《剑桥标准商务英语教程》（Cambridge Business Benchmark）是剑桥大学出版社新近推出的商务英语教程。该教程由剑桥英语教学专家Guy Brook-Hart教授以及Norman Whitby先生共同编写，将商务语言运用实例以清晰的组织脉络编入教学单元，并在教师用书中提供全方位的课堂活动建议，为辅导教师灵活设计课堂教学提供了广阔的发挥空间。
GUY Brook-Hart has taught English for over 30 years. He started teaching in Egypt and has since worked in Kuwait, France, Britain and Spain where he worked for the British Council. He was a co-author of World Class Business English, British Council Online English Course, British Council IELTS CD-ROM, Instant IELTS, Business Benchmark Upper-Intermediate, Business Benchmark Advanced and Complete First Certificate.
In an exclusive interview, Guy Brook-Hart talked to 21st Century ELT Review about his experience of compiling business English teaching materials.
Q: How involved have you been in compiling English teaching materials during your three decades' teaching?
A: I started by working on a project for the British Council and The Open University, which was called World Class Business English. I then worked with the British Council in the late 1990s on their Online English Course and on the British Council IELTS CD-ROM. After that I started writing for Cambridge University Press. My first book was called Instant IELTS published in 2004, followed by Business Benchmark Upper Intermediate and Business Benchmark Advanced, which were published in 2006 and 2007. My latest book is called Complete First Certificate and was published in April.
Q: How are international business English teaching materials developed?
A: The publisher, in this case Cambridge University Press, carries out market research to find out what sort of books students and teachers would like and need. They then design a basic project and find an author. The author then works closely with the publishers to come up with a definitive design for the book and starts writing. What the author writes is sent out to reviewers who give their comments and suggestions on the materials. The publishing editors then give their comments and the author rewrites the materials taking all the feedback into account.
In the case of Business Benchmark, the materials development also involved recording a lot of business people talking about their work and their companies to give the book authentic materials. After the writing is finished, the production process begins and this involves doing recordings, adding photographs and designing the book. Writing the book takes about one year and producing the book after then takes another year, so it's about a two-year process.
Q: What do you think of the Chinese market for business English teaching materials?
A: It's an enormous market and expanding very fast. Because the Chinese economy is expanding so rapidly and trading so successfully with the rest of the world, there's a clear need for teaching materials for people working in business in China. I think China has a great future and people's excitement about the prospects is very noticeable.
Q: What are the advantages of Business Benchmark compared with other business English teaching materials?
A: Business Benchmark has a lot of selling points. It contains up-to-date texts and recent interviews with business people which give learners lots of ideas about business and how business works. It's a very balanced series with lots of work on reading, writing, listening and speaking so that people studying the book don't just learn grammar and vocabulary but also how to operate in a busy office. They learn how to use the telephone, make presentations, write e-mails, reports and proposals and many other things.
At the same time, Business Benchmark prepares students for either the BEC (Business English Certificates) exam from Cambridge ESOL or the BULATS (Business Language Testing Service) test and the books contain lots of ideas, advice and practice for these exams and complete past papers from Cambridge ESOL. Most important of all, students studying these books find learning business English enjoyable and profitable. They learn quickly and find their lessons interesting and varied.
Q: What is the development direction of business English teaching materials?
A: In various different ways. There are likely to be more specific courses for particular types of business people, for example English for Marketing and English for Accounting. Course books will always exist, but they are likely to be combined with materials that students can find on the Internet. Increasingly students are going to want and need materials, which prepare them for business English exams, like BEC, which I think will become more and more popular.
Also, it seems probable that students will want materials which reflect the multinational, multicultural world of modern business, materials which help people from different parts of the world to understand each other and work effectively together. Business Benchmark is written very much with this last point in mind.
