| Mid-career crisis? Have you got what it takes to teach | | | | useful to have experience of other professional |
| English for business? | | | | domains, or of the commercial world, it is not essential. |
| Teachers often ask me what direction they can take | | | | On the other hand, it is necessary to be interested in |
| after a few years of teaching general English. To | | | | the world of business and to understand how |
| continue as an ordinary classroom teacher seems like | | | | companies are structured and to be familiar with |
| stagnation, so choices have to be made about how to | | | | business terminology. Regular reading of the business |
| develop both professionally and personally. Specializing | | | | pages of the daily press can help you build awareness |
| in English for business can be a fruitful move if the | | | | of the field and of the latest developments. |
| teacher is able to transfer existing skills to the business | | | | The business English teacher needs to have an |
| context. | | | | international perspective. In dealing with many different |
| Let me deal with the prospects first. Teaching | | | | nationalities, and with clients who have to operate in |
| business people is recognized as a specialist field and | | | | the increasingly globalized business field, the teacher |
| the teacher often has to be a program planner and | | | | needs to be aware of the implications of cross-cultural |
| materials developer as well, so salaries are generally | | | | communications. Clients, who have to use |
| higher. The training can take place in dedicated centers, | | | | English--which is not their native tongue, to do business |
| often residential, in-company or as a special program | | | | with other non-native English speakers in another |
| offered at a traditional language school, but wherever it | | | | country--have several layers of cultural information to |
| takes place, the teacher will have to be able to deal | | | | deal with. First they have to acknowledge that their |
| with the people who are sponsoring the training and is | | | | own national and company culture is not necessarily |
| thus answerable to a wider range of stakeholders. But | | | | shared with their foreign counterparts or even |
| by engaging in the corporate world, the trainer may | | | | understood by them, and secondly that nobody's |
| find many opportunities to widen his or her range of | | | | culture is intrinsically right or wrong, better or worse. |
| training skills: interpersonal communications, written | | | | The teacher may have to help them understand the |
| communications, cross-cultural communications and | | | | nature of cross-cultural interaction. |
| ultimately consultancy work in the communications field. | | | | The qualities needed by a business English teacher are |
| However, the prospects will only open out to the kind | | | | thus different in many ways. They need the |
| of teacher who can adapt from the world of | | | | confidence to play the role of instructor/trainer |
| pedagogy to the corporate world. The clients are | | | | facilitator with people who may occupy senior |
| usually highly motivated and work in small groups or as | | | | company positions. They have to be adaptable and |
| individuals hence the teaching dynamics are quite | | | | not have rigid ideas about how to conduct training |
| different. Business people do not wish to go back to | | | | sessions and what the content should be. And they |
| the classroom as they already have the professional | | | | need to have an understanding of how English is used |
| expertise they need. What they want is someone | | | | internationally as a lingua franca among people who |
| who can help them communicate effectively in the | | | | may never meet a native speaker. They need skill in |
| global business world. The trainer needs to slip into the | | | | giving feedback and must be robust enough to take |
| role of facilitator, working with clients to understand | | | | feedback themselves. And they need to be clear and |
| their learning styles, to discover their specific needs | | | | precise in describing what they can offer clients and in |
| and immediate objectives and to help them set | | | | their post-training debriefing. Clearly, therefore, that this |
| achievable targets. I have seen many a hopeful | | | | is not a field for someone new to teaching--it demands |
| business English trainer fall at this hurdle. They cannot | | | | a certain maturity of approach and confidence both |
| throw off their accustomed teacherly approach. | | | | personally and professionally. However, for teachers |
| So who can become a successful business English | | | | able to make the transition from classroom to the |
| teacher? It is certainly helpful to have experience in | | | | world of corporate training, the rewards and prospects |
| fields other than teaching. However, although it is very | | | | are excellent. |