5 Actionable Tips For Overcoming Common Challenges When Teaching Business English
16th August 2022
Needless to say, in teaching business English, the students’ requirements will focus on improving their English skills for their jobs or profession. There are fluctuating definitions of BE (Business English). Majorly, BE focuses on developing the language and style of characteristic business skills.
Core business zone functions ---
- General management
- Administration
- Marketing
- Finance/accountancy
- Human resources/personnel
Hence, when we talk about speaking skills, the parts that usually come are – socialising, presentations, meetings, negotiations, telephoning, marketing and so on. On the other hand, if we talk about writing skills, the parts that usually come are – emails, announcements, minutes, reports, letters, memos, notices, etc.
One of the significant differences in teaching business English is that group lessons will feature learners of mixed levels every so often, and sometimes the variance in levels can be very noticeable.
Now…the big challenge is how does an ESL teacher prepare and teach under these conditions?
Let’s dive in!
Possible Solutions To The Major Business English Challenges
Here are some probable solutions to the different kinds of business English challenges:
- Start From the Basics
To solve the problem, you need to understand the problem. It is also necessary to get a good look at your problem as well. It’s vital to have a good understanding of your issues if you’re going to solve them. Identify potential explanations for lack of motivation or development. Try to use a systematic needs analysis that will let you tailor your sessions to your students’ requirements.
- Identify Tricky Issues
Even if learners have a comparable level, they may deceptively have little else in common. In BE, sometimes learners might not want to be challenged or modified in front of their peers and you need to respond sensitively to the evidence that you detect while observing them in class.
Talk to your students and show an interest in them and the challenges they face. Select appropriate activities that highlight the advantages of learning English. Certainly, ask learners for their suggestions as to how to advance the lessons.
- Maintaining the Motivation
You need to maintain the motivation while teaching BE. Try to create a pleasant and accommodating learning environment. You students should see errors as part of the language learning process so that no one feels uncomfortable participating.
Use different kinds of role-plays so that your students don’t have to talk about their own job conditions if their boss is in the same group. Include a fun warm-up to get the apprentices thinking in business English at the start of class and to stop them from thinking about work.
- Use Real-life Situations
Don’t forget your students aren’t children – so make sure to stick to events they feel comfortable doing. It is very crucial to find out from your learners the purpose of their learning English as a second language. Some of your students might hold powerful positions in their organizations. Role plays are a great choice for your TEFL business learners as they can easily be based on real-life circumstances.
- Be Professional
Always try to be professional with your students. Appearance is awfully important in a business environment. Those cosy hoodies of yours is a no-no! You need to look the part to be the part so make sure this decodes in all senses. Make sure your training resources are clean and tidy. Use more professional vocabulary, for example, use ‘activities’ rather than ‘games’. Create a report for each student and don’t be late!
How To Become A Business English teacher?
Make sure that you get a Certificate in TEFL Business Learners. Both your academic as well as teaching experience in ELT is certainly a condition for going into BE. If you are confident with your classroom management and lesson organisation, then you will get well into BE. Keep in mind that these are general requirements.
Business English is usually taught all around the world wherever adults have a yearning to learn it. Still, it is quite common to teach adult specialists in Latin America, demand for Business English teachers also presents in Asia and Europe. On the other hand, there are numerous companies where teaching English online to adults is prevailing. If you don’t want to work with a firm, you can also teach Business English online as a freelancer.
Wrapping Up
To conclude, it is needless to say, Business English can be a satisfying and rewarding experience. Like any other ESL class, preparation is important in this situation. A Certificate in TEFL Business Learners will prepare you to teach Business English confidently. We hope with the above-mentioned tips; your Business English teaching journey will be a smoother one!
Written By : Ruchi Mehta
