Materials and Curriculum Development for TESOLKevin Garvey3/29/12Professor Xiang

“In Company” (Intermediate Level) textbook Review for English for Business Purposes by Mark Powell

Introduction

English for Business Purposes (EBP) requires high-levels of intrinsic student motivation,

intercultural competence and authentic materials. In order to gauge the text’s accomplishments

in reaching these levels, I will be analyzing “In Company” vis-a-vis Littlejohn’s questions for

analysis: what is there, what is required of users, and what is implied (Littlejohn 2011). I have

referred to Kathleen Graves’ chapter on adapting textbooks for course design (Graves 2000) to

evaluate how flexible “In Company” is for the diverse needs and goals of EBP learners. To

further evaluate “In Company” as a CLT-approach text, I have also referred to

Brown’s “Principles of Teaching”, particularly “Meaningful Learning”, “Willingness to

Communicate”, “Language-Culture Connection”, “Intrinsic Motivation”, and “Communicative

Competence” (Brown 2000).

This review will not evaluate “In Company” vis-a-vis the description given by the

publisher. Instead, it will assume an EBP classroom of intermediate to high-intermediate level

learners with high motivation and individual goals.

“In Company” (IC) is a series from Macmillan Education. Author Mark Powell has

written the intermediate text reviewed here as well as the advanced level text. There is no preface

or introduction in the book, but it is clear from the unit titles and topics that “In Company”

is intended for learners of English for Business Purposes (see appendix for unit titles and

description). The description of the “In Company” series found online describes it as follows:

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“‘In Company’ trains students in the language and skills which are immediately transferable to

the workplace. Each lesson is a stand-alone, fast-track to competence in a particular skill...”

("In Company." Macmillan English - Home, 2012)

The textbook comes with a CD-ROM of listening exercises and an appendices containing

exercise answer keys and the script of the audio. The book is meant as a primary text with no

supplemental materials or workbook, although supplemental materials are available online.

The publisher describes the book accurately: lessons are stand-alone and disconnected.

The pace of the book is quick and strictly goal-oriented, rather than being gradual and designed

for a wholistic learning experience. Whether or not this structure provides for a “fast-track to

competence in a particular skill” is discussed in this review.

In the final evaluation, IC utilizes a fast-paced Communicative Language Teaching

approach, treating the student as a self-directed learner and the teacher as a guide and moderator

for the pace of the book. IC offers a broad range of tasks that integrate the four primary skills of

language learning (reading, writing, listening and speaking) with authentic material, and

stimulates in-class student communication and motivation. A wide range of tasks is covered, but

there is a lack of interconnectivity and the potential of some task-based activities to be expanded

or repeated across units is sacrificed in favor of moving on. This may not satisfy students who

desire continuity and scaffolded tasks to improve their EBP skills.

Finally, it’s the opinion of this review that to make the most of IC’s offerings,

discrimination while choosing which units to skip and which to expand upon, or the addition of

supplemental material that better connects the “bigger picture” skills of EBP, will be necessary.

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Factual Details Title: “In Company”Author(s): Mark PowellPublisher: Macmillan Education Price: $32.00 (converted from British pounds)ISBN: 978 0 333 95732 5 No. of Pages: 142Components: (1) Course Units, (2) Exercise Answer Key, (3) Audio CD scripts (4) Audio CDLevel: IntermediateLength: 20 units (*see appendix B) Sections: 4-6 sections per unit Hours: 1-2 per unitTarget skills: Listening & Reading (primary); Speaking & Writing (secondary)Target learners: Low-level intermediate learners improving EBP skills

Adapted from: Sheldon (1988: 242)

Section 1: General Analysis

“What is There?”

Breakdown of Sections

IC consists of twenty units varying in length from 4-6 sections, or 2-5 pages. Sections are

categorized by a focus on “reading”, “grammar”, “writing”, “listening”, and “speaking”. For this

review, section type was determined according to section tasks: if students were asked to write,

the section was deemed a “writing” section, and so on.

“Reading” sections are by far the most common, with a count of 40. Following that

are “listening” sections with 36, “speaking” sections with 28, “writing” sections with 22

and “grammar” sections with 13.

Reading passages vary in type and length. Each unit has 1-2 reading passages, ranging

from half-page articles on contemporary business practices to shorter interview transcripts.

Passage content carries certain cultural elements as well: how to “meet-and-greet”,

presentational styles, anecdotes about Western businesses, etc. This indirect exposure to culture

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should be highlighted by the teacher, and additional materials or explanation could help towards

intercultural competence. Additionally, the speaking and listening exercises encouraging

students to express themselves in pairs or groups could be manipulated to bring out student

experience with business in their own or any other culture. Without teacher modification, the

cultural aspect of learning is overlooked by IC.

Listening sections introduce new vocabulary through conversation and case studies in

business. These are often followed by comprehension-check questions, and at times students are

prompted to “carry on the conversation” by drawing on their own experience. These follow-ups

comprise most of the “speaking” sections. The tasks following a reading or listening section

typically recall the skills or focus of the previous activity, naturally scaffolding student

comprehension. Speaking sections are also found at the beginning of units as warm-up activities.

Writing sections typically appear in the middle or the end of each unit and ask students to

complete a task that combines the unit’s exercises and material. A good example of a mid-unit

writing activity is found in unit 5, where the section titled “Time Management” asks students to

respond to a list of strategies for managing their time, and compare their list to a subsequent

reading passage. At the end of unit 2, students are prompted to write out a “dinner party

conversation” script. Both tasks serve a communicative end, as well as bring together their

respective unit’s targeted grammatical and vocabulary points (Unit 5: “Speed of Life”: work-

related pressure, goal-setting; Unit 2: “Making Contacts”: conversation topics, taboos).

Teacher modification may be necessary to make lessons “flow” a little better than IC’s

dry delivery provides. Speaking sections have the potential for being good breaks from formal

reading and listening exercises. They provide opportunities for students to begin talking and

negotiating meaning with one another. Strategically alternating between individual and partner/

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group-based activities will be necessary for an engaging lesson based around IC.

Grammar is easily the least attended to as a core language-learning skill. In line with a

CLT approach, IC forgoes intensive grammar drills and/or lessons in lieu of communicative,

task-based activities that draw on students’ experience for meaning-making. Much of the reading

and writing activities include instructions to “work with your partner” or “answer the questions

and then discuss your answers with your partner”, making the reading and writing activities lead

into speaking and listening activities. The emphasis in the productive skills remains on fluency

rather than accuracy.

Authenticity

IC’s reading and listening samples are primarily concerned with issues of business

management, organization and conflict resolution (units 1-9, 14, 16, 19). This suggests IC’s

utility as a textbook for middle-management workers interested in entering the international EBP

world. IC does a good job of balancing its register between casual and formal: instructions are

clear and casual whereas reading samples are formal.

The listening samples similarly vary in register, offering authentic workplace

conversations later in the book (units 16-20) and shorter, less complex but commonplace

conversations early on (units 1-7). Conversation is difficult to authentically replicate, but IC’s

actors are convincing and realistic in their delivery, and the content is contemporary and relevant

to student’s needs. IC periodically depends upon students to make their own meaning from the

material during speaking and writing tasks.

Intercultural Competence

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Especially in its reading samples, IC does a good job at exposing learners to western

business-world cultural contexts and situations. IC would be useful to many EBP students. It has

a clear communicative style that situates lessons in diverse, authentic contexts.

By offering numerous occasions for students to work in partners or groups, or discuss

topics as a class, IC opens the possibility for extended intercultural competence beyond western

world business culture. The possibility is there only if students can develop a willingness to

communicate. With IC, a teacher is well-equipped for ideas on how to get students talking.

That being said, IC does not offer samples that explicitly present business cultures

other than the western model, or explicitly elicit such examples from learners. For learners

not entering western-styled business cultures, this is a missed opportunity for sharing cultural

background and tradition in the interest of generating intercultural competence. This may not

apply to the majority of IC’s targeted learner population, who may have purchased this UK-

based publication intent on succeeding in the western business world. Globalization has also

spread western business culture into much of the professional world. Therefore, this criticism is

not grounds for serious concern, but worth noting nonetheless, as not every EBP environment

is necessarily run in western-styled business culture (parts of China, Korea, Japan, India, and

Russia are some examples).

“What is Required of Users?”

Balance of Teacher/Student Direction and Roles

The majority of activities are feasible as student-directed (partner work, individual

reading and writing, critical thinking and listening). “In Company” would be very successful

with intrinsically motivated learners with developed learning strategies. At the intermediate level

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for EBP students, I do not predict a large problem with motivation or focus on the part of the

students, and IC reflects this reality with a large number of student-directed activities.

Where students might benefit from teacher-direction is in the area of intercultural

competence and full-class discussion. IC does a good job of giving the teacher the opportunity to

take charge of the class with a number of group/class discussion activities and Q&A activities

that are aimed at focusing in on the lesson goals. A good example of a full-class activity comes

at the beginning of every unit in the form of an open-ended question. In unit 1: “Complete the

following sentence. Use the words in the box if you like. Then compare with other people in the

class. ‘For me, learning English is ______’”.

In addition to being an introduction, unit 1’s opening question serves as a needs

assessment tool and a chance to begin the class with an open-ended, student-directed discussion

of EBP-related motivations, feelings, opinions and goals.

In activities such as these, IC displays its CLT colors. The text favors student-directed

learning, with students making the decisions on what content is explored. During these types of

discussion-based activities, the teacher plays a supervisory or moderating role, concerned with

encouraging but not leading students to their chosen goals.

“What is Implied?”

Scaffolding

On a macro level, each unit builds on the last in terms of skills and complexity. The first

ten units are concerned with relatively simple tasks: reading email, completing questionnaires,

and expressing yourself in English. Units 11-20 are concerned with discussing presentations,

attitudes towards email or business meetings and generally call for deeper understanding and

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greater capacity for communication.

The difficulty level greatly intensifies after the first ten units. Though the skills in the

first ten units relate directly to the tasks in the final ten, a teacher will need to supplement the

material to help students move from less complex to more complex tasks, as well as make these

connections clear. On its own, IC does not do a good job of successfully scaffolding EBP skills

and task-based activities on a micro, unit-to-unit level. An example can be seen between

contrasting Unit 10 with Unit 11. Unit 10 covers “Completing a questionnaire on cultural

awareness, Talking about Experiences and Engaging in Small talk”, whereas Unit 11 moves on

to “Discussing attitudes to e-mail, Guidelines for writing e-mail, Writing e-mail equivalents of

formal texts, SImplifying a lengthy email, Exchanging e-mails”.

IC assumes that the student’s role is one of a self-motivated, self-directed learner

that will pick and choose the skills that are important to them. The teacher’s role is as a

guide and occasional motivator to help the student along.

However, if students did not master the simpler skills in the first half (tasks like reading

short emails, stating opinions, likes & dislikes, and reading short articles) they would have

a difficult time getting through the second half. No two students are alike in aptitude and

self-motivation. An adept teacher will know how to gradually increase the difficulty while

maintaining student interest. This may require the teacher to take a more active role.

Adaptability & Sequencing

“In Company” is easily adaptable to a student-centered EBP course. Activities are

straightforward and reading and listening materials are simple. They could be easily

supplemented with additional articles or teacher-created content such as extended conversations,

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new vocabulary or reading samples of different genres (business emails, minutes of meetings).

There are openings for partner work and class discussion throughout the book, most often

in the opening warm-up (Unit 9: “How big is the company you work for? Given the choice,

would you prefer to work for a big or a small firm?” or Unit 18: Opening exercise of partner

work discussing the concept of “business lunch” across cultures). Instructions are consistently

specific enough to prevent students from providing vague answers, and broad enough to activate

student schemata and trigger creativity.

These positive points having been covered, it must now be said that it will take an

experienced teacher to take full advantage of IC’s materials. Considering the sequencing of units,

as Graves suggests doing in her chapter on the adaptation of texts (Graves 2000), it’s clear that

IC is assuming students will want stand-alone, independent lessons. Therefore, unit objectives

are designed to be self-contained. For a course of any length, however, a teacher will need to

adapt and interconnect units to provide some sense of continuity. In addition to this, unit length

is irregular. Lesson planning will likely need to supplement or cut textbook material to make sure

the necessary lesson items are covered. Estimating a standard EBP course to be two hours, 4-

5 sections (the average unit length) are sufficient to fill that time. Shorter units such as unit 5 (3

pages), 13 (2 pages), and 17 (2 pages) will either need to be combined with an adjacent unit, cut

altogether or supplemented in order to fill a full class.

It would also be possible to adapt the final section of a unit preceding a shorter one into

an in-depth homework assignment that could fill time in the form of student presentations in

the next class. Examples of this include the end of unit 5 (write about your time management

strategies), the end of unit 12 (build a presentation; presentations could be used to supplement

the shorter unit 13) and the end of unit 16 (read about and then do individual research on

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companies’ problems and their solutions; this research could be delivered in the form of a

presentation to supplement the shorter unit 17).

“In Company” is very adaptable for a teacher with some experience and additional

resources. Less experienced teachers may find themselves extending the reading and discussion

activities of the textbook in order to fill time. This strategy misses the opportunity for making

connections between the lessons to make up for IC’s lack thereof, and for extending lessons

beyond the classroom. Although it encourages the role of the student as a self-starter, additional

materials and ideas from the teacher to connect lessons and extend ideas beyond the classroom

could greatly benefit learners in the EBP world.

Section 2: In-Depth Analysis of Unit 12: “Meetings”

A preliminary note: I would recommend that teachers select units from the second half

with more discretion, as the difficulty level experiences a steep incline after Unit 10. An

examination of unit 12 presents a good example of what to keep (and add to) and what to leave

(or shorten) in adjusting material for student comprehension.

The opening or warm-up activity contains two parts. The first is a discussion

of “successful talks you’ve been to in the past.” Here the teacher may want to present video of a

conference talk to give students a common reference point, or to activate related schemata.

Following the discussion is a vocabulary matching exercise: “To be a good presenter you

need...”, with a word bank of adjectives like “humor”, “knowledge”, etc. The next activity is a

discussion of presentational style with brief prompts for expressing opinions: “What you need

most of all is...”, “Another important thing is...”, etc.

The next section (titled “Delivery”) presents reading and listening materials related to

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successful public speaking. The listening activity doubles as a grammar task, as students listen

and fill in proper punctuation for the script of the passage. A teacher should pace this portion of

the lesson carefully and be sure that students are comprehending both the content and purpose of

this activity.

A follow-up team activity to plan and perform a new presentation comes next. Students

are asked to evaluate prosody (should someone present dramatically or professionally?

), rhetorical devices (repetition, grouping points) and presentational skills (considering the

audience, checking for comprehension among your listeners). This activity has a heavy cultural-

underpinning; what makes a good public speaker can differ in specifics from one culture to the

next (while general things like volume, charisma and humor are likely to be common cross-

culturally). This exercise is a good opportunity for the teacher to elicit stories and schemata from

students concerning cultural attitudes towards presentations. Perhaps this activity could be linked

with the unit warm-up on “successful talks”.

The next section covers the use of visuals and has a listening activity about a case study

of a technical problem with a company’s website. This activity leads into an open-ended writing

and critical thinking activity asking students to outline a presentation of their own using some

of the prompts and transitional statements learned in the lesson. This wrap-up activity might

best be split into two parts: the first as an in-class outlining task and the second as an individual

homework assignment to fill in the gaps and present a coherent, flowing presentation.

However, this suggestion brings up the same issue discussed earlier with improperly

scaffolded tasks. Teaching presentational skills can take up a lot of class time (many business-

people attend conferences in their L1 just to master some of the finer skills of public speaking).

By the same token, what makes presentational skills so hard to teach is also what makes them so

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useful for EBP learners: they integrate the four skills, require confidence with the target language

and macro- as well as micro-planning.

Unit 12 is a good example of a single unit’s skills building up to a larger task, but

unfortunately, subsequent units only grow more complex and difficult and do not relate directly

to the units that came before. IC covers a lot of ground in 20 short units, but sacrifices depth for

breadth. Unit 12’s lessons could be better remembered if tasks were interconnected with adjacent

units, and repeated and adjusted to match student progress.

Conclusion

“In Company” is an excellent textbook overall, and fulfills the goals it sets out for itself.

Teachers with students interested in fast-paced, stand-alone lessons that focus on one task-based

skill at a time with little to no interconnectivity with other task-based skills are encouraged to

pick up “In Company”. IC will not be as useful to teachers attempting to use the textbook to

connect one real-life task to the next in terms of skill-sets, and IC will call for alteration to ease

students into the more difficult tasks found later on.

Despite the dramatic upswing in difficulty soon after the first half of the book, IC is

generally thoughtfully designed and laid-out for a teacher. It puts students in the role of self-

motivated, self-directed learners and teachers in the role of supervisory guides. Students’

interests will be engaged by tasks based on real-world EBP situations. The content (vocabulary,

writing strategies, grammar structures, speaking and listening strategies) will help students in

reaching their goals.

Sprinkled throughout the tasks are breaks for students to work with partners, groups or as

a class to discuss the material that they just learned. Equipped with these built-in breaks, a

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teacher can easily encourage student schema activation and communicative competence.

Recommended is a student journal or log about the problems or obstacles they encounter in their

EBP settings. Bringing these examples to class and comparing them to the solutions found in the

text will increase the authenticity of the material as well as the intrinsic motivation of students to

get through the text.

As was said in the analysis of Unit 12, IC covers a lot of ground in 20 short units, but

forgoes depth for breadth. Students cannot count on the skills of the previous unit to directly

translate into skills for completing the next unit. This may threaten students’ motivation, as they

find themselves, say, very invested in unit 17’s discussion on globalization and the global

economy, but uninterested in unit 18’s advice on business lunch meetings. Depending on what

students feel they need for their job or job-related goals, IC runs the risk of being alternatively

essential and superficial. Fortunately, the material is such that it may be altered to maintain

students’ interest: a discussion on globalization could lead into a discussion of business lunch

conversation topics.

IC predicts that EBP student populations will have strong motivations for learning

particular skills out of a huge range. For a creative teacher, IC will offer enough material to

choose from to accomplish a range of student goals. For a less creative teacher, IC should

not be followed word-for-word, especially when it is clear that later lessons are not carrying

over from one unit to the next (unit 15 to 16, unit 12 to 13, unit 18 to 19, are some stand-out

examples). In these cases, teachers must intervene and make changes or add material to make the

connections between skills and situations clearer to students. In a class of any size, students will

have differing preferences for which skills they wish to learn. Connecting the lessons through

homework, discussion and review will help maintain student interest even when that week’s

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target skills are not applicable to their job.

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Works Cited ● Brown, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language

Pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents, 1994. Print.● Littlejohn, A. 2011. ‘The analysis of language teaching materials: inside the Trojan

Horse. In Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pages 179-211

● Graves, Kathleen. Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 2000. Print.

● "In Company." Macmillan English - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.macmillanenglish.com/Course.aspx?id=28294>.

● Sheldon, L.(1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT Journal, 42/2.

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AppendicesAppendix A: Checklist PRESENTATION 1-10 (1=low; 10=high) Comments

1. Completeness of presentation

5 Accompanying CD-ROM useful for listening practice. Needs teacher-directed in-class practice to target problem areas

2. Appropriateness of presentation

10 CD-ROMs (or nowadays online resources) can be easily accessible and comprehensive study aids

3. Adequacy of practice 5 Without self-motivation, Ss will miss opportunity to practice outside of class. T needs to create online oral journal or conduct in-class practice to compensate.

GRAMMAR

4. Appropriateness of frequency

7 Although a CLT-approach textbook, IC could have added more grammar exercises, especially as models for homework assignments

5. Appropriate sequencing 10 Grammar is scaffolded and introduced in-context.

6. Adequacy of drill model & pattern display

2 There is little to no drilling. Grammar lessons encourage conversation or writing more than drilled practice. T needs to check to make sure correct forms are being learned.

7. Adequacy of practice 10 Outside of strict drilling, practice with written/spoken production is heavy, S-centered

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CONTENT

8. Functional load 10 Material is useful and comprehensible for students. Many activities are task-based and connected to real life.

9. Rate & manner of entry & re-entry

5 Lessons not as well inter-connected as possible. Potential for students to lose “bigger picture” of business English skills

10 Appropriateness of content & situations

8 Generally the materials are level-appropriate and comprehensible. Later sections of the book include advanced tasks and more involved material.

GENERAL

11. Authenticity of input 10 Materials often directly related to recent (past 5 years) situations and problems concerning the business world. Skills are relevant.

12. Availability of supplementary materials

0 No supplemental materials listed.

13. Adequate guidance for non-native teachers

0 No guidance present for either a NS or NNS teacher

14. Competence of the author 10 Mark Powell is an experienced ESL educator and writer (CITE)

15. Sufficient integration of skills across units

2 Unit lessons tend to be separate from one another and students may have difficulty seeing the larger connections between tasks

16. Durability 7 Paperback, easily beat-up if not taken care of

17. Quality of editing & 10 No typos or errors found in

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publishing a read-through of the book. Professional publishing quality

18. Price & value 10 For around $32, a book and CD, with full-script and authentic materials for EBP

Adapted from: Tucker (1975: 360-1)

Evaluative Questions 1. Is it attractive? Given the average age of your students, would they enjoy using it?

YES PARTLY NO

2. Is it culturally acceptable?

YES PARTLY NO 3. Is it about the right length?

YES PARTLY NO 4. Does it balance between the relevant language skills and integrate them?

YES PARTLY NO 5. Is there a clear teacher’s guide?

YES PARTLY NO 6. Are the suggested teaching methods appropriate for you, your students and your classroom?

YES PARTLY NO 7. Is the textbook easily adaptable / expandable?

YES PARTLY NO 8. Are activities “spiraled”? (scaffolded and integrated)

YES PARTLY NO 9. Do you believe the book would be acceptable to employers as a course textbook?

YES PARTLY NO

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10. If It does more than the syllabus requires, is the result an improvement?

YES PARTLY NO 11. Is there a good balance between EBP skills for a job and EGP skills for everyday life?

YES PARTLY NO

Adapted from: Grant (1987: 122-6)

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Appendix B: Breakdown of Units

Unit Number Topic Communication skills and tasks Reading and Listening Texts Grammar and Lexis Links

1: International English

English as a global language

Completing a needs analysisDoing a quiz on languagesDiscussing attitudes to English English using expressions for talking about language needs & learning preferences

R: Article about English dominating communicationsL: People talking about their attitudes to learning English

2: Making Contacts

Networking Describing peopleDiscussing appropriate conversation topicsKeeping the conversation goingNetworking

L: Extracts from a business travel programme on conference venuesL: People gossiping at a conferenceL: People socialising at a conference

Present SimplePresent ContinuousPresent Simple vs. Present ContinuousCollocations relating to conferencesVerb + prepositions

3: Making Calls Desk work Making telephone phrasesExchanging information on the telephone

L: Planning a telephone callL: Voice mail messagesL: Telephone conversations

Past SimpleTime adverbs for, in, during, ago, over, beforeTelephone expressions for dealing with difficulties & distractions

4: Keeping Track

Meetings Checking & clarifying facts & figuresQuerying information

L: Extracts from meetingsR: Texts: the Budweiser companiesL: Extracts from a meetingL: A briefing meeting

Comparatives & superlativesComparative & superlative expressionsPhrasal verbs with on, out, off, up, down

5: Speed of Life Talking Points Discussing time management strategiesDiscussing statements on how speed affects your working life

R: Mini-texts: statistics about the working weekR: Extract from Getting Things Done by Roger BlackL: People talking about how speed affects their workL: People talking about how they unwind after work

6: Business Travel

Networking Expressing likes & dislikes about travelling on businessMaking polite requests & enquiriesSituational roleplaysIdentifying signs as British or American EnglishGreeting visitors

L: Extracts from business travel conversationsR: Article from Newsweek about people who live in two citiesL: Short exchanges in British & American EnglishL: Conversations at the airport

Polite question formsIndirect questionsCollocations relating to travel

7: Handling calls

Desk work Discussing your attitude to using the telephoneMaking polite telephone requests using if & Could you...?Making telephone expressions with I’llDealing with incoming calls

R: Mini-texts: telephone statisticsL: Telephone conversations

Will for future predictions, spontaneous, decisions, offers, requests, promises, refusals, threatsIf + willCollocations relating to work routines

8: Making decisions

Meetings Doing a questionnaire on making decisions

L: Extracts from a documentaryL: Extract from a meeting

Conditionals (future reference)

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Using expressions for making decisions & conducting a decision-making meeting

R: Article about James Bonds filmsR: Actor profiles: James Bond contendersL: Interviews with James Bond contenders

Unless, provided/providing (that), as/so long as, suppose/supposingCollocations relating to the marketplace

9: Big business Stating opinions, agreeing & disagreeingStating preferences

L: People talking about the size of their companiesR: Article: Land of the Giants - are companies or governments in charge?L: People talking about the article Land of the Giants

10: Small talk Networking Completing a questionnaire on cultural awarenessTalking about experiencesEngaging in small talk

L: Extracts from pre-meeting conversationsL: People chatting at work

Past Simple vs. Present PerfectCommon adjectival collocationsExaggeration & understatement

11: E-mail Desk work Discussing attitudes to e-mailGuidelines for writing e-mailWriting e-mail equivalents of format textsSimplifying a lengthy e-amilExchanging e-mails

L: People talking about their attitudes to e-mailR: Article: e-mail research resultsR: Extract from The Bluffers Guide ® to the InternetL: Voice mail messages

Future formsExpressing intention: be going to/planning to/intending to etc.Collocations relating to computers

12: Presenting Meetings Discussing qualities of a good presentationPausing, pacing & sentence stressDelivering a presentationStructuring a presentationUsing visualsPresenting a solution to a problem at work

L: People conversing & giving a presentationL: Toast: by George Bernard Shaw to Albert EinsteinR: Extract from First Direct websiteL: A presentation about a technical problem

Past ContinuousPast PerfectPast Simple vs. Past Continuous vs. Past PerfectExpressions for structuring a presentationCollocations relating to presentations

13: Technological World

Talking points Discussing the pros & cons of technologyMaking predictions about future technology using expressions for speculating about the future

R: Article: the age of technologyL: People talking about future technological developments

14: Being heard Meetings Discussing attitudes to meetingsCompleting a questionnaire on assertiveness in meetingsDiscussing meeting styles in different countriesInterrupting a speaker

L: People talking about their attitudes to meetingsL: Extracts from meetings in different culturesR: Case studies: meeting styles in three countries

Modal verbs: must, may, might, can, could, would, ought to, etc.Collocations relating to meetingsExpressions for stating opinions

15: Snail mail Desk work Types of paper documentationCorrecting a formal letterWriting letters of complaint and apology

R: Article about a paperless officeL: Someone correcting a colleague’s business letter

Multi-verb expressions in business lettersPrepositions

16: Solving problems

Meetings Discussing solutions to problemsExpressions for making suggestionsDevising a procedure for solving problems

L: Case studies: three problems solvedL: Extracts from problem-solving meetingsR: Texts: advice on solving problemsL: Case studies: solutions to problems in two companies

Conditionals (past reference)Collocations relating to people & products

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17: Global village

Talking points Discussing opinions on globalisationUsing time expressions to communicate your views on how globalisation affects the company you work for

R: Texts: four people’s opinions on globalisation

18: Eating out Networking Describing restaurantsExpressions for discussing foodDoing a quiz on table manners & etiquetteCategorising food & drinkDescribing typical dishes from your country or region

L: A conversation in a restaurantL: Conversations over lunch

Passive with common verb structuresCollocations relating to food & drink

19: Messaging Desk work Discussing attitudes to electronic communicationSequencing a series of e-mailsExpressions used in e-mailsNote-taking from voice mailDealing with messages

R: Extract about the role of e-mail in businessL: People discussing their opinions on messagingL: Humorous voice mail messages

Reported speech

20: Negotiating Meetings Sounding more diplomaticExpressions for negotiatingCompleting notes while listening to two negotiationsNegotiating a transfer deal

R: Extract from Getting Past NoL: People sharing their views on negotiatingR: Joke from Complete Idiot’s Guide to Winning Through NegotiationL: Extracts from negotiationsR: Article on footballL: Description of football players’ transfer deals

Grammar of diplomacyCollocations relating to negotiationsExpressions for negotiating

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