Business English Research Articles

Exploring Algerian business English learners’ needs in the private sector

This paper explores the needs of Algerian Business English learners in the private sector. Data were collected through a questionnaire administered to twenty Business English learners enrolled at an Algerian private school and semi-structured interviews with language teachers. Results revealed that learners need to enhance their communication skills in their target setting and acquire terminology specific to their specialties to facilitate interaction. Additionally, informants expressed a desire for more practical and industry-specific content in their Business English courses, emphasizing the need for opportunities to practice speaking and negotiation skills, which are crucial for effective communication in the private sector. Overall, the findings suggest that tailoring Business English courses to meet the specific needs of Algerian learners in the private sector would positively impact their professional development. Keywords: Business English; ESP; expectations; learners; needs analysis; private sector.

A Study on the Incorporation of Ideological-Political Elements in Public Speaking from the Perspective of Production-Oriented Approach

This study is a four-year, three-round study on the incorporation of ideological-political elements in the activity of public speaking in Business English: An Integrated Course, based on a production-oriented approach (POA). With the overall result of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, reflection logs, and classroom observation, it is found that the six teachers in this course and all the students who participated in the study all agree with the online and offline blended teaching model, which, when used in this study, can help to strengthen students’ business-related overall ability. Besides, vivid and brief teaching cases of the public speaking task design shown in this article demonstrate the implementation approach of this study, which includes the setting of POA tasks, multiple evaluations, and blended teaching. It is hoped that this study can serve as an example of the incorporation of ideological-political elements in the courses of foreign language.

Unveiling the silent struggle: Investigating the effects of flipped classroom instruction models on business English oral presentation development through online learning: A case of learner engagement, emotions, and anxiety

Unveiling the silent struggle: Investigating the effects of flipped classroom instruction models on business English oral presentation development through online learning: A case of learner engagement, emotions, and anxiety

Needs Analysis for University EFL Learners Majoring in Business English: A Scoping Review of Research and Practice

In the context of international economic integration, Business English (BE) has played an increasingly significant role in business settings because BE is considered as a global communicative means, helping business transactions happen effectively among economies all over the world. In Vietnam, BE has been used more and more in trade transactions because Vietnam’s economy has explosively developed and Vietnam has expanded its international trade relations over the last ten years. The aim of the paper is to analyze and synthesize the needs analysis for EFL learners majoring in Business English globally. The results of the paper help higher education in Vietnam see the importance of needs analysis in ESP, needs analysis approaches, theoretical frameworks including target situation analysis (TSA), present situation analysis (PSA), learning situation analysis (LSA), then evaluate existing materials or coursebooks and adapt to create better universities’ curricula to meet the linguistic requirements in the workplaces in Vietnam.

A Review of Teaching English for Business Purposes in Morocco

This study reviews the existing literature on English for Specific Purposes (ESP), with a particular emphasis on Business English, within the Moroccan context. By analyzing the findings from various studies, this work aims to draw significant conclusions about the field of ESP and Business English. It highlights the notable challenges faced in the Moroccan higher education system, such as the prevailing perception of the dominance of French in the job market, which negatively impacts student motivation and leads to compromised teaching standards. Furthermore, the study underscores the importance of a collaborative approach in curriculum development, advocating for the engagement of a broad range of stakeholders—educators, policymakers, industry representatives, and learners—to ensure ESP instruction is closely aligned with the requirements of the job market. Innovative teaching methodologies, like Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), are recommended to boost student engagement and improve language acquisition. The findings of this study aim to contribute valuable insights and offer practical recommendations to enhance the teaching and effectiveness of ESP in Morocco, particularly in the domain of business English, to better prepare students for the challenges of the global and digitalized marketplace.

Improving Learners’ English-Speaking Accuracy by Using Interrogative Constructions

English speaking accuracy is one of the most important aspects of Business English. While most studies are conducted to improve English speaking accuracy, they neglect phrasal semantics. This present study involves 30 participants from Phu Em Company. The study employs a mixed-methods design in which the quantitative approach helps quantify the speaking accuracy scores made by learners while the qualitative approach explores how learners perceive the use of interrogative constructions. The instruments are a questionnaire and an interview. Data analysis procedures include a theme analysis of the interview data, a statistical analysis of the test and survey data, and integrated findings. The findings from this research provide evidence that using interrogative constructions does not improve grammatical or phonological accuracy but improves expressing accuracy. The study also reveals that 58% of EG learners provide positive feedback on the use of interrogative constructions in learning English speaking skills. Based on the findings, several suggestions are offered to teachers and learners.

Challenges and opportunities of English as the medium of instruction in diploma midwifery programs in Bangladesh: a mixed-methods study

BackgroundEnglish is generally recognized as the international language of science and most research on evidence-based medicine is produced in English. While Bangla is the dominant language in Bangladesh, public midwifery degree programs use English as the medium of instruction (EMI). This enables faculty and student access to the latest evidence-based midwifery content, which is essential for provision of quality care later. Yet, it also poses a barrier, as limited English mastery among students and faculty limits both teaching and learning.MethodsThis mixed-methods study investigates the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation of EMI in the context of diploma midwifery education in Bangladesh. Surveys were sent to principals at 38 public midwifery education institutions, and 14 English instructors at those schools. Additionally, ten key informant interviews were held with select knowledgeable stakeholders with key themes identified.ResultsSurveys found that English instructors are primarily guest lecturers, trained in general or business English, without a standardized curriculum or functional English language laboratories. Three themes were identified in the key informant interviews. First, in addition to students’ challenges with English, faculty mastery of English presented challenges as well. Second, language labs were poorly maintained, often non-functional, and lacked faculty. Third, an alternative education model, such as the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curriculum, has potential to strengthen English competencies within midwifery schools.ConclusionsESP, which teaches English for application in a specific discipline, is one option available in Bangladesh for midwifery education. Native language instruction and the middle ground of multilingualism are also useful options. Although a major undertaking, investing in an ESP model and translation of technical midwifery content into relevant mother tongues may provide faster and more complete learning. In addition, a tiered system of requirements for English competencies tied to higher levels of midwifery education could build bridges to students to help them access global evidence-based care resources. Higher levels might emphasize English more heavily, while the diploma level would follow a multilingualism approach, teach using an ESP curriculum, and have complementary emphasis on the mother tongue.

Теоретические предпосылки изучения ФЕ-терминов и их вариантов в английском языке делового общения

This article studies theoretical material in the field of phraseology and terminology of business English, placing special emphasis on the variability of phraseological units and terms. The paper presents an analytical review of recent and relevant dissertations, monographs and research articles on business phraseology and terminology as well as variability thereof. The lexical composition of business language and the role of phraseological units in it are examined. The review lists a number of articles explaining the trend towards phraseologization of numerous terms used in business communication. Further, the paper studies current views on the structure of the meaning of the term and examines three main approaches to the definition of the term. Special attention is paid to the motivation of terms and lack of motivation of phraseological terms. The process of terms becoming phraseological units and vice versa is investigated, as well as the transfer of existing phraseological terms into a new phraseological-semantic field; terms describing these processes are considered. Further, the review mentions academic works looking into ways of enriching the terminology of modern business English with new phraseological terms, which include metaphorical and metonymic interpretations of the prototype. In addition, studies into phraseological variation are presented, analysing the concept of phraseological variant and its typological classifications; works on terminological variation are listed. The phenomenon of variation is considered in terms of both expression and content. The review of existing scholarly works confirms the need for further careful research into phraseological terms and their variants.

AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING MATERIALS DESIGN FOR PROMOTING AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION IN UNDERGARDUATE BUSINESS ENGLISH COURSES AT SEEU

Business English coursebooks undoubtedly offer structure and provide the necessary frame for students to rely upon, however, a pitfall to be avoided is blind, uncritical and unselective overreliance on them. The idea behind this paper is not to entirely banish ESP for Business coursebooks but to supplement them substantially with authentic written, audio and video materials tailored to students’ immediate and future needs. This paper advocates incorporating new approaches and practises in materials design and selection. When intended to be used with inexperienced students, business English teaching materials play a major role in introducing students to the real world of business, in addition to equipping students with the necessary business related vocabulary and the most frequently used grammar structures. This paper also summarizes the findings of a student survey on the extent to which the business English teaching materials used at SEEU incorporate the essential features of real-world business communication.

Using a Simulated Employer Project to Enhance Student Employability Skills in a Tertiary Level Language Course

Recent reports highlighted that new graduates are still not meeting the expertise requirements of the industry, and with the increased use of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, there are also growing concerns that tertiary level students’ development of their knowledge and skills may be affected. Over the years, various strategies have been developed to address the expertise gap, such as internship and apprenticeship programmes, seminars, bootcamps, etc. The Employer Project (EP) is one such effort implemented at a private higher education institution in Malaysia, where students analyse and solve business case studies or industry-relevant problems given by the partnering employers. These EPs are mapped to the course learning outcomes; therefore, finding and implementing suitable EPs that would match an English language course’ learning outcomes has been challenging. This paper discusses a case study where the EP model is simulated for a degree-level Business English course assignment, involving an industry partner who has over 30 over years of industry experience. The assignment spanning across 11 weeks is based on a case study developed by the industry partner. After the students’ face-to-face presentation session with the industry partner, a survey was conducted to gather their feedback. A preliminary text analysis revealed that while many of the students felt nervous while presenting to the industry partner, they found the session very enjoyable and helpful to their knowledge development. An interview with the industry partner revealed some areas of focus and suggestions to reduce the expertise gap. The implications include how EPs can make a degree-level language course more relevant in developing employability skills and how EPs can mitigate the negative impacts of AI tools in the language course.

English communication strategies among Thai logistics professionals

Proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL) holds significant importance in various professional domains, including the field of logistics. However, not all individuals proficient in EFL possess effective English communication skills. Hence, the objective of this research is to investigate the English communication strategies employed by Thai professionals working in the logistics industry. To receive participants' perspectives, a comprehensive approach involving questionnaires and focus-group interviews was employed. The survey results revealed that the most frequently utilized strategies encompassed rechecking, revising, identifying key concepts, and employing dictionaries, while the least commonly used strategies were self-development, guessing, word coinage, and the use of all-purpose words, respectively. Furthermore, the in-depth insights derived from the interviews revealed that participants employed English communication for diverse purposes, including email correspondence, meetings, ordering processes, and purchasing, thereby necessitating the utilization of distinct strategies for each of the four language skills. Remarkably, website translation tools emerged as vital resources for Thai logistics professionals, forming an integral component of their digital strategy. Ultimately, the findings of this study bear relevance to both pedagogical practices and business English training programs, with specific implications for the logistics industry.

Improving Student’s Descriptive Writing Skill through Silent Card Shuffle Strategy

This study aims to improve students’ descriptive writing skill by applying Silent Card Shuffle Strategy. The method used this research is action research. The subject was students on semester 3 from Management Class of UPI YPTK Padang. They are chosen because they are learning the English business subject on this semester and have learned simple present tense in previous semester. Writing English Skill is important for Management students for productive skill. One of them is creating the English brochure. English brochure can be as basic media for creating business for management students. Unfortunately, most of them have not master in writing English. So lecturer has chosen Silent Card Shuffle Strategy to improve the student’s English descriptive writing skill. The instruments were used to collect the data were observation, questionnaire, Students’ writing test. Then the qualitative data were grouped based on the indicators. In addition, quantitative data has analyzed by Anggoro Formula. Then the researcher interpreted the data to get the result of this research. The research shows that Silent Card Shuffle Strategy is quite good. It can improve the students ‘English descriptive writing skill. This is evidenced by the score of students’ writing test. It increases from the pretest, cycle I and cycle II. The increasing can be seen from of students ‘mean score on pretest, cycle I and II. The students mean ‘score are 50, 5 on pretest, 67, 7 on cycle I and 83, 8 on cycle 2. Thus, the application of Silent Card Shuffle Strategy can increase the students’ descriptive writing skill.

Teaching Research on Integrating Ideological and Political Elements into Business English Reading Courses

In the current situation of economic globalization and communalization with a shared future for mankind, it is crucial to cultivate outstanding composite talents who possess morality, literacy, patriotism, business knowledge, good cross-cultural communication skills, and teamwork spirit. This requires the Business English major to increase the reform of course ideology. This article will propose several innovative paths for the ideological and political education of Business English Reading courses based on the necessity of conducting ideological and political education in Business English majors and working together with colleagues to study.

Research on teaching mode of Business English reading based on BOPPPS model and blended teaching--taking the lesson of Creative Strategies Prompt Consumers to Buy, Buy, Buy as an example

Research on teaching mode of Business English reading based on BOPPPS model and blended teaching--taking the lesson of Creative Strategies Prompt Consumers to Buy, Buy, Buy as an example

The Application of Thematic Task-based Active Learning in Business English Speaking Teaching

The Application of Thematic Task-based Active Learning in Business English Speaking Teaching

Analysis of Business English Translation Teaching Based on the Case Teaching Method

The case teaching method is a kind of teaching method that is based on actual cases and improves students’ practical application ability by analyzing and discussing the cases. In business English translation teaching, relevant teachers can help students better understand the difficulties and problems in translation practice and improve their translation skills and coping abilities by reasonably selecting cases and guiding them to analyze, discuss, and summarize the cases. This paper will start with the basic features of the case teaching method, analyze the feasibility of this method in actual teaching activities, and put forward specific application strategies for professionals’ reference.

Significance of "Printing English" in the Curriculum Setting of Business English Majors (Publishing Direction)

Significance of "Printing English" in the Curriculum Setting of Business English Majors (Publishing Direction)

Blended learning as a means of improvement of Business English proficiency

The paper introduces the findings and results of a quantitative and qualitative study of the use of online technologies and platforms during blended learning classes and their impact on students' performance in learning Business English at Armenian State University of Economics. The current resulted in the fact that we arrived at the conclusion that blended learning has its advantages and disadvantages, but the advantages are prevalent in this case. By the means of blended learning in teaching Business English, lecturers improve their skills in utilizing online websites, online learning resources and tools, online platforms (especially www.nearpod.com) to develop and design effective lessons, to increase student productivity and performance, by developing specially designed lessons, tests, as well as online games in the form of tests. All online tools, resources and platforms that are investigated and introduced in the paper were used on an ongoing basis during our teaching practices and justified the hypothesis that was aimed to be tested and justified. As a result of the study, through the utilization of online platforms and resources and their implementation in blended learning settings as well as be the means of diagnostic, progress and final tests, we have identified that the knowledge has doubled among students studying the subject (in our case, Business English) in a blended mode of learning.

Vocabulary Thresholds Study for Business English Major Based on the Range Corpus

Vocabulary Thresholds Study for Business English Major Based on the Range Corpus

Metacognitive Reading Awareness Among Freshmen EFL Students

Purpose. This study investigated the levels of three different strategies of metacognitive awareness: global reading strategy, problem-solving strategy, and support reading strategy among university students in a Business English class during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Methods. The methodology is based on a survey, which was conducted among 192 freshman university students in their specialized courses of Business English as a foreign language. The research instrument was a metacognitive reading strategies awareness (MARSI) questionnaire.
 Results. The findings reveal that the students used problem-solving strategies the most, followed by global and support reading strategies the least. The results also indicate a difference between male and female students at individual levels of reading strategies.
 Conclusions. The study proposes a set of recommendations with an alliance of COVID-19 learning environment based on the results such as taking notes while reading and highlighting the most important information with an emphasis on details or showing the importance of previewing the text, asking questions/making predictions about the text, and most importantly paying attention to self-regulation practices in a new school environment.