1. English vocabulary for business and management
Presentation by
UWE Library
Learning Services
2018 / 2019

2. What do you find difficult about understanding class lectures?
What is strategy? Lecture extract.
Activity 1:
Listen and note down on post-its any difficulties with vocabulary

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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)

6. 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

7. Finding a lecture recording on your module page on Blackboard

8. 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 /

9. 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

11. Library workshops