Business English in Practical Terms

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Business English in Practical Terms Abstract The article is an attempt to look at the reality of teaching English for Business Purposes (EBP)/ Business English (BE) from a practical point of view. It approaches the term BE as if through a funnel with English as an International Language (EIL) at the top, English Language Teaching/General English (ELT/GE) as its sloping sides, English as a Foreign Language (EFL)/English as a Second Language (ESL) at the top of the funnel's narrow tube, and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) at the very bottom, just above where BE, one of its main arms is placed. Special emphasis is laid on key distinctions between BE and ELT/GE, the function of BE teachers and the variety of roles that they assume in BE, on BE teachers as connoisseurs of specialist business expertise, and the importance of carrying out needs analysis as it brings to light some very important information about learners of BE. © 2005 Scripta Manent. Slovensko društvo učiteljev tujega strokovnega jezika. Introduction WMore and more people are nowadays required to learn English as the importance of EIL is still anything but decreasing. Nobody can deny the fact that, at the present time, English is the leading language of international communication, and the established language of science and business in the world. Although it is only one of several languages being promoted internationally in similar ways, its hegemony cannot be disputed. As a result, with the spread of English a huge demand has been created for teachers of English, and ELT/GE has become a billion-pound business. Curiously enough, there is another particular aspect within ELT/GE that has been in great demand-a fast-growing activity, and already a major one around the world today, namely the teaching of ESP.1 ESP must be seen as one of the branches of EFL/ESL, which are themselves the main
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