A reflective analysis of pre-course pedagogical
considerations for teaching a business
English course in Japan
by Damian John Rivers
- 1

Abstract

The tuition of 'Business English' within Japan is a growing area and offers a number of context specific challenges for the EFL teacher. Many corporate programs are constructed with very little attention paid to factors such as curriculum design, course objective and teacher evaluation. This article aims to provide the prospective 'Business English' instructor with a practical framework for assessing and preparing for a corporate English course through a reflective analysis of student and teacher beliefs, attitudes and knowledge with reference to the language-learning process. These concepts will be discussed and then visually represented in the form of the SBAK+ and TBAK+ as suggested by Woodman, (1998).

Introduction

Within the typical 'Business English' classroom environment there are basically three distinct components which must interact in a productive manner in order to reach a desirable outcome for all parties.

The student population, comprising of many individual differences in:

- Learning objectives

- Previous language experiences

- Motivations for study

- Areas of strength and weakness

- Preferred learning styles and methods

- Beliefs about what they need to progress

The teacher, an individual who brings to the classroom:

- Their own teaching beliefs

- Their own expectations for the course and students

- Their own preferred teaching methodology

- Their own experiences teaching

- Their own areas of strength and weakness

- Beliefs about what students need to progress

Finally, we have the course structure, situational variables, class personality and learning materials, which in many cases are what binds the teacher-student together in the pursuit of what are expected to be shared goals of attainment. In addition to these factors, the teacher-learner interaction within an EFL context is often molded by language teaching theory. The theoretical approach to language teaching can be decided by either an institution that directs the teachers' behavior or by the teacher acting alone. Japanese corporate teaching is one area in which language teaching theory is often totally absent. This is partly due to the fact that those individuals who organize and prepare the course are not qualified educators; they have very little knowledge with regard to the theoretical applications within the teaching-learning process. In a great deal of cases, this leaves the teacher alone with little other than a loosely defined set of objectives to work from. These objectives are usually focused around "improving the students' TOEIC scores" with the aid of a standardized, non-specific textbook.

There are though, a number of relatively simple steps any prospective 'Business English' instructor can take it order to provide a better structural teaching environment to maximize the teaching and learning processes. Theses steps refer to the creation of a SBAK + (Student Beliefs, Attitudes and Knowledge) and TBAK+ (Teacher Beliefs, Attitudes and Knowledge) analyses. To complete these visually structured analyses the teacher must take a highly reflective view of their prior teaching experiences and identify what they wish to achieve during the up coming corporate program. They must also communicate with a student (usually a designated class leader) in order to construct a visual representation of the student's expectations and desires for course. Using these visual, reflective tools as a basis for course design and material selection is an excellent way for the 'Business English' instructor to empower themselves and the students by introducing knowledge and awareness of the many variables involved in the teaching-learning process.

Beliefs, Attitudes and Knowledge (BAK)

Woods, (1996) originally proposed the term 'BAK' (beliefs, attitudes, knowledge) in order to capture the connected aspects that inform teacher perception and behavior within the classroom. These BAK's were not static and changed frequently, the teacher needed to constantly re-address his or her own BAK's as the teaching situation changed or evolved. Woods referred to teachers non-specific experiences as 'hotspots'. It is essentially how a teacher resolves these 'hotspots' that will influence the shape and form of their new BAK base. Woods, (1996) stated, "traditional categorizing teachers into pre-determined groups hides the dynamic aspect of BAK, and oversimplifies our understanding of the concept and the process of teacher and curricular change" (p.246). Woodman, (1998) elaborated on the BAK proposal to form SBAK+ (student) and TBAK+ (teacher) methods of analysis.

The current analysis focuses on the construction of a SBAK+ and TBAK+ prior to a 3-month intensive 'Intermediate Business English' course at a major Japanese electronics’ manufacturer. The teacher (myself) was provided with limited information concerning the course structure and objectives. Upon request, I was provided with a list of student names, ages and TOEIC scores. After a brief analysis of this demographic data it could be assumed that they would have been educated in a very rigid, disciplined public school system during the 1970's and 1980's. In many cases English language tuition would have been seen a minor element and very much focused on grammar-translation, repetition of set phrases and other drill type behaviors. Although such experiences would certainly play an active role in the formulation of beliefs and attitudes towards English, the popularity currently enjoyed by the language within Japan should provide them with a balanced platform of mixed views, opinions and attitudes not based on one experience alone. Of course, these observations are entirely pre-course and represent an element of speculation concerning the specific class make-up in terms of prior educational experiences.

The first step in the construction of a SBAK+ is to meet at least one of the prospective students for a discussion concerning a wide range of student centered issues. The discussion should be based on the SBAK+ questionnaire outlined by Woodman, (1998).

To page 2 of the article

To the print friendly version

To the article index