280 Part V: What Kind of Class Will I Have?
Read a few news headlines each morning and include activities that get your
student moving – sorting through cards and objects, doing library research
or going on field trips.
By the way, it’s easy to stop monitoring the student’s errors while you’re
playing the part of the other speaker in a role play or similar activity. I
therefore suggest that you keep your pen and paper to hand all the time,
so that you can have some thorough feedback and correction sessions
afterwards.
Working at Teaching Business English
The answer to the question about who should teach business English, and
how, revolves around needs analysis, in other words, finding out in detail
what the client needs to do in English and where his wants and lacks are.
The following are some examples of questions for a needs analysis
questionnaire, which can help you to assess the needs and lacks of the
potential student and determine your own suitability for meeting those
needs.
✓ What do you need to do in English?
✓ Which skills need to be involved (reading, writing, speaking, listening)
and through which kind of communication – letters, emails, Skype
computer software (which allows you to make free calls using the
Internet) or face to face?
✓ What do you need to talk about? Tell me about the subject areas.
✓ Who are you likely to be speaking to and where are they from?
✓ Describe the settings you’ll use English in (conferences, lunches and
so on)?
✓ Do you have any particular time frames? Do you need English now or for
a future event?
✓ Why did you decide to study English?
✓ Is your course being sponsored by your company? What kind of budget
is there?
✓ What is your educational background?
