Writing assessment for Business English

[golddd2]

Hi All,

I've been asked to design a few writing assessments from low-intermediate through to advanced. Something I've never done before. This is to determine what class to put them in, and what general deficits/learning requirements they have.

I've just done the first one of these for some high-level staff at a professional services company. As they are employed for their analytical skills, this wasn't too hard - lots of open-ended questions seem appropriate. But, what about the same for their support staff? What assessment tasks to set, and what do I judge them on?

I'd really appreciated some input from anyone who's done this previously.

BTW I've spent the best part of a day looking on the net looking for something practical - mostly lots of theory, fine but I'm in a hurry this time around.

All thoughts, ideas and input very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance
golddd2

[tigertiger]

I would approach it differently.

For an assesment of level, I would use a general English test. This will give you the level. Also, remembering that language assesments are not a precise tool.

I would then put the business English into the course content.

[golddd2]

Hi TigerTiger,

Thanks for the quick reply.

The general tests I've seen tend to be geared toward IELTS and TOEFL assessments. Obviously the focus of these are quite different to a business environment - at least in terms of content. They wouldn't be viewed as appropriate in the biz english context I'm in, as they've all graduated from unis - some with advanced degrees and have already sat a number of these.

What other assessment tools could you suggest?

Cheers
golddd2

[tigertiger]

Hi TigerTiger,

Thanks for the quick reply.

The general tests I've seen tend to be geared toward IELTS and TOEFL assessments. Obviously the focus of these are quite different to a business environment - at least in terms of content. They wouldn't be viewed as appropriate in the biz english context I'm in, as they've all graduated from unis - some with advanced degrees and have already sat a number of these.

What other assessment tools could you suggest?

Cheers
golddd2

I only do corporates and have always tested for general English.
I have also focused on Oral assesements, as this is where students in China are weakest.
With an oral test most students are glad just to be able to answer, also there is no HR person analysing the content of your test. Because it is not a tick test, they(SS) need to do the work.

Think about the gramm in the test and put it in business context.
All these e.g.s below are simple questions, but they test if the subject can understand and test if they can use the grammar.

Ask students to answer using the same structures. They can then put it in any context, business or otherwise.

e.g. Elementary
simple present - what is her job
present continous - what is he wearing.
future with going to - what time are you going to have lunch.

then as you move thorugh the levels you can get more sophiticated.
e.g. Where did you used to work.

What were you doing before you came here for this test?

If you weren't here now where would you be?

What were you going to do last weak that you didn't do.

[www.english-test.net]

If you want to assess their English level in a business context, they can take the TOEIC test.

[golddd2]

Thanks for both your replies.

I've looked at TOEIC and from what I can see, being 'offshore' it's unavailable. Also, there's a requirement that we conduct the assessment 'inhouse' when we go to corporate locations - hence no external test centres. But thank you for the advice, and opening me up to another test format.

For now, I think that I'm going to develop something along the lines of tigertiger's very practical suggestion. The mid and lower llanguage levels, such as support staff, will certainly require the type of assessment suggested. Thanks.

Interestingly, the test I ran on the weekend showed that in spite of many years of English language education - and being very smart people in an international consultancy - they were still stumbling over some linguistic building blocks while using quite sophisticated vocab and conceptual thoughts. So, there's still value in running something that captures these types of errors.

Cheers and thanks again.
golddd2

[tigertiger]

I can be very blunt with some students who demand more vocab, "I don't need grammar"

I just tell them that unless they sort out the foundation they will only learn to speak more words badly.
There will be little noticable improvement. To the outsider they will still sound unprofessional.

[golddd2]

I've found this to be especially true of mainland Chinese who haven't lived abroad.

[Vetla]

I really like assessment tests from Business Grammar Builder by Paul Emmerson (Macmillan). It suggests business-oriented grammar approach which I admire... If you simplify the vocabulary you'll be able to use it even for low-intermediate assessment.

[golddd2]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look for it locally and on the net.

Cheers
golddd2

[eslweb]

There's some handy Business guided writing material on:
http://www.jamesabela.co.uk/bus/guidedwriting.html

Which could very easily be turned into exams, depending what you've taught before...I'd set a time limit of 60 - 90 minutes depending on the level.

Hope this helps a bit.

[golddd2]

I like the case study approach and may use that for the higher levels.

Thanks.