Networking in English

It is well-known that professional people are often very capable of talking about what their company does but NOT being able to make small talk in the lift or over dinner. This business English skills book starts by examining what factors make an intermediate student a good socialiser / a good communicator. These are:

• reasonably accurate basic grammar
• having the vocabulary to speak about a range of topics
• listening skills, such as listening to fast speech and extracting the message
• having a knowledge of the same kinds of communication strategies used by good native speaker communicators
• knowing schema in various situations, such as restaurant protocol
• an adequate (intelligible) level of phonology (recognition and production)
  sensitivity to cultural differences.

These factors (except phonology, which is integrated where appropriate) have been transferred into modules.

Each of the nine modules consists of four units, a unit providing material for a language lesson. Each unit is spread across two pages, in order to provide flexibility i.e. teachers can adapt the unit material to a sixty or ninety minute lesson; they can supplement it.

A unique feature is the 'Personalisation' section called 'My social planner' allowing students to write in useful utterances: e.g. I was born in… / I grew up in…. etc. The sentence heads are provided in the actual unit. This section means students finish the book with a bank of real phrases they can revise and use as a bridge to the real world

Contents of Networking in English

Module 1: The basics
Talking about you and your life
Asking and answering questions
Talking about your company and business
Greetings, introductions and goodbyes

Module 2: Vocabulary (1)
Talking about free time and travel
Talking about your town and country
Food and drink
Talking about jobs and work

Module 3: Socialising (1) - functions
Talking about likes, dislikes and preferences
Inviting people, accepting and declining
Making requests, offers and recommendations
Opinions, agreeing and disagreeing

Module 4: Socialising (2) - situations
Going out for a drink
In the restaurant
At a conference
Meeting and greeting visitors

Module 5: Communicating accurately
Describing, comparing and talking about the best
Talking about the present and using modals
Talking about the future and speculating

Module 6: Learning to listen
Being a good listener
Listening for the general idea
Listening to specific information
Listening: pronunciation

Module 7: Networking skills
Making small talk
Active listening
Managing a conversation
Checking and clarifying

Module 8: Understanding different cultures
Talking about your country: festivals
Body language
Taboo areas and humour
Attitudes to time and meeting across cultures

Module 9: Vocabulary (2)
Talking about the arts
Talking about sport
Talking about news and the media
Persuading and handling controversial topics

My social planner

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Networking in English
Blended Learning
The Internet and Business English
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