Secret Formula For Teaching Business English To Low-Level Learners
7th July 2022
The demand for professional English teachers in the business world is high, and if you know how to teach business English at all, you are in that demand. Teaching business English is completely different from teaching general English. It is all about formulating learners to communicate efficiently and correctly in a diversity of workplace situations. Teaching Business English classes needs special skills.
Many times, people feel overwhelmed by the prospect of teaching business English. So, how can you help low-level business English learners to develop their communication skills for the international workplace? Let us find out!
Engaging Ideas For Low-Level Business English Students
Here are some effective tips that will help your business English teaching career:
- Get Connected To the Learners’ Experiences
It has been observed that business English students often have no knowledge of the workplace which relate. In this case, it will be quite difficult for the teacher to engage the class. Students may feel indifference towards the topics that they become less than interested language learners.
You can try to build a lesson around an establishment that learners are probable to relate to. On the other hand, while dealing with the topic of helping clienteles, the context has to be relatable. To a large extent, interesting topics mean motivated students.
- Don’t Neglect the Language Which They Already Know
Teach vocabulary items in realistic contexts. Your learners need language they can activate in actual situations. Business English language students aim for the goal of being able to do something in English, not just learn something in English. Always try to provide real situations for language learning. This inductive approach can let learners explore the language in actual use and support them to connect the form, meaning and structure.
- Focus on High Frequency Vocabulary
It aids them to communicate their message in a simple and operative way. This makes it more significant to teach common words and set terminologies for everyday work situations. These include - Lexical sets, Common collocations with verbs and nouns, Functional language and fixed phrases – greetings etc.
- Maximize Speaking Time
Your target is to develop their speaking skills for work. Make sure the classroom is a low-stakes setting for them to gain fluency as well as confidence. Use the audio and video scripts. Provide feedback by penetrating the strain and rhythm of any words or phrases. Disappearing dialogue is also another technique to maximize the speaking time of your students. Additionally, surveys, questionnaires, true/false games, information-gap exercises are all approaches to practice speaking skills as well as target vocabulary.
- Do Pronunciation Work
Well, business English students have a direct, instantaneous need to use language in their everyday lives. Logically, speaking is an imperative part of this. Doing classroom activities that focus on pronunciation in your lesson will show that you understand how vital this is for your students.
- Choose Your Teaching Materials Wisely
Needless to say, it's important to select materials that produce 'authentic' situations in the classroom. Here the most important resource is the learners themselves. They can deliver you real materials from their working lives. These could be leaflets, emails, PowerPoint presentations or reports. Always concentrate on goals and requirements. Find out why these resources are important and what your learners want to take away from the lesson.
The Bottom Line
Business English learners can have high expectations. Hence, try to be flexible and try to anticipate problems. Online TEFL course to teach Business English program will prepare you to teach Business English successfully and confidently. Business English teaching career is very interesting and rewarding. Above-mentioned approaches are just a few tips for low-level business English learners.
Written By: Rimpa Ghosh
