Speakers
Description
Language education practices have entered a new era abundant with technologically enhanced learning solutions which have become a prosperous supplement to the traditional classroom experience. In a multitude of e-solutions ESP educators are always in a search of tailorable solutions to meet the specialized requirements of their target audiences, a great number of which are in high demand of Business English due to its omnipresence and widespread relevance across diverse disciplines and professions. A highly flexible option capable of augmenting the scope and quality of ESP learning exposure are digital portfolios, a prosperous and resourceful platform supportive of multiple literacies and foreign language skills development. ESP educators can harness their potential in numerous ways and due to their customizability, an endless variety of conceivable end products is possible. While highlighting the potential educational use of digital portfolios the paper draws on findings of graduate students’ views on the importance of Business English collected as part of a reflective writing assignment. The purpose of the qualitative analysis was to provide an insight into their analytical perspective of Business English importance for their prospective business careers and businesses in general. Findings from the study indicate that all students perceive the key role of Business English as a new job requirement and a clear pathway to career success necessary for climbing the business ladder. The challenges identified are students’ frustrations and resistance to speaking the language including their concerns about the lack of knowledge as an impediment to their future career advancements.
Affiliation of the author(s)
Faculty of Economics, Osijek, Croatia
University of Applied Sciences
Biographical note(s) of the author(s)
Sanda Katavić-Čaušić holds a BA degree in English and German Language and Literature and an MSc degree in economics. She currently teaches Business English courses at the Faculty of Economics. Her interests include LSP and applied linguistics research, ICT in FLT and intercultural communication.
Borislav Marušić holds a BA degree in English and German Language and Literature and PhD degree in German philology. As a college professor he teaches Business English and German courses and is actively involved in organisation and delivery of numerous international projects and expert lectures. His interests include corpus linguistics and translation studies.
| Contact e-mail address | katavic.sanda@gmail.com |
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