Enhancing business English terminology through concept mapping

Given the need of a growing internationalization of business, to have a good command of English is, most of the times important for the development of technical (specific) competences. It is, thus, critical that professionals use accurate terminology to set grounds for a well-succeeded communication. Furthermore, business communication is increasingly moving to ICT-mediated sets and professionals have to be able to promptly adjust to these needs, resorting to trustworthy online information sources, but also using technologies that better serve their business purposes. In this scenario, the main objective of this study is to find evidence as to the utility of concept mapping as a teaching and learning strategy for the appropriation of business English terminology, enabling students to use English more efficiently as language of communication in business context. This study was based on a case study methodology, mainly of exploratory nature. Participants were students (n= 30) enrolled in the subject English Applied to Management II at Águeda School of Technology and Management – University of Aveiro (2013/14 edition). They were asked to create and peer review two concept maps (cmaps), one individually and another in pairs. The data gathered were treated and analysed resorting qualitative (content analysis) and to quantitative (descriptive statistical analysis) techniques. Results of the data analysis unveil that the use of a collaborative concept mapping tool promotes the development of linguistic competences as to the use of business terminology, but also of communication and collaboration competences. Besides, it was also a very important motivation element in the students’ engagement with the subject content.

BET on Top Hat: challenges to improve language proficiency

Within the business context, communication and interaction tends to be considerably rooted in the use of English (as lingua franca), as well as in ICT use. Thus, professionals have to be able to speak the English language, resorting to specific, internationally recognised terminology and be proficient in the use of manifold ICT tools. In fact, the tendency is for the great majority of higher education (HE) students to own mobile devices (laptops, smartphones and/or tablets) and use them to access information and communicate/interact with content and other people. Bearing this in mind, a teaching and learning strategy was designed, in which m-learning (i.e. learning in which the delivery platform is a mobile device) was used to approach Business English Terminology (BET). The strategy was labelled as ‘BET on Top Hat’, once the selected application was Top Hat (https://tophat.com/) and the idea was for students to face it as if it were a game/challenge. In this scenario, the main goals of this exploratory study were to find evidence as to: i) the utility of m-learning activities for learning BET and ii) if and how m-learning activities can generate intrinsic motivation in students to learn BET. Participants (n=23) were enrolled in English II, a curricular unit of the 1st cycle degree in Retail Management offered at Águeda School of Technology and Management – University of Aveiro (2014/15 edition). The data gathered included the students’ results in quizzes and their answers to a short final evaluation questionnaire regarding their experience with BET on Top Hat. Consequently, data were treated and analysed resorting to descriptive statistical analysis, and, when considered pertinent, the teacher’s observation notes were also considered. The results unveil that, on the one hand, the strategy had a clear positive impact on the students’ intrinsic motivation and, on the other hand, the students’ performance as to BET use tended to improve over time.