Teaching business English in Ukraine

I have tested credit-module and calendar-thematic systems of organization of learning process, their definitions are:

Calendar-thematic system is a generally accepted method of organization of learning process. The curriculum of a course book lays the foundation of this system. Most institutions of higher education, schools follow this system. Per se, it is a standardized approach which can be successfully applied in the sphere of mass service where the results of the group prevail over an individual’s achievements.

Credit-module system of organization of learning process is a model that is based on the consolidation of modules of teaching and credit units of learning.

Each module is formed in accordance with students’ needs and expectations so that we ensure the modules are customized and integral. At the end of a module there should be a mini-check and an oral communicative task, that is the way how a credit unit of learning is realized. Each credit-unit must be in compliance with the final test as well as the placement test. This presupposition allows to conduct selective enrollment to an appropriate level (whether it is pre-intermediate, intermediate or higher etc.).

Mini-check is organized like a multiple-choice test (gap filling, paraphrasing, matching are also possible) and doesn’t exceed 20 questions in a row. An oral communicative task is a short conversation-like activity which can be performed at the beginning of a lesson (e.g. what is your main responsibility at work? what project are you working on? Both questions imply that students use successfully Pr. Simple and Pr. Continuous). Time is allocated equally to each student and is limited to 1 minute. Teacher monitors students’ mistakes for further processing.

The approbation of the systems took 2 months and the results are as follows:

a)      Calendar-thematic planning is the best way of organization of learning in the enterprises with authoritarian style of management where mass production and mass service are a core competence on the market. The positive sides: much cheaper, standardized. The negative sides: the curriculum is strict and inflexible, thus, the attendance of students is obligatory in order to catch up with new material. Some talented students prefer not to go to classes. What’s more, it aggravates psychological pressure on the employees up to their resignations, engaging psychological defence mechanisms which are typical of a certain group of employees, no matter whether they are productive or unproductive. The latter depends on a corporation’s culture.

b)      Credit-module system is the best way of organization of learning in the enterprises with democratic style of management where state-of-the-art technologies, highly-customized services are a core competence on the market. The positive sides are less psychological pressure on employees, the application of selective attendance when students are not obliged to go to classes. The negative sides: more expensive, time-consuming in regard to modules preparation. Nota Bene: students tend to go the path of least resistance in case their source of motivation isn’t inside so the attendance is not as stable as in the calendar-thematic planning system.

Conclusion

Taking into consideration Ukrainian reality neither of these systems does not bring about the desired results and cannot be applied successfully to teaching business English to corporate clients in Ukraine.

 Evaluation

According to anonymous surveys by the employees the teacher’s proficiency and the way of organization of learning process have been evaluated as excellent.

 Solution

Due to the very nature of the working environment and personal needs of employees, it should be noted that calendar-thematic and credit-module systems can be interwoven in order to achieve better outcomes. In this case the calendar-thematic planning is viewed as a vehicle and the credit-module system is viewed as a tool box on the vehicle. Depending on the employees’ needs a tool box is filled with content that fully meets their requirements. Thus, for example, students specializing in finance or audit can be offered the following set:

1)      Market Leader 3d (intermediate, upper-intermediate)

2)      Accounting and Finance

The calendar-thematic planning is centred on the contents of a course-book.

The general business course is complemented with a suitable one of Market Leader series.

It usually takes 2 academic hours to cover the material of each book spread, two spread altogether at one lesson.

In order to alleviate the process of students’ adaptation it is recommended to pay attention to these pieces of advice:

1)      3 stages can be singled out– preliminary, main, examination:

• Preliminary stage comprises: on-line grammar testing and oral interview. During the interview students are being explained to peculiarities of the chosen business course and expected outcomes; however, the main task of the interview is to check students’ speaking and listening skills according to intermediate, upper-intermediate levels (with the help of a grammar list checker). The possibility to participate in the program is perceived as an incentive by the employees.  The employees can be opted out of the program if they do not want to do an in-house English course.
• The modules course itself is realized with no fixed dates. At the end of a working week the employees receive e-mail invitations for classes next week. They might accept or decline invitations depending on their workload. If there are less than 50% students left, the lesson is postponed till the quorum is made up.
• There are two obligatory benchmarks within one semester: mid-course test and final test.  At the end of a semester students are supposed to take an exam.
• Employees of pre-intermediate, elementary level are offered to do a general English course.

2)      The curriculum and course-books are chosen depending on the strength of a group and concrete aims that are put forward by the management board of the company. These factors are to be discussed after the interview and on-line testing. As for teaching business English we can advise using either Intelligent Business or Market Leader 3d edition. They provide substantial knowledge of the subject and have quite a lot of additional materials for students’ benefit.

3)      Lingvo tutor (versions 12, x3, x5) – the best tool for teaching new vocabulary of a unit with the help of customised dictionaries.

4)      It is indispensable to bring the atmosphere of a real case study that students encounter with at work.

I believe that this research adds value to teaching business English in Ukraine and helps successfully solve the present issues.