Business English language skills and applications

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

d. Advanced

These four questions are designed to offer insights into the English skills of the future student in order to identify whether he possesses language bases or whether the program would also have to offer common English training.

5. Have you interacted with people and companies outside your firm / company?

a) Yes, often

b) Rarely

c) Never

6. What languages did you traditionally use when interacting with individuals and firms outside your country?

7. Have you ever used English in business operations / transactions / communications and so on?

a) Yes, often

b) Rarely

c) Never

8. What is you degree of knowledge in the field of business English?

a. Beginner

b. Intermediate

c. Upper intermediate

d. Advanced

9. How would you describe your level of business English knowledge in terms of speaking?

a. Beginner

b. Intermediate

c. Upper intermediate

d. Advanced

10. How would you describe your level of business English knowledge in terms of reading and writing?

a. Beginner

b. Intermediate

c. Upper intermediate

d. Advanced

11. What position did you occupy when you used business English?

12. What were your main responsibilities within the position?

13. What were the features of your business communications?

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.