Oral and Written Communication

Introduction

This project is an approach to the language of Business English as the title suggests it. I have presented here, the main aspects of the language of business, aspects that have to be taken into consideration when learning this language for specific purposes.

The project comprises four chapters, the second and the third chapters contain two subchapters each.

The first chapter presents a few facts and background information about the history of the English language, in general, and Business English in particular.

The English language of today reflects many centuries of development. The political and social events that have in the course of English history so profoundly affected the English people in their national life have generally had a recognisable effect on their language. Today, English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue. Some estimates have put that figure closer to one billion. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.

English is the medium for 80 per cent of the information stored in the world’s computers. Nearly half of all business deals in Europe are conducted in English. It is the language of sports and glamour; the official language of the Olympics and the Miss Universe Competition. English is the official voice of the air, of the sea, and of Christianity: it is the ecumenical language of the World Council of Churches. Five of the largest broadcasting companies in the world (CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC, and CBC) transmit in English to audiences that can exceed one hundred million.

The extent and importance of the English language today make it reasonable to ask whether we cannot speculate as to the probable position it will occupy in the future. The English language of today is the language that has resulted from the history of dialects spoken by the Germanic tribes who came to England. Throughout its history, English has always been loosely identified as “the language of the common man”.

The global English of our times has all the benefits of the standardising process. There is a recognised standard in Britain and America. There is also an agreed, standardised vocabulary and spelling system. Global English speaks with two voices: British and American, but the language is basically the same, and its global stature is backed up by massive English – language training programmes, an international business that – in text books, language courses, tape cassettes, video programmes and computerised instruction – is worth hundreds of millions of pounds or dollars to the economies of the United States and the United Kingdom.

The cross-cultural spread of English is unprecedented in other ways. It is more widely used than any other Colonial language like French, Spanish or Portuguese. It even has a wider use than some of the languages associated with international non-Western religious traditions like Arabic or Sanskrit. In countries like India and Nigeria, English is used at all levels of society: in local English-language newspapers and broadcasting, in public administration, in university education, in the major industries, the courts and civil service.

The demands of modernisation, technological change and international bank funding, still largely controlled by Anglo-American corporations, provide the main reason for global English, the language of the multinational corporations. If the people don’t know English they cannot benefit from multinational development programmes.

Together with the development of the industry and technology it developed a specific language, a language for business people, called Business English. It is a section of the English for Specific Purposes. Business English implies the definition of a specific language corpus and emphasis on particular kinds of communication in a specific context.

In business life we are constantly facing situations where we have to make up our minds. New legislation appears and we have to read it, think about it, and decide what to do to comply with the regulations and put the necessary measures in hand. We are studying Business English because we wish to use English in business situations, either in our everyday business life or when we take employment at the end of an educational course. We either know already, or have some vague idea of the business area that interests us most – the career we hope to follow. It follows that our studies will be pursued most enthusiastically, and will be of the most enduring advantage, if we relate them fairly closely to our key interests. Nowhere is this more important than in our everyday reading.