Good manners in business

7.11.2020

Lecturers
Students

Business & Communication

Autonomous learning
Classroom Context

Romanian

Any language

B1
B2

Activity/task
Guiding resources (online course/book)

Vocabulary
Pragmatics

Speaking
Critical Thinking
Reading

The text called „Good manners in business. 5 important rules for a successful meeting” is part of the collection of materials on the web site „Communicate Wall-street” – a web page which comprises recent articles from different spheres – business, IT, media, education, investment, entrepreneurship etc. The present article covers the most important rules that have to be followed in the framework of a business meeting: preparation for the meeting, dress code, appropriate documentation, adequate behavior and correct use of the necessary accessories. This resource is valuable for students studying business and communication where knowledge of business manner is crucial for the development of a business relationship/network.

The text Good Manners in Business was used in a 90 minutes unit with B1-B1 students in the Romanian Philology Department in Poland. The test was in on line mode, but the resource can equally be used in on-site mode. The purpose was to acquire knowledge of the code of good manners in business, the use of specialized vocabulary, the ability to read a specialized text and extract relevant information. The degree of difficulty was correctly assessed by the resource and adequate to the students’ level, so they had no difficulty in solving the exercises and in participating in the conversation. However, the vocabulary offered by the resource is not very rich and more terms and phrases had to be added to the glossary to make it more useful and extend the range of specialized lexical items. The guide of the resource could be expanded with extra grammar exercises, as the text can be used to explain various grammar points such as the use of the imperative and “conjunctiv” moods and of the genitive case. This resource is adequate for oral group work (dialogue, conversation). To be fully exploited, the resource should be used in a 180 minutes unit at least. Olga Bartosiewicz-Nikolaev, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Reading comprehension, specialised vocabulary, level B1-B2.
1. Teacher announces the topic – Good manners in business.
2. Activating the schemata. Teacher asks all students to write down 5 business rules which, in their view, are the most important in their country. Students present their notes in front of the group. Teacher indicates the similarities and the differences between the presented rules. Teacher asks: What do you think is the code of good manners in romania? Do you think it is similar to or different from your country?
3. Students read the article. Teacher asks students to make up a glossary with 10 terms and phrses from the business sphere, using the vocabulary from the article. Possible lexical units: meeting, investment, to maintain communication, authentic interest, to transmit signals, a working alternative, dress code, an impreccable image, real professionist, agenda of a meeting etc.
4. Teacher asks students to rewrite the rules formulated at the beginning of the lesson using at least 5 expressions from the business sphere used in the article they have read.
5. Teacher asks the following questions: Do you agree with the rules presented in the aritcle? If not, how do you think they should be changed? As you see it, what will happen if these rules are not followed?
Achieved results:
- the use of the specialized vocabulary from the target field
- the development of the skill of reading a specialized text and extracting the relevant information
- the accumulation of knowledge in reference to the code of good manners in business.
Risks that have to be taken into account:
- students should be guided by the teacher for an efficient and useful discussion;
- students could face difficulties in understanding some elements of the code because of cultural difference; teacher should offer the necessary explanations.