What methodologists and teachers consider differentiates Business English from General English has obvious implications on how Business English is taught, along with the dominant approaches in English language teaching at any given time. We can see this by taking a brief look at developments in Business English teaching.
In the late 1960s and 1970s it was felt that the difference between Business English and General English was mainly specialist vocabulary, and this was reflected in the coursebooks and materials of the time. These focused largely on texts with comprehension questions, vocabulary exercises, and repetition drills. Business skills and application to real-life situations were not generally focused on.
A move towards greater skills training in a business context occurred in 1972 with the publication of the BBC coursebook and video English for Business, which incorporated greater emphasis on areas such as listening skills development, dialogue practice and role-plays, therefore accepting the need to develop students’ skills to deal with practical situations. This trend continued during the mid-1970s and 1980s, when Business English teaching followed the move in General English teaching towards a more functional syllabus. The focus was now on functional language and the teaching of formulaic phrases for recommending, agreeing, disagreeing etc. These were introduced in business contexts and practised in role-plays of common business situations such as making appointments, making introductions, business lunches etc.
From the late 1980s the focus shifted to working on business communication skills. This was largely due to the development of company training programmes in the late 1980s, which began to provide employees with opportunities to attend courses in presentation techniques, negotiating and effective meeting skills, among other things. This of course led to the publication of books and materials on business communication skills. This has profoundly influenced Business English teaching up to the present day in that the focus on Business communication skills forms a major component of most current Business English courses and coursebooks.
To conclude, and broadly-speaking, the focus on real-world communication, which is prevalent in much contemporary Business English teaching, fits in neatly with the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the predominant approach to English language teaching in the world for the past twenty years. In essence this is an approach to language teaching where the underlying key objective is to develop the learners’ ability to use language to communicate effectively. An important point related to CLT is that fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal. Language accuracy is judged in context.
Submitted by Saint George International www.stgeorges.co.uk
Friday 31 July 2009
Summer Games Day!
Summer Games Day on Saturday 8th August at Regents Park from 1pm - SGI will be competing against other English schools - and we need you to win! Enroll from Tuesday: http://www.stgeorges.co.uk/img/summer-games.gif
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Under the Bridges Walking Tour
Join teacher Owen at 3:15pm today on a fascinating walk along the River Thames from St.Paul’s Cathedral to The Tower of London. As well as being one of our popular English teachers, Owen is also a professional tour guide and proud owner of a ‘City of London Green Badge’!!! Bring your camera!! Please sign up online: http://www.stgeorges.co.uk/english-courses/e-learning.shtml
Tuesday 28 July 2009
A Foundation for life. University Foundation courses in London
Why not do a University Foundation course at a British-Council accredited language school in the cosmopolitan international atmosphere of London?
University Foundation courses have become increasingly popular in recent years as a way for overseas students to gain admission to British Universities and Colleges of Higher Education. These courses will typically involve an element of English language development, leading to the taking of the IELTS test, and an assessed element of subject study within a broad area, such as Business, Engineering etc.
Typically either 6 or 9 months in length, University Foundation courses can be taken at a whole range of different organisations, however taking these courses at British-Council accredited language schools has grown enormously in popularity in recent years. There are a number of good reasons for this……
Small is good
Language Schools are invariably quite small in comparison to universities. Typically language schools range in student numbers from 80-200 whereas even small universities will usually have many thousands of students. This ‘smallness’ has a number of benefits at both the pre-course and in-course stages.
Whilst there are inevitably variations in response, generally language schools within the accredited private sector are able to provide a very quick personal service to enquiring parents of prospective University Foundation course students. This is particularly important at the pre-course stage when parents need to feel they are making the right choice for their son or daughter. Being able to ask questions, seek explanations and clarifications and quite possibly being able to speak in your mother tongue is tremendously reassuring to the customer. This is something universities, who operate in a much more standardised way due to the volume of students, struggle to do.
Another positive feature of private sector language schools is class size. Typically classes will be between 10-15 students at language schools whereas university classes are typically in excess of 30. This small class feature is very important to students from overseas, they particular need that greater degree of personal attention afforded at a quality language school. After all, they are getting familiar with a new culture, they are probably struggling with their English and many may be away from their home countries for the first time.
Language is the key
Of course the key area of expertise of an English language school is, not surprisingly, English language teaching! Almost without exception, University Foundation course students need to work extensively on their English, not least because they have to achieve a proven level of English usually by way of the IELTS test, in order to enter university. This makes language schools the natural habitat for the international student, as the importance of developing confidence and proficiency with their English is absolutely vital if they want to succeed at university and enjoy their intended long stay in the UK.
An added bonus, of studying at a language school is the high degree of sensitivity and awareness of other cultures that resides within faculty. The staff are totally attuned to dealing with different cultures and this partly emanates out of the fact that many of the teachers have travelled and taught English extensively overseas. This means that dealing sensitively with students from different cultures is something that is second nature to language school teachers and staff.
Broadening Horizons:
You can take University Foundation courses anywhere in the UK but the number of students choosing to study in London has steadily increased over the past decade.
London of course is simply one of the great cities of the world. There is an energy and excitement about London that quickens the pulse of even the most seasoned traveller. That sense of discovery and opportunity within a cosmopolitan international setting is an invigorating starting point for any young person looking to broaden their horizons.
This article was submitted by Saint George International
University Foundation courses have become increasingly popular in recent years as a way for overseas students to gain admission to British Universities and Colleges of Higher Education. These courses will typically involve an element of English language development, leading to the taking of the IELTS test, and an assessed element of subject study within a broad area, such as Business, Engineering etc.
Typically either 6 or 9 months in length, University Foundation courses can be taken at a whole range of different organisations, however taking these courses at British-Council accredited language schools has grown enormously in popularity in recent years. There are a number of good reasons for this……
Small is good
Language Schools are invariably quite small in comparison to universities. Typically language schools range in student numbers from 80-200 whereas even small universities will usually have many thousands of students. This ‘smallness’ has a number of benefits at both the pre-course and in-course stages.
Whilst there are inevitably variations in response, generally language schools within the accredited private sector are able to provide a very quick personal service to enquiring parents of prospective University Foundation course students. This is particularly important at the pre-course stage when parents need to feel they are making the right choice for their son or daughter. Being able to ask questions, seek explanations and clarifications and quite possibly being able to speak in your mother tongue is tremendously reassuring to the customer. This is something universities, who operate in a much more standardised way due to the volume of students, struggle to do.
Another positive feature of private sector language schools is class size. Typically classes will be between 10-15 students at language schools whereas university classes are typically in excess of 30. This small class feature is very important to students from overseas, they particular need that greater degree of personal attention afforded at a quality language school. After all, they are getting familiar with a new culture, they are probably struggling with their English and many may be away from their home countries for the first time.
Language is the key
Of course the key area of expertise of an English language school is, not surprisingly, English language teaching! Almost without exception, University Foundation course students need to work extensively on their English, not least because they have to achieve a proven level of English usually by way of the IELTS test, in order to enter university. This makes language schools the natural habitat for the international student, as the importance of developing confidence and proficiency with their English is absolutely vital if they want to succeed at university and enjoy their intended long stay in the UK.
An added bonus, of studying at a language school is the high degree of sensitivity and awareness of other cultures that resides within faculty. The staff are totally attuned to dealing with different cultures and this partly emanates out of the fact that many of the teachers have travelled and taught English extensively overseas. This means that dealing sensitively with students from different cultures is something that is second nature to language school teachers and staff.
Broadening Horizons:
You can take University Foundation courses anywhere in the UK but the number of students choosing to study in London has steadily increased over the past decade.
London of course is simply one of the great cities of the world. There is an energy and excitement about London that quickens the pulse of even the most seasoned traveller. That sense of discovery and opportunity within a cosmopolitan international setting is an invigorating starting point for any young person looking to broaden their horizons.
This article was submitted by Saint George International
Monday 20 July 2009
Friday 10 July 2009
Boat Trip 30th June 2009
On the 30th June 2009 SGI promoted a boat trip to see the sights of London from the Thames and visit the Greenwich Meridian Line, as part of our social programme, involving both teachers and students. Our social activities are opportunities for everyone to meet each other, visit London and practice their English while having fun!
What to expect from a good English language course
To learn English has more or less become a necessity for citizens of the world today. In 2008 the English Language grew ever more global with some 1,300,000,000 speakers using it as their first, second, business, or technical tongue. This huge global demand to learn English has spawned The English language teaching ( ELT) industry, an industry that in the UK alone contributes in excess of £1 billion in exports annually to the UK economy.
This global industry is largely made up of English language schools of all sizes and of varying quality that can be found on almost every street corner of every city in the world. So you’ve decided to learn English so what should you expect from a good English language course
Here at Saint George International ( SGI) in London we have laid down a ‘Student Charter’ which we feel ensures students receive a good English language course when they come to us. These are the key points.
We aim to ensure that all students…..
- develop their ability to speak and understand everyday English;
- increase their grammatical knowledge so they can use a greater range of structures when speaking English;
- develop their ability to read and write English more efficiently;
- increase their active vocabulary and are provided with ideas as to how to independently improve their vocabulary;
- improve their pronunciation and expressiveness when speaking English;
- build their confidence in using English through controlled communicative activities in the classroom;
- develop their ability to become more independent as learners of English by providing self-study opportunities in the self-study centre along with advice on continuing their learning when they finish their studies at Saint George International;
- have a clear indication of the progress they make through our system of tests, tutorials and public examinations;
- are offered the opportunity to take a public examination if they want to do so;
- are treated as individuals with individual needs.
From our experience, if a language school in London or anywhere else can cover the above points then you the student are almost certainly receiving a good English language course.
Submitted by Saint George International http://www.stgeorges.co.uk/learn-english.shtml
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