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- " , � - • � ': � - - · • � - � - � - · - Further Conversation � Practice for Business People · · STEVE FLINDERS AND · ' · · SIMON SWEENEY SERIES EDITOR: NICK BRIEGER Business English Pair Work Further Conversation Practice for Business People Steve Flinders and SilDon Sweeney SERIES EDITOR: NICK BRIEGER PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, USA Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 182-90 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Hannondsworth, Middlesex, England Published by Penguin Books 1998 10 Text copyright © Steve Flinders and Simon Sweeney 1998 Dlustration © Chris Chaisty 1998 All rights reserved The moral rights of the authors and of the illustrator have been asserted The photograph on pages 33 and 103 (by Sandra Lousada) is reproduced courtesy of Collections; the photographs on p.52 (by Sandra Lousada, Paul Bryans and John Wender) are reproduced cour tesy of Collections and the photographs on p 122 (by George Wright, Anthea Sieveking and John Cross) are reproduced courtesy of Collections and Barnaby's Picture Library Printed in England by William Clowes Limited, Beccles and London Set in New Century Schoolbook and Helvetica Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser Photocopying notice The pages in the book marked From Business English Pair Work by Steve Flinders and Simon Sweeney © Penguin Books 1998 P H 0, COP I A LEmay be photocopied free of charge for classroom use by the purchasing individual or institution This permission to copy does not extend to branches or additional schools of an institution All other copying is subject to permis sion from the publisher Acknowledgements The publishers make grateful acknowledgement to York Associates for permission to reproduce copyright material as follows: ideas presented in the York Associates' video Communicating Styles by Derek Utley in Activity 17: Communicating Styles (ISBN 948333 62 6); definitions of certain business terms in the glossary of this book taken from Key Tenns in Personnel by Steve Flinders (ISBN 948333 46 4); and notes on giving presentations adapted from T he York Associates Teaching Business English Handbook by Nh� Brieger (ISBN 900991 07 1) More details of all three titles are available from York Associates Publications, 116 Micklegate, York YOI IJy, England, tel: + 44 (0)1904'624246, fax: + 44 (0) 1904 646971, e-mail: training@yorkassoc.go-ed,com, The authors and publishers would also like to thank: • Bob Dignen at York Associates for Activity 64: Troubleshooting; • Adrian Furnham of the University College London Business Psychology Unit and regular contributor to The Financial Times, who invented the exercise type used in Activy 47: Privatisation; and • Gunilla Ingels for providing the inspiration for Activity 40: Nerd management Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders in every case, The publishers would be interested to hear from any not acknowledged here, Contents 11 Introduction v Teachers' Notes Pair Work Activities Activity r Student A Student B Activity Student A Student B Ice breaker 31 101 34 Management development 65 135 Active listening 32 102 35 Managing an investment portfolio 66 136 Advertising standards 33 103 36 Managing the future 67 137 Age in employment 34 104 37 Market share 68 138 Annual report 35 105 38 Micro-lending 69 139 70 140 72 142 Banks, lending and borrowing 36 106 39 Negotiating a deal Brand positioning 37 107 40 Nerd management Budget negotiation 38 108 41 New product 73 143 Business anecdote 39 109 42 Performance appraisal 74 144 10 Business ethics 40 110 43 Personal presentation 75 145 11 Business grammar 41 111 44 Personnel management 76 146 12 Business philosophy 42 112 45 Planning a meeting 77 147 13 Business and the environment 43 113 46 Pricing strategy 78 148 149 14 Business in the community 44 114 47 Privatization 79 15 Capital investment 45 115 48 Product management 80 150 16 Career advice 46 116 49 Product presentation 81 151 17 Communicating styles 47 117 50 Promotion 82 152 18 Competence development 48 118 51 Quiz 83 153 19 Competitive tendering 49 119 52' Recession 84 154 20 Conference organization 50 120 53 Relocation 85 155 21 Consumer movement 51 121 54 Reward 86 156 22 Consumer survey 52 122 55 Safety at work 87 157 23 Contract dispute 54 124 56 Shareholders' expectations 88 158 24 Corporate culture 55 125 57 Small talk 89 159 25 Creative thinking 56 126 58 Social arrangements 90 160 26 Ethical marketing 57 127 59 Socializing 91 161 27 Executive recruitment 58 128 60 Talking politics 92 162 28 Form filling 59 129 61 Talking politics 93 163 29 Homeworking 60 130 62 Top businesses 94 164 30 Industrial espionage 61 131 63 95 165 International marketing 62 132 64 Training 31 Troubleshooting 96 166 32 Job satisfaction 63 133 65 Utopia 97 167 33 Just-in-time management 64 134 Notes on Making Presentations 169 Glossary 172 A-Z of Language Functions 176 Communication Skill Table 180 iii I ntrod uction To the teacher Business English Pair Work has been written in response to the demand for more fluency practice activities Its aim is to give foreign students of Business English, working in pairs, addi tional classroom practice in communicative activities in order to develop fluency in communi cation skills As with its predecessor, Business English Pair Work 1, the material addresses a wide range of adult themes from a variety of professional areas; however, most of the activities not require specialist knowledge The activities have been designed in order to provide communicative practice around: • business communication skills • key language functions The material is completely independent of any course book and can, therefore, be used on any Business English course Business English Pair Work consists of sixty-five activities The activities are in one book containing: • teachers' notes • the role information for student A • the role information for student B • notes on making presentations • a glossary of business terms • an A-Z of language functions, together with sample exponents • a table showing the communication skiIl(s) practised in each activity Target learners The activities are aimed at learners of Business English at intermediate level or above All the activities can be done by in-service learners: people who need English for their work Most of the activities can also be done in their existing form by pre-service learners: people training for a career in the business world The few remaining activities can be done by pre-service learn ers after minor adaptations have been made and explanations of key concepts have been given by the teacher The teachers' notes provide suggestions for lead-in activities to get pre-service students thinking about business management areas; the glossary provides key words for the managt!ment areas covered Description and organization The book contains sixty-five pair work activities These are arranged in alphabetical order by title (see contents page), except for the Ice breaker, ""hich comes first The activities can be done in any order and roles A and B can be taken by either person in the pair All the infor mation for each activity is given in the book Each activity consists of: • a short introduction to set the scene and provide some background information about the business theme • Student A's role (first part of the book) v Introduction • Student B's role (second part of the book) Each activity focuses on a communication skill (see below), Therefore, we have shown for each activity: • the communication skill to be practised • the language function(s) which may be drawn out All of the activities can be done in pairs; however, some of the discussion activities can also be done in small groups Activity types There are four main types of activities in the book: Information gap: These are activities in which students are asked to perform a task together; they fall into two categories In the first, one student has access to all the information and tries to impart it to hislher partner In the second, both students are given access to half the information and by work ing together try to solve the whole problem Discussion and conversation: These are activities designed to stimulate students to discuss a subject or subjects with their partner, usually in order to reach agreement These activities can often be done in small groups, as well as by pairs Role play: These are activities in which students are given specific roles to play in order to carry out a task Simulation: These are activities in which students play themselves but are given a definite task to or are put in a specific situation Communication skills By doing the activities, students will practise: • presentations • phone calls • meetings and discussions • negotiations • social English in a professional context The materials are designed both to practise communication skills and deveiop effective commu nication techniques Thus they focus on both fluency and effectiveness vi Introduction How to use the book The materials are not graded Therefore you can choose an activity on the basis of theme or communication skill Suggested procedure for the activity Present the overall theme of the activity, focusing on key vocabulary for the topic Warm up class with lead-in questions in teachers' notes; focus on key vocabulary that will be needed in the activity Divide the class into pairs Assign roles A and B Ask students to read the introduction Ask students to look at the information for their role Make sure that they know what they have to and, if necessary, how long they have to it Give students enough time to prepare This is particularly important for some of the activi ties, where students need to both absorb and understand the information before starting to communicate S Monitor the pairs while they carry out the activity, prompting the use of functional expo nents, if necessary Suggested procedure after the activity Feedback to the learner(s) Provide feedback for individuals, pairs, or the class on strengths and weaknesses, appropriate usage and/or mistakes Refer students to glossary for vocabu lary items, where appropriate Feedback from the learner�s For problem-solving activities, ask pairs to present their solu tions One technique which involves the whole class is as follows: a) ask one pair to repeat the activity with another pair b) ask one group of four to repeat the activity with another group c) enlarge the group size each time, until a joint conclusion has been reached Follow-up activities The teachers' notes provide ideas for follow-up activities which can be done either in class or for homework Timing some activities can be short (about 10 minutes); others are likely to take longer, perhaps even r a whole lesson There are no time limits on the activities, except those decided by the teacher and the learners However, you should agree and set time limits - both for preparation and for the activity Don't allow an activity to drag on for too long Better a few minutes too short than too long Additional resources As some of the activities involve figures, a pocket calculator may be useful vii Teachers ' notes Ice breaker Active listeni ng Introduction Introduction 'Ice breakers' are short exercises for use with a new class to help people get to know each other This activity aims to raise students ' awareness of the importance of active listening through practising this necessary skill It is a test of how well students listen; and an exercise in encouraging them to look at the different ways in which listeners can support speakers Lead-in Ask why it is important to be able to: introduce yourself and say what you 'break the ice' with strangers ask polite questions Method With a group class, divide students i nto As and Bs There are two possible methods Either Bs introduce themselves, then As introduce themselves before Bs ask all their questions and then As question Bs Or students take it in turns to ask a question Stress the importance of the two follow-up questions Explain this is how small talk develops and helps to build relationships The follow-up questions should help the natural flow of the conversations Students need move on to a new topic only when one topic has naturally dried up If the group is not too large, get students to walk around so that all the As get to talk to all the Bs and vice versa Lead-in Ask the students: if they are good listeners (they will naturally say that they are!) what makes a good listener what makes an active listener You could at �his point show some sound-down video extracts of your own choice with samples of good and bad listeners portrayed in order to elicit more characteristics of active and inac tive listening You could also some warm-up prac tice in summarizing by giving them some listening or text-based input and then asking them for concise 20-30 second oral summaries of the input Method I You may wish to brainstorm or pre-teach vocabulary associated with downsizing With weaker students, you may furthermore wish to Follow-up Get students to practise telling the whole group some key information about themselves: • name • job title, responsibilities • company name, activity, location, etc Provide a model or elicit a good example from one particular student Explain the importance of being able to clearly introduce oneself and talk about one's work, responsibilities, company, etc Some specific research and thought mav be required to rensure that all students have a good understanding of their job title in English Students could find out this information before the next class, if they are not sure now Get students to write short personal profiles of them selves or of their partners The latter could provide a collaborative effort between pairs invite them to contribute arguments for and against downsizing as preparation for the activity Filming the activity on video could help with analysis and feedbac k on the non-linguistic aspects of the students' listening after the end of the activity Follow-up I Get feedback from student A on the accuracy of student B's reporting and vice versa Discuss the degree of difficulty and usefulness of the exercise This technique can be further practised using other activ itit!s in this book; or in other general discussions which you can organize yourself Teachers' notes Advertising standards Illtrodllctioll I"traduction Age in employment This role play is a potentially highly conflictive meeting This is a topical subject in at least some advanced indus between a journalist and a representative of a company that trial societies and your students may well have their own is under attack First- or second-hand experiences to recount Lead-ill Lead-ill Ask students if they think television programmes should Briefly discuss how widespread ageism is ill lhe society not be allowed to aHack companies and their products in which your students live and work Also discuss briefly why ageism exists Method I Begin with a discussion on body language and conflict! avoiding conflict in discussion Elicit examples of Method J Each parlner should try and convince the other (although aggressive body language (pointing staring thumping it may be wise to sound out opinions before the start the table, frowning, 'set' mouth/jaw, etc Add to this in order to find out which side each should take) If all suggestions on what language is aggressive: direct, students are fervently anti-ageist and reluctant to take accusing blaming, personalizing discussion, elc Elicit student A's part, point out that ageism is widespread ways to reduce the risk of a discussion becoming too and that it could be interesting to try and anticipate conflictive Conflict can be reduced by keeping calm, some of the arguments used by recruiters who will not having a soft tone of voice, avoiding aggressive body consider older people, by playing this role language, avoiding personal attacks, using indirect Encourage all participants to think of their additional rather than direct language, etc arguments and to think of plenty of real life examples to support their positions Givc students the necessary time to think about their roles Put students into pairs FollOW-lip A begins with criticism of the product and the claims This is a subject where there can be a curious gap between made for the product people's claims (not many people will admit to ageist alti B responds defensively tudes) and the reality (there is serious discrimination The argument continues in true television style but against older people in the labour market in many indus try to avoid too much conflicl trialized countries) The (British) Institute of Personnel and A nice option would be to video the interview so students Development is committed 10 the removal of age discrim can watch it as if part of the eventual television ination in employment and documentation on the subject programme can be obtained from the IPD, IPD House, Camp Road, London SWI9 4UX, tel: J 97 J 9000, fax: J 263 3333 FollOW-III' If you have the resources, have your class make a video documentary along the lines of this role play, including Annual report interviews about various products It could be part of an on-going project Itltroduction Annual reports are a useful source of information on partic ular companies and collectively represent a useful source of authentic materials for teaching Lead-ill Explain that all the categories listed in the activity have been used in real annual reports Then ask the students about the functions and usefulness of annual reports Invite opin ions briefly on what should go into an annual report Method Explain that the students must first of all invent a company identity and then design an annual report for that company , Notes on Maki ng Presentations A number of the activities i n this book involve presentations Here are some guidelines for doing this in English Giving a good presentation means paying attention to: Content • There should be the right quantity of information • It should be pitched at the right level for the audience Structure • It should be well organized, with a clear beginning, middle and ending • The organization should be transparent so that the audience can see the beginning, the middle and the ending Delivery • You should vary the variety and tempo of your voice to hold the audience's interest • Your body language should signal confidence, openness and involvement • You should maintain good eye contact with the audience • You should make effective use of visual aids to reinforce your message Language • You should check details of the grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation of your presentation to make sure you get the message across • You should think about the kind of language that will help people remember what you have said The main building blocks of your presentation will be as follows: Opening: introduce yourself and your presentation Outline talk Present main body divided into parts (first, second, third) Summarize main message Conclude talk Invite questions/discussion There are some aspects of making a presentation which need special attention Here are some language suggestions for each of them As a speaker moves through hislher presentation, it is vital to signal to the audience what he/she is going to - to give a 'commentary ' on recent and planned progress, so that the listeners know exactly where they are The follow ing list is not complete, and will not be suitable for the personality of every speaker Students should explore the range of phrases and, in the light of the subject of their talk, the style they prefer 69 Notes on Making Presentations Introducing yourself and your presentation Good morning/afternoon, ladies and gentlemen My name is and I am responsible for I' d like to talk to you today about here at Outlining the talk I've divided my talk into five main parts: First(ly) second(ly) third(ly) fourth finally Ground rules If you have any questions please feel free to interrupt I'll be glad to answer them at the end of my talk Starting your first part To start with First of all, then Firstly, Let me begin by saying Finishing a part Well, that's all I have to say about So that, then, is Now we' ve dealt with Starting a new part Let's move on now to The next point I'd like to make is Next we come to Turning now to Referring back As I mentioned earlier If you remember, I said at the beginning Referring forward As we will see later, Introducing your last point And finally, Lastly, Summarizing So now, I'd just like to summarize the main points Let me sum up Concluding In conclusion, Well, that brings me to the end of my talk Thank you for your attention Thank you for listening 70 Notes on Making Presentations Inviting questions and comments And now, if you have any questions, I' ll be glad to answer them Does anyone have any questions or comments? Now we have time for some discussion Any comments or questions on the points I've talked about? Checking that the questioner is satisfied Does that answer your question? I hope that answers your question Inviting further questions Are there any more questions? Ending If there are no more questions or points to raise, I' d like to thank you for your attention There are no short cuts to making a good presentation But preparation and practice will take you a long way towards performing this important skill well Preparation gives you the confidence to communicate what you want to say effectively Practice also helps you to improve your perfonnance in general, and in particular your time management 171 Glossary Agent Someone who sells goods or services for a prQducer of those goods or services Appraise To measure the performance of someone, give feedback on the performance of someone Audit A detailed analysis of an important feature of an organization Auditors, the people who carry out audits, usually write reports and may make recommendations for changes to be made Examples: a financial audit, a management audit, a language audit Balance sheet A statement showing the financial position of a company at a particular time Benchmark To a survey of competing organizations to measure 'best practice' with the objective of then improving on their performance For example, a survey of the personnel function in an industry might measure the number of personnel staff as a percentage of the workforce, the amount spent on training per employee, the rate and cost of staff turnover, salary costs as a percentage of operating costs, and so on Bid An offer, usually to work at a given price Board (of Directors) (In a British company) The committee of shareholders' representatives to which the company's Chief Executive Officer is answerable Borrow To have money from someone (e.g a bank) for a limited period, normally paying interest Broker Someone who buys and sells investments, insurance, etc Budget The amount of money planned for spending on a particular project Bum-out An employee experiences bum-out when he/she works so hard for so long that he/she can no longer continue at the same demanding pace as before Charity An organization for helping people in need Civil service People employed in government departments Claim Something said about someone or something, often controversial Client A customer, especially of a service Competence The ability to something to an acceptable standard Collateral Something offered by somebody as a guarantee that they will pay back a loan Compensation Money paid to reduce the costs, pain or other negative consequences of an action Competition, competitors Other companies who are trying to sell their goods to the same consumers Component A manufactured part used in making a larger manufactured product Compromise To come to an agreement at a point somewhere between the two starting positions Consumer Someone who buys goods or services Contractor An individual or an organization contracted to some work Core business The main or central business of a company Cost benefits analysis A study into the relative costs and income associated with a given project Coverage The amount of reporting of an event by the media Currency Money denomination, eg, Yen, Dollar Discount A percentage or amount taken off the standard price Distribution Movement of goods from producer to consumer andlor user Diversity Managing a workforce where employees of different genders, ethnic origins, social backgrounds and so on, are all equally valued Dividend A regular payment as a proportion of profits paid to shareholders Donation A gift of money, clothes or food, often to a charity Downsize To reduce the size of an organization's workforce, cut jobs Economy of scale A cost saving achieved by working in bigger quantities Endorsement A statement by a leading authority that something is good Exclusive Luxury, high qUality Expand To increase, get bigger 172 Glossary Firefighter A manager who solves serious problems within the organization as and when they arise 11 Freeze To stop, block or hold at the same level as before Frontier The border between two states Global Worldwide Growth The extent to which a business or an economy expands Hack To illegally access data in an organization's computer network Headhunting Offering a job to a very competent individual who presently works for a competitor Heavy goods vehicle Big lorry or truck Housekeeping Maintenance, or keeping up order, condition and generally tidy appearance Implement To put into effect Information technology (IT) Computer hardware and software Infrastructure The basic structures and facilities which an organization needs in order to function, for example buildings, administrative systems, electricity and so on Injection Money put into a company or a project Invest To put money into something Joint Shared, 50-50, equal Joint venture A partnership between two companies who decide to work together on a specific project Landscape To design and create gardens according to a plan Layer An administrative level in an organization For example, a lean organization might have only three or four layers between the most senior manager and the bottom grade employee Lend To let someone have money for a limited period, on which usually they pay interest Logistics A general term for the planning and administration of a routine activity or a special project Logo A symbol used by a company as a sign for everyone to identify it by Shell, McDonald's, Mercedez Benz and Coca-Cola all have logos which are recognized world wide Low wage economy A country where wages are traditionally low and normally skill and education levels are low too Market share The proportion of the total market controlled by a particular supplier Media Newspapers, radio, television Mentoring Mentoring is when an experienced professional person agrees to help you with your professional development by meeting with you regularly, giving you advice and telling you what they have learnt about the job in their own careers Merge To join together Monopoly The only supplier in a particular market Nation-wide All over the country r Outgoings Costs, expenses Outsource Outsourcing is when an organization stops employing pe�ple to a certain job like cleaning and instead gives the responsibility for providing the service to another company which specialises in this activity Common examples of outsourcing are canteen services, security and training Overdraft Borrowing from a bank, negative amount of money in a current account Overheads The regular or fixed costs of running a business like insurance, water, electricity and rent Partnership A group of two or more individuals or companies who have decided to work together Pension The money you get on a regular (weekly or monthly) basis from the state or your employer or from a private fund, after you retire Performance-related pay A scheme which makes part of what employees earn depend on how well their bosses (or, sometimes, their colleagues or customers) think they are working 173 Glossary Perks Special benefits and bonuses that go with top jobs Personal hYgiene Keeping yourself, your teeth, hair and clothes clean Pilot project A trial period for a project to test whether the idea actually works before implementing it completely Plant A factory, manufacturing facility Portable pension A pension plan which you can take with you when you move from one company to another (See also: Pension.) Preliminary First or early ideas or attempts Privatized Sold by the government to private investors, so becoming a private company instead of a state company Productivity The relationship between output and costs, where high output relative to costs means high productivity Public spending Money that a government spends on health, education, defence, transport, welfare, etc Punctuality B eing on time Questionnaire A set of questions presented as part of a survey into what people do, think, want, prefer, etc Recession A general decline or under-performance of the economy in a stated geographical area Redundant Out of work, unemployed Registrati on You register for something, for example a sporting event, when you say that you want to take part, usually by filling in a form Relocate To move to another place, especially a factory or company Remuneration The total of all the pay and benefits you receive from your employer Remuneration committee A committee of members of the Board of Directors which decides the pay of the senior managers of a company Rent The regular payment you make for the use of a building, land, equipment, etc Respondent Someone who answers questions in a survey or questionnaire Retail To sell to the general public Revenue Money coming in to the business Sack To make a worker redundant Sales performance How well products or services sell Second To transfer employees temporarily to another part of the organization or to lend them to another organization for a certain period of time (Pronunciation note: the stress falls on the second syllable.) Security A form of guarantee, especially for a loan Share A dOCument recording a part ownership in a company and worth a sum of money The value of the share depends on the number of shares in the company, the performance of the compa ny and the total assets of the company Share price The value at a given time of shares in a company Shareholder Someone who owns shares in a company (and so is a part owner of the company) Shortlist To select a small number of applicants for a job - usually no more than six from a larger number Site A place where a factory is located Skill Ability, special technical aptitude Sponsorship Money paid by a company to a social, sporting or cultural event, or organi zation, to pro mote that event but also to advertise the name of the company paying the money Staff The personnel or workforce of a company Stakeholder Anyone who has some interest in encouraging the success of a business, for example shareholders, employees and their families, suppliers and customers State-of-the -art The most modem solution of its kind Stock Goods held in storage ready for use or sale Strategy A p lan, method or way to achieve what is desired Subsidiary A company which is controlled by another one 74 Glossary Supplier The producer of goods or services Supply chain The system which gets all the things to a company which it needs to make a product; and which gets the product to a place where its customers can buy it Survey A study to find out what people think, like, want, etc Tender A bid, an offer Thrnover The total money received through sales Voucher A piece of paper which you can exchange for certain goods or services, for example luncheon vouchers, which you can use instead of money to get lunch in certain restaurants Work-in-progress Work which has been contracted but not yet invoiced • 75 A-Z of Lang uage Functions This glossary gives some exponents for key functions indicated after the activity title It is intended only as a quick reference to the kind of language practice a particular activity might generate Teachers may wish to elicit or provide further exponents of a specific function before beginning an activity Agreeing/disagreeing I agree with you/that Up to a point, I agree with you/that (I'm afraid) I disagree with you/that Blaming It's your fault You're responsible for You shouldn't have done/said that Correcting I think you've made a mistake there It's not That's not quite right I said Declining/rejecting (an offer) No, thanks I' m sorry but I can't accept that I' m afraid that's unacceptable I couldn't possibly accept that Emphasizing The following words add emphasis: real(ly) e.g that's really wonderful absolute(ly) e.g it was an absolute miracle indeed e.g their service was very good indeed Forecasting The goods are bound to arrive tomorrow The goods are likely to arrive tomorrow The goods may arrive tomorrow The goods are unlikely to arrive tomorrow The goods can 't possibly arrive tomorrow Greetings and farewells Greetings forfirst meeting Reply Hello, how you do? How you do? Nice to meet you Nice to meet you, too Greetings for second and subsequent meetings Nice to see you again How are you? Reply Very well, thanks And you? Fine thanks And you? Not too bad, thanks And you? Not too good, I' m afraid Awful/dreadful/terrible (between friends) 76 A-Z of Language Functions • Farewells Reply Nice meeting you (again) Nice meeting you (again), too Hesitating Actually, Basically, You see You know It's like this, you see Introducing self and others May I introduce myself My name's And may I introduce my colleagues This is Judging I'm convinced/sure/positive I thinklbelieve/feel I tend to think I' m inclined to feel Knowing I know we sent the goods I think we sent the goods I doubt if we sent the goods Liking and preferring I like visiting clients (= I enjoy it) I like to visit clients in their offices (= It is appropriate) I would like (you) to send that fax as soon as possible I prefer working in my office to travelling abroad I ' d rather work in my office than travel abroad Measuring and calculating If you add the figures together, you get If you take the total time and subtract , you get Let's see what we get if we divide/multiply by Negotiating Let's discuss the terms of the contract I'd like to settle the disagreement between us I think we can accept this contract if you Obliging (see also vetoing) To be obliged to something We must find a way of solving the cashfiow problems Do we have to what he says? Isn 't there an alternative? To oblige someone to something These cashflow problems require us to look at our payment policy (require/force/compeVoblige someone to something) The problems have made us re-evaluate our current practices Permitting You may take as much time as you need You are allowed/permitted to look at the answers now May/might I make a comment at this point? Do you mind if I 77 A-Z of Language Functions Questioning Could you tell me I'd like to know I wonder if you could tell me Do you happen to know Regretting It's a (great) shame/pity that I' m sorry to hear that I'm afraid that Unfortunately, Sequencing First/first of a11/initially/to start with Second/secondly Then/after that/next/subsequently Finally Telling I told him that I said (to him) that I informed them about I explained to him about I reported to them that Urging We should make a decision soon You ought to review the situation I suggest that you check your records I (would) advise you to check your records Vetoing (see also obliging) To be obliged not to something You mustn' t/may not give this information to anyone outside the company You are not allowed/permitted to To oblige someone not to something The regulations prohibit us from giving this information to anyone outside the company Welcoming Welcome to It's a pleasure to welcome you to We are very pleased to have you with us (E)Xpressing Your amaZement (and other emotions) Amazement This is a surprise ! I'm very surprised that Fearlworry I'm worried about I' m concerned that 178 A-Z of Language Functions Gratitude I' m very grateful to you for It was very kind of you to Sympathy I' m very sorry about Indifference It doesn't matter I don't mind I don't care 179 00 I Com m u n ication S ki l l Table Presentation Phone call Meeting/discussion Ice breaker Advertising standards Age in employment Annual report Brand positioning B anks, lending and borrowing x x x Budget negotiation x x x x Business anecdote Business ethics x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 1 Business grammar 12 Business philosophy Business and the environment x x 14 Business in the community Capital investment Career advice Communicating styles Competence development Competitive tendering ) x x 20 Conference organization Consumer movement 22 Consumer survey 23 Contract dispute 24 Corporate culture 25 Creative thinking x x 26 Ethical marketing 27 Executive recruitment 28 Form filling 29 Homeworking 30 Industrial espionage International marketing ,., Social English x x x x x x Active listening Negotiation x Ip ' x x x x x x 'a , II of to 32 Job satisfaction 33 Just-in-time management x x 36 Managing an investment portfolio x x x 40 Nerd management x 42 Performance appraisal x x x 45 Planning a meeting x 46 Pricing strategy x 48 Product management 50 Promotion x x x x Quiz x 52 Recession 53 Relocation 54 Reward x x x x 55 S afety at work 56 Shareholders' expectations 57 Small talk 58 Social arrangements 59 S ocializing 60 Talking politics Talking politics 62 Top businesses 00 I x x x x x x x x x x x 63 Training x 65 Utopia x 64 Troubleshooting - x x 47 Privatization 49 Product presentation x x New product 44 Personnel management x x 39 Negotiating a deal 43 Personal presentation x x 35 Managing the future Micro-lending ,II x 34 Management development 37 Market share � x x � I Business English Pair Wor/.: gives i n termediate students of B u s i ness English further usef practice i n com m un i cat i o n s k i lls As i n Busilless English Pair Wor J there arc fo ur types exercise: i n fo r m a t i o n gap, d i scussi on, role-play a n d s i m u l a ti o n A l l the exercise wor ig fc pletely new a n d t h e re i s i n tensive work on writing reports, negot i a t i n g budgets and r consumer s urveys, t i n i ng a n d executive recru i t me n t There are a l so special activi ties small t a l k , soci a l a rra ngcments, tel l i ng a necdotes a n d exchanging o p i n i o ns, a nd socializil Pair \\ ork exercises a re ideal fo r practice and confi dence in busi ness comm u n icatioll A l l exercises are p h o t ocopiable a n d they can easily b e used by pre-service o r i n -service st udel Bllsiness English Pair Work t a i n s : 65 new s t i m u l a t i n g pa i r work activities exercises lor st udent A a n d B i n the same book detai led Teacher's N otes a n A-Z of l a nguage fu nctions a table sh o\\'ing the c o m m u n icat i ons practised i n each act i \ i t y a glossary o f busi ness terms BlI.lille.IS English P({ir Work :: is a n ideal in gred i e n t in a ny B usiness English course and used to supplement a n y co u rse materia l A l s o p u b l i shed : Bllsiness Ellglish Pair " (II'" I Cover phOtograph C VC.LJrIPP HowellfTelegraph Colour library • PENGUIN Stcve F l i nders a n d S i m o n S\\cene� C