1. Developing Listening Skills for the Real Business World
Ian Badger, BMES , Bristol UK
Business English UK Conference,
(c) Ian Badger

2. Current and recent projects
English for Erasmus Medical students in the UK (from Austria, Spain and France) English for logistics process integration (Finland and Russia) English for users of new global IT production/maintenance systems (Finland, Germany, France and Austria) English for IT Helpdesk integration (Finland, Poland, China and India)
(c) Ian Badger

3. Content Listening challenges The value of using authentic recordings
Making your own recordings
Sample recordings
Helping the listener/Helping the speaker
Some references and resources
(c) Ian Badger

4. Today’s learners of English have to understand speakers from all over the world, many of whom do not speak with the pronunciation, grammar and clarity which have traditionally been taught in schools and colleges.
(c) Ian Badger

5. ….but discovering a ready supply of 'authentic' business/professional listening material is not easy.
Most organisations — let alone individuals — would be reluctant to have their meetings, discussions, presentations, phone calls and social events recorded for classroom use by publishers, schools or teachers — and in any case most such recordings would be extremely difficult to use once devoid of context.
Simon Sweeney

6. Features of authentic (non-scripted) recordings for listening practice
Range of accents
Fragmented sentences
False starts
Standard/non-standard grammar
Mistakes
(c) Ian Badger

7. Understanding the speaker Understanding the information A springboard for discussion
Electrical maintenance / union negotiations
Working with the Turkish sales office

8. Voicemails – Leaving a clear message. Who is clearer
Voic s – Leaving a clear message? Who is clearer? The ‘native’ or the ‘non-native’? (from Collins English for Business: Listening)
Catrina voic
Jindee voic
Nick voic
(c) Ian Badger

9. Further examples of authentic recordings (from Collins English for Life: Listening)
Adapting to local customs Tourist information Booking a hotel room Directions to the hotel New Zealand/Australia Tube announcements

10. Helping the listener
Don’t speak too fast Give people time to think/respond Be aware of who you are talking to Avoid unnecessary idiom and complex grammatical structure Explain acronyms and abbreviations when necessary Check others have understood your points Don’t overwhelm the listener with information
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11. ‘Active’ listening
Ask the speaker to clarify when you do not understand
Ask the speaker to slow down
Ask the speaker to speak up
Ask the speaker to be more specific 
Be empathetic
Rephrase what the speaker says
(c) Ian Badger

12. Developing Listening Skills for the Real Business World: References and resources – Business English UK, Ian Badger,
Badger, I ‘Listening’ in the Collins English for Life series, Harper Collins/Collins ELT
Badger, I ‘Listening’ in the Collins English for Business series, Harper Collins/Collins ELT (+ App for I Pad and IPhone )
Badger, I and P. Menzies ‘English for Business Life’, Heinle Cengage 2007
Badger, I ‘Everyday Business English’, Pearson 2003
Dignen, B and I McMaster ‘Communicating internationally in English’ (pp31-42) York Associates/Business Spotlight
Sweeney, S. ‘Authentic materials’ in Business Issues, 2/2006
Walker, R. ‘Teaching the pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca’, OUP 2010
Wilson, JJ. How to teach listening, Pearson 2008
- Further recordings of ‘Business Listening’ speakers
– People from around the world recording the same paragraph in English
– Examples of regional UK accents and dialects
Video examples of English accents around the world
(c) Ian Badger