Here are some thoughts on the Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=178960912182497&id=115123142453

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=178960912182497&id=115123142453#

Gardner English, S.C. It provides more authenticity, doesn't it?

It is essential to use non-native speakers when choosing listening materials.

Firstly, not all native speakers use the same accent - think about different north American accents and different British accents. Then there are all the other countries where English is spoken, such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, some African states, some Asian states. Some of these accents should be represented in listening materials.

When people use English for business purposes, they are often non-native speakers communicating in a common language, which is English.

We should therefore be preparing our students to prepare themselves for the situations in which they will find themselves, so we should be providing them with lots of different accents which are available in courses usually calling themselves "international English", but we should also try to give them extra materials which will help them in their particular circumstances, so we need to carry out a fairly detailed needs analysis before starting the course, or during the fist lesson.

We also need to be aware that there is a difference between the audio materials we use for listening purposes and the materials we use to provide a model, which should be close to the kind of English we are teaching our students, whether it be American, British or Australian English.

Is the grammer in fact more important than pronunciation when we are talking about non-native speakers communicating with each other? As I said before, we must make a distinction between audio material used for providing a model (i.e. correct English which we would like our students to base their language production on, correct grammar, appropriate vocabulary, correct register etc) and material used for listening practice purposes. Students (probably not beginners or elementary levels) need to be challenged by being provided with authentic or semi-authentic materials, which almost always means English with mistakes. They need practice in understanding English which may be ambiguous or not quite clear so that they can negotiate the meaning and avoid misunderstanding. This is especially important with business and ESP English where it is better not to understand at all rather than misunderstand.

Non-native speakers using English as a lingua franca need practice at listening to each other. They need to see that even though there are errors, successful communication can take place. If they are never exposed to errors, students may feel inhibited if they are not able to formulate a "correct" sentence, even though they would be capable of getting their meaning across. But here we are getting into the continuing debate on accuracy v. fluency. How much can you sacrifice the one at the expense of the other?

If you listen to some programmes broadcast by the BBC you will hear many examples of mistakes and even errors made even by BBC staff, especially when they change their minds half way through a sentence!

The bank of NNS samples that one could choose according to needs sounds like a good option.  I imagine that many English mothertongue people involved in international business would benefit from such material too!  How about rôle plays with NNS and NS actors together?

The problem is that the more we hear an incorrect phrase, the more is sounds fine, and the more likely we are to repeat it ourselves.  I guess that teachers could always use such material for a 'spot the error' lesson.

In real international business situations most people are not native speakers. In other words, you may encounter non-native speakers more often. If you want to prepare students for genuine conversations, you should use English spoken by that majority, too.

This morning I had a discussion with some of my students who had just come back from trips (Malaysia, South America and Indonesia).  All of them had found it easier to understand the non-native English speakers they had met than the native speakers!  Food for thought .....