STORYTELLING IN BUSINESS CONTEXTS

Material for business English learners

Mercedes Viola

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INDEX

1. Introduction p. 3
2. Target learners p. 3
2.1 Contexts p. 3
2.2 Learners’ needs p. 4
2.3 Learners’ goals p. 4
2.4 Group report p. 4
3. Background information about the designed material p. 5
3.1 Objectives p. 6
3.2 Input p. 7
3.3 Activities p. 7
3.4 Learner and teacher roles p. 8
3.5 Setting p. 8
3.6 Task p. 8
3.7 Skills p. 8
4. Materials evaluation p. 9
5. Conclusions p. 9
Bibliography p. 11

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 1. INTRODUCTION

“English has become the world’s second language, the world’s lingua franca. In fact, it is
safe to say that it is difficult in today’s world to be active and successful in international
business, politics, scholarship, or science without considerable competence in English.”
(Krashen 2006, pg. 1)
“The findings show that, in the 21st century, English has become an indispensable “must”
in the company and that there is a general understanding that staff at all levels develop
their language skills as they see appropriate for their roles within the company. What
needs to be learned, however, is not English as a native language but communicative
effectiveness in English as a business lingua franca, which—as an international contact
language—brings together nonnative as well as native Englishes from various lingua-
cultural backgrounds spoken with varying degrees of proficiency.” (Ehrenreich, S. 2010)

2. TARGET LEARNERS

 business English learners

 between 35 and 50 years old
 training given by instructors hired by the companies they work for
Nowadays, people not only need to know English, but they need to develop a range of
communicative language competences in order to be able to perform their job-related
tasks properly. They usually link their English studies to their area of expertise and the
attention becomes more focused on language as a tool for communication rather than on
language knowledge as an end in itself.

2.1 Context
As we all know, English has grown into the primary language for international
communication. “It facilitates transnational encounters and allows nations, institutions, and
individuals in any part of the world, to communicate their world view and identities.” As
David Graddol states in his book: English Next (2006).
The designed materials were produced for a group of learners that hold managerial
positions at a global organization. This organization is a firm that provides services to its
clients around the globe. Knowledge is key in this firm given the fact that the XXI century
knowledge economy focuses on the production and management of knowledge. This firm
is a „learning organization‟ that is good at knowledge generation, appropriation and

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exploitation. It carries out initiatives to turn their day to day work environment into a
powerful learning environment.

2.2 Learners’ Needs

These managers, the target learners, need English to be able to be part of this knowledge
economy. They are knowledge workers, they are part of a learning organization and need
English to exchange and enrich knowledge, to generate and produce new knowledge.
They need to take an active role in this knowledge production and this is mostly done
through English.
In order to help them achieve the English communicative competence they need; we,
English teachers, have to build from the positive, the strength and the uniqueness of each
of them. This group of learners lack time, so we have to develop activities that help them
make the most out of the time they devote to English learning, to enjoy the experience, to
get positive outcomes. When the content is interesting and relevant to the learners‟ lives,
they are more motivated than when the focus is just on the grammar. Besides, by using
topics that they are familiar with, they are able to learn more as they already know a lot of
the content and context. This familiarity enables them to pay attention to details that they
would otherwise miss.

2.3 Learner’s goals

According to the needs of the learners and their contexts some general objectives were
set.
These objectives are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages which provides a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses,
and curriculum guidelines. This framework employs the concept of “can do” statements
rather than focusing on aspects of failure. These statements are positively worded and
they not only state what learners can do but also how well they can do it.

2.4 Group report

This is a summary of the most important information about this specific group of learners.

Student’s needs: to keep on practicing English in business related situations in order to gain more
fluency and accuracy when interacting. To be able to participate in conference call as well as in
face to face meetings. To be able to deliver speeches and presentations to a diverse audience.

Areas of interest: Business-related topics - Management, Human Capital

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 Objectives

Speaking To be able to communicate spontaneously, showing some fluency and ease of

expression in even longer complex stretches of speech.
To be able to keep going comprehensibly, even though pausing for grammatical and
lexical planning.
To be able to give clear systematically developed descriptions and presentations,
with appropriate highlighting of significant points, and relevant supporting detail.

Listening To be able to understand extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and
when relationships are only implied and not signaled explicitly To be able to
understand the information content of the majority of recorded material on topics of
personal interest delivered in clear standard speech.

Reading To be able to understand long and complex factual and literary texts, appreciating
distinctions of style. They will be able to understand specialized articles and longer
technical instructions, even when they do not relate to their field.

Writing To be able to convey information and ideas on abstract as well as concrete topics,
check information and ask about or explain problems with reasonable precision.
To be able to summarize, report and give his opinion about accumulated factual
information on familiar routine and non-routine matters within his field with some
confidence.
.

3. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE DESIGNED MATERIAL

Storytelling:
Storytelling has been the main source of communication since we lived in caves and sat
around campfires exchanging tales.

There is a new interest in the art of storytelling among businesses and organizations.
Nowadays, businesses and organizational leaders rely on using stories strategically as a
way of improving communication, nurturing relationships and motivating people. Many
business leaders believe storytelling is the key ingredient to managing communication,
innovation and training in the 21st century.

"A big part of a CEO's job is to motivate people to reach certain goals. To do that, he or
she must engage their emotions, and the key to their hearts is story." (McKee, R.2003)
In the corporate world stories are used to transmit values and expected behaviors from
employees. Research has shown that storytelling is the best way to articulate a business‟s

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vision. It is also used as a way of tapping into informal channels of communication and to
promote learning from one another.

When working with business people we, as their English trainers, are all the time listening
to stories about their jobs, their businesses and their lives.
Actually, they are all the time telling and listening to stories when working and interacting
with colleagues.

It is crucial that we help our students develop their storytelling skills in English and that we
facilitate them the language they need in order to elicit stories from others; in that way
they will be able to communicate in English in a much more efficient and natural way.

Authentic texts:
Research studies on the use of authentic materials have proved that there is an overall
increase in motivation to learn, a more positive attitude towards learning, as well as
increased involvement and interest.

What is an authentic text, either written or spoken? According to Morrow, is a stretch of

real language, produced by a real speaker or writer for a real audience and designed to
convey a real message of some sort. (Morrow, 1977, p. 13)
And Nunan says that “A rule of thumb for authentic is any material which has not been
specifically produced for the purposes of language teaching.” (Nunan, 1989, p. 54)

“When we provide input that is truly interesting and compelling, we can get our students
attention focused on the message and they can become deeply and effortlessly involved
in an activity.” (Krashen, S. 1985)

3.1 Objectives
To expose our students to stories told by business leaders and analyze how they do it, the
language they use and what makes their stories interesting.
Generally speaking, business students are much more motivated when being exposed to
authentic materials. Stories told by real business people are interesting, lifelike and useful
for our students.
Robert McKee says that as a storyteller, when you are telling a story, you want to position
the problems in the foreground and then show how you‟ve overcome them. When you tell
the story of the struggles against real antagonists, your audience gets involved.

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Specific objectives
 to expose our students to an authentic speech
 to listen to a business leader telling stories
 to pay attention to what makes a good story
 to raise awareness on the language, verb tenses and phrasal verbs used
 to help our student develop their own stories
Some of these objectives are „real world „ones and others are „pedagogic‟.

3.2 Input
Learners are exposed to an authentic spoken text.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer Co., was asked to give the
Commencement Speech at Stanford University in 2005.
He is well known for his electrifying presentations, he is not a professionally-trained
presenter, he is just a business man sharing information and telling his story.
He is considered the most charismatic pitchman in business today. His presentations are
brilliant demonstrations of visual storytelling that involves the entire audience.

3.3 Activities
The topic was chosen to motivate and engage the learners. The activities designed
present certain degree of intellectual and linguistic challenge to promote their
communicative competence.
Top-down activities are proposed first, learners have to interpret what they hear according
to the questions posed and their background knowledge.
Top-down activities include:
 activation of previous knowledge
 prediction before listening
 gist listening
 discussion about the message
Some bottom-up activities are proposed as well.
There are some „pedagogic‟ activities, but most of them are „real world‟ ones.

3.4 Learner and teacher roles

The teacher is a needs analyst, organizer of resources and group process manager.
Learners are co-participants of the process; they are encouraged to express their
individuality by sharing their point of views, experiences and stories.

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The activities proposed are intended to allow discovery and self expression.
The activities were designed to provide exposure to the language, opportunities for the
learners to use the language for real communication, and motivation for the learners to
engage in their learning process.

3.5 Setting
A group of 9 managers from a global firm working first in groups of three, then, individually
and finally, presenting to their small group first and then to the whole group.

3.6 Task
The outcome of the task is a presentation of a personal or professional story. Language is
a vehicle for attaining their goal, i.e. to tell a story of their lives, and the emphasis is on
meaning and communication.

3.7 Skills
It is unusual, except when reading or listening for pleasure, to use one skill in isolation
when performing a certain task. When talking to someone, we are also listening to what
he/she is saying; when writing, we usually need to read to check and revise what we are
producing.
In the proposed activities, learners practice listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Listening activities:
 listening for gist
 listening for details
 listening for pleasure – colleagues‟ stories
Reading activities:
 reading for general understanding
 reading to raise awareness on how certain phrasal verbs and structures are used
Writing activities:
 taking notes
 preparing a chart
Speaking activities:
 retelling, explaining and exchanging ideas on what the speaker said
 giving a short presentation, telling their stories

4. MATERIALS EVALUATION

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“The act of evaluating at least in theory, turns the process into a dynamic one since it
forces the teacher/writer to examine whether s/he has or has not met objectives” (Jolly, D.
& Bolitho, R. 1998)
Steps to evaluate the materials:
 The materials were given to other teachers who work with business English
learners. They gave me some feedback on the activities proposed.
 Feedback from the learners after using with materials.

Many issues have to be considered when evaluating activities or tasks.

Teachers and learners must evaluate if the materials:
 Draw on what they already know
 Validate their experience
 Hold their interest
 Build the learner‟s confidence
 Allow them to discover and analyze
 Help them develop certain skills and strategies
 Help them understand different types of texts
 Help them understand other cultures

5. CONCLUSION

Teaching materials are a crucial component in language programs. The selection of

course materials and supplementary material is vital.
As Kathleen Graves points out: “Materials development takes place on a continuum of
decision-making and creativity which ranges from being given a textbook and a timetable
in which to “cover it” – least responsibility and decision-making - to developing all the
material you will use in class “from scratch” – most responsibility and creativity.” Graves,
K. (2000)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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 McKee, R.(2003) Storytelling that Moves People: A Conversation with Screenwriting
Coach Robert McKee.Harvard Business Review.Vol. 81, No. 6
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 Senge, P. (1994) The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a
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 Wright, A.; Hill, D. A. (2008) Writing Stories - Helbling Languages

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