"Total Business is a three-level business English course for pre-work students and business people wishing to improve their English and their employment prospects. It is also suitable for in-company training.

The 12 modules are divided into:
Business Topics - lessons to teach vocabulary used in the working world
Business Skills - lessons to develop essential communication skills
Learning Strategies - lessons that focus on language learning in the business context

The core lessons offer:
Modern, business-related topics to engage students and involve them in the practice of everyday business
An integrated grammar syllabus offering extensive functional practice
Varied activities and learning strategies to motivate and support students in their studies." (Book Cover)

CONTENTS:

Module 1

BUSINESS TOPIC

1.1 Working life
VOCABULARY: Describing working life
READING: Attitudes to work
GRAMMAR: Gerund and infinitive
LISTENING: The future of human resources
VOCABULARY: CVs and personal summaries
READING: The anonymous CV

BUSINESS SKILLS

1.2 Asking and answering questions
LISTENING: An environmental accident
GRAMMAR: Indirect questions
SPEAKING: A job interview

LEARNING STRATEGIES

1.3 READING: Understanding gist

Module 2

BUSINESS TOPIC

2.1 Growing the company
VOCABULARY: Parts of a company
VOCABULARY: Growth strategy
READING: SAP competes with ‘organic growth’
GRAMMAR: Past tenses
WRITING: Writing about the past
READING: Mergers and acquisitions
LISTENING: The PeopleSoft takeover
WRITING: A press release
READING: Organisational culture
SPEAKING: An employee survey

BUSINESS SKILLS

2.2 Presenting facts
LISTENING: Falling shares
SPEAKING: Presenting facts

LEARNING STRATEGIES

2.3 SPEAKING: Giving personal information

Module 3

BUSINESS TOPIC

3.1 Communication at work
VOCABULARY: Means of communication
READING: Better communication?
GRAMMAR: Verb patterns
LISTENING: Dealing with problems
SPEAKING: Handling calls sensitively

BUSINESS SKILLS

3.2 Email exchange
WRITING: Formal and informal emails

LEARNING STRATEGIES

3.3 LISTENING: Note-taking

Module 4

BUSINESS TOPIC

4.1 The art of selling
VOCABULARY: Selling
LISTENING: Sales techniques
READING: Advertising trends
GRAMMAR: Tenses and time phrases
GRAMMAR: Transitive and intransitive verbs
SPEAKING: In the field
WRITING: A sales report

BUSINESS SKILLS

4.2 Presenting figures
VOCABULARY: Describing performance
LISTENING: A sales forecast
SPEAKING: Presenting figures

LEARNING STRATEGIES

4.3 WRITING: Describing and explaining graphs

Module 5

BUSINESS TOPIC

5.1 Money and finance
VOCABULARY: Money expressions
SPEAKING: A bank loan
LISTENING: A culture of debt
GRAMMAR: Expressions of comparison
SPEAKING: Choosing an investment
VOCABULARY: Company finance
READING: A financial summary

BUSINESS SKILLS

5.2 Discussing options
VOCABULARY: Business costs
LISTENING: Discussing costs
SPEAKING: Discussing options and making recommendations

LEARNING STRATEGIES

5.3 LISTENING: Monologues

Module 6

BUSINESS TOPIC

6.1 Purchasing power
VOCABULARY: Online trading
SPEAKING: Managing suppliers
READING: How the supermarkets are squeezing their suppliers
GRAMMAR: Relative and participial clauses
LISTENING: A contract to supply
GRAMMAR: Ordering events; tense practice
WRITING: A letter of complaint

BUSINESS SKILLS

6.2 Telephoning
VOCABULARY: Telephone expressions
SPEAKING: Problems with orders

LEARNING STRATEGIES

6.3 WRITING: Letters, reports and proposals

Module 7

BUSINESS TOPIC

7.1 Managing people
VOCABULARY: Managerial qualities
LISTENING: Strengths and weaknesses
VOCABULARY: Idioms: management problems
GRAMMAR: Expressing purpose
READING: Management consultants
GRAMMAR: Word order: adverbs

BUSINESS SKILLS

7.2 Report writing
WRITING: A business report
VOCABULARY: Linking phrases
WRITING: A report on employee training

LEARNING STRATEGIES

7.3 READING: Linking ideas

Module 8

BUSINESS TOPIC

8.1 Being responsible
VOCABULARY: Environmental problems
LISTENING: Strengths and weaknesses
VOCABULARY: Idioms: management problems
GRAMMAR: Expressing purpose
READING: Management consultants GRAMMAR: Word order: adverbs

BUSINESS SKILLS

8.2 Formal meetings
VOCABULARY: Business meetings
GRAMMAR: Modal verbs
SPEAKING: Discussing business ethics

LEARNING STRATEGIES

8.3 READING: Vocabulary and collocation

Module 9

BUSINESS TOPIC

9.1 Innovation
VOCABULARY: Describing products
SPEAKING: Market research
GRAMMAR: Collocations: verb + proposition
LISTENING: A product presentation
READING: Don't waste your money on innovation
LISTENING: Idioms
GRAMMAR: would
WRITING: A letter in response to a request

BUSINESS SKILLS

9.2 Negotiating
READING: Getting past no
SPEAKING: Business angels: a negotiation

LEARNING STRATEGIES

9.3 READING: Interpreting the main ideas

Module 10

BUSINESS TOPIC

10.1 Travel and entertainment
VOCABULARY: Business travel
LISTENING: A team-building day
GRAMMAR: Future forms
READING: Events management
VOCABULARY: go and get
READING: Planning a corporate event
SPEAKING: Making a pitch

BUSINESS SKILLS

10.2 The language of proposals
LISTENING: Taking notes
READING: Two proposals
WRITING: A proposal for a corporate event

LEARNING STRATEGIES

10.3 Speaking: Discussing and reaching a decision

Module 11

BUSINESS TOPIC

11. The economy
VOCABULARY: Economic issues
READING: The new philanthropists
GRAMMAR: Conditionals (types 1 and 2) SPEAKING: Socio-economic problems
READING: Nicaragua? Yes, please!
LISTENING: Relocation experiences

BUSINESS SKILLS

11.2 Effective writing
WRITING: Written business communication
WRITING: A delicate letter

LEARNING STRATEGIES

11.3 SPEAKING: Presentations

Module 12

BUSINESS TOPIC

12.1 Crossing cultures
VOCABULARY: Globalisation
READING: Cross-cultural communication
READING: Understanding cultural differences
GRAMMAR: Speculation
READING: China rules
LISTENING: Understanding business culture
WRITING: A market profile report

BUSINESS SKILLS

12.2 Social English
VOCABULARY: Conversation starters
LISTENING: Small talk: short responses
SPEAKING: Social situations

LEARNING STRATEGIES

12.3 READING: Proofreading

Information files (Student B)

Useful expressions

Business idioms

Listening scripts

C1 (Effective Profiency) - CEFR; for Advanced learners of English as a second language.