The way methodologists and teachers think about the differences between business English and general English, along with the mainstream approaches to teaching English at any given time, clearly influence the way business English is taught. This can be seen in a brief look at the development of business English teaching.



In the late 1960s and 1970s, the main difference between Business English and General English was considered to be terminology, and this was reflected in the course books and materials of the time. Course books and materials at that time consisted mainly of comprehension texts, vocabulary exercises, and repetitive practice. There was generally no emphasis on business skills or real-life applications.

In 1972, with the publication of the BBC coursebook and video "English for Business," there was a move to enhance skills training in business settings. The coursebook focused on improving listening skills, practicing dialogues, and role-playing, recognizing the need to develop skills for practical situations. This trend continued through the mid-1970s and into the 1980s, with the teaching of business English following the shift to a more functional syllabus in general English education. The focus shifted to the teaching of functional language and formulaic phrases such as recommend, agree, and disagree. These were introduced in a business context and practiced in role-plays of common business situations, such as making appointments, making introductions, and business lunches.

In the late 1980s, the focus shifted to business communication skills. This was due to the growing number of corporate training programs in the late 1980s, which offered employees the opportunity to take courses in presentation techniques, negotiation skills, and effective meeting skills. Of course, books and teaching materials on business communication skills were also published. This has had a significant impact on the teaching of business English today, and most business English courses and course books today focus on business communication skills.

In conclusion, broadly speaking, the focus on real-world communication found in much of modern business English teaching fits perfectly with the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which has been the mainstream of English language teaching worldwide for the past two decades. In essence, it is an approach to language teaching whose primary goal is to develop learners' ability to communicate effectively in language. an important point related to CLT is that fluent and acceptable language is the primary goal. Accuracy of language is judged in context.

The following is a list of the most important aspects of CLT.
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