Teaching Business English Lessons

Teaching Business English Lessons

Many teachers are keen to know how to start teaching business English lessons. The demand for English teachers in the business world is high, and if you know how to teach English at all, you can fill that demand. In today’s globalized economy, the primary language used to communicate in international companies is English, so people working in the corporate world try to learn the language to develop as professionals. 

Teaching Business English is a specialized language teaching that focuses on business terminology, related topics, and corporate culture.

In this article, we will discuss how to teach Business English Lessons.

Also, if you want FREE lesson plans and teaching materials, click HERE.

How is teaching Business English different from teaching General English?

This question might cross your mind as you are teaching.

Business English is a particular category of ESP (English for Specific Purpose/Purposes) in which the learning is focused on developing better communication skills geared towards a specific purpose. So instead of focusing on grammar and random vocabularies, the lessons should be designed to sharpen students’ skills necessary for the communicative requirements of their specific field. You need to use a particular and task-oriented approach in a Business English class. Therefore, you won’t have as much freedom to use a set of teaching methodologies and techniques as you would have in a General English class.

What do you need to know before teaching business English lessons to students?

Business students are generally career-oriented, which makes it easier to teach them. But before commencing, you need to do a needs analysis. 

1. Type of business

So, the first thing that you would need to know is what type of business your student is enrolled in. You need to realize that not everyone is employed in a big company. Instead, the students need some specific vocabulary to utilize in their field.

2. Type of Vocabulary

It would be best if you got a thorough idea about whether your student has an interaction with the international companies or they want to know English until they can stay aware of technical terms required in the business, or they might be hoping to prepare themselves for a job interview. 

3. Cultural awareness

Cultural awareness is one important thing, knowing from which country the student belongs and with which country he has to interact. This is essential as behaviors vary from place to place. What might be offensive somewhere would be expected from others. So how to refer to or address you can know people.

4. English Level

Suppose the student knows only a basic level of English and is unaware of much grammar. In that case, they can be directed to memorize some sentences and would be required to learn a limited amount of vocabulary and grammar to communicate in English.

How to teach Business English

LESSON PLAN

You can plan out specific activities for each student, so it is rewarding for them. Let’s have a look at the activities that you can plan.

Ask for their CVs

Looking at the CVs tells about the student’s background and where they belong. It’s pretty engaging and fruitful to talk with the students about their activities, places they have been to, hobbies, and skills.

A few of the students are searching for a job, so it is quite beneficial for them as you can make edits with them to enhance their CV by asking questions about their achievements. Also, you should be aware of the order of CVs that is followed in various countries.

1. Different Job Interviews.

You can do this by asking various questions from your student, such as about your weakness? What’s your strength? Why should we hire you etc.? So there are a lot of business expressions used; on the other hand, the student can also interview you, where you can pretend what you aren’t and ask loads of questions with different points of view.

2. Business Pitch

Okay, so this is an exciting activity to do with students for business Teaching. You can choose an image of a product from Google and ask your student to take a couple of minutes to persuade you to buy it. Here the persuasion and convincing skills of the student come into action. It also develops public speaking activities.

3. Topics to Be Covered

You can put ten topics on the list which are very engaging.

4. Culture Behavior in the Business

The students need to realize what kind of behavior is acceptable in their culture and which one isn’t

5. Taking Phone Calls and Writing Business Emails

A critical question strikes: how you will contact the boss or the colleague and your style of language?

6. Customer Service

Solutions for your customers, how can you make them happy and achieve their satisfaction? This is pretty essential when looking into business teaching.

7. Preparing Amazing Presentations

The students should then be aware of how they will make presentations to persuade the customers and bosses. Also, they should learn how to present the product and themselves.

8. Marketing Social Media and Negotiation’s Skills

Students need to know which type of language they should use. If the company is international, you have to make sure you follow their ethnicity.

9. Types of Leadership

You should look into detail if your boss is a dominant person or prefers a liaison method. 

10. Attending Meetings

This is the heart of the business. It is not just about going but also developing business connections and improving your skills.

So, it would help if you analyzed a few things as you teach business English to make sure your students do not face any hurdles in their practical life.

If you want to find online companies where you can teach English online, click HERE. We have loads of lists ready for you! 🙂