Global Resources and Leadership Development in ESP: Check out the SBA

Posted on 18 June 2012 by Kevin Knight

Hello, ESPers worldwide!

Are you looking for a great site to teach the content and language of entrepreneurship?  The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers free online courses for starting a business.

I also recommend checking out the following free online course: “Essential Guide to Starting Your Own Business for Young Entrepreneurs.”

The course is about 40 minutes long (which, by the way, is similar to the length of time required to complete the TESOL proposal reviewer training).   The transcript is available on the side of the screen, but it can be printed out as well (and the print out includes the various URLs mentioned in the presentation, which is very useful!).  It is really packed with information (but some of that may be outdated?)!  You do need to register to access the course, but this is easy to do.

Actually, before seeing the SBA course, my students made class presentations based on material in Bplans.com which “contains the largest single online collection of free sample business plans” and is “a free resource to help entrepreneurs plan better businesses.” Bplans is a great resource for helping students understand the language and construction of business plans!

Good luck with adapting these resources to meet the language training needs of your learners!

I’ll see you next week!
Kevin

About Kevin Knight

Kevin Knight
Kevin Knight (PhD in Linguistics, MBA, MPIA) is an associate professor in the Department of International Communication (International Business Career major) and has also been working in the Career Education Center of Kanda University of International Studies in Chiba, Japan. In the TESOL ESP Interest Section (ESPIS), he has served as chair and English in occupational settings (EOS) representative, and he is currently the ESPIS community manager. He was also a member of the Governance Review Task Force (GRTF) appointed by the board of directors. In addition, he has been a TESOL blogger in the area of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). He has more than 30 years of professional experience working for private, public, and academic sector institutions including Sony and the Japan Patent Office. His doctoral research on leadership communication (i.e., discourse) as a basis for leadership development was under the supervision of Emeritus Professor Christopher Candlin and Dr. Alan Jones.
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