From the past to the present and beyond

Hello, welcome, and thanks for dropping by! This is the first of many blog posts which I'll be writing twice a month to accompany Business Spotlight in the classroom. I intend to cover areas of interest and help to business English trainers. Some of the topics I'd like to explore include:

• teaching tips
• teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
• teaching in universities and higher education colleges
• teaching using technology
• in-company training
• language issues
  
• personal development
  

To begin, I'd like to reflect on the "business" of business English and ESP teaching, and how it developed — and how it continues to develop — from the general field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). For a potted history of business English Teaching from the 1960s to the present day, I'd like to direct you to a nice concise entry that St George's International School in London recently posted on their blog.

Today, business English means different things to different people. It could be described as, for example, "English for the workplace" or "English for international business communication", but the field of business English training has become so broad in recent years that it is difficult to coin a precise and comprehensive definition of the term.

Instead, we are seeing sub-sections of business English breaking off, particularly in specialist vocabulary areas such as English for engineering or English for medical doctors, or in specialist communication skills areas such as English for international presentations or negotiations, as well as intercultural training, which is now a well-established field (and not only in language training). Business Spotlight has also introduced new specialist sections in the magazine to reflect this. 

Moreover, since the vocabulary and skills that we teach to our learners are meant to equip them with the tools they need to perform their jobs in the international arena, another hotly-debated question relates to what English we should teach. As the majority of our students are increasingly having less and less contact with native English speakers, and more with non-native speakers, which type of English should we be teaching them? English as an International Language (EIL) has been suggested as the correct model. But what exactly is EIL and who are its speakers? I will elaborate on this area in a later blog post.

To keep abreast of current and future developments in the profession, I recommend joining one of the associations of English teachers or specifically of business or specialist English teachers. The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) is one of the largest such associations in the world. A sub-group of IATEFL, the Business English Special Interest Group (BESIG) is of interest to teachers involved in business English training. And the recently-established International Association of Technical English Trainers (IATET) is a network of trainers who are involved in more specialist subject areas.

You could also consider joining a local English Language Teachers Association (ELTA). (You'll find a list of associations here.) All of these associations allow you to build a network of teachers with similar interests to your own, to exchange ideas as well as to develop new friendships.

And finally, even if you're a little technophobic, try to meet other teachers online via social media networks, such as ELT blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, to name a few (but more on that at a later date). To get started, you could become a fan of Business Spotlight on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

I hope this information has been interesting for you. I'd love to read your feedback, either about this post or suggestions for teacher development topics you would like me to cover in future posts.