BUSINESS ENGLISH IN THE GLOBAL AGE

The article is devoted to some implications of the information and communication revolution for English language learning and teaching. 

The authors state that electronic communication has become a natural consequence of globalisation and describe the peculiarities of its influence on education. Firstly, it is free interaction of students in real time through the medium of e-mail and information networks. Secondly, it is interactive dialogical student-computer interaction, wherein specific communication goals are being pursued, i.e. a dialogue between a man and a machine. Thirdly, it is students’ in-class communication while working with computer training software acting as a catalyst for communication and a means to recreate the conditions of communicative settings. 

Research has shown that existing approaches to intercultural business communication are of limited value. The authors suggest using the ECOLE methodology which takes into account the interrelation between Expectations, Communication, Organisation, Leadership and Etiquette.  

It is highlighted that the focus needs increasingly to be on teaching international business skills and then teaching the business English needed to perform those skills effectively. Hence the necessity to teach teachers on pre-service and in-service training courses the basic technical processes of Internet management, remote communication and online learning resources. 

The authors come to the conclusion that four key factors are necessary for effective business English teaching. They are the importance of intercultural awareness in building good international business relations, the importance of teaching business performance skills and the English needed to fulfil them, the importance of teaching remote communication skills and the language needed to fulfil these and finally, techno teacher training.