Today, a term often used to describe our world is a ‘global village' which refers to the fact that the distances between countries and continents have considerably ‘shrunk^’ and communication between people and places has become incredibly easy due to the invention of advanced technological devices, like post systems, TV, telephones or more recently computers and the internet.

The number of people who travel on business, for pleasure, education or in search for better living and working conditions is continuously increasing. Under such circumstances it is apparent that the knowledge of foreign languages, as a matter of fact English, which has become lingua franca of the contemporary world, is indispensable.

Most of my students study Marketing and Management at Politechnika Częstochowska. Their level of English is not very high, and knowledge of business English almost non-existent. None of them have ever been to Great Britain and few talked to a native speaker. They are quite ambitious and in future would like to work in foreign companies based in Poland or have their own businesses but they do not see the link between their plans and the knowledge of a foreign language.

Thinking about their future and in order to strengthen their rather poor motivation I decided to find some attractive activity which would interest them and at the same time would be in their field of studies. My choice was an interview with a British businessperson as the idea seemed both promising and exciting from the point of view of my aims and provided an excellent context for the topic of business culture and a primary source of information. The project was an experiment and there were almost no models from which to learn.

Aims of the project

The main objective of the project was to find out how such an approach to teaching/learning English within a cultural context would work. Another was to develop learner autonomy by maximising the students^’ involvement in all the stages of the project. They, together with the teacher were supposed to plan and negotiate and then co-operate in groups.

In addition, I aimed at making my students realise the importance of English in the contemporary world and in this way to encourage them to study with more diligence. I also wanted to introduce Business English in context but it was not the primary aim. Not the least important was the intention to raise their awareness of the similarities and differences between the two business cultures (i.e. the intercultural awareness) and to develop their investigative and analytical skills which would create an understanding but at the same time critical observer of the two cultures. The last, but certainly not least, goal was to make them look at their own culture from a certain distance.

Note on college and students

Politechnika Czestochowska is a ‘technical university’ situated in quite a big, but rather provincial, city with little academic tradition. The students come mostly from the city itself and the surrounding, mainly agricultural, regions though there are some from distant parts like the north of Poland.

They are aged 19-20 (not the best academically) of whom about 40% have learned English for at least four or five years, but their level of English is rather low - usually from elementary to pre-intermediate.

At the Polytechnic they will have English for two years but the course comprises only 120 teaching hours, the minimum required by the Ministry of Education. Having language classes once a week for 1½ hrs is definitely not enough to make satisfactory progress and reach a good level of proficiency.

It is also important that during these years of their studies they have a lot of difficult and demanding technical subjects which cause them many problems, so obviously the foreign language is treated as a ‘second rate’ subject. It should also be added that most of them surprisingly lack an awareness of the importance of English for their future professional life and thus the motivation to learn it.

For the project two groups of students in the Faculty of Marketing and Management were chosen, one from the first and one from the second year. The first year group was big and consisted of 26 students whose level of English was slightly above pre-intermediate. The second year group was smaller, only seventeen students whose level of English was a bit below pre-intermediate. Both groups represented a good level of English in comparison with an average group at the Polytechnic but it turned out later it was not high enough to feel comfortable at the meeting.

The students seemed much more ambitious, communicative and sophisticated, if this term may be used, than the others being taught but none had ever learned or even come across business English texts or terminology before they started studying at the Polytechnic. Despite the fact that nowadays there are a lot of English people in Poland, and quite a number of native teachers work in schools, only two or three of my students had ever met and talked to an English person. It seemed obvious that they needed some kind of preparation if they were to participate in the meeting with an English businessperson and talk about business life in Poland and England.

Background

Unquestionably the stage of finding a suitable person is the most crucial and indispensable. Without it the whole project has no raison d'être and no chance of coming into existence. A suitable person means a native speaker who will be a good source of information about the subject and who will be willing to spend his/her time on coming to a school and taking part in a meeting with the students. Finding such a person can be hard and time-consuming and will call for initiative though to a great extent in fact it depends on circumstances or simply good luck. In the case described below it took nearly two months.

The visit of the British Consul

When the idea of inviting an English businessperson first came to my mind I did not know how much effort and time it would take. I was almost sure that it would be possible to find somebody with the right CV and experience in my home town or nearby but it turned out to be much more complicated.

I found two American companies but unfortunately they were not good for my experiment and the only firm of British origin Tesco was my last hope but during a visit I discovered that the staff, even the directors and senior executives, were Polish and their British ‘supervisors’ came only from time to time for very short visits so it seemed impossible to arrange an appointment not to mention a visit.

I had ground to a halt but then it occurred to me that maybe I could find the phone numbers and possibly the addresses of British companies operating in Poland in a telephone directory. I went to the main telecommunication office and with the help of a friend working there browsed through several phone books, but to my astonishment I did not find anything because it turned out that such firms did not print their numbers or addresses.

Luckily I came across an issue of the magazine of the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce (BPCC) - 'Contact with Eagle Eye^’. On the inner side of the cover there were the phone numbers of the BPCC in Warsaw and other cities in Poland and that of the British Consulate.

First, I phoned the BPCC in Warsaw and after having explained the situation asked about opportunities of making contact with a British businessperson. Although my request must have seemed a little unusual she was very kind and tried to help. She was not able to put me in contact directly with a British businessperson but promised to send me the phone numbers and addresses of UK companies operating in Poland. I sent her my address by fax and soon got by mail a packet containing a thick book - 'British Chamber of Commerce in Poland, Membership Directory’ with hundreds of addresses and phone numbers.

While waiting I had contacted a regional office of the BPCC in Krakow hoping that, because it was much closer to my home town, it would be easier to find the right person as the people there should know the British businessmen in the area and the possibility of finding personal contacts seemed more likely. To my disappointment I did not obtain even a promise of help.

Much disillusioned I decided to phone the British Consulate in Katowice. The secretary there was extremely kind and said that the Consul often met the British businessmen working in the region and maybe would be able to facilitate a contact but I should come personally and talk. When I arrived in Katowice later that day it turned out that there was somebody different in the office. Though I had phoned earlier I had missed the secretary who had had to leave in connection with some urgent business. The Consul was not present either. I went back home only with the promise of getting a list of British firms operating in the southern part of Poland.

Before long I had hundreds of addresses of Polish, British and international businesses in Poland and it seemed utterly impossible to decide which of them would be the right one and willing to co-operate. In many like Tesco the staff were already Polish.

I still remained in contact with the British Consulate and on one occasion the secretary suggested inviting the Consul himself to visit my college. She said that he had been in various businesses in England for many years and had a lot of experience. There was one condition though, the Consul wanted to give a lecture to the students on the EU. I agreed but I knew that I would have to reconcile the Consul's wishes with my plans, which did not seem easy at all.

Evaluation and advice

Never before had I tried to do this so I was unaware of the difficulties. Lack of experience and imagination as well as time pressure made me take random decisions which at that time seemed quite sensible but in fact were not the best. For teachers looking for a native speaker it is essential to define the topic of the meeting and its objectives. Only when we know who we would like to invite and what for can the 'search' begin.

The task of finding a suitable person is not easy as it involves finding sources of addresses, telephone numbers or using personal connections, and then spending a lot of time establishing them. Therefore it is advisable to start the ‘search’ early so that there is plenty of time and less pressure which often might force hasty and wrong decisions.

It is possible to look for a native speaker 'indirectly^’ i.e. to write letters or make phone calls to selected British companies but it can be extremely time-consuming (letters), expensive (calls) and lead to nowhere. Personal contacts are certainly much better because it should be easier and more natural to present the project and its aims.

During such a preliminary meeting an outline of the visit can be discussed in detail. The native speaker has to be well aware of the teacher's objectives and expectations as well as his/ her own role in the event e.g. whether you expect him to interact with the students, not to mention such 'minor^’ particulars like the age of the students or their language level. All these can help him/ her prepare for the visit which requires time, and will enable such a person to support the teacher by good co-operation. This stage has to be planned and carried out by a teacher there is little scope for the student initiative.

The length of this section emphasises the importance of this stage

Background

This stage is extremely important because the structure of the visit, with all the minute details, sets the ground for the meeting, which in turn enables it to go smoothly and in a pleasant atmosphere. A visit of a native speaker to a school usually means that a number of alterations to the school routine have to be made, and in fact a lot of people have to be involved in the preparations.

The stage can be prepared by the teacher alone, or better in co-operation with the students who by participating in the practical as well as linguistic arrangements of the visit can gain more independence and responsibility.

The visit of the British Consul

Teacher preparation of the school

In order to invite the Consul to my school I had to involve my supervisor (the head of the Language Department) and a number of other people into the whole project. The head was very supportive and helpful and it was she who had to invite the Consul officially to our school. The written invitation was accepted and the Consul's assistant and I agreed on the preliminary date of the visit: Weds 1st Dec 1999. Any other day would not have been suitable because the students would not be excused from their major lectures and classes in order to attend a meeting.

Next my students were told that they and I together were going to organise a visit of the British Consul. At that time I already had in my mind a rough draft of the visit. My idea was to gather all the first and second year students in a big lecture hall so that they could participate in the Consul's lecture on the European Union and Poland’s chance of becoming a member. Then, the students of my two groups only would meet our guest in a less formal meeting in our department. They would be able to ask questions concerning business life in Britain and the Consul's opinions.

Teacher preparation of students: content

In order to introduce the students into the world of business I decided to use primary sources, English job adverts taken from English local and national newspapers and Polish job adverts mainly from Gazeta Wyborcza and Warsaw Voice. We decided to approach the adverts in a critical way intentionally looking for information not included as that could tell a lot about the realities of business culture in both countries.

The students were put into three groups with sets of identical adverts, first English then Polish, and had to work on them. They had to read all the adverts carefully and then one group was to focus on the specific business vocabulary, another to look at the employers’ requirements and to find similarities and differences, while the third concentrated on what was important for the British and then Polish employers.

During the following class they formed new groups consisting of one representative of each former one and worked together exchanging information and filling in a table. This was then followed by a general discussion with the students coming to some interesting conclusions. The most difficult part was the vocabulary.

On the basis of this the students prepared the questions which they wanted to ask the Consul concerning:

• his profession
• his business career
• working conditions in Britain
• what it is like to be a businessperson in a foreign country
• his family
• the difficulties of adapting to new surroundings

The original theme was a comparison between Polish and British business cultures. Such a theme is inexhaustible so the prepared questions could concern only some of its aspects. The students chose those which seemed evident or interesting to them but in fact they could have equally well discussed a totally different side of the business culture.

Teacher preparation of students: language

The students' groups responsible for each stage were asked to prepare vocabulary and expressions useful in such situations concerning:

·         greetings: formal and informal

·         introductions and presentations

·         offers

·         exchanging personal information

·         talking about jobs

·         talking about plans

·         saying good bye

Then they practised the exchanges in small groups. The aim of the informal meeting was for the students to find out as much as possible about British business culture and by comparing raise the awareness of Polish business culture and differences and similarities.

Plan of visit: teacher and student preparation

Together we worked out a more precise and detailed plan divided into stages:

·         the arrival of the visitor at the Language Department

·         greetings and introductions

·         a short rest and maybe a cup of coffee

·         the lecture in the lecture hall in the Faculty of Marketing and Management

·         the informal meeting at the Language Department

·         lunch

·         the farewell

The students of both groups had to take care of each stage and make all the necessary preparation with my supervision and help. In connection with these stages seven so called 'stage groups' of students were appointed:

·         the ‘welcome’ group

·         hosts/ hostesses

·         helpers

·         the hosts in the lecture hall

·         the refreshment group

·         the ‘farewell’ group

·         the photographer/ video recording group

To my surprise as we proceeded with the discussion of the preparations the students were getting more excited and there were a lot of volunteers for each group, from four to six people, which was more than we needed. We were not able, unfortunately, to involve all the students in organising activities but they were welcome to take part in the discussion which was to follow the lecture. Because the students appointed to the groups belonged to both year groups they had to meet, talk and divide the tasks. It seemed that the older group had more initiative so they organised a meeting with the first year after one of my classes. They also decided to serve cakes, fruit and soft drinks during the informal meeting. The lunch was left in my care because the students had to attend their regular lectures in the afternoon.

One of the most important things in our plan was the decision on how much time we should plan for each stage. After several alterations connected with the necessity of renting the big lecture hall at the Faculty of Management our programme was as follows:

·         10.00 - 10.20 > the arrival of our guest and the welcome

·         10.20 - 10.45 > a short meeting with the head of the Language Department and possibly a cup of tea or coffee

·         11.00 - 12.00 > the lecture

·         12.15 - 1.15 > the informal meeting with the students

·         1.30 > lunch

In the meantime the date of the visit had to be changed because of an unexpected trip abroad by the Consul so finally the momentous event took place on 9th Dec. The programme of the visit and the map of the town showing the way to our school (all prepared by the students) were faxed to the British Consulate. The head of the Language Department informed the rector about the visit, officially booked the lecture hall and a smaller room to seat two groups together.

It was quite stressful because the latter room was being renovated and we feared whether it would be finished on time. The Rector also allowed us to order ‘on the house’ sandwiches, tea and coffee in the school canteen and to borrow the crockery and the cutlery. I also had to be excused from regular lectures with the second year students.

Evaluation and Advice

The support of the head of the Language Department, the kindness of colleagues and other people who had to be involved, as well as the students^’ commitment surprised me pleasantly but it has to be underlined once again that scarcity of time influenced the preparatory stage and in fact the whole visit. Because we had only two weeks it became impossible to give students more freedom of choice and initiative. Instead, they had to carry out my plan which overloaded me with work and resulted in overlooking a few details and leaving each stage ‘half-baked^’. That alterations had to be introduced into the schedule at such an early stage show explicitly the fact that you should be prepared for any surprises.

From the preceding discussion it can be seen how complex and how prone to problems the organisation of such a visit is. It demands a lot of time and patience as well as very careful preparation often involving the co-operation of many people. Therefore a teacher has to be flexible and should not get easily discouraged by the obstacles encountered.

For teachers considering a visit the preparatory stage creates a number of opportunities to develop student autonomy. It may be a good idea to divide the whole class into small groups and ask them to think over, discuss and finally prepare preliminary plans of the visit, including all the stages, according to their imagination and expectations. Then all the plans could be presented by the representatives of the groups to the class and the best one chosen by voting. Next they could choose their leader - supervisor who will control and co-ordinate the preparations and will act as a link between the teacher and the class. He/ she will divide the class into 'stage groups' - students should volunteer but some will probably have to be appointed so that everybody has a task to do.

The teacher may discuss the arrangements with each group separately if it seems necessary but at the end every student should be aware of the whole schedule. Certain formal tasks e.g. asking tutors to excuse them from classes can be handled by the students themselves.

The technique which is applied in the class depends on the group you have. If your students are creative and energetic it is advisable to leave taking decisions to them but if they are shy and cannot come up with any ideas it may be better to make them fulfil a plan prepared by you.

Background

The visit is the 'heart' of the project to which all the preceding stages lead. When the time for action comes everything must be ready - the plan well-thought out and the preparations completed. Everybody should know exactly what he/she has to do but because nothing can be perfect, especially a visit, it is impossible to control everything and a teacher has to be prepared for unexpected events or even a change of the objectives of the whole visit. He/ she has to think quickly and be flexible to adapt the schedule to new circumstances.

The visit of the British Consul

Finally the 9th Dec came. The ‘food suppliers’ group arrived at the Language Department much earlier with cakes and fruit. Together with the ‘hosts/hostesses’ they brought the crockery from the canteen and arranged the food on plates and dishes. Then they set the huge table in the Senate Room where the informal meeting was to take place.

At 10 o'clock we were almost ready and the ‘welcome^’ group went downstairs to meet our guest. All of a sudden our secretary came running with the news that the Consul had already arrived unnoticed and was waiting in her office. Apparently the ’welcome’ group downstairs had not recognised him as he looked like anybody else and there are a lot of people coming in and out of the building. We missed the first stage of our programme. I suppose we should have arranged it better, maybe by asking our guest to stop at the entrance and wait for the students.

I ran to the secretary's office to welcome the Consul and introduced him to the head of the Language Department and her assistant. It turned out that he had brought with him some diskettes to illustrate the lecture and was anxious to get everything ready as soon as possible. That was not included in our plan so we shortened the second stage and together set off immediately in the direction of the lecture hall. It was a fifteen minute walk and on the way some of the students and I tried to enter into conversation. On the spot we learned that it was impossible to make all the necessary preparations because the lecture hall was occupied by some students who were listening to a lecture. It was to finish at 11 o'clock so we had to wait. It was again quite an unforeseen situation and we had about thirty minutes to wait. The students who came with us invited the Consul and me to their small canteen and ordered for us some cakes and coffee

Soon the teachers and the students invited to the lecture started to arrive. The main technician managed to efficiently activate the equipment and at 11.15 the lecture started. It seemed to be interesting for the students and the Consul made them take an active part in it by asking questions and demanding answers. After the lecture some of the students even came up to him and asked further questions concerning the EU and our chances of joining it.

Then we walked together back to the Language Department and we gathered in the Senate Room. The 'hostesses^’ served sandwiches, cakes, fruit and hot drinks but nobody ate much. The meeting started.

In the very first minutes I started to feel that it was going to end in a disaster. Suddenly I realised that the Senate Room because of its layout i.e. a rectangular shape with a very long oval wooden table in the middle and the portraits of the previous rectors of the Polytechnic on the walls, was much too formal and intimidated the students. Some of them had to sit quite far and in order to ask a question they had to speak really loud. I suppose that the Consul's contact with the students was also more difficult.

Although our guest was doing his best to liven up his audience and to create a friendly atmosphere by asking questions about their studies the students were very quiet and shy. Apart from the questions they had prepared before the visit they asked some concerning the lecture on the EU, i.e. the Consul's work there, the situation of Poland and our prospects for joining the European Union. Some students asked more personal questions, namely about his family, his plans for the near future and, because it was December, about Christmas celebrations but moments of awkward silence fell from time to time. At the end of the meeting the Consul promised to come back next year and do some less formal activities with them, like going to a pub. The students thanked him for coming and for the lecture and gave him flowers.

The Consul was in a hurry because the following day he was going to Austria so he couldn't stay for lunch. Most of the participants left immediately after the farewell of the Consul. The girls from the 'host/hostess’ group and the ‘refreshment’ group helped clear the table. The left food was divided and taken to the students' hostel for a later party. The dishes and the cutlery had to be washed up by the students as well.

The meeting lasted more than one hour and at the end I felt exhausted, frustrated and let down because I was sure that the whole venture had been a catastrophe. The visit was video taped by two of my students but unfortunately the sound was too weak and we could only watch the pictures. Our photographer had fallen ill two days before the visit so we did not have photos.

Evaluation and Advice

Generally the plan of the visit was more or less fulfilled. The unexpected incidents which had not been anticipated and which changed the original plan demanded some kind of resistance, a lot of resourcefulness and cheerfulness not only on the part of the teacher but also the students.

During the visit there were some positive moments as well as some embarrassing, frustrating or disappointing ones. Among other factors certainly the lack of experience in such kind of situations and the level of English affected the students^’ behaviour. Also the room where the meeting took place played, I believe, a vital and rather negative role.

It must also be admitted that the idea of serving some food, though very sensible, was not well thought over and the time for it was badly chosen. Everybody was preoccupied more with the conversation than eating and a lot was left. The videotaping, which could have been a valuable teaching tool for the follow-up activities and the preparations of the next visit, turned out to be of limited value because of the lack of sound.

Later the negative aspects seemed less important and the positive ones came through, e.g. the value of a 'real^’ native.

For the teacher considering a visit it is necessary to engage all the students in a class or group in the activities connected with the visit so that everybody has a task to perform and does not feel inferior, neglected or simply free to do nothing. To achieve this aim a number of small sub-groups can be formed within each 'stage' group and the tasks further divided.

A teacher should not feel obliged to stick strictly to the plan, or even the objectives of the visit, and has to be prepared to make correction at any time. As departures from the original plan (caused by unexpected events) are highly probable it would be reasonable to envisage the most extreme situations and make an emergency plan if for instance the guest is two hours late.

The visit can be treated less formally than the one described in this project but of course it depends on the visitor's status. It is certainly recommended that a more suitable room for the meeting, where the seats will be arranged in such a way that the guest is surrounded by the audience and easily 'accessible' by all the participants is found. This will make contact more direct and encourage the students to take part in the conversation.

Serving food is a good idea but maybe it will be better to have a buffet arranged on a side table for those who will feel like having a snack or serve it before the actual meeting.

Background

After the visit it is essential to evaluate it in order to draw out the benefits for the teaching/ learning process and at the same time to learn how to improve the organisation of the next visit so that it will be more successful.

The visit is also a rich and invaluable source of authentic cultural and linguistic material which could be used later in various follow-ups activities.

The visit of the British Consul

Like many other teaching activities visits or interviews with native speakers have their advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is the obvious disruption of the school routine and the loss of regular classes which is not insignificant if you have only a few hours and a syllabus to cover. Another disadvantage is the fact that it is time consuming yet it is also extremely difficult to engage every one the students in the project. It is also possible that all your efforts and even the best preparations will end in failure leaving you or your students frustrated and disappointed.

There are undeniable advantages of such a visit. One of them is doing something different from everyday school routine which tends to become boring. The new activity arouses interest and excitement, very precious factors in the teaching/ learning process and creates the right atmosphere to prepare the ground for acquiring new material.

The meeting itself does not have to present a large quantity of new information. It should be considered as a kind of 'trigger' giving an incentive to learn more about the presented subject and to study harder the language which is obviously a vehicle for carrying that information.

One cannot disregard the fact that it also makes students aware of the existing cultural differences between the two countries. It will help them to function in their future professional life connected with international business and with English as an indispensable tool. But the most obvious advantage seems to be their acquired awareness of their own culture.

I am convinced that as a teaching technique an in-coming visit is an extremely powerful tool. Meeting a representative of a foreign nation always arouses great interest and motivation to learn more about the person and his/ her country. It leaves unforgettable impressions which often last longer than memories of any, even perfect, regular class. Therefore I can recommend this technique to other teachers as a method of improving students motivation, raising their intercultural awareness and developing their knowledge of the language and the culture.

This totally new experience for my students and me turned out to be exciting and enjoyable despite some shortcoming and we are looking forward to the next visit.