[Note: This is the message that was banned by TESL-L editors. They did not want you to see it.]
Do you know why publishers keep pumping out boring useless business English courebooks? Do you know why you have to keep apologizing to the students for the boring lessons? Do you know why you struggle to motivate your students to keep at their lessons? Do you know why so much of the English you teach is not exactly the English your students need?
It is my fault. I will take responsibility.
But it is also your fault. You must take responsibility, too.
Let’s look at the publishers’ mission.
Do publishers want to introduce the latest most effective training methodologies to the classrooms? Do publishers endeavor to prepare our students to be properly skilled in English for their life and work? Do they want to help businesses be able to have employees that are highly skilled and ready for the challenges of the 21st century?
We never really thought about those questions before, have we? But it seems like the answers should all be “Yes!”
Surprisingly, the answers are all “No!”
So what is the publishers’ mission?
Make money.
That’s it! That’s all! It’s very simple!
They don’t love you. They don’t love your students. You do but they don’t. They are not trying to raise the standard of English in today’s businesses or society.
They just want to make money.
What? Did you think they were a charity? Did you think they are Greenpeace or something? Did you think they are some sort of linguistic Red Cross? Gandhi or Mother Teresa?
They are a business. They are interested in three things: Sales, sales and sales.
We can’t blame them for that. They cannot do anything else but try to produce whatever will sell best. That’s it!
Sure, they put some unit in the book that shows someone using Email instead of sending a telex or fax. (Oh, God, using those old books was so embarrassing.) Maybe they are really fancy and show someone using Twitter. Oh, wow, how cute. These things interest and amaze our students for the first two lessons. By the time our students get to the third lesson they are beginning to realize that it is the same old boring stuff in new clothes.
And that is why it is my fault and your fault that publishers are doing such a lousy job and producing such boring business English materials. Their mission is to sell, sell, sell.
And you and I buy, buy, buy.
Of course, we buy and complain to our students. We buy and then tell our students, “Sorry, I know it is boring but it will help your English.” “Sorry, I know it is boring and you are going to forget half of this stuff after you take the exam or after you get the job but that is the way it is. There is nothing I can do.”
Do you want better materials? Do you want something that will excite your students? Do you want your class to let out a collective groan when the bell rings and class is over because they want the class to go on and on and on it was so engaging and interesting? Do you want your students to stop asking you to show them a movie instead of the boring coursebook?
Let’s demand that publishers start producing materials that excite and amaze our students. Let’s demand they make materials that turn English lessons into our students’ favorite subject. Let’s demand that they help us make our English lessons the highlight of our students’ day.
When I teach my college class on Monday, I tell all of my students at the beginning of every lesson, “Hey, it’s Monday! It’s Uncle Dave Day! It’s your favorite day of the week!!!” They moan and groan with smiles on their faces.
I suppose Uncle Dave Day is not their favorite day of the week. I don’t know if they like my classes at all. I get feedback that they do like the classes but you never know for sure.
But wouldn’t it be great if publishers gave us the tools to make our lessons not only interesting but fascinating? Not only informative but unforgettable?
Publishers want to know what we want. After all, they just want to sell, sell, sell. Let’s tell them what we want to buy.
Contact their local office and their head office. Contact their reps. Tell your director and tell other teachers.
Can they do better? We think they can. Let’s tell them.
Dave Kees - Teaching English in China 
Love this – I completely agree. Business English books are so “dry” that if I stuck only to the book material, my students would be bored to tears. I bring in a lot of extra games and activities just to spice things up – requires much more prep time, but it’s worth it.
You know what I’d love to see? A hybrid book – structured like a general English book covering your typical topics of travel, sports, food, movies, etc but with a couple of pages of “business” material within each chapter. Because most of my students – even those who are learning English for their jobs – want/need to learn the language in general, not just terms like “conference venue” and “supply chain.”