Designing a business English needs assessment questionnaire for Mr. Hasegawa

Business English

Learning requirements questionnaire

Business English is traditionally understood as the use of the English language in business operations. This can be common within English speaking countries and firms, in business relationships between different countries and firms and even in non-English speaking countries and firms, but where English is a popular language. In a world of globalization and incremental international business operations, business English gains more and more popularity and the need for it within the personal and corporate domains exponentially increased (Guffey, 2008). Today, business English is part of the learning experience and it can be acquired in school, in the office, in special courses or individually.

The business complexities of the modern day era are extremely multifaceted, meaning as such that the creation of a plan to offer business English lessons has to be created and implemented based on the specifics of each individual situation. The current scenario is that of Mr. Hasegawa, the senior manager of an automobile manufacturer, who is perceived as potential student in the courses of business English. In order to maximize the chances of learning for Mr. Hasegawa, a questionnaire has to be created and assessed. The role of the questionnaire is that of identifying the learning needs and requirements in order to develop and implement a customized learning program which answers the specific needs of the student.

In the given context, the questionnaire would integrate the following questions:

1. What is you level of knowledge of the English language? At which of the following levels do you speak English?

a) Beginner

b) Intermediate

c) Upper intermediate

d) Advanced

2. Where did you learn how to speak English? (General language rather than business English)

a) School

b) Work place

c) Other (please state where)

3. How would you describe your level of language knowledge in terms of speaking?

a. Beginner

b. Intermediate

c. Upper intermediate

d. Advanced

4. How would you describe your level of language knowledge in terms of reading and writing?

a. Beginner

b. Intermediate

c. Upper intermediate

14. In what direction are you headed, professionally speaking?

These latter questions are created and asked in order to identify the currently possessed skills of Mr. Hasegawa as well as identify his need for business English training. Based on the answers collected throughout the questionnaire, the program of business English would be developed in a customized manner.

2. Language analysis

As it has been mentioned throughout the previous section, each business English course is efficient only if it is constructed to meet the specific needs of the student taking the course. The second scenario is represented by the case of Mr. Masoni, an environmental engineer who travels to various global regions to provide consultancy on how organizations can cope with the federal regulations and international agreements on pollution management. Mr. Masoni's expertise is in water pollution and he also overviews the technologies developed to support environment responsibility and sustainability.

Mr. Masoni is now being prepared for his first trip to the United Kingdom and, as part of this preparation, he has been signed up for a course in business English. The first step in devising the course is that of conducting a language analysis through the following lenses:

Job analysis

The needs in terms of outcomes

Target performance objectives

Performance areas in terms of language

Language analysis.

The first step is that of understating the roles, responsibilities and functions of an environmental engineer. Environmental engineers traditionally "Research, design, plan, or perform engineering duties in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental hazards using various engineering disciplines. Work may include waste treatment, site remediation, or pollution control technology" (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010).

Commonly, the activities of environmental engineers include:

Visiting various sites, assessing them and interacting with the people around those sites

Tendering for projects, such as plantations, assessments of pollution levels, river controls and so on Gathering the necessary resources

Maintaining communications with various categories of stakeholders, such as economic agents, the population, federal agencies and so on Integrating IT developments -- such as computer models -- to support project development and implementation (Prospects).

The outcomes expected of Mr. Masoni revolve around the identification of environment related problems and the creation of solutions. In order to attain these objectives, he requires technical knowledge -- already possessed and not the scope of this endeavor -- and business English knowledge. The business English needs revolve around an increased ability to understand the information being forwarded -- namely the ability to understand what the others are saying and the ability to read written information. Also, it is imperative to be able to make oneself understood, namely through the ability to communicate both verbally as well as in writing.

At the level of target performance objectives, these refer to the following:

Increase the environmental responsibility among economic agents

Build a trustworthy relationship between the domestic and the UK agencies

Identify environment related problems

Create and implement customized solutions.

But aside from these objectives, the plan is also constructed on various business English objectives. Specifically, at the end of the course, Mr. Masoni is expected to:

Possess vast knowledge of the business English notions

Possess an increased ability to recognize the concepts, understand them and apply them within the adherent contexts

Understand and apply the functions as they intersect between environmental engineering and business English

Possess vast knowledge and ability to understand and apply the vocabulary and expressions

Ability to recognize, understand and apply the language structures.

As all these elements are cleared out and the course is developed, the language analysis represents the final step. In this order of ideas, the final issues to be considered refer to the following:

The particularities of British English as opposed to American English

Differences in expressions and vocabulary

Different writing styles

Correct writing and pronunciation, namely the dual emphasis on grammar and phonology (Anthro Palomar, 2007)

Non-verbal communications and business etiquette. At this level, it has to be recognized that the teaching of the verbal functions of business English would only be successful if completed with the functions of non-verbal communications. In this order of ideas, Mr. Masoni as well as any other individual traveling to the United Kingdom for business purposes would be introduced to the customs and etiquette. This would for instance include the role of the hand shake, the importance and duration of the eye contact, the business meetings, the importance of relationships, the giving and receiving of gifts and so on (Kwintessential).

References:

Guffey, M.E., 2008, Business English, 9th edition, Cengage Learning

2007, Analysis of language, Anthro Palomar, http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_3.htm last accessed on May 25, 2011

2010, Occupational employment and wages, May 2010, 17-2081 environmental engineers, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172081.htm last accessed on May 25, 2011

Environmental engineer, Prospects, http://ww2.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/environmental_engineer_job_description.jsp last accessed on May 25, 2011

UK -- language, culture, customs and etiquette, Kwintessential, http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/UK.html last accessed on May 25, 2011