Workshop descriptions and materials

A sessions (Saturday 09.00 - 10.00)
B sessions (Saturday 10.30 - 11.30)
C sessions (Saturday 12.00 - 13.00)
D sessions (Saturday 14.00 - 15.00)
E sessions (Saturday 15.30 - 16.30)
F sessions (Saturday 17.00 - 18.00)

G sessions (Sunday 09.00 - 10.00)
H sessions (Sunday 10.30 - 11.30)
J sessions (Sunday 12.00 - 13.00)

Saturday 09.00 - 10.00 Workshops A1 - A12

A01 - Rachel Appleby: ONE:ONE. Meeting clients needs – Approaches and activities

Type: Workshop. Audience Type: experienced. Timing: 60

Materials available: Handout: Preferred learning styles * Handout: Ways of giving your one:one lesson dimension

Summary: With a scarcity of materials for one:one, any teacher needs to be resourceful. But with even most creative approach, how do you really know if you're satisfying the student's needs? And how do you benchmark your own performance? This workshop will look at a joint approach between teacher and 'client' for discussing methodology and devising course input. We will also consider a portfolio of activity types to give both the student and teacher a range of options, to meet the demands of even the most challenging student. Participants are expected to discuss and share their own best practice ideas too!

Biodata: Rachel teaches advanced level and business students in Budapest at the British Council and Central European University, and language/methodology at ELTE University. She runs Professional Skills' courses in C/E Europe, and is a CELTA trainer. She is currently also writing materials for OUP.

A02 - Keith Harding: International Express: Helping Students to function effectively

Type: Publisher (On behalf of: Oxford University Press). Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 60

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation: In .pdf format (3Mb) * in .ppt format (100Mb)

Summary: It is essential for students to be able to function in English in a variety of ways. Students need to function at work, in travel, and when socializing. They also need to function with grammar, with vocabulary, and as active language learners. The new editions of International Express (Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, and Upper Intermediate) equip students with this ability. The session will demonstrate how this is achieved by looking at practical classroom activities from the series.

Biodata: Teacher, teacher trainer, Director of Studies, and currently Principal at St Giles International London Highgate. Co-author of ‘High Season’, Going International, International Express Intermediate (new edition). Currently working on new English for Tourism series and International Express Upper-Intermediate (new edition). All these titles are published by Oxford University Press.

A03 - Charles La Fond: Student Presentations - Delusion or Reality

Type: Workshop. Audience Type: experienced. Timing: 60

Summary: REPEAT OF 2003! Getting students to put together effective presentations which you can work with and which are still realistic for the student is not easy. Either they don’t come prepared or they come with a 1-hour presentation which they simply read from the slides or transparencies. This workshop will give you a neat tool which will allow your participants to create effective, 5-7 minute presentations that you can easily develop in a variety of ways. >From the production of visual solutions to proper practice of speaking freely, this workshop gives you the necessary skeleton that students really like!

Biodata: Charles La Fond, MBA is owner and manager of BUSINESS LANGUAGE CENTER in Vienna, has been a professor at Webster University, Vienna since 1992, a licensed Buzan trainer for Mind Mapping® since 1991, an accomplished public speaker for Toastmasters International and his private interests include skiing, travel and computers.

A04 - Elena-Simona Mitocaru: Finding a Balance between Business Grammar and Business English Teaching and Learning

Type: Talk. Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 30

Summary: In the first two years of undergraduate studies in Business and Economics, students have high yet vague expectations from a subject matter named Business English. As trainers are confronted with mixed ability groups, Business English classes may turn into General English or Business Grammar ones. The paper will enlarge on this topic and will present several ways of coping with this situation, the speaker providing examples from her teaching experience at the university level in Romania.

Biodata: Simona Mitocaru (M.A.) is an Assistant Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business and Administration of “A. I. Cuza” University in Iasi, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities of Romania. She teaches Business English and has a strong interest in this area.

A05 - Ivan Barnes: Students as better presenters

Type: Talk (On behalf of: Oxford University Press). Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 60

Summary: This talk examines how students can become better presenters. It discusses the various sub-skills which are involved, and the importance of a solid grounding in introductory phrases and expressions. We will also consider how we can develop students' confidence and help them with the process of preparing a presentation. The talk will then focus on the useful rhetorical tricks students can quickly learn and apply; and how analogy may make difficult concepts easier to put across. Finally, we will examine how poster presentations can give students the opportunity for lively and extensive practice.

Biodata: After completing an M.A. in languagues and linguistics, Ivan Barnes began his teaching career in France in 1990. Specialising in Professional English for adult learners he later became a Director of Studies, in charge of pedagogical development and teacher training. Ivan joined Oxford University Press as an Educational Consultant in 2004, travelling extensively throughout France giving advice on OUP materials and teaching methodology.

A06 - Olesia Lupu: Spending More Time On Business Writing Skills

Type: Talk. Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 30

Summary: When we teach professional/business writing, we try to teach it in the context of the rest of the writing sequence. Even though writing for business requires more attention to form than general writing, teachers try to resist making professional/business writing exclusively about formal elements. A central issue in this talk is that of learner autonomy and ways of enhancing it. How elements of business writing are introduced into BE courses for pre-service students? Moreover, the presenter will also focus on challenges for non-native business students as well as opportunities.

Biodata: I have been teaching Business English for more than five years at the 'Al. I. Cuza' University of Iasi, Romania. I have a special interest in Business and Academic Writing, Innovative Teaching and Materials Design for BE.

A07 - Pauline Brazier, Lydia Porter, Jeanne Spoeri: Developing appropriate assessment criteria for award bearing Communication Classes: portfolios

Type: Workshop. Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 60

Summary: When teaching Communications Classes for award bearing courses, (BSBA) it is difficult to find appropriate forms of assessment, which also link to other business courses eg marketing or finance. This workshop aims to share initial work on the development of a three year portfolio for the Communications classes and a preliminary English skills portfolio toward studying on the BSBA.

Biodata: Pauline is Professor of English and Communications at The International University of Monaco, IUM, and teaches both Engluish as Second Langauge Classes and undergraduate and post graduate communications. She also co-ordinates the teaching of English and Communications in companies. She is currently working towards study for a PHD on the effective teaching of english. Prior to teaching Business English she worked as a teacher trainer for English in the UK. Biodata for Lydia and Jeanne to follow..

A08 - Nick Brieger (Repeat J06): Success with BULATS

Type: Publisher (Summertown Publishing). Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 45

Summary: The Business Language Testing Service (BULATS) is a language assessment service specifically for the use of companies and organisations. The BULATS test provides a reliable way of assessing the language ability of groups of employees or trainees. ‘Success with BULATS’ is a bank of materials which helps learners prepare for the types of questions and tasks required in the BULATS test. In its published form there are two versions:

paper-based
electronic (on CD)

In this talk I will present:

the concept behind Success with BULATS’
the framework of the materials and the link to the ALTE scale
sample questions from each of the four modules (Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading and Listening)

Biodata: Nick Brieger has been a Business English author for more than 20 years. In this publication he has teamed up again with Jeremy Comfort, as they turn their hands to Business English testing.

A09 - Marjorie Rosenberg (Repeat H09): Bringing Business English to Life

Type: Workshop. Audience type: mixed. Timing: 60

Summary: Much of the communicative methodology used in general English classes can be applied to (or adapted to) the business English class as well. By and large, business English learners are as eager as general English learners to experience a lively and varied presentation of materials. In this interactive workshop you will be able to try out brand-new supplementary activities designed to get business English learners involved in their own learning process in order to create a positive learning atmosphere and optimise both the learning effect and retention of material.

Biodata: Marjorie Rosenberg teaches English and methodology at two teacher training institutions in Graz, Austria and works as an in-service teacher trainer both in Europe and the USA. Her first book of photocopiable activities, Communicative Business Activities was published in Vienna in 2001. Her newest book, In Business, part of the Cambridge Copy Collection series published by Cambridge University Press, is due out in January 2006.

A10 - Andrew Miles (Repeat J10): Cons of in-company teaching and how to deal with them

Type: Talk. Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 60

Materails available: Handout (.doc format)

Summary: This chat is primarily aimed at school managers and directors of studies, though teachers can also benefit. I will speak about a few problems related with in-company teaching, trying to point out which must be tackled by the teacher, by the school or by the company's training manager.

When we have low turnout or late arrivals.
When lessons become another perk.
When adults can't concentrate.
When companies expect too much.
When lessons become cyclical.
When pay is too low and hopes too high.
When there are no proper classrooms.
When groups are too big and hours too few.
When mixed levels become a nightmare.
When teachers should worry about safety.

Biodata: Andrew D. Miles is the Director of English for Business Barcelona. He has taught business English for over 20 years in Spain and South America. Andrew has written about teaching for the Barcelona Business newspaper and published an English - Spanish business dictionary. He has talked about teaching and translation at several universities.

A11 - Svenja Schilling: Learner Independence and Business English

Type: Workshop. Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 45

Summary: This workshop will focus on how to support adult learners of general business English by raising their awareness of the tools of (language)learning. Concentrating on the brain and learning styles, motivation, using dictionaries, learning vocabulary and memory training, using the Internet and other resources and materials development participants of this workshop will try some of the ideas hands-on as well as share their own experiences and "recipes" to guide their learners towards lifelong learning.

Biodata: Born in Kiel, Germany, in 1965, my now 10 years' experience in teaching BE include course design, materials development and managing freelance teachers. As qualified BE teacher (LCCI) I joined with colleagues to form "associated trainers & translators" representing an LCCI examinations centre as well as providing corporate clients with BE and ESP.

A12 - Barney Barrett (Repeat G12): The Internet and business English: what’s new?

Type: Talk (Summertown Publishing). Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 45

Materials available: Blog handout (.doc format) * Searching handout (.doc format)

Summary: “The Internet and business English” presents a rationale for using the Web with business English students and includes practical ideas and useful website addresses. However the Web is a place of constant change and innovation. This session will:

update teachers on relevant developments in Web technology;
present practical ideas.

There will be time to share ideas. Handouts will provide recently developed teaching materials and uses of the web in learner training, grammar and ESP. The session is for both BE teachers and those who regularly use technology. It will also benefit those who are under-confident in this area.

Biodata: Barney has been a Business English teacher for nearly ten years. He is the co-author of “The Internet and Business English” (Summertown 2003) and a contributor of ESP teaching materials to websites such as onestopenglish.com and the BBC’s Learning English. He operates the TELL-focussed website www.te4be.com with Pete Sharma.

Saturday 10.30 – 11.30 Workshops B1 - B12

B01 - Eric Baber (Repeated G05): The Use of ICT in Business English Teaching

Type: e-learning. Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 45

Materials: PowerPoint presentation * Handout (in .pdf format)

Summary: This session will offer an overview of different types of ICT used by teachers of Business English for classroom teaching as well as for distance, online instruction. Areas covered will include online videoconferencing, producing online exercises and activities, blogs, wikis and more. It will also focus on the importance of sound methodological implementation of pedagogical principles.

Biodata: I have been Director of NetLearn Languages (www.netlearnlanguages.com ), an online language school that teaches live online using Microsoft NetMeeting, since co-founding it in 1998. Since then I have given talks on a wide variety of topics revolving around the use of the Internet in language teaching.

B02 - Anna Sokol, Svetlana Kandybovich: All in One

Type: Workshop. Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 60

Summary: You don't need this workshop if you:

are ready to teach English for ... anything!
already have highly motivated and creative students!
know how to teach students of all levels with or without business experience!
never get frustrated with incoherence in course material organisation!
and finally, if you have a one-fits-all teaching method!

Biodata: Anna Sokol and Svetlana Kandybovich have been teaching business English and English for anything (ranging from tourism to PR) at Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus for nearly twenty years (taken together). Both are currently enrolled in PhD studies in the field of innovative Business English teaching.

B03 - Jeremy Comfort (Repeat G08): Generic Communication Skills

Type: Talk. Audience Type: experienced. Timing: 45

Summary: There are some communication skills such as rapport building, transparency and active listening which underpin all effective communication. In this talk, I plan to present an approach to developing communication skills which can then be implemented whatever the channel - i.e. presentations, meetings, writing emails. This approach develops understanding and skills at a deeper level than the traditional focus on superficial structure (opening, closing etc.) and so can be a more powerful and effective way of learning and performing.

Biodata: Director of York Associates for the last 25 years. Interests include intercultural training and leadership development. Published widely including the OUP Business Skills series.

B04 - Andrew Porteous: The English Presentation Club

Type: Talk. Audience Type: experienced. Timing: 45

Summary: Results/Findings of "The presentation club", a prototype partially developed through a sprachen-beruf workshop. A case will be made for more practice, less theory in presentation training, and a holistic model put forward for Organisations to train their people, outside of business hours, at little cost. A first for Germany in terms of a culturally aware program that differs from American speech clubs. The club structure and how it operates will be laid bare, encouraging organisations and trainers alike to pick up the ball and run with it. Ties into CEF-speaking, intercultural, practical implementation for organisations, System for Top Trainers. The English Presentation Club is a new initiative, dedicated to free, but support-based presentation practice for professionals and non-professionals alike. By joining the club you learn from others, you also learn from others’ mistakes and recognize your own. The evaluation sheet filled out by each member of the audience gives feedback to the presenter. At the beginning of each session the chairperson gives tips and tricks to further enhance presentation techniques. The objective of the club is to form a network of people with a common interest to practice their English, presentation skills, and have a lot of fun in the process.

B05 - James Chamberlain: Just plain rude! or What is competence in intercultural communication?

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation * "Joke" (Word document - handout) * "Joke" (Excel spreadsheet - cards)

Summary: The aim of this interactive talk/discussion is to explore the notion of competence as it is (mis)used when training and assessing intercultural communication. Starting from our common understanding of communicative competence, we will build a model of intercultural communicative competence and examine ways to determine whether our students and colleagues are interculturally challenged or . . . . . just plain rude.

Biodata: James R. Chamberlain is Director of the Language Centre at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. He has been teaching Business English since 1984 and training intercultural communication skills since 1994.

B06 - Robin Walker: English for Tourism: planning a course

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation

Summary: Among the many professional areas that make up ESP, English for Tourism seems to be one of the more attractive; we are all tourists, and hence, as teachers, can bring our travel experience into the classroom. However, teaching English for tourism is somewhat more complex than knowing how to change a booking. Tourist is not tourism expert, and we need to avoid turning out professionals whose smattering of set phrases make Manuel of Fawlty Towers appear bi-lingual. This talk discusses the issues to be taken into account when deciding course aims, contents and pedagogy for students of tourism English.

Biodata: Robin Walker has been teaching English for tourism for 20 years. His special interests are ESP and pronunciation, and he has published an spoken in both areas. He is a member of the IATEFL Pronunciation & ESP special interest groups, and is currently Vice-president of TESOL-SPAIN.

B07 - Evan Frendo (Repeated H03): A little bit about small talk

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: A little bit about smalltalk - handout (in .pdf format)

Summary: Research has shown that small talk is very common in the workplace. This session will briefly look at what we mean by small talk, drawing on insights from sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics, genre theory and intercultural communication research, before moving on to discuss possible ways of teaching it in the Business English Classroom.

Biodata: Evan Frendo is a freelance Business English trainer and author, currently based in Singapore where he is working on an EdD focussing on the teaching of small talk for intercultural business communication. His most recent publications are How to Teach Business English (Longman), and the Double Dealing series of course books (Summertown), which he has co-authored with James Schofield. He is the outgoing BESIG Coordinator.

B08 – Pete Sharma: The English Campus

Type: Publisher (On behalf of: Macmillan) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: The need to find the appropriate balance between face-to-face training and support through technology is now widely established among practitioners. But how can the busy language teacher deliver successful courses which effectively incorporate appropriate technology? In autumn
2005, Macmillan launched an exciting new platform: the English Campus. Successfully trialled in Brazil, and now available world-wide to corporate clients, language schools and individual teachers, it offers new learning opportunities. This session will present an overview of issues in technology-enhanced language learning, a description of the English Campus and a pedagogical rationale; and finally, practical ideas applicable to teaching business English.

Biodata: Pete Sharma is a Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, UK, and a freelance author. He has worked for many years in business English. Pete reviews software, and is a regular conference presenter at IATEFL and BESIG. He has written books on technology in language teaching, and writes a weekly business English e-lesson for Macmillan. With Barney Barrett, he regularly contributes the CD-ROM / Internet page to BESIG Issues. He is currently embarking on his dissertation on E-language learning. See: www.te4be.com

B09 - James Schofield: Intercultural Feedback

Type: Workshop (Summertown Publishing) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: Giving feedback to students on their intercultural as well as their language skills can be a bit daunting for a teacher with a TEFL background. In this workshop we will work through an intercultural simulation from the ‘Double Dealing’ course book series and then analyse how we would give feedback. Participants will receive a free copy of ‘Double Dealing’ pre-intermediate

Biodata: James Schofield works at Siemens in Munich as a BEC trainer and project manager. His wife, seven children, cat and goldfish have asked not to be included in the BESIG bio-data as it wastes space better filled by saying that he also writes course books like 'Double Dealing'.

B10 – Sabrina Mallond-Gerland: The Cultural Effects on Persuasive Discourse Strategies

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Materials available: Handout (.doc format)

Summary: This workshop will address how language reflects culturally influenced self-image of its speakers, while focussing on persuasive discourse of Germans when speaking English in cross-cultural business contexts. Language teachers and intercultural trainers are mostly confronted with the difficulties of their participants' accepting and acquiring the L2 strategies for persuading their listener during meetings, negotiations and presentations. The objective is to reconsider this issue via self-identity negotiation theory. The point of this workshop is to raise questions of how can we as language teachers approach this aspect of preparing our students for the pragmatic differences in language use. Language training has always concentrated on grammatical competence; however, through the globalisation process of business, the needs of English L2 speakers have changed, requiring many to become involved in speech events which are more complex in nature (e.g., negotiation, relationship building, conflict management, etc). As language teachers, we must begin to search for new ways to broaden our approach to teaching discourse strategies so that students not only understand what they learn in class, but also to accept and apply them.

Biodata: Sabrina Mallon-Gerland teaches business English, is a lecturer of international business and management communication at two University of Applied Sciences in Germany. She also provides intercultural communication training for several large companies in Germany, and Switzerland. She is currently working on a PhD thesis: Towards an Appropriate Framework for Teaching Intercultural Communication in Business English.

B11 – Tom Smith / Stephanie Ashford: Critical moments: creating spontaneous teaching and learning opportunities

Type: Workshop Audience Type: experienced Timing: 60

Materials available: Handout (.pdf format)

Summary: This snappy, interactive workshop explores ways of developing scenarios for teaching the 'high surrender' language chunks that are essential for business people using English in a range of situations. No materials are used; this technique relies entirely on the people in the room as a resource – the participants create the spontaneous situations, and the facilitators set up and monitor the activities and give immediate feedback.

Biodata: Tom Smith is a Business English trainer working in Germany. As well as TEFL qualifications and an MA in English, he is experienced in a range of advanced group facilitation methods. He is currently studying for a D.Phil at Sussex University.

Stephanie Ashford is a trainer and developer of Business English courses in companies and in higher education. She has a BA (Hons) degree in International Relations from Sussex University, and is currently studying for an MSc in TESP at the Aston University.

B12 – Duncan Baker (Repeat G10): The web as a teaching and promotional tool

Type: Round Table Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: The internet is now central to most of our working lives. This workshop will concentrate on the use of email and the world wide web as teaching and promotional resources. I will contact participants before the workshop to see what they would like to concentrate on. I will be happy to lead the workshop but will expect participants to interact based on their own experience - solutions and problems.

Biodata: Duncan Baker is a partner at Lydbury English Centre. He concentrates on the administration and marketing but also teaches on a part time basis. He runs Lydbury's promotional website but is also building an interactive teaching and commercial resource.

Saturday 12.00 - 13.00: Lunch, or workshops C1 - C6

C01 - Heather Daldry: BULATS: testing language for the workplace.

Type: Workshop (On behalf of: Cambridge ESOL) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: BULATS, the Business Language Testing Service, is a multilingual language assessment service, managed by Cambridge ESOL, which tests a number of linguistic skills and produces language profiles of candidates in English, French, German and Spanish. This session will look at some of the item types used in BULATS and explore how they are used to test reading and listening. How do writers construct successful items? What factors affect item difficulty? The session will work on a range of samples from the reading and listening components and look at how these receptive skills are tested and how this relates to practical language use in the workplace.

Biodata: Principle Examiner for FCE Writing, presenting seminars and speaking at conferences etc. She also does in-company training and consultancy in Germany.
Experience in ELT includes language school management and setting up and running a Business Institute for executives in London.

C02 - Mark Powell (Repeat G02): Up Close and Personal

Type: Workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: One to one is the preferred choice of a lot of Business English learners, but not the majority of teachers. Close encounters can be claustrophobic. Personalities loom large. And once you've exhausted the possibilities of open formats, card sets and cuisenaire rods, what's left? In this session we’ll try out a series of customisable activities using contextualising visuals and simple background sound effects to recreate in the classroom personalised professional scenarios Ð slices of business life that individual learners can really relate to. An alternative approach, much of which is relevant to group teaching too. Lots of materials and not a cuisenaire rod in sight!

Biodata: Mark has been teaching Business English for over sixteen years. The author of several bestselling books, his publications include Presenting in English, New Business Matters (both Thomson), In Company Intermediate and In Company Upper Intermediate (both Macmillan). A highly experienced teacher trainer, he's currently running the CertTEB in Budapest, Bern and Barcelona.

C03 – Ian Mc Master/Deborah Capras/Meg Engelmann: Using Business Spotlight in the classroom and in blended learning courses

Type: Workshop (On behalf of Spotlight Verlag) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation (8.5 Mb)

Summary: This workshop will demonstrate some of the key features of the Business Spotlight range of products -- a quarterly magazine, audio products, an exercise workbook and a web site (www.business-spotlight.de). We will focus in particular on Business Spotlight Online, an Internet resource for learners of Business English, discuss sample materials and try out activities designed for the classroom and/or your own blended learning courses.

Biodata: Ian McMaster is editor-in-chief of Business Spotlight, a quarterly magazine for German speakers who need English in their jobs. He is also a qualified business English trainer.

Deborah Capras is Content Manager for Business Spotlight Online. She is a qualified business English trainer and experienced teacher trainer.

Meg Engelmann is the author of the trainers’ supplement Business Spotlight in the classroom. She is also a qualified business English trainer and experienced teacher trainer.

C04 – Andrea Koblizkova: Presentation skills in ESP

Type: workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: The paper deals with the role and potential of presentation skills in ESP. It provides experience from two differently focused ESP courses, addresses issues of motivation and assessment. The talk will be complemented with one of the course outputs, a video-recording of the students’ presentations, as a tool for reflective learning enhancement.

Biodata: Andrea Koblizkova: since 1997 has been involved in English for Specific Purposes at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Pardubice. She specializes in presentation skills and managerial competences, reflecting her educational background (Management and English Studies) in language courses design.

C05 - Ian Badger: The changing world of Business English

Type: Talk (On behalf of Marshall Cavendish ELT) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: In this talk I will examine how globalisation and new channels of communication, such as the use of email and the Internet, mobile telephony, messaging and intranet data systems, have increased the demand for higher proficiency in English - from the shop floor to the board room. I will also examine the constants, the areas of everyday communication where basic skills in writing, telephoning and face-to-face situations have remained largely unchanged over the years. Throughout the talk I will refer to my own experiences of running ‘in-company’ training programmes and courses to meet the changing needs of business learners.

Biodata: Ian is co-author of the new four-level course ‘English for Business Life’ (Marshall Cavendish ELT) and series editor of ‘English for Work’ (Longman). He is a partner in BMES, and a director of English4 Ltd. He is based in Bristol, UK but works principally in Finland and Sweden.

C06 - Adrian Pilbeam: Developing intercultural training skills

Type: Workshop Audience Type: experienced Timing: 60

Summary: Intercultural awareness and communication are considered to be essential components of many business English courses. But what is the best way to integrate intercultural topics and activities into business English courses? Should the focus be only on culture as it affects communication or on other aspects of culture as well? And what training do business English trainers need to be better versed in this field? In fact, what is intercultural training and how does it differ from language training? How can language trainers make the transition to intercultural trainers? I will address these questions, using a variety of workshop activities.

Biodata: Adrian Pilbeam is the Senior Partner of LTS Training and Consulting in Bath. He has been a business English trainer for more than 25 years and made the transition to being an intercultural trainer more than 15 years ago. He runs intercultural training and trainer training courses for corporate clients worldwide.

Saturday 14.00 - 15.00: Lunch, or workshops D1 - D5

D01 - Teun De Rycker: Improving definitional skills in Business learners: Useful strategy or waste of time?

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: Glossaries, mini-dictionaries and word lists are a standard feature of many business English coursebooks. These “lists of definitions” are aimed at helping learners understand business English better but should we also expect or even ask our students to actually study these lists? Put differently, does the ability to define a business term (e.g. profits, brand or stock) with precision and clarity influence overall proficiency? In this talk I would like to report on the preliminary findings of ongoing empirical research into the relationship between definitional skills and performance on reading business texts and business visuals.

Biodata: Teun De Rycker is a Senior Lecturer at the Lessius Hogeschool, Antwerp, Belgium. His mission and meal-ticket is "teaching" business English to non-native students, both pre-service and in-service. Want to find out more? Visit his homepage at www.lessius-ho.be/derycker.

D02 - Luigi Cosenza: Vitamin-Rich Business English Teaching

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: Business English courses, like balanced diets, need healthy doses of vitamins such as :
B1 - the business content vitamin;
B2 - the brain-compatible methodology vitamin; and
B3 - the blended delivery vitamin.

This session will demonstrate a vitamin B check-up on practical course materials using the following questions :
B1 – Business – How well do the materials balance the business content with language content?
B2 – Brain – Which teaching activities are consistent with brain-based research on adult language learning?
B3 – Blend – Which elements can effectively be delivered by e-learning as a complement to face-to-face teaching?

Biodata: Luigi Cosenza BA, FIA, DipTEFLA, MA(TESOL) worked in the business world as an actuary before making the transition to teaching. In addition to designing and delivering Financial English and Business English courses, he is also involved in teacher training, teacher education and language project consulting. His affiliations include Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt and the University of London's Institute of Education.

D03 - Guy Brook-Hart (Repeat H07): The Common European Framework and its implications for Business English Course Design

Type: Publisher Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation

Summary: The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CFE) places the achievement of language skills at the centre of language learning. This talk will examine
• The models of Can-Do statements available to Business English teachers and students.
• How these statements can be used for assessment of language achievement.
• The implications of these statements for course and course book design.
• How existing statements can be matched to the needs of Business English students and the requirements employers may have for staff using English.

Biodata: 30 years teaching English, including Business English, in Egypt, Kuwait, France, Britain and for the British Council, Spain. Writer for the British Council Online English Course and the British Council CD Rom Project (IELTS). Publications: Instant IELTS (CUP 2004)/ Business Benchmark 2 (CUP to be published Feb 2006)

D04 - Tonya Trappe: Solving business dilemmas

Type: Publisher (On behalf of Pearson Longman) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: Solving "Intelligent" Business Dilemmas Using material from the new coursebook 'Intelligent Business', Tonya Trappe will invite participants of this workshop to explore and use material that has been designed to develop critical thinking skills through challenging dilemmas based on real business stories. During the course of this session you will be asked to put your problem solving skills to the test and then compare your decisions with the real outcomes of the stories the dilemmas are based on, or the opinions of business experts.

Biodata: Tonya Trappe is one of the authors of 'Intelligent Business' (Longman). She has been teaching in Paris for the last 20 years and has also taught in North Africa and Ireland. She graduated in Economics from Trinity College, Dublin. She is currently the Director of a school in the Paris region.

D05 - Ian Mackenzie (Repeat G11): English as a lingua franca, idioms, and us

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: Proponents of English as a lingua franca (Seidlhofer, Jenkins) argue, perfectly logically, that if learners will only need to use English with other non-native speakers, we should avoid teaching them native-speaker idioms. Other researchers (Sinclair, Wray), however, have shown that language consists, to an unsuspected degree, of idioms and formulaic sequences, and that successful acquisition and fluency depend on the use of these. Yet most of these sequences (currently) derive from native speakers. This talk-cum-workshop will look at both authentic examples of ELF in business and published materials, and consider what kind of language we should be offering our students.

Biodata: Ian MacKenzie taught business English until his hair started going grey. He now teaches translation students. He still writes business English coursebooks, which is why he can afford to go to Monaco. He has been known to argue vehemently at conferences with proponents of English as a lingua franca, but now seems to be changing his mind, which is, of course, an alarming experience.

Saturday 15.30 - 16.30: Workshops E1 - E12

E01 - John F King: If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got

Type: Workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: As business English trainers, especially in a one to one or small group setting, we are well placed to join the movement to coaching as a training style, be coached, or become coaches ourselves. What is the connection between this training and coaching? In this workshop we will briefly examine some tools a coach may use and then in the second part of the session become coaches ourselves.

Biodata: John King is a freelance business English trainer working with York Associates and York University, UK. John holds the LCCI Cert in Teaching English for Business (1998) and a NLP Diploma (2000). He is accredited in the Team Management Profile System and is working towards a Certificate in Life Coaching.

E02 - Iwonna Dubicka: Teaching Business English to Advanced Learners: giving them what they want?

Type: Publisher (On behalf of: Pearson Longman) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: Advanced learners in a professional setting are some of the most interesting and most challenging to teach. How can we develop the language skills of Advanced students? How can we help them achieve a sense of making progress at this level? How can we maintain and improve their language performance in a working environment? This workshop will discuss and re-evaluate what we choose to teach Advanced learners. It will also look at how we might approach English training for the Business English learner with reference to the new Advanced level of the popular 'Market Leader' series (Pearson Longman).

Biodata: Iwonna Dubicka has been teaching English in Barcelona for 15 years where she was director of studies for six years at In Company Languages. She has co-authored the Advanced level of the Market Leader series together with Margaret O'Keeffe as well as English for International Tourism Pre-Intermediate (Pearson Longman).

E03 - Pat Pledger: There's more to human resources than hiring and firing

Type: Workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: The necessity for non-native speaking HR people to
be proficient in English for their work has been increasing steadily in the last ten years, in line with globalisation. However, in business English training HR seems a much underestimated profession and revolves around the recruitment and interviewing process. What other aspects of people management can you include in your training? What are the trendy issues? What's happening in the big wide world of people at work and what will the needs analyses of human resources professionals look like?

Biodata: Pat Pledger spent 20 years in human resources management in London before setting up in business English training in Germany 13 years ago. Running her business from Hamburg, she specialises in HR training and has just written her first book 'English for Human Resources'.

E04 - Ruth Trinder: Introducing e-learning into Business English classes – worth the effort?

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: Much money, time and expertise goes into developing (sound) e-learning modules. Yet to what extent are technological resources actually exploited to the full? Given the choice, would students opt for traditional classes, e-learning alternatives, or a combination of both? Based on 3 years' experience with blended learning at university level, this presentation reports on students' usage behaviours and their views on online learning. Individual variables (such as learning style) influencing students' perceptions of the effectiveness of e-learning will be identified, and suggestions on how to promote use of technology will be given.

Biodata: Ruth Trinder is an assistant professor at the Vienna University of Economics. She wrote her doctoral dissertation on e-learning and is involved in the development and evaluation of online learning materials for the English Department. Her research interests include online language learning, learning style theory, and ELT methodology.

E05 - Vicki Hollett (Repeat H05): English as a lingua franca

Type: Materials (On behalf of: Oxford University Press) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: in America, I seem to say 'Thank you' all the time. In England I say 'Sorry'. How do differing value systems affect the discourse in different varieties? And how can our students recognize intentions and communicate effectively across cultures? This talk will explore these questions, touching on some of the issues raised by indirectness, face saving strategies and ambiguity in professional conversation. it will be illustrated with practical classroom activities that highlight pragmatic features of English, drawn from the forthcoming international edition of 'Business Objectives', 'Tech Talk' and 'Quick Work'.

Biodata: Vicki has written a number of Oxford University Press ELT materials, including Business Objectives, Tech Talk, Business Opportunities, In at the Deep End and Quick Work. She has taught English in Algeria, Japan, the UK and US and run teacher's workshops in Europe, South America and Asia.

E06 - Catherine Michaux: English Business Communication for Executives: Teaching Conceptual Dependencies.

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: In this talk, we present our “Conceptual Dependency” approach to teaching English:
First, we summarize what is Conceptual Dependency, a theory developed by a group of Yale University psychologists in 1975. Second, we explain how in business situations, executives interpret and use culture-specific conceptual dependency models to speak, negotiate or meet. We illustrate how English business communication is based on explicit, implicit and unconscious messages associated to the conceptual model. Third, we demonstrate how a “Conceptual Dependency” is a core factor in teaching English business language and communication. We define the components, which have to be enhanced, analysed, and taught.

Biodata: Catherine Michaux is a director with E-B-E EXECUTIVE BUSINESS ENGLISH.
She leads a consultancy practice where she coaches and teaches international executives how to present, meet and negotiate in English. Her clients include executives and MDs from multinational companies from Europe and Latin America.

E07 - Peter Rawlingson : Presentation of a Team-Tasked Business English Project

Type: Talk, Audience All Timing: 60

Materials available: Presentation overview (.doc file)

Summary: Seven years ago, I designed a team task-based importing project in order to give my advanced-level B.E. students an opportunity to tax their existing knowledge in real-world like situations. This workshop will present this course and examine its constant ability to motivate most students into achieving remarkable results, without ignoring its failings.

Bio Data: Peter has been an assistant lecturer in Business English and Cultural Studies at the University of La Rochelle since 1998. He has been designing materials and teaching BE to French adults and young adults since 1991. peter.rawlingson@univ-lr.fr

E08 - Sorry, session cancelled

E09 - Elizabeth Renshaw: Creating a Curriculum for Students at an International University

Type: Workshop Audience Type: experienced Timing: 60

Summary: This is a MUST for those who teach Business English to advanced students who are (or should be) immersed in English for the much of the rest their studies. In this workshop we will investigate what English support such students need, and how to respond to these needs in a motivating and stimulating way. There will be a chance to discuss one curriculum currently in use, to share good practice, and hopefully to form the basis of a network.

Biodata: Elizabeth Renshaw is a Lecturer in English and Business Communication at the International University of Applied Sciences, Bad Honnef - Bonn. This is one of the growing number of institutions providing a university education with English as the language of instruction. In her spare time she juggles her family, home, hobbies and friends and wishes there were more hours in the day!

E10 - Michael Duckworth (Repeat G09): Putting Grammar in its Place

Type: Materials (On behalf of: Oxford University Press) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: The presentation will look at the status of grammar in Business English teaching. Is it something that we should be teaching at all? Is it appropriate for all learners or just for some? And if there is a place for it, how can we best ensure that learners make use of knowledge they gain? These and other questions will be discussed in this presentation, and examples will be taken from Grammar and Practice and the forthcoming Early Grammar and Practice.

Biodata: Michael Duckworth is a teacher and author who has worked in Europe, Africa and the Far East and has also directed business courses in the UK. He has written both business titles, such as Business Grammar and Practice and more general titles such as Success at First Certificate and Proficiency Master Class.

E11 - Dörte Gluchowski: The Needs Analysis that is a Party

Type: Workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: This hands-on workshop presents a new interactive approach to doing a needs analysis and creates a positive and personal working atmosphere from day one. Revising some of the basics of socialising and applying them at a get together, the workshop also includes a get to know interview session and finishes with a brief presentation of the interview partner's expectations of your course

Biodata: Certified translator and interpreter, certificate of English language teaching for adults (CELTA), co-author auf "Karrierefaktor Business English" from Haufe

E12 - Sorry, session cancelled

E13 - Publishers Panel

Type: Panel discussion Audience Type: all Timing: 60

Summary: This session is designed for anyone interested in finding out about the process of materials development from a publishers' perspective. Representatives from different publishers, both large and small, will be on hand to give their views on the following questions:

How do publishers decide to go ahead with a new book? What are the critical factors?
What should budding authors include in a proposal?
What do editors do?
What are the pros and cons of choosing fees / royalties?
Could you talk us through the piloting process? What happens in real life?
What is the future of coursebook publishing?

Attendees will also be able to contribute to the discussion by asking questions or adding comments. The panel will be moderated by Evan Frendo, the BESIG Coordinator.

Saturday 17.00 - 18.00: Workshops F1 - F11

F01 - Jayne Tomlins: Integrating ESP language skills with PowerPoint presentation techniques - Course design for an economics faculty at specialized degree level.

Type: Materials Audience Type: mixed Timing: 30

Summary: Background.E.S.P.language teaching in the Faculty of Economics
at specialist degree level with powerpoint presentations(B1-B2 approx.) Adapting the skills and language needed for a presentation. Which specialist degree? Overall course objectives. The benefits of preparing for an oral presentation. Course structure and logistics. The language input (language for economics.)with many examples. Presentation techniques. Steering clear of the pitfalls. Evaluation criteria.

Biodata: 'Lettrice'(Language teacher) at the Economics and Business Studies Faculty, University of Trento, in Italy since 1989.

F02 - Sorry, session cancelled

F03 - Ellenor Mc Manus: Enterprising English Education

Type: e-learning Audience Type: experienced Timing: 30

Summary: Enterprising English Education deals with ESL in an academic environment at B2+, using specialist contexts and improving writing skills through comprehension, incorporating open questions and summaries, leading to writing essays as a blended learning experience. English is a faculty requirement due to the nature of the economic input material, namely ICT supported enterprises and knowledge management, and the option of writing a final paper or indeed the thesis in English. Classes are interactive, using brainstorming, mind mapping and time management. Course tasks and final examination are computer assisted. Quantitative and qualitative research by means of questionnaires will be used as a conclusion to my presentation.

Biodata: Taught ESL for the Interfaculty Language Department, Trento University 1990-98; seconded to various faculties and taught general English from A1 to C2 levels. In 1998 became a member of Faculty of Economics as language expert. Taken part in team teaching with visiting professors, even as an online tutor. Studying for Masters in Education with Berne University, USA and already successfully completed 2 modules.

F04 - Ivana Busljeta Banks/ Kristina Kruhak: Attitude towards plagiarism and teaching how to avoid it

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 30

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation

Summary: A study by R. Simms, which shows a correlation between business students' willingness to plagiarize and their subsequent tendency towards unethical business practices, reveals the necessity of teaching business students how to avoid plagiarism, especially in cultures where the notion of plagiarism being a problem is almost nonexistent.
Our study focuses on two groups - ZSEM freshmen, who haven’t been exposed to any instruction on plagiarism, and sophomores, who have had such instruction. We aim to discover whether the necessity of avoiding plagiarism can be taught in a culture where such a concept has, up to now, been largely ignored.

Biodata: Ivana Banks holds an MA in English Linguistics, and is a PhD candidate. She is the Coordinator of English Programs at ZSEM. Kristina Kruhak holds a Master's level certificate in European Studies and Consecutive Translation. They both teach English for Economists and Business Communication in English at ZSEM.

F05 - Charles Talcott/ Graham Tullis: Scoring with Business English

Type: Publisher (Cambridge University Press) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: Learning outcomes assessment plans are fast becoming a critical component in Business English courses for both professionals and students. Human resource directors and head teachers want to link coursework with evaluations that demonstrate effectiveness. But what pedagogical materials and assessment tools are available for delivering a content-rich Business English syllabus that is coherently linked to solid, reliable assessment? Charles Talcott and Graham Tullis will present “Target Score” - a new Cambridge University Press course that blends a full communicative-based, contemporary Business English program with an international assessment benchmark, the TOEIC - Test of English for International Communication.

Biodata: Charles Talcott, PhD, has taught Business English in Paris for 12 years. He is a professor of Comparative Literature and English at The American University of Paris and has served as Director of the university's English Foundation Program. In addition to developing ELT materials, he lectures and writes on post-colonial literature and cultural translation.

Graham Tullis has been teaching Business and Professional English in France for over 20 years, at such institutions as the Universite de Paris XII and ESIEA. He has authored several best-selling Business English courses, including "Insights into Business" and "Intelligent Business."

F06 - Gunvor Sarelin-Sjöblom: Spreading the word of benchmarking

Type: Talk Audience Type: inexperienced Timing: 30

Summary: Arranging Mini-BE-seminars. Business English teachers work together with business English learners and must continuously develop the teaching methods and content no matter where there is language teaching - in companies or in institutions of higher education. The best way of doing this - and a cheap way of doing it - is to come together locally and nationally in benchmarking seminars. "Best practices" can be shared and good advice will be shared when BE educators and business representatives come together.

Biodata: Gunvor Sarelin-Sjöblom, M.A.,B.Sc
Senior lecturer-teaching English and French)in a bilingual(Swedish and Finnish)Institution of Higher Education (Central Ostrobothnia Polytechnic, Jakobstad, Department of Business, Tourism and Fur Design). Departmental International Coordinator-in charge of international Student and Teaching Staff exchange + international projects. Work experience from businesses (9 years), International experience + Teaching (14 years)

F07 - Steve Flinders: Bring your coursebook to life!

Type: Publisher Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: English365 is a Business and general English course which reflects the work-life balance of busy working adults. The course now comes with innovative interactive whiteboard software developed by Cambridge University Press and Hitachi Software Engineering. In this presentation we will demonstrate the new whiteboard software and show how it can bring a whole new dimension to lessons. We will show how it enables teachers to integrate all the elements of a traditionally presented language course in an original and user-friendly way.

Biodata: Steve Flinders is a director of York Associates, which provides professional language, intercultural communication, and management training for people who work internationally. He delivers training - especially to people in politics, HR and trade unions; manages the company's publications business and looks after its teaching resources; and has also authored or co-authored a number of Business English books, including, most recently, English365 (Cambridge University Press) and Key Terms in People Management (York Associates).

F08 - Igor Riznar: Business English as Lucrative Business

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 30

Summary: My presentation deals with BE in Slovenian HE. Despite recent changes in Slovenian HE, the tradition of rote-learning by students expected to regurgitate whatever their teachers tell them is still a predominant teaching practice. There are several reasons for that: teaching materials are short-sightedly adopted, needs analysis is rarely carried out, materials prepared by teachers are seldom the result of in-depth study and research and undergraduate programmes for students of languages do not offer enough ESP specific subjects (ESL/BE courses, materials design courses, corpus linguistics courses, etc.). The presentation is aimed at encouraging more imaginative teaching of BE in Slovenian HE.

Biodata: I have been a lecturer in English at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Maribor for 11 years.
My research interest is centred on translation studies, corpus linguistics and ESP/BE.
I completed my M.A. in 1999 and am currently working on my Ph.D thesis on Business English in Slovenian higher education.

F09 - Axel Beer: Using Cartoons to Teach Basic Finance and Economics

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 30

Summary: This presentation looks at ways in which cartoons from daily and weekly publications can be used to illustrate sometimes challenging aspects of finance and economics in a lighthearted manner. This approach makes it possible to add humour to what might otherwise be considered dry topics in the context of general business English courses and thus increase retention rates and encourage students to take an active interest. As an additional bonus, it is possible to familiarize participants with a broad range of cultural aspects concerning the English-speaking world.

Biodata: Axel Beer was born in Vienna, Austria, where he also completed his studies in international business administration. His academic research interest lies in the field of business communication. He has been an associate professor of Business English at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, since early 2004.

F10 - Lisa Förster: Business communication speed dating

Type: Workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: This workshop explores how the set-up of “speed dating” can be used in the classroom. You may have heard of “speed dating” as one way of how single people can meet a future partner: 20 single men meet 20 single women – but there is a prescribed “etiquette”: they sit down in pairs to chat, but have only got 3 minutes to get to know each other; then move on to the next person until they have talked to every person of the opposite sex. This format changes the pace of a lesson and ensures that all our students communicate, maximising their output time. We will try out a round of “speed dating” together and discuss its applicability in the Business English Setting.

Biodata: Lisa Förster M.A. is the author of “Die besten Bewerbungsmuster Englisch” and co-author of “Karrierefaktor Business English”, both published by Haufe in Germany. A trained translator, interpreter and political scientist she has been working as a Business English trainer for about 15 years and did her CertTEB last year.

F11 - Luminita Cocarta: Business English packs-teachers and learners debate

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 30

Summary: The paper focuses on some Business English materials (available at present) and on their validity in terms of how well they reflect the business frame that they are supposed to give linguistic insight into. Basically, the material is structured in two parts; the teachers' point of view and the learners' needs and wishes. The discussion considers the results of piloting BE packs (manuals, materials, as well as teachers and students' answers to specially designed questionnaires on the subject.

Biodata: I have been teaching Business English for more than a decade, to the "AL. I. Cuza" University of Iasi. During this period, besides the native speakers' materials that I have used I also designed some BE manuals for our students in Economics, I translated Economy books from English into Romanian (An Introduction to Modern Economics-by Philip Hardwick) and I participated to a lot of conferences in the field of ESP and Translation studies, among which: Istanbul's International Colloquium on Translation (2002) Vigo's Second International Conference on Discourse,
Communication and Enterprise (2003), Bloomington's 16th International Conference on Pragmatics and Language Learning (2005) and others.

Sunday 09.00 - 10.00 Workshops G1 - G12

G01 - Ian McMaster: Going global: lessons from licensing

Type: Publisher (Spotlight Verlag) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation (9.9Mb)

Summary: In 2001, Business Spotlight was launched as a quarterly magazine for German-speakers who need English in their jobs. The magazine has now been licensed into other countries, including Italy and the Czech Republic. Further editions are planned. This talk will focus on some of the linguistic and intercultural experiences and lessons of taking a locally-based business English product and adapting it to other markets. The audience will be invited to contribute their own experiences of such projects.

Biodata: Ian McMaster is editor-in-chief of Business Spotlight, a quarterly magazine for German-speakers who need English in their jobs (www.business-spotlight.de). He is also a qualified business English trainer.

G02 - Mark Powell (Repeat C02): Up Close and Personal

Type: Workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

G03 - Sorry, session cancelled

G04 (new talk) - Emma Sue Prince: Spoken English for Business

Type: Workshop Audience type: mixed Timing: 60

Materials available: PowerPoint presentations

Summary: This workshop will provide participants with an overview of the need for Spoken Business English training and include practical tips for teaching spoken English in a way that is relevant and focused for the business English learner. Emma-Sue will discuss ideas for working with both in-company learners as well as pre-experience. The workshop will conclude with a brief presentation of the Spoken English for Industry and Commerce suite of examinations offered by the London Chamber of Commerce International Qualifications.

Biodata: Emma-Sue Prince, Chief Examiner for Spoken English for Industry and Commerce (SEFIC) is an experienced business English teacher trainer working mainly in developing and transitional environments. She also has her own business consultancy focusing on management development and business strategy and works with a wide range of businesses in the UK and internationally. More recently the consultancy has ventured into CSR work with corporates and business mentoring as well as social entrepreneurship. Emma-Sue has been nominated to become a member of the BESIG committee.

G05 - Eric Baber (Repeat of B01): The Use of ICT in Business English Teaching

Type: e-learning. Audience Type: mixed. Timing: 45

Materials: PowerPoint presentation * Handout (in .pdf format)

G06 - Silvia Tucci: How effectively are you listening?

Type: Workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: This very practical and hands-on workshop looks at how we can sensitize business English students to the difference between listening for gist and listening for specific information. Then, we will take a step forward and see ways of equipping them with useful tools to ensure an effective performance in listening situations they might encounter in the work place. These ideas will be presented in the form of two simple listening programmes, which were put together to maximize students’ listening comprehension and promote confidence in their ability to communicate in English.

Biodata: Silvia Tucci has worked in a variety of situations in Brazil and in Europe as teacher, Cambridge ESOL exams coach and teacher trainer. She has taught business English for nearly 15 years, and is particularly interested in classroom research and materials design. Her book
Meetings & Negotiations Kit is a combination of the two.

G07 - Sorry, session cancelled

G08 - Jeremy Comfort (Repeat B03): Generic Communication Skills

Type: Talk Audience Type: experienced Timing: 45

Biodata: Director of York Associates for the last 25 years. Interests include intercultural training and leadership development. Published widely including the OUP Business Skills series.

G09 - Michael Duckworth (Repeat E10): Putting Grammar in its Place

Type: Materials (On behalf of: Oxford University Press) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

G10 - Duncan Baker (Repeat B12): The web as a teaching and promotional tool

Type: Round Table Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

G11 - Ian Mackenzie (Repeat D05): English as a lingua franca, idioms, and us

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

G12 - Barney Barrett (Repeat A12): The Internet and business English: what’s new?

Type: Talk (Summertown Publishing) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: Blog handout (.doc format) * Searching handout (.doc format)

update teachers on relevant developments in Web technology;
present practical ideas.

Sunday 10.30 - 11.30: Workshops H1 - H12

H01 - Heather Daldry: Preparation for Cambridge ESOL Business English Certificates (BEC)

Type: Workshop (On behalf of: Cambridge ESOL) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: This session starts with an overview of the aims and content of the Teacher Resource Website and the materials available for teachers preparing candidates for BEC. The focus then is to show how the Writing and Speaking materials can be used in course planning and the classroom. The session explores activities to help candidates develop their fluency, support their opinions and reach agreement in discussion. The session also looks at activities to help students in their writing of proposals and reports and activities designed to help teachers give appropriate feedback on writing for BEC.

Biodata: Heather Daldry works as a teacher trainer and consultant and has worked with teachers and organisations in Europe, South America and Asia. She is an examinations consultant at Cambridge ESOL where her work includes being a senior seminar presenter and a Principal Examiner for BEC Vantage Writing

H02 - Dilys Parkinson: Drilling Down and Tooling Up: value - added in the new Oxford Business English Dictionary for learners of English

Type: Publisher (On behalf of: Oxford University Press) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: Presentation (in .pdf format)

Summary: This presentation takes a close look at the different levels of information in this new dictionary. The A-Z and the wide variety of extra material have been prepared with the productive use of language in business situations in mind. The Business English classroom may contain students with little experience of business or using English, or working people with good business knowledge but less confidence in English, and the teacher, who may have less experience of business vocabulary. We examine how the dictionary can help equip these users to do business in English. Participants will receive a copy of the dictionary.

Biodata: Dilys Parkinson is a Senior Editor in the ELT Dictionaries Department at Oxford University Press. After many years teaching, eventually specializing in EAP for postgraduates studying in British Universities, she joined OUP 8 years ago and has worked on a variety of learners' dictionaries, including the Advanced Learner's Dictionary

H03 - Evan Frendo (Repeat of B07): A little bit about small talk

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: A little bit about smalltalk - handout (in .pdf format)

H04 - Noa Talaván: Subtitling: a technique for improving oral and written business English skills

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: It is widely accepted that there are still limitations in CALL technology for learning and practicing oral and written skills. The purpose of this talk is to present a novel CALL activity that can enhance both written and oral skills while providing listening practice and cultural information. With the help of subtitling software, Business English students, especially those in distant learning environments, can progress on difficult areas related to functional language learning. All this thanks to a novel and highly motivational method: subtitling short business-related video scenes (taken from films, TV series or other sources) related to a particular communicative function with ad-hoc activities.

Biodata: Noa Talaván. B.A. Hons. in English Studies. Fellowship holder of the Department of Foreign Languages at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain). Honorific Collaborator of the Department of Foreign Languages at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain).

H05 - Vicki Hollett (Repeat E05): English as a lingua franca

Type: Materials (On behalf of: Oxford University Press) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: Presentation with notes (in .pdf format)

H06 - Lyudmyla Yevtushenko: Diving or Immersion?

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 30

Summary: Examples are hardly needed to prove that the major problem for English learners is to switch from the textbooks to realistic English. The talk will be devoted to our attempt to create an English speaking environment, to make students believe that English can be a means for communication. Seven days from morning to night a group of seven students and two teachers were talking, role-playing, and what not! We called it diving, into English. Everybody was happy and excited. Sounds fun, does it not? It was. But behind it there was a lot of hard work

Biodata: Head of Business English Department, International Management Institute, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Teaching experience more than 30 years, interpreter, translator, author of about 50 publications, among them - co-authored 4 text books. Special interests: teaching adults, intensive programs, developing speaking skills, small talk.

H07 - Guy Brook-Hart (Repeat D03): The Common European Framework and its implications for Business English Course Design

Type: Publisher Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation

H08 - Sorry, session cancelled

H09 - Marjorie Rosenberg (Repeat A09)

Title: Bringing Business English to Life

Type: Workshop Audience type: mixed Timing: 60

H10 - JoAnn Salvisberg: ESP Patchwork: Process of Creating a Business Course Syllabus

Type: Talk Audience Type: inexperienced Timing: 60

Summary: Although ESP sounds a bit 'exclusive', the term applies to most any English course. This talk will focus on how to define the criteria to meet students' needs in order to piece together general and Business English for a coherent syllabus. According to Strevens, 'There is a direct relation between how relevant a learner perceives his course to be and how well he learns (1977: 108). By integrating appropriate tasks and texts into the lessons we can provide students with practical Business English and appeal to their personal interests, thus making the shift from general to business contexts as 'seamless' as possible.

Biodata: JoAnn Salvisberg has sixteen years experience teaching adult English language learners at all levels in various types of courses, primarily business. Completed the M.Ed. in ELT in 2001. Ph.D. in TEFL/Education and Social Psychology is in progress, with a primary research focus on communicative skills assessment in the EFL classroom.

H11 – James Schofield: DIY meets BEC

Type: Workshop (On behalf of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations)
Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: Our students are largely passive consumers of the published BEC materials we set before them. This workshop looks at how to increase student involvement in the learning process by getting them to develop their own exams using authentic business materials. The activities compel them to analyse the BEC exam to understand better what they must do to pass. At the same time by using material more directly connected with their work they can see the relevance of the BEC exam tasks to their daily life. Come and try some activities that you can easily apply to your own examination groups.

H12 - Ilangovan Padmanaban: Present self before making a presentation

Type: Talk Audience Type: experienced Timing: 45

Summary: Prior to making business presentations, presenters usually carry out painstaking research on the target audience and the product / process they want to promote. Culturally, presenters have focussed on the other to the exclusion of ignoring one's self with the result that they have to make cognitive adjustments by the end of the presentation. The presenter will by referring to encounters (one in Dubai and the other in the United States) show that by presenting one's self a presenter can set the stage for an effective presentation eventually.

Biodata: Recently (2003) taught ESL at the University of Belize, Central America. Was an EFL lecturer in two colleges in India; At present I am a BEC examiner (for UCLES) in India. Co-authored a series to teach the Listening & Speaking skills to Children that was published by OUP, India in 2003. Also co-edited a series to teach students of Science and Technology the four skills. This is being published by Orient Longman, India.

Sunday 12.00 - 13.00: Workshops J1 - J11

J01 - Margit Ozvalda: Whose English do they want then: Student Perceptions of English as an International Language in Business English Textbooks

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: Today, most Business English textbooks are advertised as promoting English for international usage. This, in many cases, entails exposing student users to non-native use of English too. In my questionnaire survey I attempted to chart university students' attitudes towards listening materials from various Business English textbooks. In this context, attitude comprised questions of intelligibility and acceptability of the international accents, as well as characteristics attributed to the speakers recorded, and finally perceptions of usefulness. Based on this survey of attitudes, I will then move on to suggesting what this could mean for designing global textbooks.

Biodata: Margit Ozvalda received her doctoral degree (in applied linguistics) from Vienna University. Since 1998, she has been an assistant professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (WU), English Business Communication. She has also taught Business English at other Austrian tertiary institutions. Main research interests include: Business Communication, and English as an International Language.

J02 - Charles La Fond: The Twilight Zone

Type: Talk Audience Type: experienced Timing: 45

Summary: Does a language teacher have to be a good presenter to teach the language of presentations or a computer specialist to teach IT English? Where do you draw the line? Where is the trend going? The trainer has got to recognize when the training requires more and more personal experience and know-how. The Trainer, Student and Client will have to closely examine the needs analysis based upon this new dimension and need to recognize what is possible in a language course and lay out when it becomes a skills training in English. By analyzing the training in this perspective, the twilight should give way to the dawn of a beautiful day rather than the darkness of midnight.

J03 - Sorry, session cancelled

J04 - Mark Waistell: International Diploma in Business English Teaching - A Blueprint

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: Are you a "qualified" teacher of Business English? How do you know? Isn't it time that we had one Internationally-recognised Business English Teaching qualification which would help teachers, employers and students. This talk/workshop looks at a possible way forward which would be flexible enough to cover the needs of Business English Teachers in very different situations, coming from very different backgrounds and not wanting a bland course which may attempt to satisfy all needs and end up falling between all stools. A modern, pragmatic and professional qualification for the most professional sector of TEFL. You deserve it!

Biodata: Senior Partner at Accent International, a specialist centre for Executive and Professional English Training based in Devon, UK but working all over the world. He has 28 years' experience in English Language Teaching- as Teacher, Lecturer, Director of Studies and Principal - and has written and spoken widely on the subject.

J05 - Mark Ibbotson: Teaching low-level professionals: back to basics, not back to school.

Type: Publisher Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: It is generally thought that, before starting a Business English course, low-level learners first need grounding in general English. Because good business materials place emphasis on communication skills and authenticity, a grasp of basic grammar and general vocabulary is, arguably, a prerequisite. However, practical, real-world professional English can be made accessible to the large numbers of low-level learners who need English for work. Using examples from Cambridge University Press's new course, Business Start-up, I will demonstrate how you can take professional learners back to basics without taking them back to school.

Biodata: Mark Ibbotson taught business English in France for several years, working with learners – mostly from beginner to pre-intermediate level – in a wide range of companies and industries. He is now a freelance writer, trainer and consultant, specializing in business English and ESP materials.

J06 - Nick Brieger (Repeat A08): Success with BULATS

Type: Publisher (Summertown Publishing) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

paper-based
electronic (on CD)

In this talk I will present:

the concept behind 'Success with BULATS’
the framework of the materials and the link to the ALTE scale
sample questions from each of the four modules (Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading and Listening)

Biodata: Nick Brieger has been a Business English author for more than 20 years. In this publication he has teamed up again with Jeremy Comfort, as they turn their hands to Business English testing.

J07 - Jeanne Spoeri/ Pauline Brazier/ Lydia Porter: Learning Strategies to Reduce Plagiarism

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: Non-native speakers of English who plagiarize may do so more as a result of language inadequacies than an intention to cheat. This talk will explore learning strategies to help ESL students gain the skills and self-confidence needed to eschew borrowing others' words.

Biodata: Jeanne Spoeri is an ESL and Communications professor at the International University of Monaco with a special interest in teaching Academic Writing.

J08 - Robert McLarty: Cherry Picking or Blended learning

Type: Workshop (On behalf of: Oxford University Press) Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Materials available: PowerPoint presentation (10Mb)

Summary: The idea of tailor-made courses has been around for a long time. We are now being asked to provide courses which are tailor-made and blended. In this talk I will look at ways of putting materials together in order to offer professional looking courses which are both pedagogically sound and intrinsically interesting.

Biodata: Business English Teacher and School Director in Paris from 1982 to 1998. Then moved to England to OISE in Oxford which he rang for 6 years, before joining Oxford University Press in 2004 as Business English and ESP Publishing Manager. Also Co-Author for Business Basics and Business Focus.

J09 - Rosemary Richey: Building confidence for business writing

Type: Workshop Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Summary: This workshop focuses on enhancing teaching techniques for business writing. How can teachers build student confidence in deciding appropriate style, register, structure and language? There will be invited discussion along with sample activities and materials for basic writing. Emails will be a central feature of the workshop, especially with non-native English speakers corresponding with other non-native speakers.

Biodata: Based in Munich, Germany, Rosemary Richey (MATESL) is a Business Competency Consultant for training and material development. Her background includes hotel management along with business and teacher training for the British Council, Syria. Rosemary is the author of English for Customer Care for Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin, published in summer 2005.

J10 - Andrew Miles (Repeat A10): Cons of in-company teaching and how to deal with them

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 60

Materails available: Handout (.doc format)

- When we have low turnout or late arrivals.
- When lessons become another perk.
- When adults can't concentrate.
- When companies expect too much.
- When lessons become cyclical.
- When pay is too low and hopes too high.
- When there are no proper classrooms.
- When groups are too big and hours too few.
- When mixed levels become a nightmare.
- When teachers should worry about safety.

J11 – Oleg Tarnopolsky/ Svitlana Kozhushko/Valentina Zhevaga: Teaching/ Learning business English by doing business in English; emotional and self assessment aspects

Type: Talk Audience Type: mixed Timing: 45

Summary: The talk analyses students' and teachers' emotional response to the method of teaching Business English by doing business in English. The method is based either on simulating business activities in classroom continuous simulations or on teaching university subjects in Business and Economics in English instead of students' native language. The data collected through professional psychological observations of students and teachers' emotional reactions are given and analysed. The students' self-assessment data are also discussed. The results of psychological observations and students' self-assessments indicate very positive emotional response to the suggested method of teaching that enhances motivation and ensures better teaching/learning outcomes.

Biodata: Oleg TARNOPOLSKY is Doctor of Pedagogy, Full Professor heading the Department of Applied Linguistics at Dnipropetrovsk University of Economics and Law (Ukraine). He is the author of numerous books and articles on EFL and BE teaching published in a number of countries.