A 72-hour Business English B2 level course aims to develop a high degree of fluency, accuracy, and confidence, allowing students to communicate effectively and persuasively in a wide range of business situations. At B2, the focus moves beyond routine tasks to more nuanced discussions, argumentation, and strategic communication.

Course Title: Business English B2: Mastering Professional Communication

Total Hours: 72 hours

Level: CEFR B2 (Upper-Intermediate)

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Communicate fluently and spontaneously in most business contexts, including complex or abstract topics.
  • Participate actively and effectively in formal and informal meetings, expressing and justifying opinions, and handling disagreements.
  • Give clear, well-structured, and persuasive presentations on a variety of business subjects.
  • Write professional and coherent business correspondence (emails, reports, proposals) with accuracy and appropriate register.
  • Negotiate effectively, understand different negotiation styles, and reach satisfactory outcomes.
  • Handle challenging situations, resolve conflicts, and offer sophisticated solutions.
  • Network confidently and engage in extended, nuanced social interactions with international contacts.
  • Understand and use a wide range of advanced business vocabulary, collocations, and idiomatic expressions.
  • Apply complex B2 grammar structures accurately and appropriately, enhancing precision and sophistication.
  • Critically read and analyze authentic business texts (articles, case studies, financial reports).

Methodology

  • Highly Communicative & Interactive: Extensive use of role-plays, simulations, debates, and group discussions.
  • Case Study Approach: Utilize more complex business case studies to stimulate critical thinking and problem-solving.
  • Authentic Materials: Primary reliance on genuine business articles, reports, videos, podcasts, and online content.
  • Strategic Communication: Focus on persuasive language, rhetorical devices, and cross-cultural communication.
  • Fluency & Accuracy Balance: Targeted error correction combined with opportunities for extended, spontaneous speech.
  • Independent Learning: Encourage students to take ownership of their learning, including pre-class preparation and post-class reflection.

Course Outline (Approximate Hours per Unit)

Unit 1: The Global Business Landscape (8 hours)

  • Business Context: Discussing current global economic trends, market analysis, international trade, and globalization’s impact.

  • Vocabulary: Globalization, emerging markets, recession, inflation, supply chain, free trade, protectionism, tariffs, economic indicators. Collocations: “economic downturn,” “market forces.”

  • Grammar: Review of conditional sentences (Type 3 and mixed conditionals) for discussing hypothetical past and present economic scenarios. Phrasal verbs related to economics (e.g., “pick up,” “slow down”).

  • Skills: Analyzing and discussing business news articles, expressing opinions on global economic issues, comparing different markets.

  • Activities: Debates on globalization, analysis of simplified financial news, group discussions on the impact of current events on specific industries.

Unit 2: Strategic Management & Leadership (10 hours)

  • Business Context: Discussing leadership styles, corporate strategy, decision-making processes, and managing change.

  • Vocabulary: Strategy, vision, mission, objectives, leadership, management, delegation, innovation, risk assessment, corporate social responsibility (CSR). Idioms: “think outside the box,” “get the ball rolling.”

  • Grammar: Modals of deduction and speculation (must have, might have, could have, can’t have) for analyzing past decisions. Gerunds and infinitives in complex sentences.

  • Skills: Evaluating different leadership approaches, discussing company strategies, presenting a strategic plan, brainstorming solutions to management challenges.

  • Activities: Case studies on company turnarounds or strategic failures, role-play a board meeting discussing a new strategy, presentations on a famous business leader.

Unit 3: Advanced Meeting & Negotiation Skills (12 hours)

  • Business Context: Chairing a meeting, managing complex discussions, dealing with conflict, advanced negotiation techniques, reaching agreements.

  • Vocabulary: Consensus, compromise, leverage, concession, counter-proposal, deadlock, agenda item, minutes, action points. Phrases for interrupting politely, clarifying, summarizing, proposing, objecting, reaching common ground.

  • Grammar: Review of reported speech for summarizing discussions accurately. Using inversions for emphasis (e.g., “Not only did we…, but we also…”).

  • Skills: Leading a meeting, facilitating discussion, handling challenging questions, negotiating terms and conditions, closing a deal.

  • Activities: Extended simulated negotiations (e.g., a contract negotiation, a salary discussion), role-play a challenging meeting scenario, analyzing video clips of effective/ineffective negotiation.

Unit 4: Effective Presentations & Public Speaking (10 hours)

  • Business Context: Designing, delivering, and critiquing persuasive and informative business presentations. Handling Q&A sessions.

  • Vocabulary: Visual aids, handouts, pitch, body language, tone, rapport, audience engagement, persuasive language, rhetorical questions. Phrases for opening, structuring, concluding, and fielding questions.

  • Grammar: Using a range of cohesive devices (linkers, conjunctions, pronouns) for smooth flow. Advanced use of relative clauses for clear descriptions.

  • Skills: Structuring a compelling presentation, using effective visuals, engaging the audience, handling difficult questions, giving constructive feedback on presentations.

  • Activities: Individual and group presentations on complex business topics, peer feedback sessions, analyzing famous business speeches.

Unit 5: Business Correspondence & Report Writing (8 hours)

  • Business Context: Writing a range of formal and informal business emails, detailed reports, proposals, and internal communications.

  • Vocabulary: Formal vs. informal register, tone, persuasive language, passive constructions, complex sentence structures. Report sections (executive summary, introduction, methodology, findings, recommendations, conclusion).

  • Grammar: Review of participle clauses. Nominalization (e.g., “to analyze” to “analysis”) for more formal writing. Advanced linking expressions for logical flow.

  • Skills: Drafting professional emails for sensitive situations (complaints, apologies, difficult requests), writing a comprehensive business report (e.g., market analysis, feasibility study), preparing a persuasive proposal.

  • Activities: Analyzing and re-writing sample business documents, drafting documents based on case studies, peer editing sessions.

Unit 6: HR & Recruitment (8 hours)

  • Business Context: Discussing human resources topics, recruitment processes, employee motivation, and company benefits.

  • Vocabulary: Recruitment, onboarding, appraisal, performance review, retention, turnover, benefits package, training and development, corporate culture, work-life balance. Idioms related to work (e.g., “pull your weight,” “learn the ropes”).

  • Grammar: Review of causative verbs (e.g., “get something done,” “have something done”). Reported speech for interview situations.

  • Skills: Participating in simulated job interviews (as interviewer or interviewee), discussing HR policies, offering advice on employee motivation, talking about career development.

  • Activities: Mock interviews, group discussions on HR challenges, analyzing company HR policies.

Unit 7: Business Ethics & CSR (8 hours)

  • Business Context: Discussing ethical dilemmas in business, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and legal compliance.

  • Vocabulary: Ethics, integrity, transparency, accountability, sustainability, greenwashing, fair trade, whistleblowing, compliance, regulations, dilemma.

  • Grammar: Complex conditional structures for discussing ethical choices and consequences. Verbs of obligation and prohibition (must, should, ought to, are required to).

  • Skills: Debating ethical case studies, presenting arguments for/against CSR initiatives, discussing a company’s commitment to sustainability.

  • Activities: Ethical dilemma discussions, analyzing company CSR reports, role-play a scenario involving an ethical challenge.

Unit 8: Review & Consolidation (8 hours)

  • Business Context: Comprehensive integration of all learned skills in extended, realistic business simulations.

  • Vocabulary: Extensive review of all B2 business vocabulary, challenging collocations, and idiomatic expressions.

  • Grammar: Comprehensive review and application of all B2 grammar structures in complex contexts.

  • Skills:
    • Capstone Project/Simulation: A multi-stage project (e.g., launching a new product, expanding into a new market) requiring meetings, presentations, negotiations, and written communication.
    • Listening tasks with advanced authentic business content (e.g., business conference excerpts, complex news analysis).
    • Reading comprehension of challenging business articles, reports, and white papers.
    • Final B2 assessment (comprehensive oral interview, formal written report/proposal, listening/reading comprehension tests).

Materials

  • A dedicated Business English B2 textbook (e.g., “Business Result B2,” “Market Leader B2,” “Business English Handbook” series from Cambridge, Oxford, Pearson, Macmillan).
  • Extensive authentic supplementary materials:
    • Articles from The Economist, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review (or accessible equivalents).
    • TED Talks on business topics.
    • Business-related podcasts (e.g., HBR IdeaCast, Freakonomics Radio, BBC Business Daily).
    • Company websites, annual reports, press releases.
    • Video clips of business meetings, presentations, interviews.
  • Teacher-created case studies, role-play scenarios, and debate prompts requiring critical thinking.
  • Online resources for B2 Business English practice and research.

This B2 program is designed to equip the students with the advanced English communication skills needed to confidently engage in complex international business environments, leading to greater professional success.