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Back from IATEFL

25.Apr.08

Find out what went on at this year's IATEFL conference and how you can catch up with what's happening in the world of Business English.

Well I'm back from wintry Exeter where this year's IATEFL conference took place and the conference has followed me here. Thanks to Exeter Online I've been able to catch up on a number of sessions I wasn't able to attend in person which is great. If you haven't visited the site yet I'd recommend you do so. Once you've logged in (which is completely free) you can access video and audio recordings of a number of the sessions; download the presenters' presentations and handouts; and take part in online discussions with those who either attended or who are taking part virtually. The Business English forum has seen some very interesting discussions on such topics as Teaching Business English to pre-service students, Trends in Business English and even a Business English wish list. Especially in the last one there are some excellent links to online resources so that's worth a look. Of course you can contribute to the discussions there as well, so do take a look.

The day before the conference began, BESIG held a full-day pre-conference event around the theme of 'Business English: The Challenges of Globalisation'. The line-up of speakers was excellent and reflected different approaches to globalisation and how these are affecting Business English teaching.

Evan Frendo started things off by telling us about a variety of challenges faced by training organisations in the age of globalisation. He made a range of very pertinent observations, including the fact that 'no one size fits all'. Training organisations as well as companies differ substantially in approaches, outlooks and expectations – something that perhaps seems to fly in the face of globalisation, especially if by globalisation you mean the "McDonaldisation" of the world (to quote Ritzer).

Azra Ahmed and Mirat al Fatima Ahsan from Pakistan then gave us an insight into the realities and practicalities of teaching business English at a Pakistani university. While many of the issues were similar to those I had encountered in European contexts, the following comment struck me very forcefully: cultures vary so hugely that a shared language alone is far from enough to allow true communication to take place on a global level. I know that cross-cultural training is becoming more and more fashionable, but this talk served to highlight how very important this aspect of communication truly is.

Deshini Chetty went on to give us a very useful overview of the current state of play of some of the business English examinations our learners are likely to take, while Bob McLarty gave us a publisher's perspective on how globalisation is impacting on the publishing industry. Dominic McCabe finally helped bring things into the real world by relaying his experiences of teaching English in very low-income countries. It was sobering to see that while some of us are arguing about whether electronic whiteboards are good investments in educational technology or not, others are lucky to have a roof over their heads for their lessons. Business English is truly global and seems to be going on in the most diverse locations and situations as we learned during the course of the day. For more on the individual talks have a look at the BESIG website where you'll also find handouts from most of the talks given at the pre-conference event.

Over the next four days of the actual IATEFL conference, there were far too many Business English related talks to mention. I only managed to attend a handful of them in between catching up with colleagues, arranging interviews for future podcasts on this site, and wandering around the exhibition finding out what's new on the market.

The best advice I can give is to go to the Exeter Online website and listen to some of the recordings on the site – that will give you a flavour of what the conference was like, and will hopefully give you a few teaching tips and pointers as to where business English is heading.

Till next time, all the best

Eric