Job Discussion Forums

[Phil_K]

I've recently got to thinking that it may be time to abandon the business course as a concept and as a language school offer.

My thinking is this: Teaching business situations has no place, as the target students are already familiar with these situations, and any differences in English-speaking countries can be incorporated in regular courses under culture, telephone practice, etc.

Also, I realize that no one has ever taught me Business Spanish but I can do business in Spanish because I have learnt to speak Spanish to a high level. In short, a good grounding in general English equips you for any situation.

Whaddy'all think?

[TeresaLopez]

[mejms]

[MotherF]

Actually, the rage in general foriegn language teaching (particularly focusing on teens and younger) is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL).
(see http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform/teachers/specialist-areas/clil for an introduction).

Research has found that there is higher language retention rates when students learn something in the language--not just learn the language.
So I would think this would also be useful at the professional level--the students learn something of use to them professionally in English.
In my case, professors who are going to a conference abroad tend to want to learn more English for social situations. They feel like they can give their talk in English, and understand other talks in their field in English, but at the coffee breaks or drinks sessions they stand there terrified to say anything.

Though I do also find it surprising that your target students are all confident enough to make phone calls in English? Maybe you need new target students? The students who want to move into positions where that is a job requirement?

edited to fix a typo!

[mejms]

[the peanut gallery]

My business courses with Airbus were sector specific. The students seemed to retain the content much better than students being taught content from a generic business class.

I taught courses to the Spanish Military that were focused on battleground communication techniques, very specific stuff. The retention rates were fantastic but that could also be attributed to the caliber of student.

I think there is a place for business courses but a theme is needed to give real value to the student.

[Isla Guapa]

[Phil_K]

[Isla Guapa]

[Phil_K]

A tough one, because the language you "acquire" is by definition, "learned". But in essence, I'd say that you and I both acquired much of our Spanish by living in Mexico and being in the situation where we absorbed the words spoken by others, (for example, I say h�jole quite a lot even when speaking in English) or have had to find the words in difficult situations. I guess those are the situations we have to simulate in class, however difficult that may be!

I think a true explanation of the acquisition of language would be a long and scholarly article beyond my scope!

[Isla Guapa]

So, we could can say that we have "acquired" language when we have, in a sense, "absorbed" into the part of our brains that deals with language and can use it in every day situations without thinking too much about it.

I began my study of Spanish in high school, continued with it in college (it was my major) and graduate school, where I got an MA. However, most of my practical knowledge comes from the times I've lived in Spain and Mexico and from spending time in the States with Spanish-speaking friends.

[Phil_K]

[mejms]

[Enchilada Potosina]

[MotherF]

Here's a very nice little article for those looking to understand the academic distinction between language acquisition and language learning.

http://www.eltnews.com/features/teaching_ideas/2002/07/learning_and_acquiring_languag.html

For those of you in situations where you are forced to use the coursebooks Enchilada is talking about, (like me) I've recently started using Touchstone one with my beginners, and finding it pretty refreshing. I still think they need extensive reading and listening, and they still don't have the time for it. But Touchstone seems to have hit somewhere in the middle of the spectrum--a coursebook with clear grammar presentations for those who believe that's the thing, but with natural listening imput and conversational strategies that are corpus informed. The only thing I find missing is not enough reading for reading's sake.