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The purpose of this study was to determine and analyse student achievement as a result of the use of an experimental edition of a programmed business English textbook in selected classes. The participants in the study were 202 post high school and junior college students distributed in seven classes in four states. The textbook used was the experimental edition of Programmed Business English, developed by Harry Huffman of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia, and Syrell Rogovin, a linguist at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center. Yorktown Heights, New York. The students took a pretest before initiating their study of the textbook. Four interim tests were taken during the study, and a posttest was taken at the conclusion of the study. A comparison of posttest over pretest achievement represented students’ business English achievement as a result of their study of the textbook. Specific problems and findings in the study were: 1: Problem: Reliability of the pretest and the posttest used in the study. Findings: By using Tests A and B (pretests and posttests) the investigator found a .66 positive correlation between Tests A and B. By using the split-half method on Tests A and B the investigator found a .82 positive correlation on Test A and a .87 positive correlation on Test B. 2: Problem: Business English achievement of students before they used the program business English textbook. Findings: The achievement of individual students before they used the programmed business English textbook ranged from a low of 23 percent for a student in Class 1 to a high of 82 percent for students in Classes 3 and 7. 3. Problem: Business English achievement of selected classes of students after they used the programmed business English textbook. Findings: The achievement of individual students after they used the programmed business English Textbook ranged from a low of 31 percent for a student in Class 2 to a high of 99 percent for a student in Class 3. 4. Problem: Analysis and interpretation of the business English achievement of each class after the programmed business English textbook had been used. Findings: The mean gains in points were 20.41, 24.39, 25.00, 22.31, 19.09, 36.18, and 19.14 for the seven classes who used the textbook. 5. Problem: Comparison of the business English achievement among the classes that used the programmed business English textbook. Findings: Class 6 had the highest mean achievement (88.41) after completing the textbook used in the study, and Class 1 had the lowest mean achievement (64.59). The mean posttest achievement for all the classes was 74.11 percent. 6. Problem: Participating instructors’ opinions as to the strengths and weaknesses of the programmed business English textbook. Findings: Five of the six instructors who returned questionnaires to the investigator had favorable opinions of the textbook. They stated that it was beneficial for more detailed work and left the teacher free to work with slower students. All the replies stated that the textbook provides for more hours or periods of instruction than were used. The major objection to the textbook was the testing program. The tests, according to the instructors, were too infrequent and covered too much material. The advantages the instructors cited were: the provision for individual differences, the immediate verification of response, and the opportunity provided the teacher to work with individual students. / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Wang, Yanyan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 333-352). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; Includes Chinese.

This work questions the usefulness of heuristic procedures, within composition in general writing in business in particular, as an effective aid to the generation of written, non-fiction discourse.

A growing number of American businesses are offering ESL courses at the work site; likewise, more and more textbooks designed specifically for teaching ESL in the Workplace (EWP), are being written and published. The need for an evaluation of these new texts with regard to current teaching methodology, the particularities of EWP, and the social implications of EWP is a vital one. A good EWP text, besides serving as a guide and resource for learners, can also facilitate intercultural understanding, increase awareness of workers' rights and unions, and promote participation in training programs for job flexibility and promotion. Most importantly, a good EWP textbook can develop the skills necessary for learners, not simply to fit into the American world of work, but to become active participants in their workplaces. This study was intended to determine what EWP texts are currently available, and to evaluate them in light of three primary concerns: the social implications of their contents, their portrayal of workplace culture and relationships, and their effectiveness in exploring issues of conflict and unfairness at work.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of programed vocabulary instruction in an undergraduate collegiate business communications course. In making its evaluation, the study tests the hypothesis that a class using such instruction would improve over a class without formal vocabulary study. The three areas of proficiency measured are written communication, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis looks at social interaction from the point of view of social-institutional process. In doing so, it aims to account for i) how broader institutional processes are instantiated in local interaction, and ii) how western technologisation (in the Foucaultian sense) relates to or is instantiated in local interaction.

As a result of the New Economic Reform in Vietnam, the need for more business people proficient in the English language is constantly growing. This need requires the Hanoi Foreign Trade College, which is officially charged with the training of business people for the whole country, to devise relevant curricula for short courses in Business English. The purpose of this report is to examine some major theoretical and practical issues in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and in syllabus design that can provide course designers at the Hanoi Foreign Trade College with a deeper insight into the problems essential to the development of their work. The report consists of five chapters: (i) Chapter One is the Introduction. It gives the background to the study, pointing to changes in Vietnam and the role of the HFTC in adapting to meet the new need created by these changes. (ii) Chapter Two deals with the methodology employed in the data collection and discusses its findings. (iii) Chapter Three looks at some major theoretical issues in English for Specific Purposes with a view to applying this theory to the practical needs for Business English in Vietnam. (iv) Chapter Four is directly concerned with the planning of the short courses in Business English for Vietnam which are the central focus of this study. (v) Chapter Five is the Summary and contains recommendations for future development of the proposed short courses.