English vocabulary for business and management Presentation by UWE Library Learning Services 2018 / 2019
What do you find difficult about understanding class lectures? https://uwe.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=8543936f-2325-4bdc-aef5-a95200bdc93e What is strategy? Lecture extract. Activity 1: Listen and note down on post-its any difficulties with vocabulary
Understanding lectures: solutions SME Multinational Markets Shape HR Middle manager Product development Line manager You’ll Managing director Small Medium Sized enterprises Global boundaries Global corporation Capital threshold Third-sector economy Ethos Exec CEO Gonna Wannabe Capitally-intensive markets Not-for-profit enterprises Won’t Global nature Output Capital External environment Trading Performance Strategic decisions Operates Threshold Reflect Umbrella Young Level Founder Contempory Two-fifty Top brass Activity 2 (in your print pack). Vocabulary and meaning in context. Work in pairs Use a blue pen to circle the words on the grid that are abbreviations Use a pink pen to circle the informal words, colloquialisms and where the speaker has squashed a word together. Use a green pen to circle any compound nouns
Understanding in lectures: solutions Activity 2: Vocabulary and meaning in context SME Multinational Markets Shape HR Middle manager Product development Line manager You’ll Managing director Small Medium Sized enterprises Global boundaries Global corporation Capital threshold Third-sector economy Ethos Exec CEO Gonna Wannabe Capitally-intensive markets Not-for-profit enterprises Won’t Global nature Output Capital External enviroment Trading Performance Strategic decisions Operates Threshold Reflect Umbrella Young Level Founder Contempory Two-fifty Top brass
Understanding lectures: problems Academic terms / tricky vocabulary / theoretical or technical language (‘high context’) Colloquialisms / digressions / idioms / proverbs Signposting is less formal than in written academic work The way native speakers ‘squash’ words together (e.g. ‘wanna be’) Unfamiliar word stress (e.g. ‘controversy’) Western cultural differences (e.g. overdraft)
Understanding lectures: solutions Sometimes a word in general English has a special meaning in business Words in a sequence help form context Meaning can come from the linguistic elements that surround the word. Look at what comes before and after. Be a ‘detective’ reader
Finding a lecture recording on your module page on Blackboard
Understanding lectures: solutions Activity 3: Business English in context Section A – Talk to your partner about each sentence. Can you think of a different meaning for each word in business English? Write down two examples in your pack Section B – complete the gaps in the sentences https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ /
Learning outcomes We hope you now feel more confident about: Recognising specialist English in a business setting Applying practical strategies to improve your understanding of spoken English
Library workshops