Researching means 'Finding Out for Yourself' !

 

 

In September 2006 I introduced a Research Assignment on Foreign Trade to my Business English and Foreign Trade Students in Wuhan. Later I put that assignment on my website at www.kingscalendar.com .

 

Students may learn business language and business facts at school for the purpose of passing an exam, but until they go to work, they have no real understanding of the business world, especially of international trade. 

 

I created the assignment for a variety of interconnected reasons, the primary reason for which, is that until a person has information in his head, he is incapable of having a discussion in either Chinese or English. Another major reason for creating the assignment, was so that students could learn NOW before they go to work, what the real world is like.

 

 

1. Students seems to have the attitude that someone should teach them, as opposed to the attitude that they should begin to learn. There is a difference.

2. The assignment requires students to learn how to research, instead of waiting for someone to just give them information.

3. Students seem to have little concept of how interconnected are the various aspects of life. For instance, they have no concept of how the price of oil effects life and business in general, and world trade in particular.

4. Students often express a desire to live and work overseas to get rich but have no concept of disparity in the cost of living in various countries.

5. Students who talk about travelling to other countries, generally have no idea about what is involved in organising passports, visas, and plane tickets, nor their associated costs.

6. Students often think that business owners are rich, but have little understanding of the daily or annual running costs of a business.

7. Many Students think that opening a business requires little more than finding suitable shop or office space. They know little about the legalities involved in starting up a business, or import / export licenses, tariffs, insurance, advertising, legal fees, demographic studies, business plans, office rentals or the initial cost of purchasing equipment.

8. They don't know how to provide references for information provided in a report.

9. They don't know how to discuss these issues in English.

This assignment is designed to get you thinking, investigating, writing, justifying statements, and discussing what you have learned from your research. It is a research assignment. There are no answers, just questions. The answers you have to find for yourself. 

 

However, that assignment now appears in the Business section of this site, and in that section, I do provide you with a lot of assistance to make the task of research easier.

 

If you want to expand your horizons then go take a look at the assignment.