Job Discussion Forums

[ladypisces]

Has anyone ever taught at Beijing Union University. I had a great interview with this place and they told me they wanted more than just a "mere English teacher" and wanted me to teach courses in "Communications." My master's is in communications, so I'm ok with teaching English but also wanted some "speech" or "presentations"; "mass/global communications" etc. to build my experience.

Well they offered me the job and when I asked in writing for confirmation about the courses, they are telling me they want me to teach "economics" and "English for HR purposes"; "English for Business Administration majors."

It seems to me like they are trying to get away without hiring and paying an MBA and are trying to pull a fast one.

Any thoughts???

[roadwalker]

OP, I think you will find that turn of events to be possible in many, many Chinese universities. If you really aren't prepared to teach those latter classes (or don't want to), nicely point out that those weren't the subjects that were discussed earlier, and that you are prepared to teach English courses and would be happy to teach communications as well, in English. They may just be gauging who they have that they can cover those courses.

On edit: "Business English" courses are very commonly taught by Foreign English teachers without any particular business background. Most schools won't attract high level adjuncts or professors because they won't pay for them. It's not pulling one over, its slapping together a curriculum and whatever teachers they can get to teach it.

[MisterButtkins]

I had to teach Business English classes at my last school to International Business students. The first year students were OK. The material was stuff like "This is a corporation" "This is what products do" "Why do people advertise" etc.

Then the next semester they made me teach a class to the sophomores. Two-thirds of the class knew more about business than I did. The other third were lazy. I followed the book pretty closely and showed a few movies, got through OK.

Anyway, I put that stuff on my resume and guess what, now I'm teaching business classes again.

I have no real 'business' experience whatsoever BTW. My degree is in English literature. Pretty much everything I know about business I learned from reading the Business English textbooks the boss gave me to teach to the students. I ask not to teach business classes, but get stuck with them every semester. At the end of this semester I will have 2 years of business English experience on my CV, thus the cycle will likely continue.

Anyway like sb else said, at the end of the day it's not that much different from other English classes as long as you follow the book closely. Maybe a bit more writing and it takes a bit longer to plan (esp the first semester you teach it), but it's not so bad.

LOL at the idea they would pay an MBA to come here and teach business classes. That's one of the funnier things I've heard recently.

[TexasHighway]

Would you be teaching the three courses to the same students or different groups of students? If you teach to different students, you could probably teach the same basic course with slight variations, particularly for the business English courses. That would be a lot better than having to do completely different preparations for each class. As far as "economics" is concerned, are you sure they want you to teach economics or merely English for economics majors? You might want to clarify that with them.