ENGLISH IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

ELECTIVE COURSE

(5 ECTS)

VIŠNJA KABALIN BORENIĆ, Ph.D.

(vkborenic@efzg.hr, office 16, webpage)

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• develop business communication skills in English (reading, writing, listening, speaking) within the following business topics:

personal development, corporate image, supply chain, managing conflict, risk management, investment, free trade

• develop academic skills: writing summaries

• advance presentation skills: researching and presenting a topic

• develop critical thinking

REQUIRED READING

The Business Advanced (MacMillan)

Student's Book + DVD-ROM

• Profil, Algoritam Maksimirska, VBZ

• selection of texts and exercises:p. 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 18, 19, 22, 23,32, 33, 34, 44, 45, 70, 71, 84, 85, 96, 97

• DVD-ROM (autonomous work at home)

CLASS ORGANISATION

• contact teaching: Friday 14.30-16.00

16.15-17.00

• office hours: Thursday 15.00-16.00

• autonomous learning at home: material on DVD-ROM

STUDENT OBLIGATIONS

• REGULAR ATTENDANCE (7/10)

• CLASS PARTICIPATION

• RESEARCHING AND PRESENTING A TOPIC (IN TEAMS)

• WRITING SUMMARIES

• TAKING 2 PROGRESS TESTS

• ORAL EXAM

REGULAR ATTENDANCE• full-time students who do not attend regularly will not be

graded and will not receive the teacher’s signature at the end of the course

CLASS PARTICIPATION • individual initiative and contribution is rewarded

PROGRESS TESTS• reading comprehension, use of new vocabulary, summary

writing

ORAL EXAM• discussion of topics covered with active use of new vocabulary

WRITING SUMMARIES

• class or home assignment

• summaries of 2 texts covered (coursebook)

• 1 summary - REQUIREMENT FOR EACH

PROGRESS TEST!

PRESENTING A TOPIC

• 4 students - 15 minutes • topic (extension or illustration

of topics covered in class)

DATE CLASS PRESENTATION TOPIC

8 NOV INTRODUCTION SUMMARY WRITINGUS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PRESENTATIONS TOP TIPS…

----

15 NOV TOP TIPS cont.THE PETER PRINCIPLE

WORKPLACE/WORK ETHIC

22 NOV JOHARI WINDOW CORPORATE IMAGE

29 NOV CORPORATE IMAGE:THE BIG MAKEOVERCSR

OUTSOURCING

6 DEC SUPPLY CHAIN CSR

13 DEC PT1MANAGING CONFLICT

SUPPLY CHAIN

20 DEC RISK MANAGEMENT MANAGING CONFLICT

10 JAN INVESTMENT RISK MANAGEMENT

17 JAN FREE TRADE INVESTMENT

24 JAN REVISIONPT2

FREE TRADE

GRADING

• 2 PTs 50%

• Oral exam 15%• Summaries 10%• Presentation 10% • Class participation 15%

TOTAL

91- 100%= 5 80-90%=4 61-79%= 3 51-60%= 2

PRESENTING A TOPIC (handout)

• 3-4 students - 15 minutes

• structure (beginning, body, ending)

• rapport (audience)

• signalling (signposting, phrases)• topic (purpose, research, selection...)

• venue/time?

Presentations:

sales presentations

talks at conferences

lectures

board meetings...

DISCUSS your personal experience:

a) Listening to a presentationb) Giving a presentation

Speaking too longSpeaker-centered / No relationship with the audienceSpeaking in a monotoneLack of preparation / FocusProjecting the wrong imageUsing visual aids ineffectivelyData Dump / Starting with detailUsing inappropriate humorOffering weak evidence Not knowing the audience

Top ten mistakes speakers make

1 Lack of preparation / Focus

2 Speaking too long

3 Not knowing the audience

4 Projecting the wrong image

5 Using visual aids ineffectively

6 Data Dump / Starting with detail

7 Using inappropriate humor

8 Speaking in a monotone

9 Speaker-centered / No relationship with the audience

10 Offering weak evidence • http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/resources/2004/11/top_ten_mistakes_speakers_make/

Elements of presentations:- preparation

- delivery

Preparation- purpose WHY?- audience TO WHOM?- content WHAT?

- brainstorming, research- selection- grouping, sequencing, organisation

- structure HOW?- (intro, body, conclusion)

- visuals- REHEARSING

Preparation: content (what?)• Preparing the main part1. writing an essay vs. identifying key points2. reading aloud vs. making notes3. key points vs. reorganizing

4. notes on cards5. rehearsing from notes

DANGERS: DANGERS:Learning by heartFormal languageLong sentences & words

MORE NATURAL

Requires discipline, self-assurance & patience

Presentation structure (how?)• A rule of thumb is...

... tell your audience

what you are going to say,

say it,

then tell the audience

what you have said.

Structure• Introduction

– welcome your audience– introduce your subject– outline your structure– give instructions about questions

• Body– the “real” presentation

• (structure, signalling, summarising)

• Conclusion– recap, conclude, end, handle questions

RB, p 51

Delivery– enthusiasm

– control

– natural language(spoken, signposting / signalling)

– rapport with audience (creating rapport)

– visual support

– body language (eye contact, loudness, natural, relaxed behavior, polite behavior)

• Short words• Short sentences• Repetition• Synonyms• Redundancy• Signalling/Signposting

• Long words• Complex sentences• Coherence• Condensed language

• Paragraphs (topics)

Spoken vs. Written Language

• Short words• Short sentences• Repetition• Synonyms• Redundancy• Signalling/Signposting

• Long words• Complex sentences• Coherence• Condensed language

• Paragraphs (topics)

Signpost - Tell your audience where they are!

1 Explain the s_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (outline)

2 S _ _ _ _ _ the start of each part:Let me begin with... This brings me to...

3 R _ _ _ _ and move on:

Having established the facts we can move on to..

Use clear v _ _ _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ signals between s_ _ _ _ _ _ _”

4 C_ _ _ _ _ and rephrase:In other words... Let me expand on that...

5 Conclude→ Study useful phrases in RB, pp 52-54Team work: phrases to transfer from member to member

EXERCISE: RB p 55

t r u c t u r e

i g n a l

e c a p

e r b a l r a n s i t i o n e c t i o n s

l a r i f y

E.g.:• This is all I have to say.

• That’s all from me.

• Which brings me to the end of my part.

• I give the floor to my colleague...

• Here is my colleague X who will tell you about ...

• I believe X will have more to say about ...

• X, would you, please, take over from here...

• Thank you, Y, I enjoyed the intro you made.

• Thanks. My friend Y told you about..., and I will...

Most common complaints about the slides

• speakers read the slides to us 62.0%

• text so small I couldn't read it 46.9%

• slides hard to see because of color choice 42.6%

• full sentences instead of bullet points 39.1%

• moving/flying text or graphics  24.8%

• overly complex diagrams or charts 22.2%

Delivery– enthusiasm

– control

– natural language(spoken, signposting / signalling)

– rapport with audience (creating rapport)

– visual support

– body language (eye contact, loudness, natural, relaxed behavior, polite behavior)

Creating rapport

• strategies for creating rapport:- we (all), us, our, ours, ourselves- question tags: e.g. aren’t we; haven’t they..- negative questions: Isn’t it true that...

Don’t we all...

Handout

1 Personal development, BA p 6DiscussionAdvise on how to make a good impression and

“get on” in one’s career.

Discuss issues below in pairs and agree on 5 top pieces of advice:

dress meetings colleagues

your boss business lunches

conferences dealing with emails/phone calls

HW: search the web for texts about “success at work” and compile a list of advice provided