Примерная программа 8-недельного курса "English for International Business". Уровень B1
В программе могут быть изменения.
Working Life
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
🔹 talk about themselves and their work
🔹 give a short personal presentation using present simple and present continuous
🔹 show interest during conversations
🔹 network with groups of people.
The topic of Working life gives the students the tools to present themselves and their company to clients and competitors. Anybody who works or plans to work in business will need a certain amount of vocabulary to describe a company, including its main areas of business, its working activities and their role in the company. Not only is it important to find out about a contact’s company for practical business reasons, but it is also a subject of interest to most business people, and so will be a topic of conversation in many business situations; particularly in initial meetings and setting up contacts. Social interaction in business is crucial for the forging of good relationships and making new contacts. Cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings if business people do not use the appropriate expressions and intonation when reacting to speakers in their initial exchanges. In this unit, students will learn how to describe their companies and their role in their company. They will also have the opportunity to practise a very important social aspect of business interaction – reacting to speakers, sounding interested and extending a conversation. The Talking point offers students the opportunity to discuss the area of networking, whilst providing the opportunity to develop their fluency using some of the language from the unit.
Projects
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
🔹 talk about projects
🔹 talk about the progress of a project using the present perfect and past simple
🔹 give short answers
🔹 update and delegate tasks.
The topic of Projects gives students the language to describe the stages and progress of a project, working in a team. It is clear that the initial planning stage of any project is vital, and that effective planning means a smooth running project. Not only is it important to plan carefully, but it is also essential to think about possible scenarios where the project does not run to the initial plan, for whatever reason, and where effective changes need to be made quickly and efficiently. Correct use of the tenses in the unit make clear which stages are complete and which are still in progress. Social interaction between colleagues is crucial for effective teamwork in both formal and informal situations. Cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings if colleagues do not use the appropriate expressions, and inadvertently sounding rude or abrupt may cause preventable problems within the team. In this unit students will learn how to describe setting up, organizing and staging a project. They will have the opportunity to practise an important aspect of personal interaction in a team – responding with short answers using auxiliary verbs. They will also practise updating and delegating tasks. In the Talking point, students have the opportunity to give a presentation on the planning of an event and give alternatives for different scenarios.
Customers
By the end of this unit, students will be able to
✏️ talk about customer service
✏️ talk about schedules and future arrangements using present tenses
✏️ say ‘sorry’ in different ways
✏️ make and change arrangements.
The topic of Customers gives students the language to talk about, and to, customers and clients. Every company has to take good care of its customers and give good service in order to encourage customer loyalty. This is also true of online companies. It is essential for companies to meet customers’ expectations, and ensure customers are satisfied by making good customer care a priority. To do this, students cover the language needed for the essential aspects of customer care. It is important to be able to talk about schedules, events and arrangements. Students will learn to use the present simple and present continuous to talk about scheduled events and make arrangements. Social interaction between colleagues is crucial for effective teamwork in both formal and informal situations. Cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings if colleagues do not use the appropriate expressions for apologizing and explaining the situation. In this unit, students will learn how to make and, where necessary, change arrangements. They will have the opportunity to practise setting up and rearranging appointments. In the Talking point, students will have the opportunity to discuss a variation in management styles, including upside down management, and role-play a discussion where the benefits and drawbacks of this style of management are assessed. They then decide whether the company should introduce the system and present the outcome of the meeting.
Guests & visitors
By the end of this unit, students will be able to
🔵 talk about business travel schedules
🔵 use articles
🔵 find out how to address people
🔵 welcome visitors and talk about their journey.
The topic of Guests & visitors gives students the language to describe business travel schedules. Anybody who works, or plans to work, in business knows that no successful twenty-first century company can ignore what is happening in their industry. Valuable contacts are often made at conferences and trade fairs. To be able to go to these and exploit them for the benefit of the company, students cover the language needed for business events and to organize travel arrangements and schedules for delegates. It is important to be able to use articles accurately. Students will cover the language to describe important conference information. Social interaction with new contacts and customers is crucial to the success of any company. Cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings if first impressions are not good. In this unit students also learn how to address people when they meet them for the first time. In the Talking point, students will have the opportunity to work out a schedule for a group of foreign visitors, proposing options for after-work activities and cultural activities and events. They will present the schedule of activities to the class.
Finance
By the end of this unit, students will be able to
✏️ talk about how to finance a new business idea
✏️ talk about future predictions using will, going to, may, might
✏️ use will in different ways
✏️ give a presentation with visual information.
The topic of Finance gives students the language to describe the financial aspects of a project. All companies need to be aware of how to source the capital needed to start a business or finance a project. It is not only essential to raise money for a business, but also to consider the investors and their expectations. To do this, students cover the language needed to discuss budgets, financial forecasts, dividends, commission and equity. It is important to be able to use future forms accurately when predicting results and possibilities. Students will describe a wide range of predictions about companies, and wider national and global events which can affect companies and their finances. They go on to discuss setting up an office in another country. In this unit, students will learn about different functions for the verb form will. This will cover predictions, promises, making decisions and giving conditions. They will go on to practise presenting visual information about the future, using all of the future forms covered in the unit. In the Talking point, the students will discuss investment opportunities and crowdfunding. Each student presents a crowdfunding opportunity and they all decide which idea is the most attractive investment opportunity. They then discover which of the four possibilities was the most successful.
Decisions
By the end of this unit, students will be able to
🔹 talk about decision-making
🔹 talk about future possibilities
🔹 use if in different ways
🔹 negotiate an agreement.
The topic of Decisions gives students the language to discuss how we consider possibilities and make decisions. In any business it is essential to make good decisions and to communicate them effectively to colleagues and customers. To do this, learners cover the language needed to describe, prioritize, evaluate and reach a decision. They look at how decision-making works in a real company, and the innovative approach the company has for including more employees than just the managers in the process. It is important to be able to express future possibilities when prioritizing and evaluating decisions. To do this, students will cover the first conditional form to express possible future situations and the second conditional form to express improbable and hypothetical situations. They will look at various expressions which use if. In this unit, students will also learn how to negotiate in a business setting. They will have the opportunity to look at how negotiations are structured and the language to make suggestions and respond to them in a negotiation situation. In the Talking point, the students will play a game where they discuss various situations and possible outcomes in order to use first and second conditionals in a natural setting.
Innovation
By the end of this unit, students will be able to
✏️ talk about innovative ideas
✏️ talk about extremes
✏️ praise and thank people formally and informally
✏️ present new ideas.
The topic of Innovation gives students the language to describe innovation and originality. It is essential for companies to innovate, reinvent and develop a successful approach to modernization in order to survive in the global business world. To do this, learners cover the language needed to describe innovation, the challenge of change and reinvention, and overcome obstacles in a world dominated by technology. It is important to recognize the work of innovators and to celebrate new ideas. To do this, students will practise superlative forms and their use with structures such as the present perfect, and compare and rank achievements. Students will learn how to praise and thank people in a work environment. They also work on formal and informal expressions, and learn where to use the appropriate forms. In this unit, students will also work on how to present new ideas using visuals. They learn how to structure presentations and use expressions to signpost that structure. They will also give a short presentation using a visual and assess how well the presentation followed the structure. In the Talking point, students will have the opportunity to examine the effect that sound and music have in the retail sector. They will read about research on the effects of music on shopping habits and how different music or sounds have a noticeable effect on sales. They will then decide on the associations different musical genres have and recommend a particular genre for a particular business situation. Finally, they will present their ideas to the class and compare suggestions.
Performance
By the end of this unit, students will be able to
✏️ talk about different personal qualities
✏️ talk about past events in their lives
✏️ generalize and be specific
✏️ take part in a performance review.
The topic of Performance gives students the language to talk about and describe the performance review procedure at their workplace. Anybody who works, or plans to work, in business knows that it is essential for companies to review performance at regular intervals to assess how the company and the staff are performing. This procedure should have a positive outcome. To do this, students cover the language needed to describe reviews and awards, and how they motivate and encourage staff to improve performance.
Carrying out reviews is a situation where it is essential to describe accurately how someone has made progress or not. To do this, students will practise past tenses, in particular the past continuous and past perfect tenses to talk about stages and times. Students will also learn how to make generalizations and to be specific where needed.
In this unit, students will also learn the language necessary to carry out performance appraisals and set objectives. They will listen to an appraisal and role-play the process themselves. They will then set out a plan of action for performance improvement.
In the Talking point, students will read research on personality traits, specifically what makes an extrovert, an introvert or an ambivert. They will have the opportunity to discuss the merits of personality tests and methods to measure and assess people's behaviour and personality. They will then design their own personality test and work with a partner to test it. Finally, they will present their ideas and compare suggestions.