated

guess about the research outcome.”

(Sarantakos, 1993: 119)

In the same respect MacleodClark and Hockey (1981) state: ‘A hypothesis is a

statement or explanation that is suggested by knowledge or observation but has not, yet, been

proved or disproved.’

In respect to the research questions the following hypotheses are tested:

Hypothesis 1: Very few or none specific training are available for

professional development in teaching ESBP. Different means are accessible for self-

development.

Hypothesis 2: Institutions offering ESBP training rarely or never give their

recruits pre or in-service Business language teaching training.

Hypothesis 3: ESBP teaching professional development in Oran is rather

through self-development than with specific teacher’s training


66

3.4.The Educational Approach Used

The educational approach used in this work is the case study. This kind of approach

provides the opportunity to study the issue in depth as it occurs in its natural context. As

stated by Lier:

‘Case studies focus on context; change over time, and specific

learners or groups. In other words, when we want to understand how

a specific unit (person, group) functions in the real world over a

significant period of time, a case study approach may be the best way

to go about it’

(Lier, 2005: 195)

From their part Stephen and Michael affirm that:

‘Case studies are in depth investigations of a given social unit

resulting in a complete, well-organized picture of that unit. Depending

upon specific factors or take in the totality of elements and events’

(Stephen and Michael, 1981: 48)

A Case study can provide very engaging, rich explorations of a project. However,

doing even relatively modest, descriptive case studies is a complex task that cannot be

achieved through occasional, brief site visits. Demands with regard to design, data collection,

and reporting can be considerable (Yin, 1989).

Besides, the case study provides a rich picture of what is happening, as seen through

the eyes of many individuals concerned by the issues tackled in the research questions. It is

hence a suitable way to generate and test a hypothesis (Flyvbjerg, 2006: 219).


67

3.5.Description of the Study Setting and Subjects

The area of the study is the city of Oran. The area was chosen because of the important

concentration of multinational companies and professionals questing for ESBP training. The

participants are experienced ESBP teachers (at least 3 years experience), novice ESBP

teachers or GE teachers who are ready to experience ESBP teaching in their future career.

At least 40 English language teachers, who have already or never experienced ESBP

teaching in their career, are concerned with this study. The aim is to compare the vision of an

originally GE teacher before and after experiencing ESBP teaching.

The ratio of gender was 27 female participants (67.5%) and 13 male participants

(32.5%).

Figure 4.1 The Ratio of Male and Female Participants

The number of the females is higher than the males in this study, because there are

more female teachers than male ones in the area, and the questionnaires were distributed

without considering the male/female ratio.

27

13

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Female Male

F

r

e

q

u

e

n

c

y

Gender


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3.6. The Data Collection Instrument

A questionnaire is used as the basic instrument for conducting the research.

3.6.1. The Questionnaire

This method of data collection is usually called a survey. A questionnaire is a set of

questions for gathering information from individuals. Brown defines questionnaires as:

‘Any written instruments that present respondents with a series of

questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out

their answers or selecting them among existing answers’

(Brown, 2001: 6)

Using this tool enables us to organize the questions and collect replies without

actually having to talk to every respondent. As a method of data collection, the

questionnaire is a very flexible tool with the advantages of having a structured format,

easy and convenient for respondents. In this respect Richards notes that:

‘Questionnaires are one of the most common instruments

used. They are relatively easy to prepare, they can be used with large

numbers of subjects, and they obtain information that is relatively

easy to tabulate and analyze. They can also be used to elicit

information about many different kinds of issues...’

(Richards, 2005: 60)

Moreover, it is a particularly suitable tool for gathering data from a large number of

respondents and gaining quantitative data. Nevertheless, it can also be used for qualitative

data. As asserted by Burton and Bartlett:


69

‘It is clearly a useful method, if carefully planned, for

gathering responses from a large number of people relatively quickly.

As such, questionnaires may be seen as a useful means of obtaining

quantitative data.’

(Burton and Bartlett, 2005:100)

Furthermore, measures should be taken by the questioner’s designer to avoid or at least

minimize the risk of biased or distorted reporting of data. This, however, is the main

disadvantage of using a questionnaire as a data collection tool. As pointed out by Mackey and

M. Gass:

‘Another concern is that even though it is often assumed that

researchers can control or eliminate bias by using questionnaires, it is

also possible, as with any type of elicitation device, that the data

elicited will be an artifact of the device.’

(Mackey and M. Gass, 2005: 96)

They add and give four points to be achieved by the researcher in order to maximize

the effectiveness of the questionnaire, and they are:

• Simple, uncluttered formats.

• Unambiguous, answerable questions.

• Review by several researchers.

• Piloting among a representative sample of the research population.

In this work, the choice of the questionnaire as a tool for data collection is based on the

fact that data can be collected from a large group of English teachers. Besides, it was

administered either in written form or online since personal contact with the responds is not

required.


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3.6.1.1. Aim of the Questionnaire

The questionnaire is designed in a way to reveal some of the issues associated with the

business knowledge and language acquisition, and methods that ESBP teachers follow to go

beyond these issues especially when professional teachers’ training is not sufficient or

unavailable.

3.6.1.2. The Language of the Questionnaire

The language of the questionnaire is the English language since all the respondents are

English teachers. Therefore, there was no need to present another version in Arabic or French.

3.6.1.3.Types of Questions

In the questionnaire, three types of questions are found:

Closed format questions.

Open format questions.

Graded format questions.

- Closed Format Questions: In this series of questions the respondents choose

from a set of given possible answers. “These tend to be quick to answer, easy to

code and require no special writing skills from the respondent” (Walliman, 2011:

97). Besides, this category of questions does not discriminate excessively on the

basis of how articulate the respondents are (Wilson & McLean 1994, as cited in

Cohen et al., 2000).

Example

Which kind of institution have you been working at as an ESBP teacher?

Private language school/ institute Governmental language school/ institute

- Open Format Questions: This category of questions gives the participants more

freedom when answering using their own content and style. Consequently, there is

a lack of bias but the answers are more open for interpretation. As argued by


71

Richterich and Chancerel, such questions: “do not call in advance for ready made

answers and therefore allow the person questioned more freedom of expression”

(Richterich and Chancerel, 1980: 59).

Example

From the previous means listed in Part2, which ones are, according to you, more

efficient for an effective professional development in ESBP teaching? Explain?

- Graded Format Questions: in this category of questions the informant has the

possibility to grade the answers proposed and consequently make her/his opinion

clearer.

Example

Impact No

impact A small impact

A moderate impact

A large impact

A training in a company (work shadowing)

3.7. Analysis of the Collected Data and Discussion

The questionnaire is composed of three parts:

Part 1: it is devoted to Background information; about the informant, his/her

education and the time spent in teaching GE and ESBP. It is composed of 7

closed format questions. The aim behind this part’s questions is to collect

information about the background education, teaching experience (in both GE

and ESBP) acquired by the participant and in which conditions it has been

done.

Part 2: it concerns professional development; i.e. all the types of activities that

develop individual skills, knowledge, expertise and other characteristics as a

teacher. This part, however, is divided into two sub-parts; one for specific


72

training and another for self-development. The intention behind Part2’s

questions is to make a census of the different types of Business English

specific training that the informants have participated in and the different

means for teacher’s self-development possible in the area of the study.

In fact, the different questions that compose this part are closed format

questions and graded format questions presented in a form of 2 tables.

Additionally, at the end of each sub-part, an opportunity is given to the

participant to give his/her opinion or add suggestions.

Part3: This part is devoted to teachers’ personal opinion. It is mainly in

relation with Part2 of the questionnaire. The purpose is to give the respondent

an occasion to give their opinion and provide suggestions about professional

development. Besides, they can tackle the different issues encountered during

their BE teaching experience.

Part1 Questions:

Question 2: How old are you?

Figure 4.2 The Ages of the participants

The figure illustrates the age of the participants; 11.42% of the informants are under

25 years, when 22.85% are between 25 and 29 years. The majority of the participants are

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Under 25 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-59

F

r

e

q

u

e

n

c

y

Age


73

between 30 and 39 years with 37.19 years. The category of 40-49 years represent 20% of the

teachers who answered the questionnaire and 8.57% of the 35 participants are between 50 and

59 years old. In fact, the participants were selected at random without taking into

consideration their age.

Question 3: What is the highest level of education you have completed?

Frequency

Education level Absolute Frequency Relative Frequency

Licence in English 21 60%

Magister in: o ESP 8 22.85%

o Business English 2 5.71

o Another discipline 3 8.57

Doctorate in: o ESP / /

o In Business English / /

o Another Discipline 1 2.85

Table 4.1 The Education Level of the Participants

As it can be noticed from the above table, the teachers with a licence represent the

absolute majority of the respondents with 60%, followed by teachers with ESP magister with

22.85% and informants with a magister in Business English represent only 5.71% of the

participants. On the other hand, teachers with a magister in another discipline are 8.57% of

the respondents while teachers with a doctorate represent only 2.85%.


74

Question 4: how long have you been working as a teacher of General English?

Figure 4.3 The participants’ Experience as GE Teachers

The absolute majority (with 82.85%) of the informants are teachers with more than 3 years

of experience in GE teaching. When, 14.28% have between 1 and 3 years of experience in GE

teaching. However, only one informant has less than 1 year experience in GE teaching, which

represents 2.85% of the participants in this study.

Question 5: How long have you been working as an ESBP teacher?

Figure 4.4 The participants’ Experience as ESBP Teachers

1 5

29

0-1 year

1-3 years

More than 3 years

10

13

12 Never

1-3 years

More than 3 years


75

As illustrated in the pie chart, 28.57% of the informants have never experienced ESBP

teaching, while 37.14 of them have less than 3 years of experience and the category of more

than 3 years experience in ESBP teaching represents 34.28% of the respondents of the

questionnaire.

However 25 among 35 of the total number of the respondents are concerned by the rest of

the questions. The 10 participants with no experience in ESBP are concerned only with Part 3

of the questionnaire.

Question 6: which kind of institution have you been working at as an ESBP teacher?

Figure 4.5. Institutions where the Participants have Worked

The above chart shows the distribution of the participants (25 ESBP teachers from 35

of the total number of the respondents) according to the kind of institution where they

have practiced as ESBP teachers. 20% of the teachers have been working in a

governmental institution and 52% of them in a private one. On the other hand, 28% of the

participants have been working in both governmental and private institution

13

5

7 private language

institutions

Governmental laguage

institutions

Both


76

Question 7: What was or is your employment status as ESBP teacher?

Figure 4.6 Employment Status as ESBP Teachers

The chart reflects the employment status of the ESBP teachers participating in the

survey. Only 24% of them practise as full-time teachers while 76% of the 25 ESBP

teachers were/are part-time teachers. This result shows that the teachers are recruited

temporarily depending on the institution’s need of ESBP teachers and not permanently.

6

19 Full-time

Part-time


77

Part 2 questions

This part of the questionnaire deals with the participants’ professional development and it

is composed of a group of closed questions. Quantitative data which emerged from the

achievement of this closed questions were then analysed and illustrated in a form of charts

and tables.

This part is divided into two sub-parts:

a. Specific training:

Question 1: It is a group of three questions presented in a form of a table. It concerns

specific training in ESBP the participant have undergone. The participants were asked to

mark one choice between Yes and NO, then to indicate how much impact it had upon their

development as ESBP teachers.

Q.1.a: Courses/ workshops (e.g. on business subject matters or methods of teaching ESBP

and/ or other related topics)

Figure 4.7 Participation in Courses/ Workshops

The chart illustrates the number of the teachers who have already participated in ESBP

training courses or workshops in order to develop themselves professionally. In fact, 3 from

the 25 teachers answered “yes”; which represent 12% of the participants. All of them

considered that this kind of courses and workshops had a moderate impact on their

development as BE teachers.

3

22

Yes

No


78

These results show that this kind of training is almost unavailable in the study area when it

is considered by the expert as one of the most efficient way for professional development.

Undeniably, BE teachers are in an urgent need for this type of opportunity in order to acquire

basic knowledge in Business language (this includes content and context knowledge) and

hence build on later what they have acquired through their teaching experience.

Q.1.b: Qualification programme in Business English teaching

Figure 4.8 Participation in BE Teaching Qualification Programme

As it is obviously evident from the chart, only one teacher has already attended a BE

teaching qualification programme. This, consequently, represents the meagre percentage of

4% of the total number of the teachers concerned by the survey. Besides, this respondent

considered that this kind of programme had a moderate impact upon his/her development as a

BE teacher. This result is due to the fact that there is no qualification program for BE teaching

in the study’s area. Actually, the only informant having participated in this kind of

professional development programme got this opportunity from an international organization

and through an e-training.

1

24

Yes

No


79

Q.1.c: Participation in a network of teachers formed specifically for professional

development of business English teachers

Figure 4.9 Participation in Teachers’ Network for BE teachers

Impact

No impact A small

impact

A moderate

impact A large impact

Absolute

Frequency / / / 5

Relative

Frequency / / / 100%

Table 4.2 The Impact of the Participation in Teachers’ Network for BE teachers

The pie chart illustrates the number of the informants having participated in a network

of teachers which aims at developing BE teacher. In fact, they represent 20% of the whole

number of teachers. They all agree on the fact that this type of professional development had a

large impact upon their BE teaching. Indeed, this kind of teacher network is an excellent

opportunity to share one’s knowledge and experience with his/her peers and expose different

issues related to ESBP teaching.

5

20

Yes

No


80

Question 2: In all, how many days of professional development did you attend?

For this question, the respondents’ answers varied between 1 day of professional

development in a form of workshops and seminars to months of qualification program in BE

teaching. In fact, the following bar graph illustrates the different durations of BE specific

training in which the informants have participated.

Figure 4.10 Specific Training Duration

Question 3: For the professional development (specific training for teaching ESBP) in

which you participated: did you have to pay for yourself or it was afforded by the

language school/ institution for which you worked?

In fact, for this question, all the answers were similar. However, all ESBP specific

training were afforded by the language school/ institution for which the respondents have

worked.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1 day 2-3 days 4-10 days 11 days to 1

month

more than 1

month

T

E

A

C

H

E

R

S

Duration


81

b. Self- development

Question 4: It is a group of five questions presented in a form of a table. It concerns

the informants’ self-development in ESBP. The participants were asked to mark one choice

between Yes and NO, then to indicate how much impact it had upon their development as

ESBP teachers.

Q4.a: Observation visit in a company.

Figure 4.11 Observation Visit in a Company

Impact

No impact A small

impact

A moderate


Absolute

Frequency / / 5 6

Relative

Frequency / / 44.44% 55.55%

Table 4.3 The Impact of Observation Visit in a Company

Observation visit in a company is one of self-development methods used by BE teacher in

order to acquire some of the context and content related to BE used by the learners within

their workplace. However, 11 teachers concerned by the survey have experienced this kind of

professional development. This represents the ratio of 44%. On the other hand, 44.44% of

them judged its impact as moderate when 55.55% considered it with a large impact upon their

development as teachers.

11 14 Yes

No


82

Actually, the majority of ESBP training take place on site, consequently, the teachers have

the possibility to experience observation visit within the company they practise as BE

teachers.

Q 4.b: Training in a company (work shadowing)

Figure 4.12 Training in a Company (Work Shadowing)

Impact

No impact A small

impact

A moderate


Absolute

Frequency / / 3 2

Relative

Frequency / / 60% 40%

Table 4.4 The Impact of Work Shadowing

As illustrated in the pie chart above, 5 teachers form the 20 concerned by the

questionnaire have already experienced work shadowing within a company. This represents

the percentage of 20%. Besides, 60% of them considered this type of professional

development with a moderate impact when 40% judged it with a large impact upon their

development as teachers. This kind of training is an excellent way for teachers to analyse the

learners’ specific needs and at the same time acquire business context knowledge on the job.

Nevertheless, work shadowing opportunity remains difficult to get for many teachers.

5

20 Yes

No


83

Besides, this kind of experience is very limited because it may be issues of confidentiality or

simply some persons do not want to share their work experience.

Q4. c: Access to the company documentation or website.

Figure 4.13 Access to the Company Documentation or Website

Impact

No impact A small

impact

A moderate


Absolute

Frequency / 2 5 2

Relative

Frequency / 22.22% 55.55% 22.22%

Table 4.5 The Impact of Accessing Company Documentation and Website

As it can be noticed from the above chart, only 36% of the informants have already

used companies’ documentation and websites as a source to acquire knowledge related to

ESBP. Because accessing to such materials may be difficult for many teachers especially

when the training is organised outside the client’s premises besides some companies don’t

have their own website. Moreover, the majority of the informants having used company’s

documentations judge it with a moderate impact on their professional development. This

is due, however, to the poorness of the available resource materials and sometimes they

don’t go with the training objectives.

9

16 Yes

No


84

Q4. d: the use of authentic materials.

Figure 4.14The Use of Authentic Materials’ Frequency

Impact

No impact A small

impact

A moderate


Absolute

Frequency / 2 15 5

Relative

Frequency / 9.1% 68.18% 22.72%

Table 4.6 The Impact of Authentic Materials’ Use

Obviously, the use of authentic materials outclasses all the other methods that the

respondents follow to develop themselves in Business English teaching. At least 88% of them

revealed that they relied on authentic materials to enrich their knowledge in business language

and business matters as well. Nonetheless, 68.18% consider that this kind of professional

development had a moderate impact upon their development as BE teachers.

Additionally, as an answer to the question about the different types of authentic materials

they have used they listed various types of materials; professional manuals, professional

charts, site regulations, authentic contracts and invoices, office materials, economic

magazines...

22

3

Yes

No


85

Q4. e: Using information technology.

Frequency No impact A small

impact

A moderate


Ab.

Freq.

Rel.

Freq.

Ab.

Freq.

Rel.

Freq.

Ab.

Freq.

Rel.

Freq.

Ab.

Freq.

Rel.

Freq.

Ab.

Freq.

Rel.

Freq.

Joining special

forums for BE

teaching in internet

network

9 36% / / / / / / 9 100%

Corpora and

concordances / / / / / / / / / /

Translation

software 19 76% / / / / 12 63.15% 7 36.84%

Electronic

dictionaries 25 100% / / / / 13 52% 12 48%

Table 4.7 The Use of Information Technology and its Impact

Undeniably, information technology and specially internet is considered by BE teacher as

the best accessible mean to acquire business language knowledge and this is clearly illustrated

in the table above. In fact, all the respondents revealed that they had used electronic dictionary

as a fast entrance mean to check business terms, while 76% of them admitted having used

translation software. Nevertheless, only 36% of the respondents have joined internet forums

for BE teaching though this kind of initiative is considered very efficient for professional

development. It helps teachers keep current with changing practices in BE teaching profession

through sharing experiences and discuss issues between forum’s members.

Despite the fact that the use of corpora and concordance is a new trend in applied

linguistic, all the teachers concerned by the survey were unfamiliar with. As mentioned on the

table above 100% the informants have never used this mean as a source for acquiring business

terms in their context.


86

Part 3 questions

This part of the questionnaire is devoted to the respondents’ personal opinion. It is

composed of two open questions through which they are given an opportunity to add

explanations and suggestions in relation with ESBP teaching. These answers were then

transcribed for qualitative analysis.

Q1: From the previous means listed in Part 2, which ones are, according to you more

efficient for an effective professional development in ESBP teaching? Explain?

In this question the respondents were offered the opportunity to express freely the

different means of Business English context and content acquisition and give their opinion

and suggestion about their effectiveness and efficiency, even without having experienced

them because all the 40 informants were concerned by this part of the questionnaire. In the

light of the collected answers, four main points can be cited:

Participating in network of teachers formed specifically for professional development

of Business English teachers. It is an opportunity for an exchange of information and

expertise which is needed most for an effective professional development in ESBP

teaching. In fact, according to the respondents, less professionally experienced

teachers will take profit from the wide knowledge of the expert teachers. And the later

get a boost for their motivation and be exposed to very new ideas.

Joining special forums for Business English teaching in internet network teachers may

help each other with their experiences and with providing suggested tips and activities.

Additionally, these forums remain accessible for any BE teacher.

Some of the informants claimed that observation visits within a company or work

shadowing may help a lot. This speciality requires witnessing on site. In fact,

immediate actual needs are observed through real situations in situ.

Unanimously, all the 40 teachers concerned by the survey agreed that a qualification

program for Business English teaching will be the path for a BE career, although only


87

one respondent has experienced this kind of programme. This reveals that the lack of

training in Business English teaching is at the heart of the problems of ESBP teaching

in the area of study.

Q 2: Do you think that an effective professional development is

A specific training in ESBP teaching

A self development in ESBP teaching

A blending of specific training and self- development in ESBP

Other suggestion.............

Why?

Commonly, 100% of the informants agreed that an effective professional development

in ESBP is a result of a blending of specific training and self-development. Actually, and

according to the informants’ opinions, a specific training targets the needs and lacks of the

teachers and it is made sharper to meet specific points. Besides, pre-service training may be a

starter for BE teaching career, when in-service training comes to enhance self- development.

On the other hand, self-development is necessary to widen very specific business content and

context and it is needed constantly.

Being an ever-changing area, ESP in general and ESBP in particular require from their

teachers to keep up to date with the latest development. And to provide such an opportunity,

the teachers believe that institutions goals (by making effort in training their recruits) and the

teachers’ own goal should go hand in hand.


88

4. Findings for the Research Hypotheses

The findings that were gathered from the data analysis are presented in three points:

The first point presents findings that sought to confirm or infirm the first research

question’s hypothesis;

Hypothesis 1: Very few or none specific training are available for

professional development in teaching Business English. Different means are

accessible for self-development.

From the data collected via the questionnaire, the result shows that almost no

opportunity for ESBP teaching training is available in the study area. In fact, the training that

the few respondents have experienced are in a form of seminars or workshop that took place

during 1 day to 10 days (as illustrated in Figure 3.7.9). While, only one respondent has

followed a qualification programme in BE teaching and it was a free e-training.

On the other hand, the informants have used different means to develop themselves

professionally in ESBP teaching. Either through observation visit or work shadowing in the

company where they practised BE teaching or mainly through using authentic materials and

information technology. In fact, these two means remain within all the teachers’ reach.

The second point presents the findings in relation with the second research question’s

hypothesis;

Hypothesis 2: Institutions offering ESBP training rarely or never give their

recruits pre or in-service Business language teaching training.

Actually, and as assumed form the data collected through the questionnaire, only 12% of

the teachers have participated once in courses/ workshops on BE teaching and they were in-

service training. All of them practised for a governmental institution. In fact, all the teachers

recruited in private training schools have never been offered the opportunity to experience

such a specific training (neither pre-service nor in-service one) in order to upgrade their skills-

base and knowledge in BE teaching. Although, private institutions require quality teaching

from their recruits, no training programs have been launched for their staff in order to


89

enlighten them with business language and matters and at the same time increase their

motivation.

The third point attempts to confirm or not the third research question’s hypothesis

which was:

Hypothesis 3: ESBP teaching professional development in Oran is rather through

self-development than with specific teacher’s training

As a synthesis of the two previous points; one can assume that self-development is

nowadays the only mean accessible in the study area (Oran) for ESBP teacher for both

experienced and novice teachers. Although, it is well known that preparing the teachers for

their future tasks will minimize several issues adhered to specific English teaching (and ESBP

teaching as well) and their effects to the maximum.

5. Conclusion

Indeed, from the data collection results, it appears that many ESBP teachers practicing in

the study area are ill prepared for this specific teaching task. Teachers need to be provided

with the necessary knowledge and tools to deal with their own learners’ specializations. Thus,

teachers’ professional development in Business English is more than essential to meet the new

language requirement. But, it should be remembered that Business English teacher is not a

business person but a teacher of English language. The aim is to help students, who know

business subjects better than the teachers do, develop their competence in their field using

English language as a medium.

General Conclusion

90

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General Conclusion

91

1. Recommendations

In the light of the results obtained and their analysis, and after exploring the different

issues encountered by ESBP teachers in the study area in relation with their professional

development. One tends to suggest some possible solution and remedial actions to go beyond

these issues or at least attenuate some of them.

In the study area, and as deduced by the research result, the issue of ESBP teacher training

holds its position as the first major issue in BE teachers’ development. In fact, the only reason

for the lack of ESBP teacher training in our country is the infancy of the ESP culture.

Certainly, preparing the teachers for their upcoming tasks will diminish several issues adhered

to specific language teaching and their outcomes to the maximum.

Workshops and seminars on Business English teaching can be conducted by the

different language institutions in order to increase teacher motivation and awareness. The

teachers have general know-how of General English, but not an in-depth knowledge of

Business Language. Training them can prove productive. This gives open the opportunity for

consultation with ESP/ BE experts. In fact, ESP/ BE training is of paramount importance if

we want ESBP teaching to thrive and work for the learners. This will enlighten the trainers

with theory and practice. Additionally, it will serve the language institution as an attraction to

get more people into ESBP teaching.

About the importance of ESP teacher-training, Swales states;

‘All researches interested in assessing the progress of ESP as

a component of ELT agree that one of the most constraining factors to

this progress is the lack of “specialized teacher-training’

(Swales1985: 214)

Later, he puts emphasis on ‘developing realistic objectives for shorter in-service

training programmes’ and transfer of necessary professional skills from ‘more experienced to

less experienced practitioners’. In order to help the teachers bridge the gap between the

learners’ knowledge of the specialist subject and their ignorance of it (Strevens 1985).

Additionally, Strevens props up the idea of including collaborative-teaching as a part of

teacher training programmes. And in terms of qualification for such specific language

General Conclusion

92

teaching, Hock and Chin (1988) suggest an ideal combination of ‘content training with

knowledge in applied linguistics and methodology’.

Unfortunately, ESBP teacher training stays neglected in our country though the

demand for such courses is increasing. In such a situation, self-training remain the only

solution for professional development. Nevertheless, this kind of professional development

requires a vigorous motivation from teachers to grow professionally. This can be possible

using different ways like:

Peer coaching: peer coaching is a process in which a group of at least two teachers who

share the same teaching context meet to reflect and explore their teaching practices, discuss

their observations and share their experience in order to ensure quality teaching. As well

explained by Richards and Farrell’s;

‘In peer coaching, a teacher and a colleague plan a series of

opportunities to explore the teacher’s teaching collaboratively one

adopts the role of coach or critical friend... as some aspect of teaching

or of classroom life is explored. During and after the process, the

coach provides feedback and suggestions on the other teacher... The

coach offers observations and suggestions, but the other teacher

makes his or her own decisions about what, if anything, to change as

a result of the peer-coaching relationship’

(Richards and Farell, 2005: 143)

Undeniably, this kind of initiative is an ongoing training and support for BE teachers. It

makes them more active, by allowing them to learn and get feedback from more experienced

teachers and assist novice ones. In fact, language institution should promote peer coaching

among their recruits in order to guarantee high-quality teaching and help teachers improve

professionally.

Action Research: action research in education is the act of asking crucial questions in

strong relation with daily practice in order to reflect about one’s teaching in the classroom and

search solutions for the identified lacks. As interpreted by Carr and Kemmis;

General Conclusion

93

‘Action research is simply a form of self-reflective enquiry

undertaken by participants in order to improve the rationality and

justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices

and the situations in which the practices are carried out.’

(Carr and Kemmis, 1986: 162)

The idea, in the case of ESBP teaching, is that the teacher tries to explore and reflect

about his/ her own teaching. The teacher seeks for familiarity with his/ her learners’ speciality

and adapts the courses’ content with their needs, and sometimes changes the course objectives

when they are judged inadequate with the learners’ expectations. In fact, the aim behind this is

to acquire a sound knowledge of what to teach in such a specific setting and prepare oneself in

advance in order to avoid discomfort and weaknesses when handling target materials.

Actually, action research is a way to self-evaluate one’s teaching practice, and according to

Nunan (1992) and Burns (1996), it is a kind of critical self-reflection or inquired undertaken

by teachers themselves with the aims of enhancing their understanding of the assumptions,

values, or theories that lie behind their teaching practice as well as improving their practice by

solving problems.

Understanding Specific Content (Vocabulary): Often Business English teachers

encounter issues regarding understanding the contents or specialist vocabulary especially

when using authentic materials. For an effective teaching, it is necessary for ESBP teacher to

have a complete grip on the content they are teaching; otherwise the learners may be

demotivated and lose interest. Therefore, and in order to go beyond this issue, the teacher

shouldn’t select very specialist content materials and in addition, he may take help from

intelligent learners in order to explain complex terms. On the other hand, to minimize the

obscurity of some specialist content, the teacher may seek help from more experienced

colleagues, business field specialists, books, dictionaries, translation software, internet, etc.

General Conclusion

94

2. General Conclusion

The study is devoted to investigate how Business English teachers practising in or for

companies manage to develop themselves professionally in order to ensure quality teaching,

and an effective teaching/ learning process. In attempt to depict a clear image about ESBP

teaching in Algeria, a sample of English teachers from the area of Oran is taken as a case

study. The aim is to explore the situation of professional development in the area and

illustrate how BE teachers overcome issues in relation with specialist language and subject

matters knowledge.

Before putting the hypotheses in practice, a theoretical background about the most

important aspects and issues that support the purpose of the study has been presented.

In the first chapter and in light of the published literature, an overview of the different

definitions of ESP in general and Business English in particular is given. Through these

definitions, one can discern the importance of learners’ needs in an ESP/ BE course design.

Actually, a good analysis of these needs determine the success or failure of the teaching/

learning process.

The second chapter attempts to cover the different ESBP teaching implications.

Obviously, the learner remains in paramount importance in this kind of teaching. He is put in

the centre of the learning process. Hence, the teacher has to develop awareness of the needs

and requirements of his/ her learners and be flexible accordingly in order to reach a real

interaction between him/her, the learners and the selected activity.

The third chapter discusses the different points in relation with the content and context

of English for Specific Business Purposes. The teachers need to be provided with the

necessary knowledge in relation with their learners’ specializations and understanding what

their jobs involve helps the teacher fits classroom information into a familiar framework. In

fact, the teacher’s main objective is to train the learners to communicate in English about the

subject they are specialized in. The focus on real effective business communication is of

central importance in Business English teaching. Consequently, the teacher’s professional

development is more than essential to cope with these needs and requirements. Different path

are discussed including specific training and self-development through different initiatives

General Conclusion

95

that the teacher may undertake in order to develop himself professionally when specific

training is insufficient or absent.

Based on the different literatures, it is known that the term ESBP is used to cover the

English taught to a wide range of professional people, and due to the special quality of this

specific English, attention should be paid to specific language along with skills-training in

the teaching activity. This presents a tough challenge for teachers, as they are required to not

only be professional in language, but also to develop familiarity with subject matters in order

to respond to business people needs.

In such a type of teaching, the learner is permanently put at the centre of the learning

process in order to achieve an effective outcome. Consequently, it seems of vital importance

that the BE teachers be well prepared to facilitate learners’ acquisition of specialist language

and practical language skills in the most effective way by putting it in its real context. In fact,

bringing in new specialist language in real situation favours its acquisition and helps learners

learn more effectively. But, it appears that many BE teachers are not properly equipped with

relevant teaching tools to make these objectives achievable. Consequently, they are faced with

such complexities that make them feel anxious and lessen their self-confidence when teaching

business specialist.

Unfortunately, in our country, there is no concept of establishing Business English

teachers’ training for quality BE teachers though demand for courses in BE has been growing

very fast. And it is surprising that policy makers and curriculum designers have not taken BE

teacher education seriously. GE teachers are hired by the institution to assume teaching BE

sometimes without minimum preparation and therefore find themselves in a network of

teaching-related issues. The situation is well stated by Johns (1991):

‘ESP teachers find themselves in a situation where they are

expected to produce a course that exactly matches the needs of a

group of learners, but are expected to do so with no, or very limited,

preparation time.’

(Johns, 1991:

This kind of situation affects the teaching quality and it is time, effort and money

consuming for the institution and the instructor as well. So, to increase the institutions’

General Conclusion

96

prosperity and the teachers’ motivation, teachers’ pre and in-service training programs should

be offered to the recruits in order to be well prepared for such specific teaching. Additionally,

the institution should bring support to motivate the teachers for self-development that help

them acquire very specific knowledge and to keep up to date with latest development in BE

teaching.

Due to globalization, it is predicted that the number of Business English learners will

increase considerably in the near future in our country. Moreover, for saving time and money,

they will seek for a very specific language training shaped thoroughly to fit their needs. To

make this possible, and to keep up with the future ‘language market’ demands, BE teachers

should be field-specific trained according to the job category and position. Therefore,

language institution as well as BE teachers are asked to be more dynamic and keep

themselves updated for the demands of the future market.

104

Appendices

105

Appendix 1

Teacher Questionnaire

About the Questionnaire

This questionnaire asks for information about ESBP teacher professional

development.

ESBP= English for specific business purposes i.e. business English for professionals

This questionnaire should take approximately 25 minutes to complete.

Most questions can be answered by marking the one most appropriate answer.

When in doubt about any aspect of the questionnaire, or if you would like more

information about it or the study, you can reach me by phone at the following

numbers 0560 39 57 53 or by e-mail: [email protected]

Thank you very much for your cooperation!

106

Part 1

Background Information

These questions are about you, your education and the time you have spent in teaching general English and ESBP. To respond the questions, please mark the appropriate box.

Q1 : What is your gender?

Female

Male

Q2 : How old are you?

Under 25

25-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

Q3: How long have you been working as a teacher of general English?

This is my first year 1-3 years More than 3 years

Q4: How long have you been working as an ESBP teacher?

Never (please, go directly to Part 3 and answer Q5 from Part 1) 1-3 years More than 3 years

Q5: Which kind of institution have you been working at as an ESBP teacher?

Private language school/ institute Governmental language school/ institute

Q6: What was or is your employment status as ESBP teacher?

Full-time Part-time

Q7: What is the highest level of education you have completed? Please mark one choice.

licence in English magistere in

o ESP

o Business English

o Another discipline ................

doctorate in

o ESP

o in Business English

o in another discipline..................................

107

Part 2

Professional Development

In this questionnaire, professional development is defined as activities that develop an individual's skills, knowledge, expertise and other characteristics as a teacher.

Specific training:

Q1: For each question below, please mark one choice in part (A). If you answer 'Yes' in part (A) then please mark one choice in part (B) to indicate how much impact it had upon your development as a teacher.

(A)

Participation

(B)

impact

yes No No impact

A small impact

A moderate impact

A large impact

a) Courses/ workshops (e.g. on business subject matters or methods of teaching ESBP and/ or others related topics)

b) Qualification programme in Business English teaching

c) Participation in a network of teachers formed specifically for professional development of business English teachers

Q2: In all, how many days of professional development did you attend?..................

Q3: For the professional development (specific training for teaching ESBP) in which you participated

did you have to pay for yourself

were afforded by the language school/ institution for which you worked

Additional observations or suggestions: .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

108

Self-development: Q4: for each question below, please mark one choice in part (A). If you answer 'Yes' in part (A) then please mark one choice in part (B) to indicate how much impact it had upon your development as a teacher.

(A)

(B)

impact

yes No No impact

A small impact

A moderate impact

A large impact

a) Observation visit to a company

b) A training in a company (work shadowing)

c) An access to the company documentation or website

d) Using authentic materials*

e) Using information technology and internet

If yes which of these means:

- Joining special forums for business English teaching in internet network

- Corpora and concordances

- Translation software

- Electronic dictionaries

- Other ...............................

* If yes which kind of authentic materials ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Additional observations or suggestions: .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

109

Part 3

Personal opinion: Q1: From the previous means listed in Part2, which ones are, according to you, more efficient for an effective professional development in ESBP teaching? Explain? ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Q2: Do you think that an effective professional development is A specific training in ESBP teaching A self development in ESBP teaching A blending of specific training and self- development in ESBP Other suggestion.............

Why?

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................... Thank you very much for your cooperation!

110

Appendix 2

Model for Needs Analysis (Donna, 2000: 11)

111

Appendix 3

A Model for Placement Test (Donna, 2000: 16-20)

112

113

114

English for Specific Business Purposes - Theses

Documents