In recent years, we have seen a proliferation of private training schools and institutes in the Senegalese education system. Belonging to the higher education system, they offer courses in many fields such as biomedical, management, computer science, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, to name a few. This wide range of professional training is the reason why they attract students from diverse backgrounds, especially African ones. Among the subjects taught, business English occupies a prominent place.
This article attempts to shed light on the teaching and learning of business English in private training schools by taking as case studies the African Institute of Management (IAM) and the West African Polytechnic University (UPOA). It also seeks to draw the attention of school authorities and teachers to the appropriate teaching method in this environment.
In Senegal, business schools are booming and as such, the intellectuals must pay attention to what is happening in terms of pedagogy, approach, technique, in a word, contents no matter what the field may be. One of the most outstanding subjects taught nearly in every training school due to its importance in the professional world, we can give as an illustrative example is English. It is a language that is used in business, medicine, politics, research or in different places such as at the banks, at the airports, at restaurants and even worthwhile in international meetings, workshops, seminars, conferences and so on. Therefore, English can be seen as mandatory while training future employees.
But the gist of the matter is how the language is taught. Are teachers well-trained to fulfil the job? What do students think about it? Who design the syllabi in private business schools? Are the syllabi in keeping with the English language that should be taught in these particular contexts? Shedding light on these questions, among others, is the main purpose of this paper. In doing so, we focus on two well-known private Business Schools Institut Africain de Management and Université Polytechnique Ouest-Africain owing to the variety of trainings and subjects they propose and the diversity of the nationalities of their students. A brief overview of the educational context and English as compulsory will be first tackled before doing a cross-section analysis of the questionnaires of the private business school authorities, of the English teachers and the learners. Each part of the questionnaires is followed by data analysis.
The Educational Context
Bearing in mind the « six honest serving men » can help us stick to our research « what », the cause or objective of our topic « Why », the different periods « When », the ways and means « How », the context « Where » and the « Who » meaning the persons that are concerned by our research. Let’s us start with the man named « Where » by Rudyard Kipling or the context so as to speak.
During the last twenty years or so a lot of private business schools have been created in Senegal with different streams ranging from engineering, economics, medicine, to management and so on. The numerous schools account for the difficulty to cite them all in one article but we can give some well-known training schools such as IAM, UPOA, ISM (Higher Institute of Management),
ISEG (Higher Institute of Entrepreneurship and Management), IPD (Thomas Sankara Polytechnic Institute of Dakar), CEFAS (African Training Center of Senegal), SUPDECO (The Dakar Business School), UNIPRO (Universe Professional), Université Dakar-Bourguiba, University Ahmadou Hampaté Ba, Université du Sahel etc.
The reason for this is, to a certain way, the lack of hindrances to open a private school. Apart from the civil servants, anyone who has the means can alone or with other persons start up a business school. And as such, those who want to be trained in a specific domain have a lot of possibilities. Therefore, there is without doubt an open, silent and sound competition between the private training schools in terms of fees, learning conditions and so on.
The geographical and political dimensions should be also taken into account since they are likely to motivate many African students to prefer to study in Senegal. It is a democratic and peaceful country. Elections are generally held in due time with change in power. Unlike many other Western-African countries, there has never been a coup d’état in Senegal. And from this state, the students might have the possibility to fly to Europe, Canada or the United States of America to further their studies.
Another point in case for many foreign students is the possibility to live in Senegal without hassle. Once they set foot in the country they can study, move as any other Senegalese citizen without any sense of discrimination. And it is passport-free for those who come from the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries such as Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Mali and so on.
Thus, the students are not only from Senegal but also from other African countries for instance Mali, Chad, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Guinee, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Madagascar, Republic Democratic of Congo, to name a few, and justify the reason why both authorities and researchers should pay more attention to the subjects which urge them to be trained in Senegal.
Very little is known about the way the teachers are hired in the Senegalese business schools and the type of syllabus used as far as English is concerned. There is no doubt that some researchers have addressed the question of teaching English in schools but not many in the scope of training schools which are generally private ones and, as such, their teachers are in general free to design their own syllabuses.
English is a Must
Judging from the geographical, historical, political, and economic dimensions, English is viewed as one of the most important languages throughout the world. It is the only language that is spoken nearly in every continent, every country. And "According to ISO 3166-1 code 83, English has official language status in 83 countries and regions of the world, with the following particularity: it does not have official language status in the United Kingdom itself, the USA, and Australia." Seydi [1].
In terms of history William Shakespeare’s language took benefit from the paramount role of the British people. The British had colonies throughout the world for many decades. The long-lasting British empire began in the 16th century with colonies in the America and the West Indies, and ended when the African countries obtained their independences in the 1960’s. Language is part and parcel of human being and that’s the reason why you take it wherever you go. It is not possible to go without it since language is our striking identity. Yankhoba Seydi quoting Ludwig Wittgenstein writes “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world” [1]. The presence of the British in many corners all around the world has been an opportunity for English to spread quickly and be spoken by different races.
Let us take another turning point that urges people all around the world to love and learn the Queen’s language no matter what job they dream to have. Just after the Second World War another country that is to say the United States of America takes over from England with the English language by becoming the cynosure of all eyes due to its technology, music and political power. The American dream, the American way of life draw the attention of many people namely the young ones in all the five continents. Owing to the fact that English is a showcase for American music, sport, media, trade and so on, the need to learn and master it is obvious for the non- English native speakers.
Let us now consider another point in case which is the type of English that is needed to learn. To facilitate learning a clear-cut distinction is made between General English and Business English. The latter interests us more in this article. The former is just the English learnt at secondary schools, at high school or at university in literature whereas business one should be taught at the business schools.
Taking into account the fields of the learners, different pedagogical approaches are put forward so as to be in keeping with the needs of the students. For instance, medical students’ English needs are different from the reasons why the engineering students or law students wish to learn the language. Catering for the needs of these different students is the purpose of what is termed as English for Specific Purposes or (E.S.P). As is clear from the ground-breaking study of Hutchinson, Tom & Alan Waters about ESP.
Given that the purpose of an ESP course is to enable learners to function adequately in a target situation, that is, the situation in which the learners will use the language they are learning, then the ESP course design process should proceed by first identifying the target situation and then carrying out a rigorous analysis of the linguistic features of that situation. The identified features will form the syllabus of the ESP course. This process is usually known as needs analysis [2].
Enabling “learners to function adequately in a target situation” is actually the very purpose of the business school authorities when they consider English as a must for their students no matter what the field is. To put it more simply the students, have to master English as they do with the other subjects they choose to be trained.
Judging from the above lines, whether it is IAM or UPOA, English is as importance as the other subjects. But the questions that come to our mind are many: how are teachers hired there? Do they abide by the principles of ESP? Who designs the syllabuses? Do the school authorities keep an eye on the teachers’ syllabuses? Are students satisfied with their teachers? To have an idea of these questions the below questionnaires are sent to the school authorities, the teachers and the students of the target training schools.
School Authorities’ Questionnaires
For the sake of clear understanding of our research I choose two well-known and different streams in terms of training in Dakar (IAM and UPOA).
Data Presentation and Analysis
Figure1 gives an idea of the place of English in Senegalese private schools according to the authorities. The same answer to question 2 (two) given by the two authorities of IAM and UPOA is beyond doubt. Unlike many other foreign languages such as Spanish, Arabic, German or any other one, English is taught in all training schools. It goes hand in hand with the other subjects whether they are related to science or to management wherever their students may come from.
As can be seen above most of the students are from the African French speaking countries. And this brings forward the level of the students namely those from countries like Mauritania or Guinea and the question of the syllabus. As a matter of fact, the students don’t have the same level though they follow common-core courses. In UPOA biomedical students and financial engineering students are put together during English courses whereas in IAM for instance learners of different domains follow the same courses.
The gist of the matter is that if they divide learners into a hierarchical way, for example, into classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners, they will pay more English teachers. Putting them together like a salad bowl is a way so as to make money. The less teachers they employ the more money they are likely to make. Their concern is actually to have a lot of money and that accounts for their daily attitudes.
School authorities should organize diagnostic tests at the beginning of the academic year so as to have English classes according to the students’ levels otherwise teachers ought to be the spokesmen of these specific students. Yet, what really interest them is to be paid at the end of their module.
As far as designing the syllabus is concerned, answers 5,6, 7 give a clear-cut idea. In general, teachers have to design their own syllabus but the core of the matter is if they are well-trained or not so as to design the syllabus that will cater for the learners’ needs. Holding a doctorate or a master II in English literature is not enough to be a good teacher. They should attend teacher training schools or follow in-service courses. Private school authorities should not take into account only the academic degrees but also the professional qualifications while hiring full-time or part-time teachers. There is no doubt that the academic levels of the teachers are required to be accepted by CAMES (African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education).
Being aware that ESP is important to reach their aims as far as teaching English is concerned will be helpful for them. Unfortunately, those who recruit are not in general English teachers to be acquainted with ESP. The different answers to question number 10 lie in the fact that, in IAM the answer comes from the person who is in charge of the language centre whereas in UPOA there isn’t any. All in all, the answers of the last questions shed light on the importance of the English language and its place in business training schools.
Table 1: Questionnaire : IAM and UPOA
| Questionnaire | Institut Africain de Management | Université Polytechnique de l’Ouest Africain |
| In 1996 | In 2006 |
a) Yes c) No | Yes | Yes |
| Both | Part-time |
| Both | Both |
| Yes/No | No |
(If any)?
| Yes/No | No |
a) yes b) no | Yes | Yes |
a) Yes b) No | Yes | No |
| Guinean, Malian Gabonese | Gabonese, Chadian, Central African
|
| Yes | No |
in Senegalese business schools? | Teachers should explain to learners that English is a language to speak, not just a subject or a module to validate | It is important for students in business schools because they will be asked about their English level before being hired |
Table 2: Teachers’ Questionnaire
Questionnaires |
| Teachers’answers (percentage) |
Are you a civil servant?
| a)Yes b) No | a) 90% b)10% |
Do you have a permanent or a partial job in this business school?
| a)Full-time b)Part-time | a)2% b)98% |
| - | From 5 to more than 10 years |
| a)Yes b) No c) If yes, give some | a)80% b)12% c)Many answers |
| a)Yes b) No c) If yes, what is ESP? | a) 90% b) 10% |
6) Do you have problems to implement ESP? | a) Yes b) No c) If Yes give a few examples | a) 15% b) 85% c) many |
| a)Yes b) no | a) 85% b)8% |
8) Have you ever been given a syllabus by the school authorities? | a) Yes b) No | a) 10% b) 90% |
9) Do you give common-core courses (for example: marketing students and law students together)? | a) yes b) no | a) 99% b)1% |
10) Do you find it a good pedagogical way to deliver the same course to, for example, engineering students and marketing students? | a) yes b) no c) why :… | b) 100% |
11) Which material do you often use in general? Choose one | a) Texts b) Books c) Tape-recorder d) Computer e) Video projector f) Why… | a) 5% b) 25% c) 1% d)14% e) 55% |
12) Which of these activities or skills do you prefer in general? | a) Reading comprehension b) interpreting pictures c) role play d) why… | a) 3% b) 12% c)85% |
13) Which of these activities or skills do you often propose to your students? Choose only two | a) Listening b) Speaking c)Writing d) Reading e) why | a)14% b) 65% c) 10% d) 11% |
Table 3: Students’ questionnaire
Questions |
| Answers (percentage) |
1) What is your nationality? | - | Many african nationalities |
2) What do you want to major in (specialize)? | - | There are many fields |
3) What do you learn English for? | a) good mark b) job c) pleasure d) travel e) other | a) 5% b)62% c) 8% d)23% e)2% |
4) Is the English you are learning in your training school different from the English you learnt in High school? | a)Yes b) No c) If yes give some differences | a) 64% b)36% |
5) Are you active in English class? | a)Yes b) No c) Why | a) 75 % b) 25%
|
6) Which of these types of work do you feel at ease? | a) Individual work b) Pair work b) Group work | a) 15% b)40% c)45% |
7) Which does your teacher often organize? | a) Individual work b) Pair work b) Group work | a)26% b) 52% c) 22% |
8) Which activity or skills do you often do? | a) Reading comprehension b) Interpreting pictures c) Role play d) Grammar |
|
9) What materials do your teacher often use? | a) Tape-recorder b) Video projector c) blackboard/ whiteboard d) Hand-outs | a) 11% b)36% c) 39% d) 14% |
10) Are you satisfied with your English teachers? | a)Yes b) no c) Explain in a few words why you are/ are not satisfied | a) 80% b) 20% |
Data Presentation and Analysis
Teachers’ voices are very important to carry out this article. They are those who implement the pedagogy that makes the learners, so to speak, master the English language. The types of employment contract teachers have, are shown by question number one. The great majority (90%) are civil servants and in other words they come from the high schools and the universities. But there are a few who are only private school teachers.
It is also worth noticing that teachers hired by the state are according to the Senegalese laws forbidden to work in private schools although the authorities close their eyes on that. The Minister of Education threatened teachers during the long strike in 2006 into dismissing those who are moonlighting but never got to that point. They know that what they are doing is against the law. But it is a win-win contract. Teachers would like to make both ends meet and the business school authorities would rather have well-trained trainers. Nevertheless, if the government enforces the law these training schools will face the problem of lack of teachers. That is the reason why there is silence on that matter.
Besides, the teachers are generally trained to teach general English not English for Specific Purposes. Only a few of them have some notions about it during their training period at FASTEF (Faculty of Science and Technology of Education and Training). But the more experience they get the more conscious they become of adapting to the new situation and to the types of englishes these students expect from them. 8% have no idea of ESP because they were not trained to teach though they got sometime academic degrees such as doctorate. This raises the necessity for in-service training.
Knowing the principles of ESP is not enough. The classrooms, the materials, the hours for the module for instance should be taken into account.
With reference to the syllabi in business schools the percentages of the answers to questions 7 and 8 are very telling and clear. A great deal of school authorities let the teacher design their oven syllabuses. Teachers are asked to submit a syllabus to which they add nothing. A few through the department in charge of languages may propose a syllabus to English teachers but the latter most of the time won’t abide by the given syllabuses. The reality is, as can be understood from questions 9 and 10, students with different needs in English (marketing, engineering, biomedical, management, computer science…) are put together during English courses and teachers find it difficult or even impossible to design the same syllabus to these types of classes. And Hutchinson et al. [2] draw our attention to the fact that the language we speak and write varies considerably, and in a number of different ways, from one context to another. In English language teaching this gave rise to the view that there are important differences between, say, the English of the commerce and that of engineering. These ideas married up naturally with the development of English courses for specific groups of learners.
The materials, the activities chosen by the majority of teachers show that ESP is carried out to a certain extent in the business schools even though many are lagging behind, judging from the answers of the last three questions. All in all, attention should be paid to how and what teachers are doing in classes for the sake of the learners, as far as business English is concerned.
Data Presentation and Analysis
If there are some people that can be viewed as the lodestars of our research, they must be the students whose voices should be heard and taken into account seriously. Besides the Senegalese, they come from different countries and pay each month in order to learn English, among others topics. As has been said, we learn a language to communicate. We communicate in different contexts, different situations and namely within a professional world, and that is the reason why the leaners think it necessary when seeking for a job. So the message is they learn English not for the sake of learning as shown by the students’ questionnaires.
Before the high school diploma, they were taught vocabulary and grammar now they need, in addition, to be put in a target situation such as role play activities to communicate. The more group works they do the better it is to foster communication. Both the weaker and stronger students should be involved and nobody should be left behind. They all love it and are aware of the necessity of the English language.
Another point in case is the teachers (45%) who keep on repeating the same procedures like reading comprehension in secondary or high school. To my mind the less reading activities they do the better it is for the students. Actually, all the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) should be integrated but communication with its different ways must be the teachers’ dashboard.
Recommendations and Suggestions
Teaching is a demanding activity. To avoid teaching without learners learning we should improve ourselves day in day out. The focus must not only be on making money. But we had better ask ourselves if we do correctly our job at the end of the day. Are our students learning? Can they communicate fluently in English? Being aware of what is happening around us in terms of culture, educational approaches, theories and techniques such as English for Specific Purposes is a must for training schools.
As for the school authorities they had better hold meetings, workshops, seminars or debates with their English teachers so as to pinpoint their needs. Besides, they may appoint one experienced teacher if they don’t have head of English departments to have an eye on what teachers are doing in classrooms and from time to time receive feedbacks from the students.
For the last few years private training schools have sprung up nearly in every part of the country and every district in the Senegalese capital. They have been receiving students from many African countries. In this context English language is mandatory for every field of training and that is the reason why we should draw the attention of the stakeholders to the type of English’s used in these schools. Indeed, English for Specific Purposes must be used among the adult population due to their (future) activities. Teachers have to know that « English language now having for long obtained and retained the position of a bridge language, training in it begins at an early childhood age, and by the time of adulthood, General English has been mastered. Then, as the preparations for professional engagement begin, ESP becomes crucially needed form of language instruction [3].
As a conclusion communication skills or communicative competence in whatever domain must be the main purpose of business English teachers and, in such a case, they do need to be trained and supervised for the benefit of their students [4-7].
Seydi, Y. “Linguistic influence through lethal and technological power: the case of the English language.” In Sharing knowledge: mixtures offered in homage to Professor Mamadou Kandji, vol. 2, no. 123-144. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2017.
Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. “English for specific purposes: a learning-centered approach.” Great Britain: Cambridge Press, 1987.
Stojkovic, N. “Positioning English for specific purposes in an English language teaching context.” Serbia: University of Niš, 2019.
Brophy, J. “Motivating students to learn.” Boxton: McGraw-Hill, 1998.
Halliday, M. A. K., Streven, P. and Mantosh, A. “The linguistic sciences and language teaching.” London: Longman, 1964.
Harmer, J. “The practice of English language teaching.” Longman Handbooks to Language Teaching, London and New York, 1987.
Irigoin, J. and Tsai, B. “Business English recipes: a creative approach to business English.” England: Longman, 1995.
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