Job Discussion Forums

[fpshangzhou]

Hello Teflers,

I need some recommendations on some textbooks for Conversational English and business English. The students will comprised of university level and business level students. The training center will be using the Using English series for grammar based activities, but since the local teachers will be holding the grammar classes, I'll need a textbook or 2 which contains dialogues, activities, practice exercises. If possible, I would prefer a series in which it caters to different learner levels, similar to the Using English series.


Cheers,

FPHangzhou

[muffintop]

How do you define a 'business level' student?

[fpshangzhou]

To better clarify, I am looking for a textbook series for Conversational English, consisting of multiple levels (Beginner - Advanced). I'm also searching for a good Business English textbook with activities and dialogues, if possible. Since these are university level students and professionals, I'm particularly interested in learning about what other teachers who are teaching that similar level are using for textbooks/resources as well.


Cheers,

fphangzhou

[doogsville]

I teach a lot of business English at a university. We use two textbooks. One is called 'Market Leader' and has about three levels I think, from beginner to advanced. We use that one for the lower level students. I don't rate it that highly, though it has a lot of exercises and practical stuff. The students I have to teach it to just don't engage much in the practical stuff, but it might be worth checking out for your students. The other books, which I teach to translation majors who are much more engaged, are the Cambridge BEC books, which again, come in three levels. I like these books, and they have the advantage of working towards the Cambridge BEC exam, which is apparently becoming a widely recognised business English qualification.

Both books have a fairly even spread of reading, writing, listening and speaking exercises, but neither has a lot of what I consider to be good dialogues, so you might want to consider supplementing the books with dialogues of your own devising.

I haven't come across a good book for 'conversational English' yet, I've always either written my own dialogues for students, or found them on the Internet.

I should add that you'll find them both on Amazon.cn, which, if you can use it, perhaps with the aid of a student of friend, delivers quickly and has good prices.

[GreatApe]

I agree with doogsville ... In the past, when I taught business English and university level students, I used both Market Leader and World Link with some success, and I actually kind of like both texts.

Of course, for a two hour class, I wouldn't teach the textbook the entire time, but would still map-out a schedule to try to get the students through the textbook (as the schools usually wanted to monitor student progress through the book, as opposed to whether or not they were actually learning the language). I usually taught 60 to 75 minutes of the textbook and then 45 minutes to one hour of conversation and/or "practical usage" or speaking practice.

I have also used "Challenge to Speak" (1 and 2) and Global Links with some success with university and Business students.

Teaching for International schools for the past three years, I now tend to group different texts according to topics, rather than working through the textx unit at a time. Then I just teach the hell out of each topic and cover it as thoroughly as possible using the texts, power points, photographs, songs, flashcards, graphic organizers, writing assignments, vocabulary tests and the very occasional film or video (as long as it pertains to the topic that I am teaching). This provides students with the opportunity to learn about the topic through a variety of different media and is more interactive and interesting for them.

I always start at a lower-level (according to students' skill and comprehension level) and then try to progress up to a higher level (such as for IELTS, TOEFL, or SAT examination preparation). That way you tap into students "Prior Knowledge" and you can link through the topic to a more diverse and expansive vocabulary, understanding, and discussion.

--GA

[muffintop]

I've heard good things about Market Leader from many folks.

[Non Sequitur]

In my exp, equally important as quality is length.
A 2-character dialogue should have at least 5 speeches for each student.
Otherwise it takes more time to select students and get them to the front than the actual recitation.
As I've said before I use the dialogues as a grading tool as all students do all dialogues.
Select students at random as this adds to the buzz although when the majority have performed the attention levels fall off.
I make my break between dialogues the normal interval and I try to make the 2nd period something buzzy and enjoyable.

[Non Sequitur]

In my exp, equally important as quality is length.
A 2-character dialogue should have at least 5 speeches for each student.
Otherwise it takes more time to select students and get them to the front than the actual recitation.
As I've said before I use the dialogues as a grading tool as all students do all dialogues.
Select students at random as this adds to the buzz although when the majority have performed the attention levels fall off.
I make my break between dialogues the normal interval and I try to make the 2nd period something buzzy and enjoyable.

[mcloo7]

Can anyone recommend a book to buy to supplement the rest of the course materials? The text book my school uses doesnt offer anything at all in terms of classroom activities or speaking exercises. It just has a reading passage, comprehension questions, vocabulary, fill in the blank questions, and then one other section of grammar questions. I only use it for homework. Im looking for a book that I can use for classroom activities. Im looking for a textbook and not really a general book about ESL (like Learning Teaching) because I need activities with content.

This is for first year university students. I would just buy one copy and use it myself.

[Non Sequitur]

[mcloo7]

[Non Sequitur]

Interchange is seriously underpowered in respect of good dialogues.
If you go into a good sized Tsinghua bookstore and fossick the English section you should find something.
The English may not be that good but the dialogues are of decent length ie say 5 speeches per character.

[mcloo7]

[Toast]

[Non Sequitur]

Thanks guys
I shouldn't post late at night after a hard day.
The centre city branches have much bigger ranges than the suburbans.