［Abstract］TEIB （Teaching English for International Business） shares similarities to as well as differences from TGE （Teaching of General English）. This paper will briefly analyze their similarities and differences in terms of the following aspects： teaching approaches， course design， teaching materials， language and course management.
［Key words］TEIB，TGE，Similarities，differences I. Introduction
With the development of Linguistics， the communicative approach （CLT） has been widely accepted and may be seen as an umbrella under which a number of methods have found their places： Natural approach， Task-based learning， Community language learning， Humanistic methods， Content-based instruction， Bilingual method and to a lesser degree， Total Physical Response， and Suggestopedia.
The main objective of communicative language teaching is to enable the learner to express in the foreign language what he or she would like to express. It is argued that all language teaching should be tailored to the specific learning and language use needs of identified groups of students. Language teaching should take into account the sociocultural contexts in which the learners will be using English （Celce-Murcia， 2001）. In such
a context， ESP has come into being.
This paper will discuss the similarities as well as the differences between teaching of General English （GE） and teaching of English for International Business （EIB） in terms of teaching approaches， course design， teaching materials， language and course management.
Ⅱ. Similarities
TEIB and TGE share much in common in teaching approaches. In the first place， both TGE and TEIB concern English language teaching. They both aim to develop learners’ communicative skills by turning to communicative language teaching approach， with TEIB focusing on learners’ communication skills in a specific area — business context.
Secondly， advocating learner-centeredness， GE as well as EIB develops learners’ awareness of communicative interaction by using communicative tasks， such as pair work， group work， role play， etc. to effect students’ learning （Shields， Lecture Notes）. In communicative activities， the learner is totally engaged in practicing skill of communication， with different types of communication situations. The production of linguistic forms tends to be related to the communication of meanings.
Then， both GE and BE need contexts for developing language
knowledge and communication skills with GE using topics and themes， whereas BE taking professional content.
Moreover， the roles played by the teacher in GE and EIB share similarities. Teachers become facilitators of learning， and may perform in a variety of specific roles， separately or simultaneously. These include the following： as classroom managers， responsible for organizing proper activities to promote learning； monitors， facilitators or supervisors to make classroom activities go on in a satisfactory way.
Nevertheless， they still bear different features respectively in such areas as： course design， teaching materials， language and management as well.
Ⅲ. Differences 3.1 Course design
The differences in course design will be addressed respectively as follows.
1. An EIB course
An EIB course is normally goal-oriented， carefully tailored to the learners. It develops from a needs analysis， which aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that students have to do in business
contexts through the medium of English （Dudley-Evans & St John， 1998）. It is designed to meet specified needs of the learners. In course design， EIP practitioners should take the following steps： needs analysis， analysis of language， syllabus design， approaches to methodology and to materials for EIP， then testing and evaluation.
Needs Analysis is seen as crucial to an EIB course， especially when the course is of limited duration. The analysis will be of the target situation： what do students need to be able to do in English as a result of the course （Target Situation Analysis or TSA）? What knowledge and abilities will the learners require in order to be able to perform to the required degree of competence in the target situation? Also important is Present Situation Analysis （PSA）： what are the students’ capabilities now? What are the features of the setting for the EIB course?
The process of collecting and interpreting data on the learners’ likely use of the target language has been an indispensable feature of EIB.
Brieger （1997） suggests that needs analysis for business English will set out to identify the range of general and specialist language knowledge required， together with general and professional communication skills.
Generally speaking， the more focused the course， the greater the
knowledge of the specialism required of the course designer and the teacher. EIB courses are usually more focused in their aims and tend to make use of a narrower range of topics. They demand the course designers and teachers highly in terms of special knowledge of business.
2. A GE course
It is argued that both ESP （English for Specific purposes） and EGP （English for General Purposes） courses are expected to pay detailed attention to learner needs and expectations and to respond to them as efficiently and effectively as possible. Nevertheless， in a GE course， learners’ needs tend to be general and widely reached. Some learners regard English learning as instrumental， for example， to get promotion in his job， to immigrant into a English speaking country， some may be interested in the target culture， while some others may learn a foreign language in order to develop his /her brain.
The course design and syllabus design of a General English course are likely to be prescribed. Aims and objectives of GE are quite different from those of EIB， considering learners’ needs and wants. They may be influenced and shaped by the requirements from some educational institution， for example， the Education Ministry， or considerations of the overall curriculum of a school.
3.2 Materials 1. EIB courses
Deriving from a needs analysis， an EIB course aims to prepare learners to communicate effectively in the tasks prescribed by their work situations and their set out tasks in business area. Therefore， the materials designed should hinge on learners’ special needs. What distinguishes EIB from General English is not the existence of a need as such but rather an awareness of the need， which will have an influence on what will be acceptable as reasonable content in the language course. Or rather， it is the awareness rather than the nature of needs that distinguishes EIB from GE.
In EIB， it is often believed that each ESP course should have its own tailor made materials. As EIB learners have their own interest and needs in business world， the materials to be used should be texts taken from the learners’ specialist area- texts about business.
The assumption underlying this approach is that clear relevance of the English course to their needs would improve the learners’ motivation and thereby make learning better and faster. （Hutchinson & Waters， 1993）
In EIB courses， basically， authentic materials（such as texts，
recorded discussions， interviews， lectures） may be needed from the work or study situations of the learner’s to be developed as classroom materials.
As the materials are carefully tailored to learners’ needs， there are hardly any published materials which fit into learners’ needs. Consequently， materials used tend to be self made by the course designers themselves.
Successful implementation of the materials in EIB courses may depend on help and materials from specialists in many other areas of professional activity.
2. GE courses
For GE， the materials tend to be published books， which has many advantages. First of all， it is of great convenient and time saving for teachers. In most cases， the teacher needn’t write one. What teachers need to do is to choose a textbook or recommended one based on the syllabus and curriculum requirement and learners’ language level and then deliver the course by using the textbook.
Secondly， published books tend to be attractive in appearance and also within the books， if the books are illustrated with colorful pictures. Moreover， published books are frequently coming together with
reference books with keys to the exercises appearing in the course books， which is of great convenience to teachers， especially when the teachers are brand new ones in teaching. Furthermore， published books are normally coherent or consistent in content， difficulty level and functions to perform. In brief， a good course book saves a teacher much valuable time in course design and delivery. Simultaneously， it gives the learner a sense of clarity， direction and progress.
Although course books can be very useful， they do have their drawbacks. Following the textbooks， the teacher， in most cases， has little freedom inchoosingthe teaching materials to tailor to learners’ needs. Often a course is only a partial fit for the students or the teacher. If the material is found to be unsuitable for learners’ needs and wants， most importantly， the difficulty level is above or below learners’ current language level， both the teacher and the learners will feel frustrated， which poses threat to effective teaching and learning.
3.3 Language 1. An EIB course
The designer of an ESP course has to decide exactly how specific the language needs of the students are. For a general business English course， for example， potentially all the structural patterns of English
need to be taught， using business rather than everyday vocabulary. Genres such as different types of letter， functions such as describing processes， checking facts and figures， requesting information will be practiced. A very specific business English course will focus on the work and products of one particular company， taking into account its stylistic preferences in writing and speaking. It may focus， for example， on finance， on importing and exporting， or on management， and particular types of document and communicative routine will be studied which may favor certain structural patterns over others.
The language to be introduced and practiced in the business classroom reflects the professional background of the learners. The channels of communication to be developed and practiced demonstrates the professional world of presentations， meetings and telephoning rather than general communication in discussion. The language involved in EIB is one entailing specialist knowledge for specific purpose. EIB is centered on the language （grammar， lexis， register）， skills， discourse and genres appropriate to the roles learners will play in their future jobs. Vocabulary， particularly specialist vocabulary （or terminology） is a key element of ESP as well asEIB.
Grammar in Business English， as observed by Dudley-Evans and St John， tends to address verb forms. The features of normalization （that
is the use of verbal nouns usually ending in suffixes such as -ation， -ition， -ity， -ment or -ness） as noted as a feature of academic English are also characteristic of certain more formal genres in Business English， such as reports， contracts and some letters.
The teaching of vocabulary tends to focus on core vocabulary in business. Course materials are designed to meet specified needs of the learner； relatedin content to particular disciplines， jobs and activities in business world. Language is to be appropriate to those activities in syntax， lexis， discourse， semantics， genres， etc.
In short， language in EIB is genre， needs and skill based. Assumption about accuracy of language is that itshould be good enough for the job， not necessarily native-speaker-like， as it targets at communicative strategies and effectiveness.
2. An GE course
In General English teaching， there are three different theoretical different theoretical views of language and the nature of language proficiency. The first is the structural view， the view that language is a system of structurally related elements for the coding of meaning. The target of language learning is seen to be the mastery of elements of this system， which are generally defined in terms of phonological units，
grammatical units， grammatical operations， and lexical items. The second view of language is the functional view， the view that language is a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning. The third view of language can be called the interactional view. It sees language as a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations and for the performance of social transactions between individuals. Language is seen as a tool for the creation and maintenance of social relations.
Based on the theoretical framework， language teaching is different from that in EIB. Expectation of language proficiency is different. In GE， language proficiency is targeted at the level or very close to the native speaker’s English； It aims to accuracy and fluency.
3.4 Management
Concerning course management， EIB and GE courses also bear much difference.
1. An EIB course
In an EIB course， the teacher may be designer of the course and provider of the materials. In some cases， the course designers may have a choice as to whether the course should be full- or part-time. The timing and indeed the timetable of the course may be negotiable.
EIB courses， like any other ESP courses， are generally constrained by a limited time period， in which their objectives have to be achieved， and are taught to adults in homogeneous classes in terms of the work or specialist studies that the students are involved in.
EIB courses may be intensive or extensive. Examples of intensive courses are one-day or one-week courses on negotiating for business English students， one-month language and study skills courses for students about to study at English-medium universities. Extensive courses may be full- or part-time over several months. Courses are provided by private language schools and by universities and colleges.
Nevertheless， several factors may influence the management of the course. Courses may be long or short. Classes may be taught in-company or in a language school or other rented premises. The location of the course or the distance of the location from the students’ place of work or home may influence the decision made concerning the syllabus， even methodology. Class size and teachers involved and facilities can influence course design.
Essential to the course is the analysis of students’ needs and the tailoring of the design to fit those needs. Any syllabus type and methodology may be employed， but， given the frequent shortage of study time and need for immediate use， a task-based and communicative
approach may seem most appropriate. Teaching aids utilized： visual and mechanical aids： video， computers. Involved activities are role play， simulations and case studies， oral presentations.
2. A GE course
With respect to the GE course， there are a lot more restrictions concerningtime and duration of the course， which are not likely to be negotiable. The teacher is not necessarily the designer of the course. The syllabus and curriculum objectives are normally established. Class size tend to be bigger than that of an EIB course. The location of the GE courses are， in most cases， at universities or other educational institutions.
The teaching approaches are varied， with CLT strongly advocated， trying to adapt the teaching to learners’ English level， learning styles and objectives to achieve. Activitiesofteninvolve pair work， group work， role play， which are of similar features to those in EIB.
Ⅳ. Conclusion
Fundamentally， there is not so muchdifference between EIB and GE. Nevertheless， by using needs analysis， task-based learning， authentic materials， genre analysis and evaluation， EIB courses are more goal-oriented， carefully tailored to the specific needs of the
learners.
In GE courses， fluency and accuracy are valued， while in EIB courses， the primary concern is to communicate effectively， not necessarily totally accurately. As professionals， business people have very clear purposes and expect high quality， value for money and professionally delivered courses. The professional demands placed on Business English teachers may well be higher than on those in GE fields.
In conclusion， bearing such features as：focusing on learners’ needs， relevant to the learner and more cost-effective， EIB seems to be more practical， more dynamic in language teaching and training.
【 References 】
［1］Brieger， N. 1997. The York Associates Teaching Business English Handbook［M］.York Associates Publications.
[2] Celce-Murcia， M. 2001. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language（3rd ed.）［M］.Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.
[3] Dudley-Evans， T.， St John， M. 1998. Developments in English for Specific Purposes［M］.Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.
[4] Hutchinson， T.， Waters， A. 1993. English for Specific Purposes （8th ed.）［M］.Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.
商务英语教学与普通英语教学之异同
［摘要］商务英语教学与普通英语教学之间既有相似之处，又存在着许多差异。本文将从教学方法、课程设计、教学材料、语言、课程管理等方面对二者之间的相似与差异进行探讨。
［关键词］商务英语教学；普通英语教学；相似；差异
因篇幅问题不能全部显示，请点此查看更多更全内容