Job Discussion Forums

[Deborann]

I willbe teaching Business writing, Business reading and listening, and International Enterprise Management in 2004. After reading that there are generally no curricula in existence, has anyone had any experience in teaching these types of subjests? What can I expect, what types of materials should I bring with me??

Thanks,

D.

[Roger]

Do you have any clue as to where you are going to teach? What kind of students? How long?

[wOZfromOZ]

The institution I'm at has a comprehensive collection of texts, and other resources to facilitate professional standards of tertiary instruction in Business studies from years 1 to 4 and then 5 if necessary.

You need to ask this 'institution' if they have these resources and if not, why not? Will they be giving you a 'Z' Visa - If the answer is "NO", "maybe" or "later" state quite emphatically -"BU XING" - meaning there's absolutely no way you'll come!

If they've got the texts necessary you should be asking a minimum of
15,000Y for 80 hours/month and if there are no texts - 20,000Y for 80 hours / month.

Airfares, off campus allowance, health insurance, etc is ON TOP of this above quoted salary.

Business teachers have to work very hard much of the term.


wOZfromOZ

[The Central Scrutinizer]

[Bookworm]

The Central Scrutinizer: the white zone is for loading and unloading only.

[Deborann]

HI Roger,

I'll be teaching in Xi'an - 12 class hours per week. I have been told it is a public university - Xi'an International Studies University on Chang'An Rd. I have no idea re the students - just assuming they are enrolled in Business. The Businiess Faculty person I have emailed suggested I bring some modern texts as they "are short of original textbooks and reference books". Maybe I am also writing the courses??

Accommodation, flights etc are included as far as I have been told. I am waiting for the letter of invitation - to arrive this month, and I will use that to apply for a Z visa here in Oz. (Right move??) Acccomodation (2 bed-room apartment on campus), medical cover, and computer/internet access in apartment provided. Plus some mention of organised visits/tours and one months holiday pay.

The people I have been emailing (Business Faculty, plus Foreign Affairs person) are Chinese, so I am not sure that the university is the Xi'an International University mentioned in previous posts with a Indian co-ordinator.

Love the Monopoly idea - will definitely bring my Monopoly set - what about Scrabble? (Business realted words only?? )

What do you think?

Thanks,

D.

[Roger]

Deborann,
Xi'an has a very high concentration of tertiary institutions of learning; it's likely some are above national standard, which I can only wish for!
But in all likelihood, you can't expect students to be aware, initiative, mature, equipped with a practical sense. I have for the past two months taught college students aged 19 to 24, some of whom majored in "Business English". Here my take:
You need to teach them things from scratch! What's business? Oh, it's "...." in Chinese? Fine, but what does it boil down to? Yes, it comes from the adjective "busy"!
Your students will need a lot of practice writing simple, ordinary letters! They don't know where the world puts the letter head, the date and so on; they don't know how to start out in a letter! They hail from a culture where everything is done orally and with facial expressions difficult to fathom!
For example applying for jobs: teach them how to write an advert, and how to answer it1 Ask them to write personalised ads and job applications! You will see how little they learnt before you came along!
Also, teach them to respect conventions: Margins, how to separate words, how to form paragraphs, punctuation!

By the way, you are being a little late for the term; I hope the school is offering you a full airfare refund!
Welcome to China, and good luck!
Roger

[kimo]

I assume you will not be teaching actual business disciplines such as finance, accounting or personnel so one way to lessen your load of books to carry would be to start collecting and categorizing information from the internet. You could put URL addresses on a disc and call them up when you need them.

For example as Roger suggested you might need to teach them how to write a business letter from scratch. Find sites with sample letters. When you arrive in country, you can refer to these sites for materials.

You can do that for other subjects you plan or think you might touch on as well.

For the listening part, you might want to start making your own audio tapes while you are in an English speaking country. You could tape stuff off of the TV or radio then make transcripts. Might save you a whole heap of work later. Make tapes for easy listening up to more advanced levels. Note video tapes from the U.S. (if that's where you're from) do not generally play in Chinese machines. CD's, VCD's, DVD's are probably all OK here.

Short business articles or briefs from the newspaper and magazines are also good for reading comprehension and practice. Start clipping them out. Don't forget to write the date on them so they don't get stale.

I suggest you start planning a syllabus (flexible one at that) for each type of class you will teach just so you are not so rushed once you begin. You will save yourself a lot of headaches I believe.

And a final note: one series of books available here in China is the "Business Contacts" series published by Prentice Hall. It is useful for reading, listening and discussion. Look on the web and/or ask your Chinese colleagues if they can (or will attempt) to find it.

[Deborann]

Thank you all for the good advice and comments. I will start compiling the resources suggested. I'm from Australia, so probably have limted access to resources from the US - I think Australian videos would work??.

I had assumed that in the International Enterprise management subject I would be doing some Human Resources teaching, plus some basic finance (analysing spreadsheets??) and business process re-engineering - am I being a little too energetic here?

Thanks Roger, yes they have promised a return ticket - I will be there until January 2005.

Thanks again,

D.

[sojourner]

Hi Deborann,

Some books that you may find helpful are :

- Mark Ellis & Christine Johnson,'Teaching Business English
- Tom Hutchinson & Alan Waters,'English for Specific Purposes'
- Sylvie Donna,'Teach Business English'

Will you be stopping over in Shanghai before starting in your new job ? If so, you should visit the Shanghai Foreign Languages Bookstore ([email protected] )They have an excellent range of teaching material,including audio-tapes.They also stock the 1st two books that I have listed above.Most of their stock is v.v. cheap compared to the prices you'd pay for the same stuff back in Australia. So,if you see a book, or whatever, in Australia,email the Shanghai Foreign Languages Bookstore to ascertain whether they stock it, as well as their price.Yes,that shop also stocks material,such as tapes,on Business English and related subjects.

Good luck with your new job.

Regards,

Peter

[sojourner]

Deborann,

There's one other book that I'd forgot to mention in my previous posting.It's called 'Decisionmaker',and it's published by Cambridge University Press.It consists of case studies dealing with a wide range of issues that could confront business administrators - ranges from those dealing with cultural sensitivity;to topics dealing with ethical issues,such as intellectual property piracy.Case studies,as you are probably aware,are an excellent way to teach the subject.The case studies in 'Decisionmaker' will,of course, also introduce the students to current business terminology.

I'm not sure if the book is available at the Shanghai Foreign Languages Bookshop - I had a look a couple of months ago - couldn't find it.But you should be able to obtain it in Aust - well worth the money.

Regards,

Peter

[Roger]

As I hinted in my previous post, I would not teach them substantive stuff - that's way too intellectual for them, I suppose! At universities, maybe (sometimes, not always!), but hardly so at a college!

I guess they have the same subject in Chinese. Teaching them Finances in English might conflict with what they learn in CHinese...

Just a suggestion: have you thought of reading with them some biography of an important business leader?
I am not thinking of Bill Gates though you never know...
But years ago, I found a rather insightful and delightful little book whose title I forgot, but it is easy to locate - the story of the woman that founded the BODYSHOP chain.
It was published in China in English.

[MyTurnNow]

I'm a Business teacher at the school where WoZfromOz works. I'm saddled with a few sections of their university-level Business Communications. I wish I wasn't.

The focus here is not on business terminology/lingo but on being able to understand and produce standard types of communications....memos, meetings, presentations, etc. There's also some lovely codswallop about "working as a team" (basically a Coals to Newcastle/Ice to Eskimos thing in this culture; they really need "Thinking for Yourself") and "listening skills" and "the communications environment". You might want to be prepared for that approach.

I think one problem these students have with the course is that they often seem to have difficulty connecting it to the real world. Of course, they don't have too many connections the real world anyway. Anything you can do to make it "real" will be helpful.

I recommend you try and prepare a library of activities for this class. The textbooks all have them but they aren't very good, at least for this environment. I'm trying to think up some myself...

PM me if I can be of any help.

MT

[sojourner]

Further to my two earlier postings to this thread,one aspect of Business English (Studies ?) that is very important deals with the area of cultural awareness. One website that many Business English teachers may find helpful is : www.executiveplanet.com It'll provide some insight to our students on some of the differences between the business cultures of various Western countries,especially in areas relating to etiquette (sp?),body language,suitable small talk,etc.

Regards,

Peter