Designing tasks for the Business English classroom

This article suggests ways in which materials writers can incorporate key characteristics of workplace communication into the design of tasks for Business English courses for adult learners. These suggestions are based on findings from a multifaceted study of communication in Hong Kong's globalized business world, which includes 'week-in-the-life' case studies of senior professionals. These findings point to the need for a simulation-based approach in which students with clearly defined and differentiated roles work quicklyand collaboratively to investigate and resolve problems. They work towards this objectiveby processing and producing interdependent text types, such as emails and reports, and byparticipating in speech events, such as meetings and telephone conversations, that are stimulated by English language texts. In essence, this approach represents the 'strong' version of task-based language teaching and thus contrasts with the exercise-based approach found in many general-purpose Business English textbooks.