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Bridges to Business

This overview presents practical business project ideas designed to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world experiences. It addresses university students' needs for substantial work experience and relevance in studying business English. The projects encourage learners to invent companies, develop advertisements, and engage in various business tasks, fostering skills that enhance confidence and communication. Incorporating varied case studies further enriches students' learning experiences, making them meaningful and motivating.

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Bridges to Business

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  1. Bridges toBusiness Projects, tasks and case studies

  2. Overview • Your university students’ needs • Simple business project ideas to help students orientate themselves to work / company culture • Engaging business tasks that help learners imagine workplace scenarios • Varied case studies that build confidence to apply knowledge to the workplace

  3. Lead in • Do your students have substantial work experience? • If no do they see the relevance of studying business English? • If no do they find it difficult to envisage working scenarios? • If no do they feel confident that they can apply what they are learning in their future careers? • What business skills and knowledge do your students most need to develop? • What do they expect to gain from studying a business English course?

  4. Business projects • Project work is a task-based learning process • It involves a sequence of tasks over a period of time • Projects have a visible end product • Projects are flexible • Projects in the language classroom should involve linguistic input, processing and output Project Work step by step

  5. Starting a project • Invent a company • Choose a job • Design a business card • Introduce yourself

  6. Developing the project • Review what’s been done • Build up a more detailed company profile • Exchange information

  7. Developing your project • Plan and create an advertisement for • your company’s products / services • Display and read ads. • Give feedback

  8. What are the advantages of project work? • Allow students to express their individual strengths • Accommodate varied learning styles • Promote learner independence • Enhance group dynamics and interpersonal skills • They are motivating for the learners • Create a need to use the target language • Help build bridges from the language classroom to the real world • Produce visible results • Increase learners’ self-confidence

  9. Tasks “A task is a classroom activity whose focus is on communicating meaning. The objective of the task may be to reach some consensus on an issue, to solve a problem, to draft a plan … In the performance of the task, learners are expected to make use of their own linguistic resources.” Scott Thornbury An A – Z of ELT

  10. Business tasks • Brainstorming • Planning • Explaining • Presenting

  11. Student roles: Team A

  12. Student roles: Team B

  13. Business tasks • Analysis data • Presentation • Feedback

  14. Student roles: Teams A - C

  15. Other business tasks • Planning an employee ice-breaking session • Planning redecorating the office • Drawing up teleconferencing guidelines • Planning a meeting • Writing a resume • Simulated job interviews

  16. Introducing case studies

  17. Criteria for good case studies The incident • has emotional power • entails difficult choices • entails fundamental/underlying value conflicts • allows multiple interpretations and solutions • presents issues that benefit from collegial discussions • (ntlf.com - National Teaching and Learning Forum)

  18. Good EFL case studies are: • accessible for learners • manageable for teachers • structured and staged • delivered via a variety of media • designed to provide practice in a range of language and communication skills

  19. Example case study – Gap Years

  20. The benefits of case studies • Bridge gap betweenclassroom and real world • Real-world issues fosterauthentic communication • Develop communication skills • Familiartool for business people • Learner-centred = meaningful, motivating, memorable • Fun!

  21. Let’s do a case study

  22. When to use case studies • as a free production activity • to practice meeting/presentation/negotiation skills • as a change, e.g. in intensive courses • to get away from the coursebook • as a test/teach/test sequence • when you don’t know the group • with mixed ability classes • as a back-up • as a reward

  23. References: An A – Z of ELT Scot Thornbury Project Work: Step-by-Step (out of print) www.businessenglishonline.net

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