Teaching Decision-making: Using Research in Workplace Discourse for Business English teaching materials Almut Koester University of Birmingham

The Gap between research and practice Most teaching materials for Languages for Specific Purposes are not based on research and may not always accurately reflect the language and content of actual workplace communication. Most teaching materials for Languages for Specific Purposes are not based on research and may not always accurately reflect the language and content of actual workplace communication. Nickerson (2005): A survey of teaching materials for English for Specific Business Purposes (ESBP) found few books that made reference to research into the field. Nickerson (2005): A survey of teaching materials for English for Specific Business Purposes (ESBP) found few books that made reference to research into the field.

The Gap between research and practice Williams (1988) compared real meetings with the language of meetings taught in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks: 10 of 17 ‘functions’ (speech acts) taught in textbooks did not occur in the recorded meetings. 10 of 17 ‘functions’ (speech acts) taught in textbooks did not occur in the recorded meetings. Only 7 of 135 ‘exponents’ (ways of expressing the functions) from textbooks were used in the recorded meetings. Only 7 of 135 ‘exponents’ (ways of expressing the functions) from textbooks were used in the recorded meetings.

The Gap between research and practice Williams (1988) compared real meetings with the language of meetings taught in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks: 10 of 17 ‘functions’ (speech acts) taught in textbooks did not occur in the recorded meetings. 10 of 17 ‘functions’ (speech acts) taught in textbooks did not occur in the recorded meetings. Only 7 of 135 ‘exponents’ (ways of expressing the functions) from textbooks were used in the recorded meetings. Only 7 of 135 ‘exponents’ (ways of expressing the functions) from textbooks were used in the recorded meetings.

The Gap between research and practice Cheng and Warren (2005 and 2006) compared agreeing, disagreeing and ‘opine markers’ in HKCSE-bus* with EFL textbooks in Hong Kong: Strategies used for agreeing and disagreeing were more indirect than those taught in textbooks Strategies used for agreeing and disagreeing were more indirect than those taught in textbooks Only four of the ‘top 10’ forms of opine markers in the corpus, and only 1 of the ‘top 5’, occurred in the textbooks. Only four of the ‘top 10’ forms of opine markers in the corpus, and only 1 of the ‘top 5’, occurred in the textbooks. *business sub-corpus of the Hong Kong Corpus of Spoken English

The Gap between research and practice The research gap is particularly pronounced for spoken workplace genres (e.g. meetings, presentations)  Language doing business (Nelson 2000)

Language about vs. language doing Nelson (2000): Language about business: Language about business: language used (e.g. by business experts, journalists) to talk about business language used (e.g. by business experts, journalists) to talk about business Language doing business: Language doing business: language used to perform business and workplace activities (problem-solving, planning, briefing, training etc.) language used to perform business and workplace activities (problem-solving, planning, briefing, training etc.)

The Gap between research and practice Recent business textbooks include authentic language about business: Recent business textbooks include authentic language about business: business texts business texts interviews with business experts interviews with business experts Handford (2010): Survey of over 20 best-selling business textbooks found no lessons based around real spoken business interactions (e.g. telephone conversations, meetings) Handford (2010): Survey of over 20 best-selling business textbooks found no lessons based around real spoken business interactions (e.g. telephone conversations, meetings)

Applications of Research to teaching Incorporating findings from discourse analysis Incorporating findings from discourse analysis Incorporating findings from corpus-based analysis Incorporating findings from corpus-based analysis Using transcripts from professional interactions Using transcripts from professional interactions

Corpus research Corpus of American and British Office Talk (ABOT): 34,000 words 34,000 words 41 encounters, 66 generic episodes 41 encounters, 66 generic episodes (Koester 2006, 2010)

Corpus research CANBEC (Cambridge and Nottingham Business English Corpus) CANBEC (Cambridge and Nottingham Business English Corpus) 1 million words spoken data Meetings: 912,734 words 64 meetings from 26 companies (Handford 2010) Part of the Cambridge International Corpus (CIC) million words Part of the Cambridge International Corpus (CIC) million words

CANBEC CANBEC has information about: Purpose of meeting Purpose of meeting Topic Topic Relationship of speakers: Relationship of speakers: External meetings (EM) External meetings (EM) Internal meetings (IM) Internal meetings (IM) Colleagues from the same department Colleagues from the same department Colleagues from a different department Colleagues from a different department Peers Peers Manager(s) – subordinate(s) Manager(s) – subordinate(s)

Business Discourse Decision-making and problem-solving are key activities in spoken business communication ABOT Corpus: Decision-making is the most frequent genre – over ¼ of corpus ABOT Corpus: Decision-making is the most frequent genre – over ¼ of corpus (Koester 2006, 2010)

Handford 2010, p.13

Keywords in CANBEC Keywords = significantly frequent words compared to a spoken corpus of General English Among top 50 keywords in CANBEC need need issue issue problem problem “problem” 3x more frequent in business corpus (Handford 2010)

Frequent ‘chunks’ for decision-making a problem with a problem with not a problem/not an issue not a problem/not an issue we need to/we have to we need to/we have to I think we need to I think we need to so we can so we can we should be able to we should be able to we could do that we could do that Modal verbs: need to/have to, should, can, could Modal verbs: need to/have to, should, can, could Pronouns: we Pronouns: we

Frequent ‘chunks’ for decision-making a problem with a problem with not a problem/not an issue not a problem/not an issue we need to/we have to we need to/we have to I think we need to I think we need to so we can so we can we should be able to we should be able to we could do that we could do that Modal verbs: need to/have to, should, can, could Modal verbs: need to/have to, should, can, could Pronouns: we  Top keyword Pronouns: we  Top keyword (Handford 2010)

Decision-making Decision-making conversations follow a Problem – Solution Pattern (Koester 2006, 2010): Decision-making conversations follow a Problem – Solution Pattern (Koester 2006, 2010): 1. Raising a Problem : problem, difficult 2. Proposing a response or solution: figure out, come up with 3. Evaluating the solution: good, works (Hoey 1983, 1994)

Raising a problem S2: Right. Erm I won't talk about /?/ Liverpool the excess space issue. That's not critical. Erm what I do need to get a decision on today really is is the progress /?/ on the marketing suite. Erm (2 secs) I'm coming from sort of limited information so if you can help me out here /?/.

Proposing a solution SM: You think you can deliver it downstairs? S6?: I think we could deliver not a room but we could deliver+ SM: Yeah. S6: +an environment where people actually felt incentive as to come and have a look. No pressure. I think that's a big thing. Going upstairs to somewhere where there literally is a closed door approach I think will actually switch quite a few people off rather than on. I think we can do something downstairs but it has to be much more open and much more er - much less pressurized. And I think we could do something with bookings. We could certainly do something with vouchers to come and look on the day...

Evaluating the solution S9: It'll be an operating environment so it's a much more appealing environment for people to come up and- S6: And we've got something to sh- S9: have a look S6: Exactly. We've got something to show them in that way. SM: Mm. S6: Hopefully if we can get them up we can start to show them SF: We will. We will. Treatment etcetera. (1.5 secs) SM: So (1 sec) just erm (2 secs) I'm reluctant to to drop the concept and I I think using downstairs is great. SM: Mhm.

Idioms and problem-solving Problems It's it's all (0.5 sec) mats are being used day in day out by adults (0.5 sec) and you know taking a lot of abuse. Going upstairs to somewhere where there literally is a closed door approach I think will actually switch quite a few people off rather than on

Idioms and problem-solving Solutions The suggestion of (0.5 sec) a generic procedure is very very good because it means we can kill two birds with one stone. I've gotta try and er [inhales] figure out what we can do about this… cos er we'll have - well this afternoon it'll be and I'm just gonna sit down and go through everything and see what I can do.

3 Which word or phrase a–f is closest in meaning to each of the idioms 1–6? There may be more than one possibility. Business Advantage Intermediate 13.3: Language Focus 2 1 mess upa difficult 2 a bit trickyb make a mistake 3 figure outc find 4 go wrongd take time (to do something) 5 come up withe find a solution 6 sit down (and)f fail

Idioms, Metaphor and Evaluation Evaluating (judging/expressing opinion) is important at all stages of decision- making/problem-solving. Evaluating (judging/expressing opinion) is important at all stages of decision- making/problem-solving. Idioms and metaphors are useful for evaluation because they: Idioms and metaphors are useful for evaluation because they: can evaluate indirectly can evaluate indirectly can express a strong judgement/opinion can express a strong judgement/opinion can encapsulate an idea with few words (esp. metaphors) can encapsulate an idea with few words (esp. metaphors)

Idioms and Metaphors for evaluating Well it's always a bit - I mean er there is there's some physical limitations like there's no space upstairs. There's there's no power. It's a bit tricky that's all. It it's something that really sticks in the throat. So it's kind of more like - a a - just of pair of the right hands isn't it really. It's the chicken and egg cos we have spoken about it and it's (0.5 sec) it's an embarrassment going out (0.5) getting work in and then having it sat on the (0.5 sec) side for three or four weeks…

Teaching decision-making Skills involved in decision-making (Handford 2010, p. 255): raising an issue raising an issue discussing the issue discussing the issue discussing solutions discussing solutions reaching a consensus reaching a consensus postponing or evading decisions postponing or evading decisions

Teaching decision-making Skills involved in decision-making (Handford 2010, p. 255): raising an issue* raising an issue* discussing the issue* discussing the issue* discussing solutions* discussing solutions* reaching a consensus reaching a consensus postponing or evading decisions postponing or evading decisions

Teaching decision-making Skills involved in decision-making (Handford 2010, p. 255): Also: planning and making arrangements planning and making arrangements exchanging information exchanging information evaluating evaluating dealing with conflict dealing with conflict hypothesizing hypothesizing

Teaching decision-making Skills involved in decision-making (Handford 2010, p. 255): Also: planning and making arrangements planning and making arrangements exchanging information exchanging information evaluating* evaluating* dealing with conflict dealing with conflict hypothesizing hypothesizing

Conclusion Findings from research on workplace and professional discourse can and should inform Business English teaching materials. Findings from research on workplace and professional discourse can and should inform Business English teaching materials. Transcripts from professional interactions can be adapted for pedagogical purposes Transcripts from professional interactions can be adapted for pedagogical purposes

References Cheng, W. and Warren, M. (2005), ‘//  well I have a DIFferent//  THINking you know//: A corpus-driven study of disagreement in Hong Kong Business Discourse’, in F. Bargiela-Chiappini and M. Gotti (eds), Asian Business Discourse(s). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, pp Cheng, W. and Warren, M. (2005), ‘//  well I have a DIFferent//  THINking you know//: A corpus-driven study of disagreement in Hong Kong Business Discourse’, in F. Bargiela-Chiappini and M. Gotti (eds), Asian Business Discourse(s). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, pp Cheng, W. and Warren, M. (2006), ‘“I would say be very careful of…”: opine markers in an intercultural Business corpus of spoken English’, J. Bamford and M. Bondi (eds), Managing Interaction in Professional Discourse. Intercultural and Interdiscoursal Perspectives. Rome: Officina Edizioni, pp Cheng, W. and Warren, M. (2006), ‘“I would say be very careful of…”: opine markers in an intercultural Business corpus of spoken English’, J. Bamford and M. Bondi (eds), Managing Interaction in Professional Discourse. Intercultural and Interdiscoursal Perspectives. Rome: Officina Edizioni, pp Handford, M. (2010). The Language of Business Meetings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Handford, M. (2010). The Language of Business Meetings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Koester, A. (2006). Investigating Workplace Discourse. London: Routledge. Koester, A. (2006). Investigating Workplace Discourse. London: Routledge. Koester, A. (2010). Workplace Discourse. London: Continuum. Koester, A. (2010). Workplace Discourse. London: Continuum. Nelson, M. (2000), Mike Nelson's Business English Lexis Site. [Accessed 14 September 2009]. Nelson, M. (2000), Mike Nelson's Business English Lexis Site. [Accessed 14 September 2009]. Nickerson, C. (2005), English as a lingua franca in international business contexts. English for Specific Purposes 24, Nickerson, C. (2005), English as a lingua franca in international business contexts. English for Specific Purposes 24, Williams, M. (1988), ‘Language taught for meetings and language used in meetings: Is there anything in common?’, Applied Linguistics 9 (1). Williams, M. (1988), ‘Language taught for meetings and language used in meetings: Is there anything in common?’, Applied Linguistics 9 (1).