Business English Competition

ALL-UKRAINIAN BUSINESS ENGLISH COMPETITION

 

Business English Competition is a unique language olympiad held by the Ukrainian-American Concordia University (ConcordiaUA) since 1999. Successful participants are to show high competence of Business English in terms of both language knowledge and professional communication skills. The winners will be enrolled at ConcordiaUA with full or partial tuition reimbursement. Download a brief BEC-2024 info flyer.

 

Date and venue

BEC is held once a year, normally within one day in March or in April, either in the in-presence mode (at 8/14 Oleksandra Konyskoho Street, Kyiv) or in the distance mode (at UACU Distance Learning Center). In 2022, we held an additional summer session.

BEC 2024 will be held in the distance mode on Saturday, April 20^th, 2024. Deadline for applications: Monday, April 15^th, 2024. Fill in the BEC Registration Form!

 

Participants

The Competition is aimed at high school students (10th–11th grades of secondary comprehensive schools, lyceums, or gymnasiums) with language competence level ranging from low intermediate to advanced. The number of participants is limited to 5 students from one educational establishment. Individual application is also possible.

 

Application procedure

Application for participation in the Business English Competition – 2024 is possible directly through our website, and also via fax, е-mail or telephone. Fill in the BEC Registration Form!

Should you have a question or need more information, please visit our Facebook group “Business English Competition“.

8/14 Oleksandra Konyskoho Street, Office 1-4
+38095-008-5850 (Ms Tetiana Nyzhnyk / Нижник Тетяна Володимирівна); +38044-236-9085
info@uacu.edu.ua

 

Content and system

The Competition has two parts:

• Part 1 — a test, scoring the maximum of 100 marks, and
• Part 2 — an oral presentation, also scoring the maximum of 100 marks.

The highest score that can be received by a participant is 200.

Part 1 is designed in the format of a test including 100 questions with low to high level of difficulty. The test is to be taken on the day of the contest. 

The objective of the test is to assess participants’ knowledge of soft business vocabulary around key business areas (e.g.: company structure, marketing, advertising, PR, general management, international trade, finance, etc.) and functional language of presentations, meetings, negotiations, telephoning, and writing in the business context. Participants are also supposed to possess background knowledge of basic rules and principles of professional communication skills, such as telephoning (effective techniques and structure), presentations (structure, body language, visualizing message), meetings (participants’ functions, effective strategies), business writing (register, basic principles, layout, structure, types of documents), negotiations (structure, basic principles); demonstrate awareness of job-hunting strategies and skills; be aware of cultural differences and peculiarities of cross-cultural communication in business.

Several types of tasks might appear on the test, i.e. matching and restoring words and phrases, reordering texts, matching, gap filling, true/false, etc.

Part 2 is the contest of presenters. At this stage, the participants are to give business presentations, prepared in advance. The total score given for a presentation is the summation of scores for each of the items of the Presentation Evaluation Form (e.g.: eye contact with the audience, linking phrases, use of business vocabulary, use of visual aids, handling questions, etc).

The presentation topic is due to be an imaginary (preferred) / real company (with the exception of Coca-Cola, P&G, and alike). The talk can include any aspect(s) on the speaker’s/speakers’ choice, e.g. description of the company’s organization, products, partners, etc. The presenters are supposed to show tangible knowledge of topical business vocabulary as well as mastery in structuring the speech, using visual aids, handling questions, giving a clear summary and conclusion.

Delivery time is 7 to 8 minutes. Exceeding the time limit will result in losing marks.

One presentation can be designed and delivered by 1 or 2 participants. Each speaker, however, is evaluated separately.

A successful presentation is to meet the following requirements:

• be delivered orally
• be supported with visual aids
• be easily identified as a business presentation, not a political speech, school performance, drama, or slide show
• keep the listeners awake and, ideally, interested during the speech
• last not less than 7 and not more than 8 minutes
• not use company-produced demo materials such as ready-made PowerPoint slides (these do not include gimmicks, business cards, booklets, brochures, posters, and other objects carrying company logos, slogans and contact information).

Recommended visual aids are PowerPoint slides, handouts, posters, video, product samples, etc. 

When set in the distance mode due to lockdown or other restrictions, BEC follows the same structure: an online test and a business presentation. The test is designed in Moodle with online proctoring through Zoom. Business presentations are submitted as pre-recorded videos. After a participant’s registration is confirmed by the BEC organizing committee, they receive all the details of access (including trial test tasks), the link to join the Zoom meeting, and the username and password to log into Moodle / Distance Learning Center via email.

 

Restrictions

When sitting the test, participants are not allowed to use paper or electronic dictionaries. If someone is noticed cheating, their tests are not marked. 

 

The Panel

The BEC Panel members are Business English instructors and subject lecturers from ConcordiaUA and representatives of our partners – universities, publishing houses, businesses, and other organizations.

 

The winners

The three (or, by ConcordiaUA administration decision, six) BEC winners (places 1–3) are supposed to demonstrate high competence in all areas of Business English knowledge and skills assessed by receiving the highest scores in completion of all/most tasks and assignments offered. Thus, to win, a contestant has to take part in both BEC parts.

The Panel might also grant special prizes and special awards for best or considerable competence shown in one of the BEC parts.

The winners of BEC 2023 were announced in our Facebook group “Business English Competition”:

• 1^st Place: Oleksandr Herasymov (Vinnytsia, Podillia Scientific and Technical Lyceum for Gifted Youth, 9^th grade) and Yeva Kosinova (Kyiv, Specialized School No. 155 with In-depth English Language Learning, 11^th grade)
• 2^nd Place: Veronika Haivanovych (Truskavets, Ukraine / Čadca, the Slovak Republic; Slovak-English bilingual section at the Joseph Miloslav Gurban Gymnasium in Čadca, Slovakia, 10^th grade) and Anastasiia Susol(Lutsk, Lutsk Lyceum No. 21, 11^th grade)
• 3^rd Place: Bohdana Pashuk (Lutsk, Lutsk Lyceum No. 21, 11^th grade), Mariia Hodovanets (Kyiv, Gymnasium of International Relations No. 323, 11^th grade), and Uliana Fedenko
• Winner of the writing block (online test): Oleksandr Herasymov (Vinnytsia, Podillia Scientific and Technical Lyceum for Gifted Youth, 9^th grade)
• Winners of the speaking block (presentation): Yeva Kosinova (Kyiv, Specialized School No. 155 with In-depth English Language Learning, 11^th grade) and Veronika Haivanovych (Truskavets, Ukraine / Čadca, the Slovak Republic; Slovak-English bilingual section at the Joseph Miloslav Gurban Gymnasium in Čadca, Slovakia, 10^th grade)

The top ratings of BEC 2023 are available here. In addition, a free distance course ConcordiaUA_Start is now available for everyone who has registered as a BEC participant in Moodle.