Performance objectives for business English

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 457.

As already stated, one of the main characteristics of Business English is the emphasis on performance. For people in business, the priority is to be able to understand and get their message across, and for the majority of Business English learners many of the refinements of language are quite simply not relevant.

What the majority of business learners need to acquire could be broadly summarized as follows:

• Confidence and fluency in speaking

• Skills for organizing and structuring information

• Sufficient language accuracy to be able to communicate ideas without ambiguity and without stress for listener

• Strategies for following the main points of fast, complex, and imperfect speech

• Strategies for clarifying and checking unclear information

• Speed of reaction to the utterances of others

• Clear pronunciation and delivery

• An awareness of appropriate language and behavior for the cultures and situations in which they operate.

Some learners may also need to develop practical reading and writing skills.

In Business English, these performance criteria need to be seen in the context of specific business situations which the learner will be involved in. If the requirements of a typical job are analyzed, it can be seen, for example, that the learner has to attend meetings which are carried out in English and that he or she has to follow what is going on and be able to make a contribution.

As a conclusion we may state that there is a strong relation between language skills, cultural competence and exporting performance. In contemporary business environment foreign language skills are prerequisite for success of young business people and their companies. Every professional, from scientists to engineers, to nurses, to businessmen etc, function in a global market: they rely on primary sources published in other languages, attend international conferences, and often find themselves interacting across national, cultural, and linguistic borders. Government and industry often give preference to job applicants who are proficient in one or even more foreign languages. More and more companies are competing in the global market place, which means there is a growing demand for mangers with an international outlook. Graduates with knowledge of foreign countries and their business cultures, that are proficient in foreign languages, have an edge.

Business English is certainly language: vocabulary, grammar, functions, but also content: marketing, management, finance, etc., besides, it is communication skills: telephoning, correspondence, meetings, presentations, etc., and cultural awareness of social and business behavior. A complete novice in TBE (Teaching Business English) is at risk to conclude that his concern is just the language part. This is a very serious mistake. The four parts are inseparable and cutting down any of them leads to no new acquisition in the field. One should try to enter this new world and make it his own. It is BE with its communicative and thematic comprehensiveness, reflecting every sphere of human international business relations, which can stimulate a new spiral in the development (and self-development) of an EFL teacher of a new generation in this country. The business environment comprises three major categories of -n-workers: managers, executives and clerical staff. A well designed English for Business syllabus will addressed separately to the three categories mentioned above because they all have different responsibilities, and as a result, they can be expected to have different needs as BE learners.