Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная
лингвистика
и
лингводидактика
–
Foreign
Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Journal home page:
https://inscience.uz/index.php/foreign-linguistics
Developing an effective ESP course for business English
learners based on a comprehensive approach
Zevarjon SHARIFOVA
1
RANCH University of Technology in Urganch
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received October 2024
Received in revised form
10 November 2024
Accepted 25 November 2024
Available online
25 December 2024
The article explores how to design an effective ESP course for
business English learners in Uzbekistan. Several types of needs
analysis are also utilized for determining necessary factors of
learners. In this article, two kinds of approaches are mentioned
for designing EBP courses that were taken from
Woodrow’s
book. Course objectives and various assessment types are also
considered in it. It provides course materials that can be used
during the course and what kind of course models can be taken
into account in designing the course.
2181-3701
/©
2024 in Science LLC.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47689/2181-3701-vol2-iss6
/S
-pp1
44-150
This is an open-access article under the Attribution 4.0 International
(CC BY 4.0) license (
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ru
Keywords:
EBP (English for Business
Purposes),
ESP (English for Specific
Purposes),
BE (Business English),
Genre-based approach,
Discourse analysis,
needs analysis,
diagnostic test,
formative assessment,
summative assessment,
business terminologies,
Cultural communication,
Customer service
representatives,
business consultants,
speaking skills,
listening skills,
writing proficiency.
1
RANCH University of Technology in Urganch. E-mail: zsharifov444@gmail.com
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue
–
6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
145
Keng qamrovli yondashuvlar asosida ingliz tili
o
‘
rganuvchilari uchun biznesga oid samarali ESP kursini
rivojlantirish
ANNOTATSIYA
Kalit so‘zlar
:
EBP (Biznes Ingliz Tili),
ESP (Maxsus Maqsadlar
uchun Ingliz Tili),
BE (Biznes Ingliz Tili),
Janrga asoslangan
yondashuv,
Diskurs tahlili,
ehtiyojlarni tahlil qilish,
diagnostik test,
shakllantiruvchi baholash,
yakuniy baholash,
biznes terminologiyalari,
madaniy aloqa,
mijozlarga xizmat ko
‘
rsatish
vakillari,
biznes maslahatchilar,
gapirish ko
‘
nikmalari,
tinglash ko
‘
nikmalari,
yozma ko
‘
nikmalar.
Ushbu maqolada, O‘zbekistonda biznes ingliz tili
o‘
rganuvchilari uchun samarali ESP (Ingliz tili maxsus maqsadlar
uchun) kursini qanday loyihalashtirish mumkinligi muhokama
qilinadi. O
‘
quvchilarning ehtiyojlarini aniqlash uchun bir nechta
ehtiyojlarni tahlil qilish usullari ham ishlatilgan. Maqolada,
Woodrow ning kitobidan olingan EBP (Biznes Ingliz Tili)
kurslarini loyihalash uchun ikki xil yondashuv taqdim etiladi.
Kursning maqsadlari va turli baholash turlari ham hisobga
olinadi. Kurs davomida foydalanish mumkin bo
‘
lgan kurs
materiallari va kursni loyihalashda hisobga olinishi kerak
bo
‘
lgan kurs modellari keltirilgan.
Разработка эффективного курса ESP для изучающих
деловой английский на основе комплексного подхода
АННОТАЦИЯ
Ключевые слова:
EBP (английский для
бизнеса),
ESP (английский для
специфических целей),
BE (бизнес
-
английский);
подход,
основанный на жанре;
дискурсивный анализ,
анализ потребностей,
диагностический тест,
формирующее
оценивание,
суммарное оценивание,
бизнес
-
термины,
культурная
коммуникация,
представители
обслуживания клиентов,
бизнес
-
консультанты,
навыки говорения,
навыки аудирования,
письменная компетенция.
В статье рассматриваются способы разработки
эффективного курса ESP (английский для специфических
целей)
для
обучающихся
бизнес
-
английскому
в
Узбекистане. Для определения потребностей студентов
используются
различные
методы
анализа.
Также
упоминаются два подхода к разработке курсов EBP
(английский для бизнеса), заимствованные из книги
Вудроу. Внимание уделяется целям курса и различным
видам оценивания. Представлены материалы, которые
могут быть использованы в учебном процессе, а также
модели курсов, которые следует учитывать при
проектировании программы.
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue
–
6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
146
INTRODUCTION
The present article focuses on the ESP context, with a particular emphasis on
business English (BE). Business constitutes a prominent field in Uzbekistan, with many
individuals leaving their jobs to pursue business opportunities. In their pursuit of
internationalization, some companies hire employees proficient in English or arrange for
English lessons for their workers. The EBP course, spanning seven weeks, is comprised of
two lessons per week. The development of the EBP (English for Business Purposes) course
involved the selection of model courses from Woodrow's book, including "English for
Cross-Cultural Nursing" by Susan Bosher. This course can serve as a model for designing
an EBP course that caters to participants from non-native English countries, with a
particular focus on cultural issues between the immigrant and international participants
in nursing. The course places significant emphasis on enhancing communication and
interaction skills between patients and nurses, bearing a striking resemblance to the
interactions and communication styles employed by customer service representatives and
business consultants when engaging with their clients. A pivotal aspect that substantiates
the appropriateness of this course as a framework for my own EBP course pertains to its
methodological approach, which employs authentic materials such as nursing textbooks,
articles, and scholarly papers on field-related topics for the instruction of learners. This
methodological approach is adaptable to the business field, facilitating the enhancement
of participants' vocabulary, writing, speaking, and listening skills.
The model course under discussion involves the enhancement of communication
skills, which are specific to security guards, ground handlers, catering staff, and bus
drivers, and can align with skills for writing reports, communicating with customers, or
networking. Consequently, it can serve as a model for designing an effective EBP course
that considers the enhancement of communication skills as a key objective.
METHODOLOGY
The participants of this course, who are future customer service representatives and
business consultants, come from similar professional backgrounds and have a common
desire to be proficient in their field in terms of language. The group consists of 10
participants, comprising eight males and two females, with ages ranging from 19 to 22. The
participants are of Islamic faith and possess proficiency in Russian, having attended
Russian educational institutions. The presence of Russian-speaking learners in the cohort
is advantageous, as it facilitates the comprehension of the course material, particularly as
a number of words and terms are analogous in both languages, thereby expediting the
learning process.
All learners acquired English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in their respective
countries. Their language proficiency level is generally B2 (upper-intermediate) in English.
According to the Council of Europe (COE), individuals at B2 level are capable of
comprehending the primary concepts of intricate text on both concrete and abstract
subjects, encompassing technical discourse within their respective domains of expertise.
They can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction
with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. They are capable of
producing clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explaining a viewpoint on a
topical issue, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of various options. However,
their proficiency in professional English is not yet sufficiently advanced to enable them to
improve their language skills in business-specific terminologies, job-related contexts,
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue
–
6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
147
writing reports or emails, profession-related vocabulary, communicating with clients, and
effectively engaging in meetings or discussions. The learners express a desire to acquire
the field-related vocabulary and terminologies for communicating with their colleagues
and clients and applying them during presentations, discussions, reports, and emails.
Additionally, Woodrow emphasized that the purpose of business English language
learners is to promote cross-cultural communication among speakers of other languages.
In general, they need to develop their listening skills for comprehending
conversations between clients or colleagues, their writing skills for learning to write
appropriately structured emails and reports to executives and clients, and their speaking
skills for managing conversations between clients and colleagues, as well as their
vocabulary, for better comprehension and delivery of documents in their field. In terms of
their profession-related skills in English, they are able to understand and read business
emails, reports, and conversations, which makes them aware of their basic knowledge of
business English. In addition, their motivation and goal to enhance profession-related
English are either for further development of their profession or for finding a job in a
company where English is the main language. This professional English improvement is
also beneficial for their career growth in the future. A needs analysis that is conducted
effectively can guarantee that learners will get the knowledge they require. Flowerdew
highlights that need analysis is the initial step in ESP course design. For determining the
needs of EBP course participants, we conduct, surveys like questionnaires with
participants can be a basic and excellent way of knowing them and their field, as they can
provide data about learners’ needs, preferences, and experiences. In the beginning of the
course, the participants are given questionnaires about their language proficiency,
educational backgrounds, aims for attending the course, and learning preferences. The
gathered information about them helps the course designer develop materials, activities,
tasks, and instructions appropriate to them. Another option is analyzing existing business
English literature, such as articles, emails, reports, books, etc.; it may offer crucial data. The
academic documents on business field topics can help with the participant’s all
-necessary
skill acquisition. The teacher can select business-related jargon and terminologies from
articles, literature, and books and, then, develop speaking, writing, and vocabulary
activities based on them, like matching exercises, writing emails, or role-plays. The teacher
can also analyze
the structure of business emails and reports for the learner’s learning
process. This type of analysis is an excellent way to teach by integrating several skills into
one activity or task.
In our opinion, the last method that is the most productive is observation, which can
assess the target situation's true language and pragmatic requirements, as well as the
learner’s existing circumstances. This method can be done by going to the place where the
target situation’s language happens or by watching videos in which the target situation’s
language is applied. Both of them can be observed by course designers and participants.
The course designer can observe communication between customer service
representatives or business consultants and their clients in some companies, or
participants themselves can observe it for their own study. The latter can also occur in
classrooms during lessons. The teacher can demonstrate videos about business situations
where employees and clients had conversations on various topics, and then they can be
analyzed by everydiv in the class.
To design an ESP course in a business English context for the described learners, we
approached it in several ways. Woodrow mentioned in our book approaches like genre-
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue
–
6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
148
based and discourse analysis, which we apply to design my EBP course. In the genre-based
approach, course designers can determine the types of texts or genres that target learners
use in their communicative situations. By gathering that data, teachers can design
appropriate course materials for the target group of learners. This approach also
concentrates on contextualized language use in the real world, which learners use in their
occupational fields. Furthermore, we integrate this approach with needs analysis to
identify the genres that are essential and applicable to learners in their field. For example,
by examining typical business reports and communications that the participants may
experience, the teacher can personalize the course contents to their individual
requirements.
Another way to design an EBP course is through discourse analysis, which involves
analyzing the business context in which communication happens. By applying this
approach, we can determine the interaction aspect between my participants and their
clients in their job, such as how they speak or use politeness strategies with them; it is one
of the necessary skills to learn for my learners to apply in their job. Apart from them, it is
important to determine business-related language features like jargon, structures, and
common phrases that align with their needs
At the end of the course, students will be able to (SWBAT):
1.
Acquire business-related terminologies and jargon that they will apply in their
communication with their clients, employers and colleagues.
Students will be proficient in the language and jargon they require to succeed in
their careers as business consultants and customer service representatives.
2.
Enhance their communication and interaction skills with clients and colleagues.
Students will practice their roles as customer service representatives and business
consultants in the classroom through role-plays that they will have in their work, which
can positively affect their communication skills.
3.
Strengthen their writing proficiency by writing emails and reports for their field.
Students will practice and improve writing business reports and emails that their
job will require.
4.
Improve general English proficiency in their professional settings.
Students will be provided with a thorough method for enhancing students' overall
English competence, with an emphasis on applying it in professional contexts.
In the beginning of the course, diagnostic tests are used to determine their current
level, strengths, and weaknesses in general English as well as in business English.
Woodrow states that diagnostic tests are employed in conjunction with needs analysis,
which is used for placement or as a means of tracking students' development, to determine
the students' strengths and weaknesses.
At the end of third unit, achievement or progress tests are used to know whether
they achieved the aims of the learned unit after teaching it. The achievement and progress
tests are used to measure learners’ progress and what and how they learned during the
ESP course (Woodrow, 2018). It also assists in determining whether participants have
effectively dealt with the acquisition of topics or not.
Furthermore, formative and summative assessment is also included in the course,
such as role-plays, writing assessments like reports, emails, presentations, and
vocabulary-based exercises.
In the speaking-focused lessons, the participants are given role-play scenarios on
various business situations that happen between employees and clients, like advising,
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue
–
6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
149
solving issues, or helping in some kind of situation. This activity can also involve
vocabulary usage during performances, which involves the integration of speaking skills
and vocabulary. Writing assessments are conducted in writing-centered lessons, where
the participants write emails or reports on business-specific topics, such as welcoming
emails for new clients, addressing issues, replying to frequently asked questions by clients,
etc. Another type of assessment is presentation; the participants need to present products
or items from their companies. It addresses their needs for communication skills, and they
can gain confidence in applying them in their job meetings or discussions. The
presentations’ objectives are to use business
-related vocabulary and enhance
communication and speaking skills. The final assessment type is vocabulary-based
exercises like matching definitions with words, fill-in-the-blank sentences, and collocation.
All of them are powerful for strengthening the participant’s knowledge of vocabulary. A
specially designed final exam involves all four skills: reading, speaking, listening, and
writing. The reading section has comprehension-checking questions on business reports
or articles. The listening section includes a note-taking task for a business meeting. The
speaking part requires a presentation task on the given business topic, which should last
for five minutes. The participants need to write a business email and a business report on
the given scenarios. This final exam addresses the implementation of all skills or
knowledge that the participants acquired.
In teaching the participants several aspects of language, a few authentic materials
are used.
This channel focuses on various topics in the business English field, like business
English skills, answering the phone, explaining a problem, making suggestions, giving
directions, etc., which are essential for the participants. The channel videos benefit the
participants not only in speaking and listening but also in vocabulary, as they have the
application of business vocabulary in demonstrated situations and separate videos on
vocabulary only. Moreover, the channel has videos about the explanation of grammar
topics that can be applied in business situations, such as phrasal verbs for investigating,
changing the topics in meetings, etc. This article offers a detailed guideline on writing
business documents like emails and reports for the participants that are comprehensible
and convenient. This article is used in the writing lesson’s beginning by the participants to
understand the structure and purpose of business documents. It helps them to
comprehend where most people go wrong in writing, the purpose of writing, the audience
of writing, anticipate and answer the reader’s questions in writing.
CONCLUSION
Teaching EBP learners is not challenging if the teacher has appropriate course
materials, and this article has beneficial data in designing this course. This ESP course
taught me several things, such as its scope and the importance of needs analysis for special
learners in different contexts. Another exploration for me is approaches in ESP course
design, which we used for EBP course design, and one of them is the genre-based approach,
which refers to gathering the types of texts in which specific communicative situations
occur. Another approach is discoursing analysis, which is about examining authentic texts
and communication in a particular context. ESP courses can be highly specialized by
analyzing real texts and interactions in the target communicative context and converting
these into course components.
Nevertheless, the most challenging parts for me were selecting appropriate course
materials and designing a syllabus list, and we think that we almost managed with both of
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue
–
6 (2024) / ISSN 2181-3701
150
them. But why almost? As this is my first experience with the selection of materials for the
ESP course, we are not absolutely sure about the appropriateness of materials for the EBP
course. However, the chosen materials address the criterion that the texts occur in and are
specific to the chosen communicative setting. Most of them are authentic, and all of them
are specialized in business settings. Furthermore, a totally new experience for me was
syllabus design, and this process gave me valuable insights that we could practice by
myself. In the future, we will practice it more to design better syllabus lists and sharpen
this skill.
In conclusion, we desire to mention that the main source that was useful in this
course is Lindy Woodrow’s “Introducing Course Design in English for Specific Purposes”
which was published in 2018. This book centers on all aspects and components of ESP
course design, from its definition to the model ESP courses in different contexts.
In general, this ESP course provided valuable insights and perspectives for me.
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1.
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching,
assessment
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2.
Flowerdew, L. (2013). Needs analysis and curriculum development in ESP. In B.
Paltridge & S. Starfield (Eds.),
The handbook of English for specific purposes
(pp. 325
–
346).
Chichester, England: Wiley Blackwell.
3.
Nickerson, C., & Planken, B. (2009).
Discourse analysis and the study of commercial
language
. In F. Bargiela-Chiappini (Ed.),
The Handbook of Business Discourse
(pp. 48-60).
Edinburgh University Press.
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Serafini, E. J., Lake, J. B., & Long, M. H. (2015). Needs analysis for specialized
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Viana, V., Bocorny, A., & Sarmentoa, S. (2019).
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