I teach English at a large auto manufacturing plant to students who plan to work overseas in Malaysia and the US.
We are currently using the Market Leader Intermediate textbook which does not suit they’re needs and interests.
They will primarily be using English in daily conversation and in conversation with other engineers and office workers (purchasing sector, quality assurance sector, safety, executive sector).
I often use English Grammar in Use textbook for lectures and reference.
I think a textbook that focuses on colloqiual English and daily conversation paired with a good vocabulary book. But I am open for any suggestions if you have any.
I would consider most students to be between CEFR B1 and B2
What textbooks/material do you find to be effective in your business English classes? Are there any textbooks that you and your students think are fun?
4 comments
Play them this video so that they get some exposure to Aussie/Kiwi slang https://youtu.be/SCW6JkY608Q
> ‘As a football player, I want to be remembered as the c*** who went out there and had a go. (The Old Boys say) F*** I love watching you play, you go f****** hard.’
Have them do a news report every class then discuss the topics.
Have you actually done a needs analysis? When you say they will mainly be talking to other engineers and office workers, do you mean WITHIN the work context, or are you talking about teaching general English to interact in social situations? These are very different needs.
I teach engineers, and what they usually need is vocabulary for work-related situations, e.g., to describe mechanical problems and how to fix them; language to describe the usage of products; language to negotiate schedules for maintenance, and so on. If you have not done it yet, ask them to outline the *specific* situations in which they use English. You can then draw up a list of functions as well as situations and make a checklist from which they can chose the most important, and from those you can create a syllabus. After you do that, you’ll be able to better chose a text.
There are a good number of ESP texts for engineers, e.g.,
Technical English: [https://www.google.co.jp/books/edition/Technical_English/3Ho9MwEACAAJ?hl=en](https://www.google.co.jp/books/edition/Technical_English/3Ho9MwEACAAJ?hl=en)
English for Engineers: https://www.google.co.jp/books/edition/Professional_English_in_Use_Engineering/DZBdX8PwQUwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=English+for+Engineers&printsec=frontcover
Market Leader, Business Result, and other commercial textbooks often aren’t appropriate for engineers since these are really just general English texts with a business as a background, i.e., it teaches them to talk ABOUT business, not to DO business.
These texts are fine for beginners who only need English for occasional meetings or business trips, but people who are going to work abroad have much more specific needs – which is why many teachers wind up creating their own materials.
You may also want a text on email writing, since every businessperson needs to write email; presentations (technical presentations to non-Japanese audiences are a whole ‘nother animal) as well as material to practice listening skills, because most Japanese have real difficulties with native speed, as well as non-American accented English. TED videos may be of some help there – your learners are upper intermediate, so they should be able to handle that level of discourse. You should also look to increase their pragmatic competence, as well as intercultural communication skills, espcially recognizing and dealing with miscommunication caused by differences in communication styles. Then of course, they’ll need active listening and active speaking.
Honestly, grammar should be last on your list. The ELF perspective is very much applicable here, which means de-emphasizing grammar.
Check out Even Frendo’s How to Teach Business English, and for more on the needs analysis process read Huhta, Vogt, Johnson & Tulkki “Needs Analysis for Language Course Design.”
Needs analysis like u/CompleteGuest854 suggests is your first step.
Find out if they need primarily interactional or transactional communication in writing or face-to-face contexts and with whom.
Then build a program that practices the skills and topics they need to cover. TBLT framework might be a good way to keep it fun, interesting, and relevant to their needs by bringing in audio, video, or texts that are specific to their industry.