Consumption rooms for drug users are implemented as a tool of tertiary prevention by a number of European countries. These services are based on harm reduction philosophy. The objectives of these programs include minimizing health risks, overdose prevention, motivating users to change their lifestyle. Consumption room has also effect in reduction of negative effects associated with open drug scenes such as the drug consumption in public places. The thesis is about a need analysis of a theoretical application of a consumption room in the capital city Prague. After a theoretical introduction, which introduces the background of the project, the project objectives and examples of foreign practice presented in a literature, are presented the results of qualitative research. The aim of the research, conducted by the technique of semi-structured interview, is to answer the basic questions of needs and expectations of potential users, experts in the treatment and prevention of addiction and other persons who may be considered as involved from the perspective of discussion about consumption. Based on the indicators of the need for drug consumption rooms and based on respondents answers, installation of this low-threshold program appears to be as appropriate in capital city Prague. Respondents of the research...

Student Number : 0110601M - MSc research report - Faculty of Science / Based on the perceived need for improved graphing skills of students at first-year university level, two lecturers wanted to produce a web-based computer programme to improve first-year university biology students’ ability to construct and interpret graphs. Prior to designing and developing the package, however, it was important to establish whether there was a need for such a programme, and what might need to be included. The investigation to establish this provided the research described in this research report. A situation analysis was conducted to establish the nature and extent of the problems of graphing skills discussed anecdotally in the staff room of biology departments at a number of institutes. The ultimate intention (beyond this study) was to determine whether the problems were extensive and serious enough to warrant developing supplementary teaching materials to teach graphing skills. All lecturers (n = 5) and teaching assistants (n = 4) involved in using or teaching graphing skills to first-year biology students at one university were identified and interviewed. The purpose of the interviews was to establish the problems they believed are exhibited by their first-year students (with reference to graphing skills), and the nature and extent of current teaching of such skills in their first-year courses. In order to triangulate the information on student’s problems an item analysis was conducted of all questions incorporating graphs in two mid-year examination papers (n = 478 and n = 65), and students were observed during a practical session (n = 43). Results revealed that students experienced fewer problems with interpreting graphs than with graph construction. Of the four categories of graph interpretation problems identified by the teaching staff, the most popular category was students inability to describe quantitatively what the graph is showing (4 teaching staff). This was confirmed in the question paper analysis when 58% of the medics students (n=478) were unable to answer correctly one question involving several interpretation skills. No specific skills for graph interpretation were observed as being a problem in the College of Science question paper (n=65). Observations showed interrelating graphs as the biggest problem (5 students out of 43). Five categories for problems with graph construction were identified by the teaching staff. The most commonly mentioned problem (4 teaching staff) was identifying or plotting variables, whereas class observation revealed scaling axes as the most problematic skill shown by students (15 out of 43). In the exams, 80% of the medics students could not correctly answer one question requiring multiple skills including identifying variables, and 56% could not correctly answer another question that required skills that also involved identifying variables. The College of Science question paper revealed that 85% of the students could not supply the units of measurement for the y axis. A needs analysis was conducted to establish how the lecturers thought graphing skills should be taught and who should teach the skills. This information was needed to provide suggestions (from education “experts”) about what could be included in the computer programme to be developed subsequent to the research study, and how the teaching could best be done. Four members of the teaching staff said it was important to give students a lot of exercises to practice the skills and five members of the teaching staff said it was the responsibility of the university tutors or lab staff to teach graphing skills.

[pt] O objetivo deste estudo é identificar as necessidades da situação de aprendizagem (necessidades dos alunos) da língua inglesa dos estudantes de um curso técnico em Turismo e Hotelaria em uma escola técnica estadual, e da situação-alvo (necessidade do mercado de trabalho), comparando-as com a proposta curricular existente. Para levantar os dados, foram utilizados como instrumento de coleta: questionários, entrevistas semi- estruturadas e documentos sobre o curso de Turismo e Hotelaria e sobre a disciplina Inglês Instrumental. O principal arcabouço teórico que norteou esta pesquisa está fundamentado nos trabalhos de Hutchinson e Waters (1987/1996), Dudley-Evans e St. John (1998/2005) e Robinson (1991), autores da linha de estudo de ensino de línguas denominado Inglês para Fins Específicos - ESP (English for Specific Purposes), ou Abordagem Instrumental, termo adotado no Brasil. A análise dos dados confirma a extrema necessidade da situação de aprendizagem e da situação-alvo da compreensão auditiva e da produção oral. No entanto, o ensino da habilidade de leitura de gêneros discursivos tais como sites, folhetos, regulamentos, entre outros, precisa ser redimensionado. Esta pesquisa pretende dar subsídios para uma adequação do curso de Inglês Instrumental atualmente implementado na escola técnica onde esta pesquisa foi realizada, tendo em vista as necessidades dos alunos desta unidade escolar e do mercado de trabalho. / [en] The aim of this study is to identify, first, the learning needs of students that study English as a foreign language in a technical course in Tourism and Hotel Management in a state school, and, second, the target needs for work in the market; in addition, the study compares the students` needs and market needs with the course syllabus followed in the school. The data were collected through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and documents about the Tourism course and about the English course. The main theoretical framework of this study is based on Hutchinson & Waters (1987/1996), Dudley-Evans & St. John (1998/2005) and Robinson (1991), authors of the approach called ESP - English for Specific Purposes, or Inglês Instrumental, as it is known in Brazil. The analysis of the data confirms that, in both learning and target situations, speaking and listening skills are extremely important. However, the teaching of reading skills for genres such as web sites, brochures, and regulations must be reevaluated and adjusted to the reality of student and market needs. Suggestions are presented for new directions toward making the ESP course under study more suitable for both the learner and the market.

Os Centros de Estudos de Línguas CEL do Estado de São Paulo oferecem aos alunos da rede pública estadual a oportunidade de cursar, em caráter eletivo, um outro idioma. Em geral, até mesmo por questões que envolvem os objetivos de criação dessa iniciativa, os idiomas mais procurados são o espanhol e o inglês. Contudo, em algumas unidades do CEL, de acordo com a demanda local, há a possibilidade de abrir turmas de idiomas como o alemão. Nesses casos, porém, há uma particularidade no que concerne ao uso do LD, já que os alunos de alemão não ganham esse material da escola, uma vez que o idioma não faz parte do Programa Nacional do Livro Didático - PNLD - como o inglês e o espanhol. O LD, por sua vez, está disponível na escola através de doação feita pelo Instituto Goethe, mas não pode ser entregue para que os alunos levem um exemplar para casa. Nesse sentido, esse trabalho busca analisar quais as expectativas dos alunos em relação ao LD utilizado por eles durante as aulas e os efeitos que a presença ou a ausência desse dispositivo gera no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de alemão nesse contexto. Para tal, foi realizada uma análise de necessidades subjetivas e processuais (cf. WEISSENBERG, 2012) com foco, respectivamente, na visão dos alunos e do professor de uma turma específica de uma unidade do CEL, situado em um município da Grande São Paulo. Essa análise foi realizada através dos dados obtidos com o desenvolvimento e aplicação de atividades didáticas oferecidas aos alunos em forma de estações e também de um questionário. A coleta dos dados ocorreu em três etapas nos meses de março, maio e junho de 2017. A análise dos dados aponta para o fato que os alunos, apesar de já terem tido contato com outras línguas estrangeiras, não desenvolveram as estratégias necessárias para estudar uma língua estrangeira. Além disso, as suas opiniões acerca do LD fornecidas nos questionários corroboram com o fato que eles não se apropriam desse dispositivo no momento de estudar, apesar de declararem tal ferramenta como sendo de muita importância para o seu processo de aprendizagem de alemão. / The Centers of Language Studies (Centros de Estudos de Línguas CEL) of the State of São Paulo offer public school students the opportunity to study, in an elective way, another language. In general, even for issues involving the objectives of this initiative, the most sought languages are Spanish and English. However there is the possibility of having groups for languages like German, according to the local demand. In these Centers, there is a particularity regarding the use of the textbook, because the German studies do not receive the textbook from the school, since the German language is not part of the National Textbook Program (Programa Nacional do Livro didático PNLD) as are English and Spanish. The textbook is available at school through a donation made by the Goethe Institut, but the students cant take it home with them. Therefore, this research seeks to analyze the students expectations regarding the textbook that is used during the German classes and the effect that the presence or the absence of this device generates in the German teaching-learning process in this specific context. For this purpose, a subjective and a procedural analysis focused on the students and the teachers needs of a specific group of a CEL was carried out (see WEISSENBERG, 2012). This analysis was performed through the data obtained with the development and application of didactic activities offered to students in the form of stations and also a questionnaire. Data collection took place in three stages in the months of March, May and June 2017. Data analysis points to the fact that the students, despite having already had contact with other foreign languages, did not develop the necessary strategies to study a foreign language. In addition, their opinion about the textbook provided in the questionnaires corroborate that they do not appropriate the device during their studies, although they declare that the textbook is of great importance to their German learning process.

Os Centros de Estudos de Línguas CEL do Estado de São Paulo oferecem aos alunos da rede pública estadual a oportunidade de cursar, em caráter eletivo, um outro idioma. Em geral, até mesmo por questões que envolvem os objetivos de criação dessa iniciativa, os idiomas mais procurados são o espanhol e o inglês. Contudo, em algumas unidades do CEL, de acordo com a demanda local, há a possibilidade de abrir turmas de idiomas como o alemão. Nesses casos, porém, há uma particularidade no que concerne ao uso do LD, já que os alunos de alemão não ganham esse material da escola, uma vez que o idioma não faz parte do Programa Nacional do Livro Didático - PNLD - como o inglês e o espanhol. O LD, por sua vez, está disponível na escola através de doação feita pelo Instituto Goethe, mas não pode ser entregue para que os alunos levem um exemplar para casa. Nesse sentido, esse trabalho busca analisar quais as expectativas dos alunos em relação ao LD utilizado por eles durante as aulas e os efeitos que a presença ou a ausência desse dispositivo gera no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de alemão nesse contexto. Para tal, foi realizada uma análise de necessidades subjetivas e processuais (cf. WEISSENBERG, 2012) com foco, respectivamente, na visão dos alunos e do professor de uma turma específica de uma unidade do CEL, situado em um município da Grande São Paulo. Essa análise foi realizada através dos dados obtidos com o desenvolvimento e aplicação de atividades didáticas oferecidas aos alunos em forma de estações e também de um questionário. A coleta dos dados ocorreu em três etapas nos meses de março, maio e junho de 2017. A análise dos dados aponta para o fato que os alunos, apesar de já terem tido contato com outras línguas estrangeiras, não desenvolveram as estratégias necessárias para estudar uma língua estrangeira. Além disso, as suas opiniões acerca do LD fornecidas nos questionários corroboram com o fato que eles não se apropriam desse dispositivo no momento de estudar, apesar de declararem tal ferramenta como sendo de muita importância para o seu processo de aprendizagem de alemão. / The Centers of Language Studies (Centros de Estudos de Línguas CEL) of the State of São Paulo offer public school students the opportunity to study, in an elective way, another language. In general, even for issues involving the objectives of this initiative, the most sought languages are Spanish and English. However there is the possibility of having groups for languages like German, according to the local demand. In these Centers, there is a particularity regarding the use of the textbook, because the German studies do not receive the textbook from the school, since the German language is not part of the National Textbook Program (Programa Nacional do Livro didático PNLD) as are English and Spanish. The textbook is available at school through a donation made by the Goethe Institut, but the students cant take it home with them. Therefore, this research seeks to analyze the students expectations regarding the textbook that is used during the German classes and the effect that the presence or the absence of this device generates in the German teaching-learning process in this specific context. For this purpose, a subjective and a procedural analysis focused on the students and the teachers needs of a specific group of a CEL was carried out (see WEISSENBERG, 2012). This analysis was performed through the data obtained with the development and application of didactic activities offered to students in the form of stations and also a questionnaire. Data collection took place in three stages in the months of March, May and June 2017. Data analysis points to the fact that the students, despite having already had contact with other foreign languages, did not develop the necessary strategies to study a foreign language. In addition, their opinion about the textbook provided in the questionnaires corroborate that they do not appropriate the device during their studies, although they declare that the textbook is of great importance to their German learning process.

Career services professionals are increasingly involved in decisions regarding the use of technology to perform their jobs. The millennial generation, increasingly enrolling in distance education, is characterized as being comfortable with technology, expecting efficient services, and valuing convenience. Understanding the technology-related preferences of today's students is fundamental for those planning and developing student career services. Brown and Ryan Krane (2000) identified five critical interventions important to career decision-making: (a) Written Exercises, (b) Individualized Interpretations and Feedback, (c) Information on the World of Work, (d) Modeling, and (e) Attention to Building Support. This study investigated the following questions: (1) what are first-year students' preferences for the delivery method of critical career choice interventions and (2) to what extent are there differences in first-year students' preferences for delivery method based on their prior experience. Specific areas of prior experience included online courses, career counseling, and technology.Participants included 318 undergraduate students enrolled in a two-credit first-year student seminar. A web-based survey was distributed to students via their instructors. Students selected e-mail most frequently as a preferred delivery method for career choice activities followed by in person delivery. Students were most interested in participating in activities related to Modeling and Information on the World of Work. They were least interested in participating in activities related to Attention to Building Support.Overall, participants reported a high level of previous experience with e-mail, Internet text chat, and Internet websites. Participants reported low levels of experience with discussion boards, podcasts, and virtual rooms. Participants also reported low levels of previous experience with online courses and career counseling.While no significant differences in preferences for delivery were found based on previous experience, a comparison of students' experiences and preferences did provide interesting information. E-mail is the only technology with which there were high levels of experience and preference. Students also reported high level of experience with text chat, but a low level of preference for text chat as a delivery mode for career choice activities.

ABSTRACT A NEEDS ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP AN ASTRONOMY PROGRAM FOR TURKISH ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS Kahraman, Oktay MS, Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Ali Eryilmaz April 2006, 238 pages In this study, needs analysis has been made to gather the necessary data for developing a possible astronomy program for elementary and secondary schools in Turkey. In order to collect and to determine the students&rsquo / and teachers&rsquo / needs, 35 elementary schools and 20 secondary schools in the six districts (Ke&ccedil / i&ouml / ren, &Ccedil / ankaya, Yenimahalle, Altindag, Mamak and Sincan) of Ankara in Turkey has been visited during 2004-2005 fall semester. 2133 elementary and 1180 secondary school students, and 37 teachers were involved in the study. In the first part of this study, the international science curricula were examined and the studies related with the concepts of astronomy and astronomy education was analyzed. According to the gathered data from the literature, it was observed that in the international science curricula astronomy education has an important part and most developed countries have astronomy standards in their elementary and secondary school. However, the importance of Turkish National Education given on Astronomy education was not as high as it was supposed to be compared to the international science programs. Also, it was viewed that there is no Astronomy education during secondary school education / there are no standards for Astronomy education in the national science education policy. In the second part of this study, the elementary and secondary school students&rsquo / and teachers&rsquo / opinions were collected. The opinions of the students and the teachers have been collected via questionnaires. These questionnaires have been designed to find answers to six sub-categories of the main problem. The sub-categories can be listed as the content of the program that was aimed to be developed, teaching and learning methods, evaluation period, educational atmosphere and facilities, significance of the astronomy course, and lastly the relationship between the students&rsquo / demographic features and preference of astronomy education. According to the gathered data from the questionnaires, the teachers supported the idea that a possible Astronomy course should be included in the curriculum of elementary education starting with the 6th grade, and they had a common opinion that an astronomy course should take part also in secondary school education. Moreover, most of the students who attended this study want to have a separate astronomy course in their education. Also, the findings revealed that there is a parallelism between the astronomy programs defined in the international arena and the teachers&rsquo / and students opinions about the content of the astronomy course in this study. To conclude, it was observed that the astronomy subjects listed in the questionnaire was selected with high percentages. Besides, for teaching and learning method the participants in the study wanted experiments and projects that are clear, comprehensible and related to daily life experiences. Also, performance based evaluation was supported in the evaluation process. Moreover, an education environment where there are visual based materials and teacher &ndash / student cooperation is expected when teaching astronomy subjects. Lastly, according to teachers and students, the most important benefit of teaching and learning astronomy is getting information and recognizing the facts about the Earth and the Universe.

Un des buts de l'ergonomie est de participer à la conception des systèmes humain-machine. Il est largement reconnu que la contribution de l'ergonomie doit intervenir le plus tôt possible dans le processus de conception, depuis la découverte des besoins des utilisateurs jusqu'à la définition des exigences et des spécifications de conception, c'est-à-dire dès l'analyse des besoins. L'objectif de la thèse est d'analyser notre propre participation, en tant qu'ergonome co-concepteur, à l'analyse des besoins d'un projet de conception d'EDF R&D concernant un nouveau système informatique pour le pilotage de réacteurs nucléaires. Au cours de celui-ci, nous avons collaboré avec les ingénieurs du projet et les futurs utilisateurs dans la définition des différents aspects du système (fonctionnel, organisationnel, opérationnel, interaction et physique) à travers la formulation d'exigences et de spécifications. Cette collaboration s'est cristallisée à travers la rédaction du cahier des charges final. Outre l'observation de notre intervention dans le projet, trois études empiriques ont été menées. Dans chacune d'elles, notre rôle spécifique à différentes étapes de l'analyse des besoins est analysé par rapport aux rôles des ingénieurs et des utilisateurs. La première étude détaille notre contribution à l'identification et à la formalisation des exigences. La seconde étude analyse notre concours à la rédaction des spécification. Enfin, la troisième étude met en lumière notre participation à l'évolution de la première version des exigences et des spécifications jusqu'à leur version définitive. L'ensemble de ces travaux indique plusieurs résultats importants. Premièrement l'ergonome co-concepteur ne doit pas se limiter à ce statut pour agir globalement sur la situation de travail. Deuxièmement, contrairement à ce qu'indique la littérature, les étapes de l'analyse ergonomique des besoins sont plutôt réalisées en parallèle que de manière séquentielle. Troisièmement, l'ergonome va privilégier des contacts différents selon les phases de l'intervention. Il sera plutôt en contact avec les futurs utilisateurs lors de l'identification des besoins et surtout en lien avec l'équipe de conception lors des phases de spécification. Cependant, dans ces phases ultérieures, les séances de travail avec les utilisateurs font plus évoluer le système que les autres séances de travail. Quatrièmement, les études montrent que les différents acteurs impliqués ont un domaine d'expertise spécifique, mais complémentaire, aussi bien pour définir les exigences que les spécifications. Par exemple, dans la définition des spécifications, l'ergonome va formuler les éléments du système accessibles à l'utilisateur alors que les ingénieurs vont spécifier les éléments techniques nécessaires au fonctionnement, mais inaccessibles aux utilisateurs. Enfin, les résultats indiquent que l'ergonome ne s'appuie pas uniquement sur les éléments recueillis lors des analyses de terrain pour produire des exigences et des spécifications. Les analyses de terrain ont surtout été utilisées pour justifier les aspects fonctionnels, organisationnels et opérationnels du système. A contrario, les spécifications de l'interface du système proviennent plutôt de son expertise. Enfin, nous proposons une méthode ergonomique d'analyse des besoins. Par rapport aux méthodes actuelles, celle-ci met davantage l'accent sur les aspects collectifs de ce type d'intervention et détaille les apports de l'ergonome à la définition des différentes dimensions du système. / One of the goals of ergonomics is to contribute to the design of man-machine systems. It is widely recognized that the involvement of ergonomics must take place as early as possible in the design process, starting with the discovery of user needs, up to the definition of design requirements and specifications - i.e. from user needs analysis onwards. The thesis aims to analyze our own participation, as an ergonomist and a co-designer, to user needs analysis in a design project at the EDF R&D department. The project dealt with a new computer system to operate nuclear reactors. During this work, we collaborated with engineers from the project and with future users, to define various aspects of the system (functional, organizational, operational, interaction-based, and physical) byformulating requirements and specifications. This collaboration materialized in the final specifications. In addition to observing our own involvement in the project, we carried out three empirical analyzed, in contrast to the roles of engineers and end users. The first study describes our contribution to identifying and formalizing user requirements. The second study analyses our role in writing the system specifications. Finally, the third study highlights our participation to the evolutions of the first version of requirements and specifications, towards their final version. This work has led to several important results. First, ergonomist as a co-designer should not restict his participation to this status, and should instead act globally on the work situation. Second, in contrast to claims in the literature, the stages of ergonomic needs analysis are carried out simultaneously rather than sequentially. Third, ergonomists tend are more often in contact with end users during user needs identification and more often in contact with the design team during the stage of system specification. However, in these later stages, work sessions with end users allow the system to evolve more than in other types of work sessions. Fourth, the studies show that the various stakeholders involved each have a specific field of expertise. These fields of expertise complement the expertise of ergonomics, both when defining requirements and when defining system specifications. For example, when defining specifications, ergonomists formulate the set of system elements which are accessible to users, whereas engineers specify the set of technical elements which are necessary to system operation, which are inaccessible to users. Finally, our results show that the ergonomist does not rely solely on elements gathered in field investigations to produce requirements and specifications. Field analyses are most often used to tackle the functional, organizational, and operational aspects of the system, whereas defining the elements of the system interface relies more on the ergonomist's own expertise. Finally, we propose an ergonomic method for user needs analysis. Compared with current methods, our method highlights the collective aspects of such interventions, and specifies the contributions of ergonomics to defining the various dimensions of a system.

Using quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, the current study examines Saudi students’ perspectives, coupled with EAL instructors’ views, regarding Saudi students’ English language-learning needs. Two data collection tools were used, a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The study (N = 172) included samples of EAL learners (n = 127) and EAL instructors (n = 45) both in Saudi Arabia and Canada, Victoria. The mismatch between the skills identified as important and areas identified as needing support by the learners, in addition to the divergence between learners’ and instructors’ perceptions, underscores the necessity of triangulation when using needs analysis to discover language-learning needs. The study delineates oral communication (i.e., being able to interact by using the language appropriately and efficiently) as a language-learning need identified by both Saudi students and their language instructors. Quantitative (skill ratings) and qualitative (responses to open-ended questions and interviews) data suggest that both students and instructors view writing as a challenging area for Saudi English-language learners. The results also indicate issues that contribute to the challenges faced by Saudis in the process of learning English. Findings show the importance of educational background and cultural differences in the students’ language development. Responses report that reading is devalued in the Saudi educational system and Saudi culture in general. Hence, both Saudi students and instructors in Canada pinpointed reading as an area needing support. Based on the key findings, it is evident that the language-learning needs of Saudi students are shaped according to the requirements of their immediate study context and their prospective goals. The study contributes crucial findings about participants’ perceptions of the importance of skills and their assessment of skills status in Saudi Arabia and Canada. In addition to the implications for English language learning in Saudi Arabia, these findings can be informative for educational institutions and practitioners in the English-speaking world. Most importantly, the multi-level analysis confirms that language learning needs are context-specific. / Graduate

The Business English (BE) degree in China was established as an independent dis-cipline in 2007. Business English used to be taught as a component of English lan-guage and literature degrees. There are now about 50 universities in China offer-ing BE degrees, but the change in the status of Business English has not been with-out attendant problems. Most Chinese universities offering degrees in BE have failed to combine the teaching of English language and literature and the teaching of business in very meaningful ways, and have given English language learning a much larger share of the curriculum. Business English is taught in university Eng-lish departments rather than in Business Schools, and most BE teachers only have a background in English language and literature, with no practical work experience in the area of international business. These teachers have little knowledge of how English is used in the workplace, and might have difficulty contextualizing BE teaching in real business situations where English is used as a lingua franca (BELF). The fact that non-native speakers’ communications predominate in the BELF environment calls into question the emphasis on native-like correctness in university BE teaching. Language needs analysis (LNA) was conducted in order to discover the English language needs of BE graduates starting work in Chinese companies with an inter-national clientele. Data from questionnaires, interviews and business emails sent to and from recent graduates were analysed. The findings from questionnaires and interviews indicate that emailing is the most frequent mode of communication in English in the Chinese companies that employ BE graduates, although speaking skills are also highly prized. All groups of re-spondents (BE teachers, company employers and RGs) thought standardized na-tional English tests (e.g. TEM4, TEM8) were important for securing a job. It was found that most of the company employers and recent graduates believed that ad-hering to native-like norms was not important in a BELF environment where most of their clients were non-native English speakers who did not have a very high lev-el of English. The findings from analysis of my corpus of 86 business English email chains (307 messages, 34,837 words) suggest that MEMC graduates are communicatively adept at business email communication and can establish rapport with their cli-ents and mitigate potential face-threats, despite the fact that their English is some-times non-standard. Current teaching materials, methods and practices in BE teaching in China still place greatest emphaisis on conformity to a set of native-like norms, however, rather than pragmatic competence. These findings have interesting implications for ESP course content and the teach-ing of Business English as a lingua franca (BELF). BE lecturers might be unwilling to use authentic BELF emails as models in the classroom, because the writers have a restricted command of English. There were no signs of any miscommunication in the email exchanges, however, and specifically BELF usage may well have had a disarming effect on clients, helping to achieve the writers’ purposes more effec-tively than textbook English would have done.