Business is the most popular subject for international students in the United States. At last count, twenty-one percent of foreign students at American colleges and universities were studying business and management.
The Institute of International Education in New York says engineering is the second most popular field, in case you were wondering.
Thomas Cossé is a professor of marketing and business at the University of Richmond in Virginia. He says international students who want to study business need to have good English skills -- and not just to study at his school.
THOMAS COSSÉ: "At least among business schools, more and more worldwide are requiring that their students take English, and they are teaching more in English."
But the world has more non-native speakers of English than native speakers. As a result, Americans working with foreign companies may need to learn some new English skills themselves.
At the University of Richmond, teams of graduate students work with companies seeking to enter the American market. The students learn about writing market entry studies. The reports are written in English. But Professor Cossé tells his students to consider who will read them.
THOMAS COSSÉ: "My students have to write the report in such a way that it can be understood by someone who is an English speaker but not a native English speaker."
For example, he tells his students to avoid jargon and other specialized terms that people might not know in their own language. This can be good advice even when writing for other native speakers.
But effective communication involves more than just words. Kay Westerfield is director of the international business communication program at the University of Oregon.
KAY WESTERFIELD: "If you just have the language awareness or the skills without culture, you can easily be a fluent fool."
Cultural intelligence means the need to consider local behaviors in everything from simple handshakes to speaking to large groups.
Still, Kay Westerfield says the ability of local workers to speak English is becoming more important to companies looking to move operations to other countries. Or, as she puts it, to "off-source."
KAY WESTERFIELD: "While cost remains a major factor in decisions about where to off-source, the quality of the labor pool is gaining importance, and this includes English language skills."
Also, she says English skills often provide a competitive edge for business students when they seek jobs.
KAY WESTERFIELD: "As one business student in West Africa put it, 'English is a lifeline.'"
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. You can read and listen to our programs and find activities for English learners at voaspecialenglish.com. We're also on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I’m June Simms.
轉貼自VOA
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因為我的英文聽力實在不怎麼好，帶給我很多困擾和障礙，我下定決心一定要克服它。所以最近開始利用早餐時間邊聽VOA，VOA雖然是新聞，但是包含很多題材，最棒的是可以下載MP3來聽，讓你想聽幾次都行，雖然發音很清楚，但缺點是說話速度非常慢，不過也有好處，就是可以一邊做自己的事情也能聽得懂內容。相較之下，BBC的說話速度超快，而且常夾雜許多不同腔調的發音，要很專心聽才聽懂到底在說什麼(以我的程度而言)。我的目標就是能夠一邊做自己的事情一邊聽BBC也能夠聽懂內容，哈哈，這目標是不是有點小?
這篇VOA的文章，我特別有感受，因為最近猛讀老師丟給我的期刊論文，我發現美國人寫得論文比較難看懂，因為出現的用字遣詞都是一般不會用到的，而非美國學者寫的論文用字就平易近人多了。非英文母語的人努力學習英文，而英文母語的人學著寫出讓非英文母語的人看得懂的文章，真是一個奇妙有趣的互動!
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