Teacher Discussion Forums

Hi there,

I am running a business english workshop next weekend. My general idea is that "business english" classes tend to be too management / sales oriented for the kind of in-company classes we teach. The classes tend to be a complete mix from production workers to designers to receptionists to directors. The danger is choosing books / materilas that are too business - ie or choosing a general english book and forcing the students to talk about "the effect of tv on family life" or the environment or something else which does not relate to their needs or what motivates them.

I am looking for (and would greatly appreciate) any ideas you have for activities that work in these type of groups. I read a really great idea in another thread (and I didn't note who it was from so i can't give credit) about drawing a floor plan etc. Any other ideas would be a big help.

Thanks very much!

Jo

Topic ideas:

-describing their company and their job (job could get too specific for vocabulary, but do it anyways as they all want to be able to talk about their work)

-telephoning practice (everyone needs this, no matter their position)

-small talk, greetings and introductions

-polite language

As for activities themselves, here's a final activity that practices small talk, introductions and a bit talking about work. After having introduced the language and had controlled practice of it all, give everyone a new business card with a new name, position and company listed on it (just a slip of paper, looks better if it's typed up though). Tell them they are now this person, so they should think about what they do every day, where their company is located, etc. etc. Then tell them they are going to a conference where they want to network and get to know a lot of new people. Get them to stand up and start mingling. You can either play along yourself, or walk through and take notes on language use. This is basically a copy of an activity in Reward (sorry, can't remember the publisher) which has the cards made up for you and a slightly longer and better explanation.

JoJo, I think you have the right idea : make sure they do something that they feel is 'useful' and they will be sure to come back for more

Here are a few ideas. It could be interesting to get them to discuss their companies, with the objective of making a 5 minute presentation by the end of the session / workshop. You could use a model from a book, or even your own example. You could help them to arrive at this stage by getting them to interview each other first, perhaps even writing a summary. This touches on various domaines of vocabulary (company-speak, technology, company history, numbers and figures, markets, customers, objectives) as well as grammar points (tenses, conditionals, active/passive...). Along the way, they pick up tips on making presentations and they will feel full of confidence if they are able to do a presentation in English in front of a group!