A theoretical outline of the importance of cross-cultural and pragmatic awareness in the business scenario
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/2178-3640.2017.1.27462Keywords:
pragmatics, cross-cultural awareness, English for specific purposes, business EnglishAbstract
English has become crucial for professional success within the globalized world, and indispensable for communicating with people from other countries. It has become a Lingua Franca and, therefore, has been used to speak among people with different mother tongues who share English as a second language. In light of this multicultural process, this paper aims to provide the reader with a theoretical outline about the relevance of cross-cultural and pragmatic knowledge. Such aspects need to be specially considered when developing an English course for business students as there has been a growing need for professionals to be competent users of English within the business context. Due to this specific context, we have favored an approach – English for Specific Purposes – that targets specific aspects of the language. Our focal point is to validate the need of raising both pragmatic and cross-cultural awareness when teaching business professionals as they will probably have communicative scenarios where such capabilities would be remarkably advantageous.
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