An Assessment of the Relevance of the Business English Course at Addis Ababa Commercial College to the Needs of Employing Organizations
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Date
2001-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The aim of this research was to study the relevance of the Business
English course at Addis Ababa Commercial College to the needs of
employing organizations. Prior to the actual study on Business English
(LBC 201 ), a general survey was conducted of equivalent Business
English courses offered by five private colleges in Addis Ababa to see
the importance given to such a course. Before selecting the Commercial
Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) for the main study a similar pilot study was
also conducted on three other employing organizations: two banks and
one soft drinks factory.The course obj ective, syllabus, textbook contents, test samples, as
well as the grades and grade point averages (GPAs) were analyzed first
in order to describe and assess the Business English course for present
situation analysis. The target needs of the employed graduates were
then specified in terms of the most frequent specific communicative and
professional skills and the most common language activities under the
major macro-skills.Data were then gathered on these variables using questionnaires
for graduate employees, and semi-structured interviews for branch
managers, supervisors and section heads of the CBE.The findings from the analyzed data reveal that there is a gap
between required language skills and actual skill level of graduates. The
findings gave importance to verbal communicative skills, letter and report
writing skills, the ability to use word processor and other office modems.
Viewed vis-a-vis these and other several findings that are presented
in chapter four and five, the Business English course (LBC 201) largely
fails to meet the stakeholders' needs.
A Business English course, integrating different professional and
communicative kills that best suit the target situation, is therefore
recommended. A skills-based approach with varying emphasis on the
currently required communicative skills is believed to bridge tbe gap and
create a match between the required standard and the skill level ofthe
graduates.
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Business English Course