Specialist materials: what can we do with them? A practical case

Specialist Materials: What Can We Do with them? A Practical Case Ana Isabel Gamarra Universidad Complutense.Escuela Universitaria de Estudios Empresariales The aim of this paper is to demónstrate the way in which authentic materials can be used as input to the specialist contents to be included in an English course in International Trade. Needs analysis as well as coordination and contacts between ESP teachers and the subject área specialists have proved to be fundamental prerequisites in course design, since the Information they provide is determinant when deciding the content of a syllabus. Apart from these two major resources, specialist materials are suggested here as a new valuable source of Information for the selection of the specialist contents students should be trained infor their future professional Ufe. The point of departure to demónstrate this proposal is a Documentary Credit Farm.: The Advice for the Beneficiary. By analysing the agreements on a commercial transaction appearing in this document the specialist contents of an English course in International Trade can be deduced. Introduction It is widely acknowledged that «needs analysis» is a key element in course design, as it implies getting to know not only the students' needs but also the demands of the Target Situation .Thereby the results obtained from this analysis become an essential aid for syllabus design. As a teacher of English Language at a Business School, and taking this principie for granted, I participated in research on the demands of the Target Situation —the company— to identify the most frequent communicative activities that take place in the English language in that context. The methods used were questionnaires and unstructured interviews (Requejo & Gamarra, 1989; Requejo, Abreu, Figueroa, Gamarra & Rodríguez, 1993). The research was conducted in 105 companies in the province of Pontevedra, Spain, and over two different periods of time, to see if significant changes had taken place within that time span, so as to bring our syllabuses in Une with current company activities. Our research yielded valuable Information that has been of great help when deciding syllabus content. As well as needs analysis, recommendations have also been made about the desirability to take into account the suggestions made by Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N" 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) 97 Ana Isabel Gnmnrrn the subject área specialists, as they can provide the most important subject contents foreign students of English should learn for both their academic and professional Ufe. Different problems arise from these two sources of information, however. As far as «needs analysis» is concerned, its difficulty issues from being highly time consuming research. As a result, teachers will not always have the required data in time for the elaboration of their syllabus. As regards contacts and co-ordination between ESP teachers and subject área specialists, the fact remains that interdisciplinary relationships are not yet as good as they should be. The problems these two elements pose made me think of devising new strategies that would ease the path in order to identify subject área contents. 1. Basis for the proposal Our needs analysis showed there is a range of frequently used materials in English in the various departments of the company, e.g. commercial letters, reports, catalogues, commercial documents, means of payment: the Documentary Credit, etc. (Requejo & Gamarra, 1989; Requejo, et al., 1993), These are therefore the materials that business students, depending on their specialist field, will come across in their future professional life. At my University Business school, students foUow a three year programme to obtain their degree. In the third year they are required to choose the specialist field they want to pursue (Commercial Management, Accounting/Auditing, Marketing, Foreign Trade, etc.), consequently, it is in this year when authentic materials that demand a higher degree of specialisation are introduced in the classroom. The use of these specialist materials has shed light over the years Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N"" 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) Specialist Materials: What Can We Do with Them? A Practical Case on the need to find new sources of information that would help when deciding the specialist contents to be included in the syllabus. The present proposal grew out of my own conviction that authentic materials could serve that purpose. 2. Authentic materials: a controversial issue Authentic materials have always been a fundamental component in LSP courses. Whenever we refer to LSP methodology we think of authentic materials, which have proved to be a controversial issue as the diverse attempts at a definition show. When trying to give a definition, Robinson (1991) classifies the various suggestions so far made in two main groups: authentic materials in ELT and authentic materials in ESP. She describes the former as those materials that were not produced for learning language purposes, and the latter as the materials students will find in their work place and academic life. The Documentary Credit Forms belong to this second group, which I refer to as specialist materials, since they imply a degree of speciahsation that makes them different from other authentic materials. The problem with this type of materials taken from authentic literature, Widdowson, (1978) argües, is that authenticity, that is to say, the appropriate response of the reader to the passage is not achieved, since students are required to learn foreign languages in a way that does not correspond to their normal communicative activities. He proposes, therefore, that reading passages should be better elaborated by writing teams. However, Coffey claims the opposite. He believes authenticity to be a characteristic of the ESP exercise typology, in the sense that all ESP work must be in essence «a simulation of a real-Ufe task» (Coffey, 1984: 8) which leads him to conclude that reading passages Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N™ 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) 99 Ana Isabel Gamarra should be taken from the authentic literature and not produced by a writing team, as Widdowson proposes. But what is real/authentic to users, Widdowson (1998: 9-10) points out, is not authentic to learners unless they know the conventions of use that make it real; and they do not know them if they are not yet members of the discourse community concerned .Consequently, as they do not share knowledge of the aspects of a common culture which define particular discourse communities, communication is not achieved. A different proposal is made here by Alcaraz (2000), who believes that even though authentic materials can pose problems at first, they will be very useful in the long term. The syntactic and lexical structures most frequently used in these materials will become relevant and essential input when preparing learning activities that will be more closely related to real needs. There is a further aspect worth considering with regard to authentic materials. Their introduction in the classroom is very useful for learners as these materials allow them not only to identify genres (Swales, 1990; Bhatia, 1993) or textual types (Bernárdez, 1995; Alcaraz, 2000) but also to reproduce them. My suggestion here is that, unless all students have a good command of the second language, specialist materials, that is, those which imply a higher degree of specialisation should be used in the classroom once students have been trained in the subject área in their first language Knowledge of the subject área is the foundation for the growth of their communicative competence, and creates a favourable environment for communication in the second language, since students have already become members of the discourse community in question in their first language. Consequently, ESP teachers should pay cióse attention to the moment when specialist contents are introduced in the first language, so as to identify the 100 Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N'" 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) Specialist Materials: What Can We Do with Them? A Practica! Case appropriate moment for using the specialist materials in the second language. Controversy also arises regarding the ESP teachers' reactions towards these materials. Many professionals still oppose their use. They argüe that, since we are English language teachers we do not have to be conversant with specialised business contents. There is an overwhelming fact, however, that cannot be avoided: globalisation. This social phenomenon obliges us to train students in what society is demanding. The business people who have to negotiate in English prices, quantities, methods of payment, etc., have to grasp these specialised contents or cultural conventions of the International Trade discourse community, otherwise they will not be able to cope linguistically with this situation. There is another reason that should urge teachers to change their attitudes: the possibility of using the materials themselves as input to the specialist contents. The following pages illustrate this proposal. 3. Procedure The material I have used to illustrate my proposal is a Documentary Credit Form, (Advice for the Beneficiary), D.C.A. for short, reproduced in Appendix A'. The D.C.A. used in this article is one of the New Standard The numbers appearing ¡n the D.C.A. have been included for explanatory purposes. This document has been completed with data from a real commercial transaction. Real ñames have been omitted. The Advice for the Beneficiary Form used is the last revised layout of the form. In Charles del Busto (ed.) (1993). The New Standard Documentary Credit Forms for the UCP 500 ICC Publication N° 516-ISBN 92 842. 1160.3. Published in its official versión by the International Chamber of Commerce. Copyrigh, 1993-International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris. Available from: ICC Publishing S.A., 38 Cours Albert 1er, 75008 Paris, France or Comité Nacional Español, c/o Cámara de Comercio de Barcelona, Avenida Diagonal, 452-454. 08006 Barcelona, Spain. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N" 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) 101 Ana Isabel Camarrn Documentary Credit Forms that were drafted to meet the needs both of the international banking communities and of the commercial parties. The use of these forms will help standardise and simplify International Documentary Credit Procedures.(del Busto 1993). The Documentary Credit^ (D.C.) is the most commonly used method of payment in international commercial transactions. With this method of payment customers can obtain financial help from those banks which will enable them to open credits in favour of suppliers overseas. It is the bank (the buyer's bank) that assumes the commitment to pay the supplier. Since the commercial contract will be honoured by a bank, both parties will have a high degree of security: the seller will be paid once he has complied with all the credit requirements and the buyer will not be sent the goods until payment has been accepted on his part. In International Commercial transactions, both the seller and buyer agree on a sales contract and the terms of the Documentary Credit. It is the buyer who will ask his bank to open a Documentary Credit in the seller 's favour. The buyer will send an Application Form, giving full details for the issuance of the Credit. If the bank agrees to the issuance it will complete the Advice for the Beneficiary Form and the Advice for the Advising Bank Form with the Information received from the Applicant (buyer). The Issuing bank' will send the two forms to the Advising bank". Both forms contain all the details of the Credit that has been issued. All these details have been agreed upon by both parties (buyer - The procedure of the Documentary Credit is explained in the classroom. •' Issuing banlc (in the buyer's country): the banlc that issues the credit in the seller's favour •• Advising bank (in the seller's country): the bank that advises the seller that there is a documentary credit opened in his favour. If the Issuing bank wants the Advising bank to guarantee the credit it will request the Advising bank to confirm the credit. The Advising bank then becomes a Confirming bank, that is, it will pay, accept drafts or negotiate against documents that must be in compliance with the terms and the conditions of the credit 102 Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N™ 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) Specialist Materials: What Can We Do with Them? A Practical Case and seller) consequently, by going through the document (see Appendix A) we will be able to know the specialist content that should be included in an English course in International Trade. 4.1. Numbers 1 and 2: Negotiations The spaces that I have numbered 1 and 2 have been filled in with two ñames: the applicant 's ñame (the buyer) and the beneficiary 's ñame (the seller). These two people have agreed on all the terms that appear in the D.C. A. To come to these agreements they will have had to negotiate them previously, and this is precisely what will constitute one of the essential topics to be included in this syllabus: Negotiations . Negotiations are defined from a behavioural point of view as: «The process by which we search for the terms to obtain what we want from somebody who wants something from us» (Kennedy, 1998:11) It seems, then, that we spend an important part of our lives negotiating: from the decision-making process involved when friends want to take a trip together to the agreement on the price of a product. 4.1.1. Negotiating channels The channels by which people negotiate will depend on the matter to be discussed but also, in the case of the business-world, on the importance of the transaction in money terms. In the above situation, organising a trip, the channels can be: a. Oral : face to face and telephone, b. Written: Internet (e-mail). In business, and according to the previously mentioned needs analysis (Requejo & Gamarra, 1989; Requejo, et al., 1993) the results obtained were: a. Oral: face to face and telephone; b. Written: commercial correspondence (fax) We did not include Internet in our research as we were informed Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N" 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) 103 Ana Isabel Gamnrra by business people that it was not yet very frequently used at that time. One might be forgiven for thinking, however, that now that the Internet has invaded us, oral negotiations, mainly face to face negotiations, are doomed to disappear, but this dees not seem to be the case, as there is an important aspect that cannot be neglected: body language. Although you can see the people you are speaking to over the Internet, there are emotional reactions as well as very valuable Information from the other party's body language that you may not get over the Net. It is a fact that there are still many buyers and sellers who like to interact with Uve people. There is another reason that may explain the refusal of many business people to negotiate important matters over the Internet: the need for privacy. Although different devices are being tried out to insure privacy, business people are not still completely guaranteed that the Information they send will be exclusively released to the parties they are negotiating with. In spite of the reluctance shown by business people, there are, however, many commercial transactions that are taking place over the Net. Nowadays, it is easy for a consumer to get Information about a product price from shops in cyberspace. Consumers are beginning to use this service as they can get the best price of the required product, something that may result in a price war. The movement toward puré competition «will be accelerated by «intelligent agents»- robotic software that consumers will use to continuously «shop» the Internet searching for good deals...» (Peterson, 1997: 13). This technological revolution is affecting and will obviously affect both the English language and all the negotiating communicative activities that should be followed and analysed so as to update syllabuses and train business students accordingly. In the meantime and until virtual reality becomes fully integrated 104 Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N"* 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) Specialist Materials: What Can We Do with Them? A Practical Case third classification: the «C» terms. These terms require the seller to contract for carriage on usual terms at his own expense. Therefore, the place up to which he would have to pay transport costs must be indicated after the respective «C» -term. (ICC, 1999: 157). Under the «C.I.F.» term the seller is also obliged to take out the Insurance and bear this cost. A fuU account of the respective obligations of the parties is given in ICC, (1999): Incoterms 2000 . In International Transport there are certain considerations that should be taken into account, as goods have to go through customs, comply with certain countries requirements and be accompanied by specific documents, some of which will be very closely related to the means of transport chosen. 4.4. Numbers 5 and 6: Transport and Packing, Insurance and documentation Under the «C I F» term, goods are sent by ship (number 5). The seller, therefore, will have to provide the buyer with «proof of delivery», that is, the bilí of lading —included in number 6 of the D.C.A.—. The Bill of Lading is a very important export document as it is the document of title to the goods. This document should be clean, this means that when goods are shipped they are in perfect conditions; Under the C.I.F. term, the seller also has to provide the buyer with the Insurance Certifícate. The requirement of further documents will depend on the product and the countries involved, documents which are likewise included in number 6. AU this documentation is to be presented by the seller if he/she wants to be paid A closely related aspect to transport is Packing .It is essential for both the buyer and seller that goods should arrive at their destination in good conditions in order to avoid problems on both Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N"- 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) 111 Ana Isabel Gamnrra sides. Therefore, the seller and buyer will also agree upon the way that will best protect the goods from damage. Knowledge of all these elements appears to be of vital importance for a business person to interact linguistically in negotiations. As a consequence, Incoterms, Transpon & Packing, Insurance and the corresponding documents will become an essenjtial part of the syllabus. All the components so far mentioned will comprise the syllabus for an English course in International Trade that would resemble the one reproduced in Appendix C. 5. Conclusión This paper has shown a different strategy for identifying the specialised contents to be included in a syllabus. Apart from the widely recognised sources of Information -needs analysis and contacts with the subject área specialistsI have demonstrated that authentic materials can also serve the same purpose. The analysis of the agreements included in a specialist document, the D.C.A., has proved the usefulness of this document as input to the subject área content of an English course in International Trade As suggested by Widdowson (1998), one of the essential features of communication is its communal character. People who want to communicate efficiently must share not only a language but also a culture Consequently, the subject área content which has been obtained from the D.C.A. becomes one of the essential aspects of that common culture which defines the International Trade discourse community. Learners who want to become members of that discourse community will have to share International Trade culture, and henee will have to familiarise themselves with the International Trade subject área content. 112 Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N"' 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) Specialist Materials: What Can We Do with Them? A Pradical Case Rather than shying away from documents that may look unattractive because of their boring appearance and the specialisation they imply, I believe we should make greater use of them as they can be a valuable instrument that will clarify doubts when formulating decisions about specialist field contents Appendix A: Irrevocable Documentary Credit Form (Advice for the Beneficiary) Ñame of Issuing Bank «X» Bank Valencia, Spain Place and Date of Issue Valencia 00 10 01 Applicant: A» Company Ltd. 1 Valencia, Spain Advising Bank: «Y» Bank Korea Partial shipment Q allowed fXl not allowed Transhipments CD allowed [x| not allowed Picase refer to UCP 500 transpon Articles for exceptions to this condition 1 1 Insurance will be covered by us Shipment as defined in UCP 500 Article 46 From: Any ports in Korea For transportation to: Valencia port, Spain 5 Not later than: 00 12 10 Irrevocable Documentary Credit Number 12345 Expiry Date and Place for Presentation of documents Expiry Date: 01 01 20 Place for Presentation: Korea Beneficiary «B» Company Korea 2 Amount in figures and words (Please use ISO Currency Codes): «About «USD 1,395,000 (USD one million three hundred and ninety five thousand Credit available with Nominated Bank: «Y» Bank, Korea [^ by payment at sight 3 Q by deferred payment at: 1 1 by acceptance of drafts at: O by negotiation Against the documents detailed herein: 1 1 and Benefeciary's draft(s) drawn on: Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N'" 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) 113 Ana Isabel Gnmarra Goods: Hot Rolled Steel Wide Flange Beams. Quality: DIN 17100 en 10025 S 275 JR Total 4,500 MT (+0/ - 10%). Unit price: USD 310/MT Cost Insurance and Freiglit CIF Valencia, Spain 4 1) Commercial Invoice in 1 original + 3 copie 2) Clean on Board Bills of Lading -3/3 Originals+ 3 copies issued to the order, marked «freight prepaid and notify to the Applicant , Charter Party B/LS Acceptable. 3) Certifacte of Insurance covering all risks ICC (A). 4) Certifícate of Origin issued by the Chamber of Commerce in 1 original + 2 copies 5) Packing List/ Weight Note, in 1 original + 3 copies. 6) Miir s Quality Certifícate in 1 original + 3 copies 7) Liner Certifícate in case of vessel age to be between 15 and 20 years. 8) Certifícate issued by vessel owner or shipping stating age of the vessel to be less than 20 years. 9) Beneficiary' s Declaration confirming that one copy of each of the above stated documents has been sent directly to «A» Company by courier within 72 hours after shipment. Documents to be presented within 21.... days after the date of shipment but within the validity of the Credit We hereby issue the Irrevocable Documentary Credit in your favour. It is subject to the Uniform Costumes and Practice for Documentary Credits (1993 Revisión, International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, France, Publication N° 500) and engages us in accordance with the terms thereof. The number and the date of the Credit and the ñame of our bank must be quoted on all drafts required. If the Credit is available by negotiation, each presentation must be noted on the reverse side of this advice by the bank where the credit id available. This document consists of 1 signed page(s) Ñame and Signature of the Issuing Bank 1993 International Chamber of Commerce 114 Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N" 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) Speciíilist Materials: What Can We Do lüith Them? A Practical Case Appendix B: INCOTERMS 2000 Group E Departure EXW Ex Works (... named place) Group F Main carriage unpaid FCA Free Carrier (... named place) FAS Free Alongside Ship (... named port of shipment) FOB Free On Board (... named port of shipment) Group C Main carriage Paid CFR Cost and Freight (... named port of destination) CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight (... named port of destination) CPT Carriage Paid To (... named place of destination) CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid To (... named place of destination) Group D Arrival DAF Delivered At Frontier (... named place) DES Delivered Ex Ship (... named port of destination) DEQ Delivered Ex Quay (... named port of destination) DDU Delivered Duty Unpaid (... named place of destination) DDP Delivered Duty Paid (... named place of destination) © 1999 International Chamber of Commerce Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N" 7 y 8 (2000 y 2001) 115 Ana Isabel Gamarra Appendix C: Specialist contení of an English course in International Trade 1.- Negotiations 1. aChannels 1. a. 1Oral: Face to face Telephone: telephoning techniques 1. a. 2 Written Commercial Correspondence(fax) 1.a. 3Internet 1. b.- Behaviour Types of behaviour 1. cPhases 1. c. 1 - Preparing the Negotiation Statistics and Graphs 1. c. 2.- Debate, Proposals and Bargaining 1. dIntercultural Factors 2.- Methods of Paynient 2. a.- Documentary Credit 3.- Incoterms 2000 4.- Transport and Packing 5.- Insurance 6.- Documents in International Trade: Bill of Lading, Waybill, Certifícate of Origin, Insurance Certifícate, Invoice , Packing List, etc. WORKS CITED Alcaraz, E. 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