Introduction 5

Notes on units

Unit 1 CareersAt a glance 8Business brief 9Lesson notes 10

Unit 2 Selling onlineAt a glance 16Business brief 17Lesson notes 18

Unit 3 CompaniesAt a glance 24Business brief 25Lesson notes 26

RevisionUnit A 32

Unit 4 Great ideasAt a glance 34Business brief 35Lesson notes 36

Unit 5 StressAt a glance 42Business brief 43Lesson notes 44

Unit 6 EntertainingAt a glance 50Business brief 51Lesson notes 52

RevisionUnit B 58

Unit 7 MarketingAt a glance 60Business brief 61Lesson notes 62

Unit 8 PlanningAt a glance 68Business brief 69Lesson notes 70

Unit 9 Managing peopleAt a glance 76Business brief 77Lesson notes 78

Revision Unit C 84

Unit 10 ConflictAt a glance 86Business brief 87Lesson notes 88

Unit 11 New businessAt a glance 94Business brief 95Lesson notes 96

Unit 12 ProductsAt a glance 102Business brief 103Lesson notes 104

RevisionUnit D 110

Text bank

Teacher’s notes 113

Unit 1 CareersA career in retail banking 114Training on the job 115

Unit 2 Selling onlineFilm deals online 116Online advertising 117

Unit 3 CompaniesComputer company success 118Change for success 119

Unit 4 Great ideasIdeas from consumers 120Ideas from R&D departments 121

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Unit 5 StressInvesting in stress-free companies 122Technology – helpful or stressful? 123

Unit 6 EntertainingEntertain in style 124Golf sponsorship 125

Unit 7 MarketingLuxury brands 126Food and drink companies 127

Unit 8 PlanningExpansion plans 128Survival plans 129

Unit 9 Managing peopleGiving staff more freedom 130Improving the work environment 131

Unit 10 ConflictBetter leadership 132Outsourcing conflict 133

Unit 11 New businessNeed for fast expansion 134Problems of success 135

Unit 12 ProductsLaunching several new products 136Following new trends 137

Text bank answer key 138

Resource bank

Teacher’s notes 141

Unit 1 CareersTelephoning: making contact 146

Unit 2 Selling onlineNegotiating: reaching agreement 147

Unit 3 CompaniesPresenting your company 148

Unit 4 Great ideasSuccessful meetings 149

Unit 5 StressParticipating in discussions 150

Unit 6 EntertainingGreetings and small talk 151

Unit 7 MarketingTelephoning: exchanging information 152

Unit 8 PlanningMeetings: interrupting and clarifying 153

Unit 9 Managing peopleSocialising and entertaining 154

Unit 10 ConflictNegotiating: dealing with conflict 155

Unit 11 New businessDealing with numbers 156

Unit 12 ProductsPresenting a product 157

Appendix

Translation reference 158

Business brief 158Reading 164

Audio scripts 171

Contents

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5

1 Course aims

Market Leader is an extensive new Business English coursedesigned to bring the real world of international business intothe language teaching classroom. It has been developed inassociation with the Financial Times, one of the world’s leadingsources of professional information, to ensure the maximumrange and authenticity of business content.

The course is intended for use either by students preparingfor a career in business or by those already working who wantto improve their English communication skills.

Market Leader combines some of the most stimulatingrecent ideas from the world of business with a strongly task-based approach. Role-plays and case studies are regularfeatures of each unit. Throughout the course, students areencouraged to use their own experience and opinions in orderto maximise involvement and learning.

An essential requirement of Business English materials isthat they cater for the wide range of needs which studentshave, including different areas of interest and specialisation,different skills needs and varying amounts of time available tostudy. Market Leader offers teachers and course planners aunique range of flexible materials to help meet these needs.This book makes suggestions on how to use the unit materialextensively or intensively and indicates how the material in thePractice File integrates with the Course Book. This bookcontains extensive extra photocopiable material in the Textbank and the Resource bank.

2 The main course components

Course Book

This provides the main part of the teaching material, dividedinto 12 topic-based units, plus four revision units. The topicshave been chosen following research among teachers toestablish the areas of widest possible interest to the majorityof their students. The Course Book provides input in reading,speaking and listening, with guidance for writing tasks as well.Every unit contains vocabulary development activities and arapid review of essential grammar. There is a regular focus onkey business functions, and each unit ends with a motivatingcase study to allow students to practise language they haveworked on during the unit. For more details on the CourseBook units, see Overview of a Course Book unit below.

Practice File

This gives extra practice in the areas of grammar andvocabulary, together with a complete syllabus in businesswriting. In each unit, students work with text models anduseful language, and then do a writing task to consolidate thelearning. Additionally, the Practice File provides regular self-study pronunciation work (with an audio CD and exercises),

and a valuable survival language section for students whentravelling.

Audio materials

All the listening activities from the Course Book (interviewswith business practitioners and input for other activities suchas role-plays and case studies) and the Practice File(pronunciation exercises) are available on audio CDs,depending on the user’s preference.

Teacher’s Resource Book

This book provides teachers with an overview of the wholecourse, together with detailed teaching notes, backgroundbriefings on business content, the Text bank (24 optional extrareading texts), the Resource bank (photocopiable worksheetspractising communication skills), Chinese translations ofBusiness brief and Reading and the Audio scripts for theCourse Book.

Test File

Six photocopiable tests are available to teachers and courseplanners to monitor students’ progress through the course.There are an entry test, four progress tests and an exit test,which reviews the work done throughout the course.

3 Overview of a Course Book unit

A typical unit consists of the following sections:

Starting up

Students have the opportunity to think about the unit topicand to exchange ideas and opinions with each other and withthe teacher. There is a variety of stimulating activities such asanswering quiz questions, reflecting on difficult decisions,prioritising options and completing charts. Throughout,students are encouraged to draw upon their life and businessexperience.

Vocabulary

Essential business vocabulary is presented and practisedthrough a wide variety of creative and engaging exercises.Students learn new words, phrases and collocations, and aregiven tasks which help to activate the vocabulary they alreadyknow or have just learnt.

There is further vocabulary practice in the Practice File.

Discussion

There are a number of discussion activities in the book. Theirmain purpose is to build up students’ confidence in expressingtheir views in English and to improve their fluency.

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Introduction

Reading

Students read interesting and relevant authentic texts from theFinancial Times and other business sources. They develop theirreading skills and acquire essential business vocabulary. Thetexts provide a context for language work and discussion laterin the unit.

Listening

The authentic listening texts are based on interviews withbusiness people and experts in their field. Students developtheir listening skills such as prediction, listening for specificinformation and note taking.

Language review

These sections develop students’ awareness of the commonproblems at pre-intermediate level. They focus on accuracy andknowledge of key areas of grammar. If students already knowthe grammar point, this section works as a quick check forthem and the teacher. If they need more explanation, they arereferred to the Grammar reference at the end of the CourseBook.

There is further grammar practice in the Practice File.

Skills

This section helps learners to develop their communicationskills in the key business areas of presentations, meetings,negotiations, telephoning and social English. Each sectioncontains a Useful language box, which provides students withthe support and phrases they need to carry out the businesstasks in the regular role-play activities.

Case studies

Each unit ends with a case study linked to the unit’s businesstopic. The case studies are based on realistic businessproblems or situations and are designed to motivate andactively engage students. They use the language andcommunication skills which they have acquired while workingthrough the unit. Typically, students will be involved indiscussing business problems and recommending solutionsthrough active group work.

All of the case studies have been developed and testedwith students in class and are designed to be easy to presentand use. No special knowledge or extra materials are required.For teaching tips on making the best use of the case studies,see Case studies that work below.

Each case study ends with a realistic writing task. Thesetasks reflect the real world of business correspondence andwill also help those students preparing for Business Englishexams. Models of writing text types are given in the Writing fileat the end of the Course Book.

4 Using the course

Accessibility for teachers

Less experienced teachers can sometimes find teachingBusiness English daunting. They may be anxious about theirlack of knowledge of the business world and of the topicscovered in the course. Market Leader sets out to provide themaximum support for teachers. The Business brief section atthe beginning of each unit in the Teacher’s Resource Bookgives an overview of the business topic, covering key termsand suggesting a list of titles for further reading andinformation.

Authenticity of content

One of the principles of the course is that students should dealwith as much authentic content as their language level allows.Authentic reading and listening texts are motivating forstudents and bring the real world of business into theclassroom, increasing students’ knowledge of businesspractice and concepts. Due to its international coverage, theFinancial Times has been a rich source of text and businessinformation for the course.

The case studies present realistic business situations andproblems, and the communication activities based on them –group discussions, simulations and role-plays – serve toenhance the authenticity of the course.

Flexibility of use

Demands of Business English courses vary greatly, andmaterials accordingly need to be flexible and adaptable.Market Leader has been designed to give teachers and courseplanners the maximum flexibility. The course can be usedeither extensively or intensively. At the beginning of each unitin this book are suggestions for a fast route through the unit iftime is short. This intensive route focuses mainly on speakingand listening skills. If the teacher wants to extend thisconcentration on particular skills, optional components areavailable in the course (see Extending the course below).

5 Case studies that work

The following teaching tips will help when using case studies.

1 Involve all the students at every stage of the class.Encourage everyone to participate.

2 Draw on the students’ knowledge of business and theworld.

3 Be very careful how you present the case study at thebeginning. Make sure your instructions are clear and thatthe task is understood. (See individual units in this bookfor detailed suggestions on introducing the case study.)

4 Ensure that all students have understood the case and thekey vocabulary.

5 Encourage the students to use the language andcommunication skills they have acquired in the rest of theunit. A short review of the key language will help.

6 Focus on communication and fluency during the case-studyactivities. Language errors can be dealt with at the end.

7

IntroductionIntroduction

Make a record of important errors and give studentsfeedback at the end in a sympathetic and constructive way.Note good language use, too, and comment on itfavourably.

7 If the activity is developing slowly or you have a group ofstudents who are a little reticent, you could intervene byasking questions or making helpful suggestions.

8 Allow students to reach their own conclusions. Manystudents expect there to be a correct answer. Teachers cangive their opinions but should stress that there usually isno single ‘right’ answer.

9 Encourage creative and imaginative solutions to theproblems expressed.

10 Encourage students to use people management skills suchas working in teams, leading teams, delegating andinteracting effectively with each other.

11 Allocate sufficient time for the major tasks such asnegotiating. At the same time, do not allow activities to dragon too long. You want the students to have enough time toperform the task and yet the lesson needs to have pace.

12 Students should identify the key issues of the case anddiscuss all the options before reaching a decision.

13 Encourage students to actively listen to each other. This isessential for both language practice and effectiveteamwork.

6 Extending the course

Some students will require more input or practice in certainareas, either in terms of subject matter or skills, than isprovided in the Course Book. In order to meet these needs,Market Leader provides a wide range of optional extramaterials and components to choose from.

Teacher’s Resource Book

The Text bank provides two extra reading texts per unit,together with comprehension and vocabulary exercises.

The Resource bank provides photocopiable worksheet-based communication activities, linked to the skills introducedin the Course Book units.

The Test Master CD-ROM

The Teacher’s Resource Book includes a Test Master CD-ROMwhich provides an invaluable testing resource to accompanythe course.• The tests are based strictly on the content of the

corresponding level of Market Leader Second Edition,providing a fair measure of students’ progress.

• An interactive menu makes it easy to find the test you arelooking for.

• Keys and audio scripts are provided to make marking thetests as straightforward as possible.

• Most tests come in A and B versions. This makes it easierfor you to invigilate the test by making it harder forstudents to copy from each other.

• The audio files for the listening tests are convenientlylocated on the same CD.

Types of test

The Test Master CD contains five types of test.• Placement Test(s)• Module Tests• Progress Tests• Mid-Course Test• End-of-Course Test

Flexible

You can print the tests out and use them as they are, or youcan adapt them. You can use Microsoft® Word to edit them asyou wish to suit your teaching situation, your students or yoursyllabus.

Levels

Test Master CDs are available for all levels of Market LeaderSecond Edition.