The reflection of time in teaching Business English is definitely an immense one, as language is about communication and the development of learning it, walks hand in hand with the societies which give rise to it. What does this mean? Being human activities, both teaching and learning a foreign language are as well social as they are linguistic. The development of the societies led to an unbelievable technological development which comes as an aid in the process of teaching and learning Business English. Among some other factors, the gradual economic globalization has led to a great demand on teaching English for specific purposes, as part of English Language Teaching. Being widely used in a globally connected world, the importance of Business English is increasing more and more, as the market is dominated by multinational companies which need their staff to be fluent in English. Thus, teachers face the need of keeping the pace with the fast-developing technological world, try to find new methods of boosting the teaching process. Moreover, teaching Business English has already developed its own methodology, involving specific language, specific types of communication in a certain context, as it is designed to meet the exact needs of the learners. The general term of Business English is centered on the appropriate language, approaching it in terms of vocabulary, grammar, case study, and discourse. The goal of all the persons involved in this complex process is to create users of the language who communicate effectively, in correspondence as well as in face to face situations. The present paper approaches new ideas, new methods that can be put into practice in the process of teaching Business English. The topics of the Business English include business phrases, terms of sale, advertising, marketing, tourism, management – all these requiring the teacher’s ability to select, develop, combine the material in order to boost the results of the students involved in the process of learning.
This study examines students’ views and experiences regarding the use of ChatGPT at South East European University (SEEU) in North Macedonia, focusing on its benefits and challenges. A review of existing literature highlights the increasing interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT in educational settings, emphasizing their potential to support language learning, offer personalized feedback, and boost student engagement. However, concerns are also raised about the possible drawbacks of AI in education, including the risk of over-reliance, which might hinder critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Ethical issues, such as academic integrity and the reliability of AI-generated responses, are also frequently mentioned, particularly in relation to writing tasks and assessments. There is additional concern that dependence on AI may limit students’ ability to learn independently.The study uses a questionnaire to explore the challenges and benefits of integrating ChatGPT into EFL education. The findings suggest that while students perceive ChatGPT as a useful resource for learning and support its use for specific academic purposes, acceptance varies depending on the task and individual attitudes toward AI in education. The data recommend that ChatGPT should serve as a supplementary tool rather than a replacement for independent thought and creativity, and stress the importance of verifying the accuracy of AI-generated content.
The Moodle platform has been used a lot lately in higher education not only for distance learning but also in hybrid classes and as an accessory to the regular form of instruction. This article discusses the usefulness of Moodle in producing tests for language teaching and learning. Allowing several self-evaluation tests and scheduled practice, learning through discovery and through practice is ensured if more attempts are set available. Final testing can also be safely implemented, but this empirical study shall particularly focus on how Moodle can be made into an invaluable tool, useful for innumerable types of language learning areas, from vocabulary to grammar aspects, through the provision of time-saving and appealing quizzes, beneficial both to language teachers and to students. The various tests or quizzes, after being created and implemented, set available within the application, shall then forth render instant, accurate, useful feedback to the students accessing and solving them, as well as to the teacher. Thus, Moodle quizzes are at the same time valid practicing instruments in classes or individual sessions, and means of regular assessments as well, being equally valuable in progress checking and self-checking. The exemplification in this article refers to one of the quiz question types that is most offering and at the same time most elaborate, both in producing it and in its outcome, namely the embedded answer question type. The expertise of the author in creating and using such an exercise type may be of help to other teachers who have the opportunity to use Moodle in their work and could make good use of the examples provided here.
This article examines the possibility of teaching Asian languages—specifically Korean—within the framework of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) in Romania, particularly for business communication. As Romania’s economic ties with East Asian countries continues to strengthen, there is a growing demand for professionals equipped with both linguistic proficiency and cultural understanding to navigate these partnerships effectively. The article begins with a literature review on LSP, highlighting global trends in Asian language learning and existing research in Romania. It discusses the benefits of cultural competence in business and the competitive advantages that language proficiency can provide in the global market. By proposing a conceptual framework for implementing Korean LSP programs, this article highlights how these initiatives can enhance Romania’s workforce competitiveness, foster deeper business relationships, and strengthen the country’s position in the global economy. The findings aim to serve as a foundation for future empirical research and practical applications in language education.
The interaction hypothesis of second-language acquisition states that the development of language proficiency can be facilitated by face-to-face interaction and communication between native speakers of the language and language learners. This paper examines the relationship between interaction and listening of learners in the second language classroom. The study compared the comprehension of 8 non-native English speakers in a Ghanaian junior high school on directions to a listening comprehension task presented by a proficient speaker of English. The learners were divided into one experimental group and one control group and compared under two input conditions: pre-modified input, in which the proficient speaker presents the tasks using language that has been modified by decreased complexity, increased quantity, and redundancy; and interactionally modified input, in which the tasks are presented using language that had not been pre-modified but had enough opportunities for interaction with the proficient speaker. The study found that repeating and rephrasing the language to explain the directions during interaction resulted in increased comprehension. The study’s findings support longstanding claims about the importance of interaction in promoting second-language listening comprehension. These findings also provide recommendations for reorganizing classroom interaction to meet learners’ needs for comprehensible input.
The present study delves into the field of Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) by assessing a series of authentic tasks implemented in two Business Spanish courses at distinct institutions in the United States with differing modalities: 1) a small private university on the East coast (n=18) with a face-to-face teaching modality and 2) a large public university in the Midwest (n=9) with an online asynchronous modality. The tasks, previously identified through a Needs analysis (author, 2017), included finding a real job offer in a Spanish-speaking country, preparing a Curriculum Vitae, writing a cover letter, and performing a mock job interview. These tasks required individual and collaborative work throughout the semester. At the end of the term, students completed an anonymous survey consisting of nineteen quantitative and qualitative questions evaluating the tasks’ relevance, usefulness, and difficulty. Overall, results revealed that participants from both institutions and modalities valued the usefulness of this task sequence, often rating it as equally or more useful than the rest of the course content, while identifying the job interview as the most challenging task. Furthermore, notable differences between teaching modalities emerged, with online asynchronous students expressing a desire for additional peer interaction compared to the face-to-face counterparts. These findings shed light on the importance of developing, implementing, and adapting SSP authentic tasks to closely resemble real-world job expectations upon graduation while also considering the unique needs of diverse educational settings and modalities. This study provides valuable insights for instructors and program directors in Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) to develop curricula that better prepare students for globalized workplaces.
This research examines the impact of educational games and Concept Checking Questions (CCQs) on the enhancement of critical thinking abilities in middle school pupils in Morocco. The study, conducted at TAZI School in Casablanca, compared two student groups: one group experienced new teaching strategies, such as educational games and CCQs, while the other got conventional instruction. The findings indicated that students using educational games and Concept Checking Questions exhibited notable improvement in their critical thinking skills, whereas those in the conventional training cohort saw a deterioration. These results emphasize the need to use interactive, student-centered pedagogical approaches to improve cognitive development and engagement in Moroccan education. The research emphasizes the possibility of using creative and inquiry-based methodologies, such as educational games and Concept Checking Questions, to enhance critical thinking among middle school students, providing significant insights for educators seeking to refine classroom procedures.
In the last decades all over the world emerged different trends and approaches in education in general, thus in teaching foreign languages too. New times are likely to need also new teaching methods, young people of this millennium put teachers in front of new challenges. Little by little, digitalisation becomes unavoidable, for the young generation even natural. Thus, in this study we would like to find out, how they use artificial intelligence (AI) if at all and above all if digital teaching and learning tools lead to more student engagement and effectiveness. As this issue, as far as we know, has not been researched in case of Romanian Economics students yet, the originality of this study resides in wanting to give an insight into this matter. The research methodology applied for this reason consists of an anonymous survey related to the abovementioned topics and of an experiment conducted in the summer term of the academic year 2023-2024 among first year students of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Oradea. Those taking part in the experiment were assigned to a control and an experimental group, respectively, where the same language issues – gender of the noun and vocabulary to the topic food names – were dealt with by means of traditional on one and digital tools on the other hand. To check retaining the staff drilled, students of both groups – for reasons of comparability in approximately the same number – had to take short nongraded tests. Variables possibly influencing the results: like previous experience with German language, willingness and capacity to learn, materialised in the grades of the previous term, were also taken into consideration. From the three hypotheses formulated at the beginning, our research produced clear-cut answers only to that related to knowing and using AI by the young generation and to their priority concerning teaching methods and tools. Our first supposition was confirmed, the second one, contrary to expectancy, not validated while in lack of plain, relevant results, the third one related to increased effectiveness of digital teaching and learning tools still remains undecided offering space for extended studies.
In today’s globalized business environment, cross-cultural communication plays a crucial role in facilitating collaboration and understanding among professionals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Effective acquisition of business terminology is essential for successful communication, negotiation, and professional interactions. This study explores how cross-cultural exposure influences the learning and comprehension of business vocabulary among professionals and students. The research investigates three primary objectives: the impact of cross-cultural interactions on business vocabulary acquisition in English language, the challenges posed by linguistic and cultural differences in learning business terminology, and the effective strategies to enhance English business vocabulary acquisition in multicultural settings. The study incorporates theories such as Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Hall’s high-context vs. low-context communication framework to analyze cultural influences on business terminology. It highlights challenges such as lexical gaps, idiomatic expressions, and translation difficulties, which often lead to misinterpretations in professional contexts. To address these challenges, the study emphasizes the significance of bilingualism, translation, and digital learning tools in facilitating effective communication. AI-powered applications and virtual platforms have transformed business communication, offering accessible language training and real-time translation services. Additionally, experiential learning methods such as role-playing and business simulations are explored as effective tools for improving cultural awareness and communication skills. These methods provide students and professionals with hands-on experience in navigating multicultural business interactions. A quantitative survey-based methodology was used to collect data from 215 respondents, including business students, professionals, and foreign managers. The study employed stratified random sampling to ensure diverse representation across industries and cultural backgrounds. The survey assessed participants’ experiences with cross-cultural communication, challenges in business terminology learning, and the effectiveness of various learning strategies. Findings from this research provide valuable insights into how international business interactions contribute to vocabulary development and propose strategies for improving cross-cultural business communication. In conclusion, this study underscores the necessity of cultural adaptability, effective translation methods, and digital tools in business terminology acquisition. By enhancing cross-cultural communication skills, professionals and students can improve their ability to navigate global business environments, fostering more effective and inclusive communication across cultural boundaries.
Many commentaries have spoken highly of this prelude in the Gospel of John – The Eternal Word. Its style and structure have been highly praised. There is no doubt that this text is quite popular and is often quoted by pastors when giving a sermon on the divinity of Jesus Christ. Indeed, in the Roman Catholic liturgy, this is the Gospel passage read during the Christmas day Mass every year. From the literature, therefore, the message of this passage has greatly contributed to its acclaim. However, the point of interest in this study is that, though the relevance of the message may have played a part in the high acclaim the passage has garnered, the organization of the text from New King James English version itself has played an equally important role in ensuring the popularity of the passage. As argued in systemic functional linguistics (SFL), the texture and organization of a text can contribute immensely to the delivery of the message. Accordingly, the main objective of this study was to investigate how the structural organization of the message of John 1: 1 – 18 has contributed to its dissemination. The theory that is applied in the study is aspects of the Textual Metafunction of Halliday’s SFL. This is a text-based model for which John 1: 1 – 18 (the New King James version) is taken as a textual artefact for linguistic exploration. In line with the principles of SFL, the clauses of this biblical text were qualitatively examined, focusing on its textual organization and cohesion. It was found that the prevalent thematic choices, thematic progression and cohesive elements have been strategically used to project the Christology of Jesus, consistently referred to as the Word, the Light, the Life and God.
Informality arguably has permeated almost every domain of language use in academia. This study thus explores informality in L2 postgraduate theses across four disciplines (i.e., English, Economics, Biology, and Civil Engineering). Using a corpus-based analysis and Chang and Swales’ (1999) informality model, we identified 4,003 tokens of informal features categorised into eight types: sentence-initial conjunctions/conjunctive adverbs, unattended anaphoric pronouns, first-person pronouns, listing expressions, sentence-final prepositions, split infinitives, second-person pronouns, and direct questions. We found that sentence-initial conjunctions/conjunctive adverbs, unattended anaphoric references, and first-person pronouns were preferred across the four disciplines, collectively accounting for 92% of all informal features. Moreover, disciplinary differences in using informal features were evident, with significant variations between soft and hard disciplines. The study provides insights into how L2 postgraduates navigate disciplinary norms and conventions in their theses.
The aim of this paper is the language analysis of an online-YouTube-interview, where the politeness is defined as a sociocultural entity. In this paper, the most influential theories of politeness are presented and the concept of face is explained. In addition to this, it presents in detail the difference between the positive and negative politeness. The data shows that politeness influences the choice of language means and how the language means can change the communicative situation where the functions of language means in adapting language are illustrated and shown.The results are based on an online-YouTube-interview which is analyzed linguistically by defining and showing the relationship between the participants in the given communication. It also shows how the speakers adapt the politeness forms in relation to the conversation partner. The analysis of the language of the moderator and the guest confirms the assumption that the language is related to the situational context and that the speakers adapt their language depending on the communicative situation, which has been shown by the tendency of the moderator and the interviewed guest to reduce distance, through the use of interpersonal discourse markers as well as other language means.
Medical communication skills are learned during undergraduate studies and residency programmes by future doctors through case presentations, medical interviews, and healthcare staff interactions. Approaches like peer tutoring, simulation-based education, and blended learning enhance these skills. Our study aims to draw attention to the significance of doctor-patient and doctor-doctor scenarios by presenting a course that facilitates sociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and code-switching skills that medical students need to successfully employ in future healthcare settings. We consider patient information, case presenting, and interviewing skills, as well as profound knowledge of medical language equally important elements. While highlighting the essential components of the doctor-patient discourse and revealing the students’ development of code-switching abilities, this article shares the results of a feedback survey completed by participants in a course entitled ‘History taking with actors; simulation practices in the mediskillslab’. We can see the gradual improvement in using medical terms, and the growing confidence of students presenting cases. The programme’s assessment approach, which provides constructive feedback from three perspectives—clinician, simulated patient, and communication instructor—helps the students pinpoint their areas for enhancement. Most students report no major difficulties in taking medical history by employing a simplified ‘patient-friendly’ language understandable to laypeople. However, when they intentionally choose a different code for reporting on their patients by using medical terms, younger students face challenges in creating a brief medical text. The most demanding task for senior participants proved to be delivering bad news; both emotionally and code-switch wise. Our study identifies these difficulties from history-taking simulations to case reports to raise awareness of levels of medical communication. As a conclusion, we believe that an early onset and gradual introduction of activities including history taking, case presentation, and breaking bad news should be incorporated into medical curricula to assist in the acquisition of highly professional, assertive, and empathetic communication skills by graduation.
Irony is a complex linguistic phenomenon that plays an important role in children’s literature. The use of irony in a children’s literary text opens up new possibilities for interpreting the text and also brings about an important change in the level of reception of the work, as it awakens not only the curiosity of the children but also the interest of the adults. The aim of this paper is to examine the forms of irony based on Erich Kästner’s fairy tale “Puss in Boots” and to discuss the role of morphology and syntax in generating irony. A detailed analysis of the morpho-syntactic elements of irony should show that Kästner’s text can be classified in the category of crosswriting. The paper also deals with the writing style of Kästner. Typical of the German author is that he has often made adaptations of famous works of children’s and young people’s literature. “Till Eulenspiegel”, “Münchhausen” and “Die Schildbürger” are adaptations that show that Kästner is interested in works that have the potential to be humorous. Earlier versions of the fairy tale “Puss in Boots” are also briefly mentioned in this paper to illustrate the popularity of the pre-text. Because Kästner’s text is an adaptation of the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm, the following important terms are also to be explained: irony, humour and intertextuality. However, the article focuses mainly on the morpho-syntactic peculiarities of Kästner’s adaptation. Different grammatical categories such as modal particles, modal verbs, attributes and punctuation are examined in the paper and this analysis tries to determine to what extent they play a role in the manifestation of irony. Such an analysis opens up new perspectives and possibilities of interpretation of the fairy tale “Puss in Boots” by Kästner.
From the era of Grammar-Translation Method to the onset of Communicative Language Teaching, the role of translation in language learning has completely changed. Nowadays, the use of translation activities in the language learning classroom remains a contentious issue, namely, there are arguments for and against their use. Given that attitudes are one of the factors that affect the way students learn and the level of proficiency they achieve, the aim of this quantitative study is to find out what the attitudes of higher education students in Croatia are towards the use of translation in learning languages for specific purposes. The responses were collected via a questionnaire, which was completed by 618 students who were enrolled in eight different LSP courses, i.e. medical, maritime, business, agriculture, tourism, safety, IT and transport. The participants come from five institutions of higher education in two Croatian towns (Zagreb and Rijeka). The majority of the respondents (86.4%) claim they use translation in their LSP classroom, but the frequency in using translation varies greatly. On the other hand, translation is used in assessment less frequently, 37.4% of the participants state they have encountered translation in tests. While they believe that other more communicative methods are more beneficial for their language learning, and they only partially enjoy doing translation activities, most of them are sure that translating both from their L1 into L2 and L2 into L1 is very useful for their language learning, especially when it comes to learning new vocabulary. A statistical difference occurred between genders; namely, male students seem to be more positive towards translation. Also, statistical differences were confirmed among students of different study programs in relation to their attitudes towards enjoyment, usefulness and demand of translation activities. Future research should focus on investigating how translation activities are implemented and account for gender and study program differences.
The Social Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) is among the most common programs used by researchers in language studies to explore, examine, and analyze quantitative data for the sake of drawing valid conclusions. The current action research aims to offer insights into the utilization of SPSS by Master’s students in their empirical studies for statistical analysis. Specifically, it attempts to depict the way SPSS is employed in academic pursuits, and discern the inherent challenges faced by students, offering insights into the obstacles that may impede their effective use of SPSS as a tool for statistical exploration and interpretation in academic research. To reach these objectives, ten Master’s dissertations written by EFL students at the Department of English at Mouloud Mammeri University in language studies were scrutinized though a qualitative content analysis. Findings indicate that the students limit the scope of their use of SPSS to quantitative variables and descriptive statistics. In addition, it has been found that the most commonly used statistical technique is ‘the mean’ or ‘the average’ that could be easily measured without any sophisticated software. Furthermore, no reference to inferential statistics in order to compare among groups or to measure the impact of a variable on another is made. The overall conclusion drawn from the analysis of the corpus is that students exhibit reluctance to the use of inferential statistics in their empirical studies and unconsciously believe that SPSS, inferential statistics, or any other sophisticated software are tightly related to natural sciences and could not be easily applied in social sciences. On the basis of the findings, a number of recommendations are suggested like organizing workshops with computer scientists. In addition, students’ self-confidence should be increased in order to change their perception of their potential and abilities to feel more at ease with statistics and technologies while doing academic research in language studies.
In the faculties of medicine and psychology at the University of Ioannina, Greece, German courses are held for learning specific, academic terminology. In addition, language courses for German as a foreign language (levels A1 to B1) are offered during Bachelor studies. Due to the increasing interest of students in learning German language for special, academic purposes, a questionnaire survey was carried out to discover the opinions and needs of the students regarding the methodological process of teaching German for academic purposes and the difficulties in learning the German terminology. A questionnaire survey with 135 undergraduate students-participants from all faculties of the University of Ioannina, Greece was conducted. The participants were asked whether they considered German technical language to be important for their studies, why they wanted to learn German terminology, which year of their Bachelor-studies would be the most appropriate for them to learn it in, and which teaching materials were considered as the more effective for learning. In addition, the respondents were asked to mention difficulties in learning German for academic purposes and to make suggestions that could help enrich methodologically and didactically the German-terminology courses.
