Essential Business English

Study skills

• noticing, recording and learning new lexical items
• dictionary skills
• exploiting online language learning resources
• using mobile devices for language learning
• using e-learning for guided self-study
• undertaking a research project and writing up their findings
• producing a bibliography using a specific style guide (e.g. Harvard)
  
  

Language and communication skills for the study and work-related situations

• university lectures held in English
• job applications
• job interviews
• handling complaints
• presenting information graphically
  
  

Understanding and processing information in written and spoken business related material

• job advertisements
• the recruitment process
• working conditions (job security, pay, work-life balance, etc.)
• careers and professional life
• customer service &satisfaction
• retailing
• products &distribution channels
  
  

Writing skills for business correspondence and study purposes

• covering letters
• résumés
• business emails including rescheduling meetings
• essays (paraphrasing &summarising ideas)
• researching a specific business-related topic and writing up the findings using a formal style
• adding references to a bibliography
  
  

Vocabulary

• multi-word vocabulary (i.e. collocation, phrasal verbs, idioms)
• action verbs for talking about job skills and achievements
• recruitment
• SWOT analysis for career development
• benefits at work
• formal & informal registers in business emails
• openings &closing business emails
• telephoning (commonly used phrases)
• customer service & complaints
• product description
• retailing
• using graphs & charts
• general business vocabulary
  
  

Grammar

• verb tenses (present simple vs. present continuous, simple past vs. present perfect, past continuous)
• adjectives for presenting oneself and making comparisons
• question formation
• indirect forms for diplomacy
• modal verbs
• prepositions (for example, of location)