Authentic material, written by native
english speakers for native
english speakers, should be material of choice for
business students.
Some of its advantages are:
1. Authentic material brings students into direct contact with a reality level of
business english. Real
business english, used by
businesspeople to communicate with other
businesspeople, can be a great motivator. When students work with, and practice real
business english they are developing a tool they can use in real life. Many of our students are already in
business so they would have a certain amount of exposure to
english language used to conduct
business. A lot of value can be generated out when using real
business english and students` real
business experience.
2. Authentic material is drawn from periodicals and is always up-to-date and constantly being updated.
Material that is always up-to-date and topical has its own reason for being read with interest. Besides practicing
english, the student will also get some important and up to date
business news. So at the end of their
english lessons, they are better informed, and maybe also better
businesspeople. The
english language itself is constantly developing and changing. Working with up-to-date materials means that not only the content of the material is up-to-date, but also that the language itself is up-to-date. It`s a part of
businesspeople` work to be aware of current
business news, so material of this kind will allow the students to bring their own knowledge of the world to their lessons.
3. Authentic material from a particular source (The Economist, Wall Street Journal) targets specific area of language. Therefore, students who regularly read them will become experts in reading
english language
business publications. Being able to read the commercial and
business press is another great motivator. By limiting the area of
english that is being practised, the students will be able to measure their own progress.
4. Authentic material is a source of up-to-date information is relevant to the needs of
business english students.
The students will always be able to find articles about their area of
business or industry, even their own companies. This can lead to interesting discussions about how their companies compare with, or differentiate themselves from the rest of their industry.
Either way, the combination of directly relevant authentic materials and the students' own input will generate better
english and better
business knowledge.
In order to choose appropriate articles for the students the
teacher should ask him/herself following
questions:
1. Is this the kind of real
english that my students need? Will we get additional value when combining the real
english in these materials and students' real
business knowledge?
2. Is it up-to-date? Is it topical? Will
business students learn something new? Will they be able to combine their knowledge of the world with the knowledge they gain from this material?
3. Am I limiting the area of language sufficiently for my students to feel that
they are making progress?
4. Is this material directly relevant to my students' requirements?