OBJECTIVES FOR 915B

Study Focus: Business English

Market Leader Pre-Intermediate 3rd Edition Units 7-12

Conversational Business Academic Background Information:

English English English Our Study Focuses are aligned with ALTE standards.
ALTE 3+ Courses (See red lines on table on the left.)
919 C 919 B 919 A
918 C
Upon completing Students should reach 918 A
918 B
917 C
(any Study Focus) 917 B 917 A
916 C 916 B 916 A
911
915 C ALTE
915 BBreakthrough 915 A
914 C
915 914 BALTE 2 914A
913 C 913 B 913 A
919
912 C 912 BALTE 3 912 A
911 C 911 B 911 A
910 C 910 B 910 A . The Business English Study Focus was created for:
(1) Executives and company professionals
(2) Student preparing for examinations for improving business communication (IELTS etc.)
(3) Students who need a stronger emphasis on business language and business skills awareness, not offered elsewhere on the
program.

915 B Objectives (Teacher Use)

Study Focus: Business English
January 2013
Page 1 of 5
These objectives are divided into the following:

1. 4 traditional skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing)

2. Strategic competencies
3. Interacting competencies in a business context

Strategic competencies refer to how a student manages his or her own learning, while interacting competencies refer to the integration of the
four skills, in social or academic contexts. This program, English for Interpersonal Communication, focuses mainly on a social context.

The three competency areas are split into different standards, which are further defined by benchmarks. The benchmarks, outlined in the third
column of the objectives, describe what you would like your students to be able to do at the end of the course.

Consequently, all activities in your classroom should seek to help students successfully (without major difficulty/ hesitation) perform the tasks
described by the benchmarks. Always refer back to the benchmarks if you decide to introduce additional material.

These benchmarks are based on the Can-do statements, developed over the course of several years by the Association of Language Testers in
Europe (ALTE), and are cross-referenced with the fluency statements developed by the Common European Framework.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT COURSE OBJECTIVES ARE CUMULATIVE. That is, the student should be able to perform any tasks described in the
objectives of all previous courses.

915 B Objectives (Teacher Use)

Study Focus: Business English
January 2013
Page 2 of 5
4 SKILLS COMPETENCIES STANDARDS BENCHMARKS
MARKET LEADER PRE-INTERMEDIATE UNITS 7-12
Listening Students can listen to and understand level- 1. S can listen to a text and answer questions about it
Units 7-12 appropriate texts, and spoken English by: 2. S can listen to a text and choose a true or false answer
listening for gist 3. S can take dictation from a text (gap fill-in)
listening for main ideas, details 4. S can identify word and syllable stress
listening for attitude 5. S can fill in a chart with information from a text
6. S can listen to a text and identify information that was heard
7. S can listen to a text and connect it to an image
8. S can notice to linking between words
9. S can match words with other words that express ideas or
feelings heard in a text
10. S can identify items based on descriptions heard
Oral and Paralinguistic Students can: 1. S can accurately ask appropriate questions
Communication discuss the veracity of statements 2. S can use words and expressions that denote agreement,
express agreement or disagreement disagreement, belief, or disbelief
Units 7-12 express ideas, preferences, and opinions 3. S can formulate key questions
give instructions 4. S can use appropriate collocations: V + noun
narrate a story 5. S can formulate phrases that express condition, result,
talk about requirements, requests, and possibility—both real and unreal
necessities 6. S can give instructions using expressions of sequence and
hypothesize and speculate quantity
express hopes, desires, and wishes 7. S can appropriately express obligation and permission
8. S can report requests
9. S can put past events into a sequential relation with each other
10. S can express wishes about current situations

Reading Students can read level-appropriate texts and:
Units 7-12 glean meaning and information
skim and scan
focus on detail and general idea
discern intent, feeling, and attitude
put and keep ideas in their sequential order
1. S can fill in a chart based on a reading
2. S can identify particular parts of speech, and phrase types in a
text
3. S can answer questions about a particular text
4. S can look at a headline or picture to infer a text’s intent
5. S can read an article to check predictions
6. S can differentiate between fact and opinion
7. S can sequence images based on a reading

915 B Objectives (Teacher Use)

Study Focus: Business English
January 2013
Page 3 of 5
 8. S can match text with appropriate summary
9. S can read a text and choose a true or false answer
Writing Students can write at an intermediate level, 1. S can write complete sentences
Units 7-12 focusing on structural accuracy or 2. S can write paragraphs
communicative clarity, to: 3. S can use appropriate linking language
describe an event 4. S can write a simple letter in a more formal register
create a story 5. S can write a composition
request information 6. S can write a letter of persuasion
try to persuade 7. S can write a cover letter in response to a want ad
use appropriate writing register 8. S can write an informal report
create a coherent sequence of ideas 9. S can write a review expressing opinions
10. S can write a story
11. S can write a description of a wished-for ideal

STRATEGIC STANDARDS BENCHMARKS

COMPETENCIES MARKET LEADER PRE-INTERMEDIATE UNITS 7-
12
Student Autonomy and S takes responsibility for improving his/her 1. S seeks out opportunity for practice (workbook)
Noticing English, including critical reflection, decision- 2. S manages own learning, noting unit goals
making and independent action (Little, 1991: 4). 3. S can use texts, such as letters, as templates to follow for
Units 7-12 presenting own information
4. S notices English pronunciation and intonation patterns
5. S applies material learned to communicative tasks
6. S uses learning tips including improvement strategies
7. S is aware of motivation and analyzes own motivation
8. S is aware of writing as process and product
9.S is aware of the importance of vocabulary and its use
10. S can use affixation system to expand vocabulary
Strategies S employs metacognitive and task-based 1. S can think of what he or she already knows to aid him/herself
Units 7-12 strategies in task completion
2. S uses imagery (pictures) to help in understanding language
and its context
3. S recognizes cognates to make associations
4. S uses a dictionary to aid in self-checking
5. S uses songs to help in understanding language

915 B Objectives (Teacher Use)

Study Focus: Business English
January 2013
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 6. S recognizes false cognates to help avoid misunderstandings
7. S uses context clues to aid in understanding text
Collaboration S employs collaborative learning to improve 1. Ss work in groups to collaborate in solving tasks and finding
Units 7-12 contact with and success in English information
2. Ss work in pairs to solve tasks
3. S cooperates with another student in role plays
4. Ss manage interpersonal discourse
5. Ss give and receive language feedback
6. Ss celebrate each other’s successes
7. Ss bring personal knowledge to class to enrich the learning
experience
8. Ss use language knowledge to help each other’s progress

INTERACTING STANDARD BENCHMARKS

COMPETENCIES
Integrating the 4 skills with
social, professional and multi-
cultural competencies. (BICS)
Units 7-12
Integrating the 4 skills with
critical thinking and academic
competency (CALPS)
Units 7-12
The student uses English for social and
professional purposes, and recognizes and
adequately addresses cultural differences
S functions at an appropriate level in classroom,
thinks creatively (critical thinking skills) and
makes inferences (reads between the lines).
MARKET LEADER PRE-INTERMEDIATE UNITS 7-
12
1. S expresses ideas and opinions about texts
2. S takes notes from audio-input
3. S takes notes on what was said
4. S answers written questions orally
5. S is aware of cultural differences
6. S gives feedback in a sensitive and appropriate manner
1. S can personalize information given in the textbook
2. S listens critically, choosing the best answer
3. S reads critically, choosing the best answer
4. S is aware of differences and similarities of a global nature
5. S is aware of the role of English in the world
6. S is aware of appropriacy of form and register for various
situations

915 B Objectives (Teacher Use)

Study Focus: Business English
January 2013
Page 5 of 5