Future Events
May Event
Date: May 12, 2012
Time: 2:00 to 5:00 pm
Speaker: Evan Frendo
Venue: Alte Feuerwache, Melchiorstrasse 3, 50670 Köln, Großes Forum
To register for this event please click here: http://www.doodle.com/xatmnkaay3t5hb4i
This workshop will be divided into two sessions: the first is more theory, and the second more practical.
Research in Business English - where are we, where do we need to go?
Busy teachers and trainers do not often have time to keep up to date with the latest in research relevant to business English teaching, particularly as the field is so multidisciplinary. In this session I would like to discuss some recent research projects I have found interesting, and also point out some of the areas where I think more work needs to be done. The topics we will be looking at include needs analysis, corpus linguistics, workplace discourse, intercultural communication, business English as a lingua franca, and many more.
Framework materials
Framework materials have been popular in business English training for a number of years. They are excellent at generating appropriate language, do not take long to produce, and are particularly useful in situations where the trainer has limited background knowledge of the learner’s precise job and language needs. In this session we will look at different examples, discuss their advantages and disadvantages, and finish up with a set of materials which you can use in your own class on Monday morning.
About the speaker
Evan Frendo BSc (Mech Eng), LCCI Dip TEB, MSc TESP
Evan Frendo is a freelance trainer, teacher trainer and author, and has been involved in Business English training and consulting since 1993. Currently based in Berlin, his work for various corporations and clients takes him regularly to different parts of Europe and Asia.
He has published various books and articles over the years, including How to teach Business English (Longman, 2005), and Working in Asia (Cornelsen, 2010) which he co-authored with Shuna Hsu. In 2011 he was part of the LCCI team which developed the new English for Accounting qualification. Evan is currently working on a number of ESP books for Pearson which are due to be published in 2012. Visit his blog at englishfortheworkplace.blogspot.com.
June Event
Date: Sunday June 24th, 2012
Time: 12:00 to 3:00 pm
Speaker: Vicki Hollett
Venue: Alte Feuerwache, Melchiorstrasse 3, 50670 Köln, Großes Forum
Please click on this link to register for this workshop and enter your name as you want it to appear on your certificate.
http://www.doodle.com/dmxegtmagk9z9wke
Business English as a Lingua Franca
We’re living in an age of unprecedented language contact and hence, language change. At least 1bn people in the world speak English, but only 330m are native speakers. Most business conversations take place between non-native speakers English and the world’s major business lingua franca is no longer owned by native speakers. So how is successful communication achieved in business contexts when many or all of the people involved aren’t native English speakers? And what implications does this have for what we should be teaching in our business English lessons and how? This talk will focus on bridging links between the research and the classroom and include practical classroom tips and suggestions. This is a must attend event for course developers and teachers whose students need to communicate in international contexts.
About the speaker
Vicki Hollett is an award winning author who has written many business and technical English courses for Oxford University Press and Pearson Longman. Vicki has taught English in Algeria, Japan and the UK and run teachers’ workshops in many countries in Europe, the Far East and South America. She has also trained teachers for the LLCI’s Diploma in English for Business, conducted syllabus development work for Cambridge ESOL and teaches online on the New School MATESOL program. British by birth she now lives in the US where she’s blogging about learning to speak ‘merican at
Here is a link to a video she made on English as a Lingua Franca
Further events are planned on the following dates:
Sat 25th August: Mike Hogan
Sat 22nd September: topic not fixed
October: date and speaker still pending
Sat 24th November: Scott Thornbury
The ELTA Grammar Group
Are you struggling to find an inspiring way to teach grammar? Or do you have some ideas that really work for your students? Are you a Grammar Geek? Or does the future perfect simple keep you awake at night? Bring you out in a cold sweat?
Whatever your thoughts, if you're interested in exchanging ideas, sharing nightmare grammar classes or are able provide the panacea for our combined linguistic woes, join us!
The Grammar Group usually meets either before or after the monthly workshops and participants are asked to register online beforehand. Details are announced through the e-list and here.
The next Grammar Group date and time will be announced soon.
Registration for Events
We will create an online registration form for each event and post the link here as well as sending it out on the elist. This will make registering easier for everyone and helps us keep track of numbers.
To find out more about our events please contact
Emma Stockton
These dates are subject to change depending on speaker availability
Page updated: 18.04.2012
