Communication skills acquisition at business school: academic and professional needs analysis for communication skills programmes development

208 ISSN 1997-2911. № 5 (59) 2016. Ч. 1

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Communication skills acquisition at business school: academic and professional needs analysis for communication skills programmes development

Orlova Elena Vladimirovna, Ph. D. in Psychology



The ongoing changes in global market competitive principles and changes in higher education standards on both national and international levels create new opportunities as well as new challenges for the faculty responsiblefordesigning new language and communication programs, developing and maintaining new approaches to theirimplementation. Business education is one of the fastest changing sectors of higher education at large, thus programme modernisation underlies the success of a business school, its faculty, and alumni.

For the Languages for Academic and Business Communication Department at Saint Petersburg State University (hereafter referred to as the LABC SPbU), the year of 2014 was the beginning of new programmes' development.

The result of this development was a set of new programmes with a skill-focused approach, which enable students todevelop their academic and business English communication skills.

The factors behind the shift from a topic-based approach to a skill-focused approach are as follows:

The student factor: the increased level of students' English language proficiency (60% - level B2 upon enrolment) leads to the consequent changes in students' needs and perspectives in terms of language and communication proficiency.

The Graduate School of Management at Saint Petersburg State University (the GSOM SPbU) factor: the school identifies internationalisation as one of the leading features for both educational programmes and career opportunities for its graduates.

The corporate partner factor: there emerge new competencies that corporate partners require from graduates of the GSOM.

New trends in the design of language programmes from around the world.

These factors together led the LABC Department Research and Development Group to the initiation of a project aimed to develop new programmes in academic and business communication. One of the main obstacles for the project implementation was the lack of proper research on business students' needs. Our task was to research into theneeds perspectives with the help of our multiple stakeholders and define the critically important set of skills foracademic and business communication to be incorporated into the programmes.

In 2014, we started an investigation into students' needs from the following three perspectives: -Students' perceptions of their own needs.

Academic staff's perceptions of students' needs.

Employers' expectations concerning the GSOM graduates' professional competencies and skills.

This paper outlines the process, procedures and outcomes of the research conducted.

Theaimof the research wasto describe an adaptable approach to language and communication programme design and revision based on: 1) the three-pronged analyses of undergraduate and graduate students' needs identified by employers, academics and the students themselves; 2) the oral communication skills revealed and specified in this research.

Literature Review

The nature and role of needs analysis as a key element of a language course design has been in focus over thelast three decades. Needs analysisis related to the subject of needs (user), the character of needs (use, lack, key asset),and the object of needs (language, skills, situations) [1]. Recognizing its pivotal role as the means of `collecting and assessing information relevant to course design' [2, p.4], we consider needs analysis to be a necessary pre-requisite for the design and revision of business and academic communication programmes.

Needs analysis also becomes an ongoing, active process as an element feeding back into various stages of the cycle[5], which encompasses curriculum design, materials selection, methodology, assessment and evaluation. The informationobtained from a needsanalysis is used in determining and refining the content and method for the course being developed [7].

Although there is no single approach to needs analysis which can be `a reliableindicator of what is needed toenhance learning' [6], the current study relies on two complementary aspects in this process, namely `present situationanalysis' [8]and target situation analysis.

Present situation analysis (thereafter PSA) demonstrates students' communication skills at the beginning of the course. Hutchinson and Waters (as cited in [4]) refer PSA to learners' `lacks' and `wants,' estimating strengths and weaknesses in language and communication skills as well as their learning experience. Otherwise, `lacks' and `wants'represent learners' perceptions of their current needs.

Target situation analysis (thereafter TSA) focuses on the identification of the tasks, activities, and skills needed in academic and business contexts which learners will be using. Robinson claims that `one is likely to seek and find information relating to both the TSA and PSA simultaneously. Thus needs analysis may be seen as a combination ofTSA and PSA' (cited in [1, p. 9]).

So we define learning needs as the gap between learners' current proficiencies and ambitions, and their future roles and the communication skills and knowledge needed to perform competently in academic and business contexts.

Applying multiple stakeholder perspective [9], which is recognized as an effective approach [3], needs may be investigated from the teachers', the learners' and the employers' perspective. This approach seems effective as it gives acomprehensive overview of the issue. If learners and teachers are able to identify their own academic communication needs, the perception of business communication skills by executives indisputably serves as a prerequisite for the design and / or development of a communication skills course. The scope of business communication needs may range from `participation in meeting and team projects' to `engaging in small talks and professional interaction'. Namely, language activities `in the social sphere of workplace communication' as well as `occupational and professional language competency' ought to be taken into account while designing a new language programme [7].

We consider the multiple stakeholder approach an effective way to investigate needs from different perspectives. This enables us to reveal skill gaps in delivering an effective academic and / or business presentation. The research relies on the genre of presentation taught in both academic and business English communication courses, thus, allowing us toobjectively evaluate students' present competencies and project perspective ways of developing communication skills.

Research Questions

1. What are theskill gaps that students have in delivering academic and business presentation as reported bystudents, academics, and employers?

What skills do the three groups of respondents perceive the most important for effective academic and business presentation delivery?

How do students, academics, and employers evaluate the presentation delivery skills demonstrated by GSOM students?

2. Which skills for academic and businesspresentation should be incorporated into programmes on academic and business communication skills for GSOM students?

Methods

Participants

The respondents for this study are undergraduateand graduate students, the faculty of the LABC Department and corporate partners of the GSOM. These groups were selected in order to get comprehensive information on how students, faculty and employers perceive the academic and professional needs of the business school's students.

The first group of respondents is comprised of 142 undergraduate and graduate students who have international academic experience gained at business schools - partners of GSOM: in Europe (HEC-Paris School of Management, Stockholm School of Economics, University of St. Gallen), emerging markets (Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, COPPEAD Graduate School of Business, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), and Canada (McGill University).

The group of the LABC Department's faculty is represented by 17 teachers of academic and business English communication courses that makes 100% of the LABC faculty. The GSOM corporate partners' profile is comprised of 37 participants, including line managers and specialists of human resources departments (see Appendix 1).

Procedures

The information regarding the perceived needs and developed presentation skills was collected using these three methods: questionnaires, participant observations and criterion-based performance tests.

The aim of the questionnaires was to find out the perception of needs and thus identify skill gaps in giving academic and business presentations. The questionnaires for each group of respondents included the two target questions and the responses were received anonymously.

The following questions were included in the questionnaires for academic representatives, corporate partners and students:

Academic representatives:

Which skills are the most important for effective presentation delivery in an academic / business context?

Ratetheir importance from 1 (unimportant) to 5 (very important).

Rate the development of these presentation delivery skills of your 1styear / 3rdyear students according to the scale provided: fully developed (5), developed (4), acceptable (3), needs a lot of training (2), not developed (1).Corporate partners:

Which skills are the most important for effective presentation delivery in a business context? Rate their importance from 1 (unimportant) to 5 (very important).

Evaluate the presentation skills of GSOM graduates working in companies according to the level required inthe professional arena. Rate their development according to the scale provided: fully developed (5), developed (4),acceptable (3), needs a lot of training (2), not developed (1).Students:

Identify the strengths of the academic presentation you delivered during the inclusive education semester atthe business school. Did you get any feedback regarding your presentation from the panel?

Which presentation skills were not fully developed and prevented you from delivering an effective academic presentation?

Participant observation was aimed at assessing the development of skills using criterion-based performance tests while attending in-class presentations. These two methods were used together by the faculty members to assess students' skills of academic and business presentation delivery.

Two types of needs analysis were carried out: academic and professional. Academic needs analysis is based on the observation of academic presentations (by the GSOM undergraduates) using a criterion-referenced performance test; and the data gathered from the questionnaires of the LABC Department faculty and the students who completed their studies at GSOM partner business schools.

The professional needs analysis is based on the observation of business presentations (Master's programme participants) using a criterion-referenced performance test; and the data gathered from the questionnaires of GSOM corporate partners and the faculty of the LABC Department.

Instrument The importance of skills for effective presentation delivery

The first aim of the questionnaire was to gather data on the importance of skills needed for delivering effective academic or business presentations. The tables below show academic presentation skills evaluated by students and faculty members in terms of their mean importance rating (Table 1) as well as business presentation skills evaluated by corporate partners and faculty members (Table 2). Depending on the specificities of the respondents'group, theskills rated were separated into two groups: non-variable skills and variable skills. The former make basic or`foundation' presentation skills, which are common for all respondents' groups, while the latter are context specific.Variable skills are given in italics in both tables.



Table 1.

Importance of skills for an effective academic presentation delivery

Students' perspective		Faculty members' perspective
Skills	Average perception	Standard deviation	Skills	Average perception	Standard deviation
Organise a presentation structure Maintain audience rapport*Manage the content of a presentation Maintain a reasonable pace of delivery, understand various accents in spoken English Use academic and professional vocabulary	4.74 3.9 3.7 3.7	0.71 0.80 0.83 0.85 0.80	Organise a presentation structure Maintain audience rapport*Manage the content of a presentation Use visual aids effectively*Use academic and professional vocabulary Use referencing	4.9 4.7 4.7 4.4 4.2 3.5	0.33 0.43 0.40 0.86 0.43 1.09

Regarding business presentation, it is essential to take into account the specific contexts with which the two groups (Table 2, corporate partners and faculty members) evaluate business presentations - real-life professional situations in the workplace and business simulations in an academic context.

Table 2.

Importance of skills for effective business presentation delivery

Corporate partners' perspective		Faculty members' perspective
Skills	Average perception	Standard deviation	Skills	Average perception	Standard deviation
Organise a presentation structure*Manage the content of a presentation Adhere to corporate culture norms Answer audience questions Maintain audience rapport Demonstrate time management skills	4.4 4.3 4.0 3.9 3.8 3.5	0.87 0.90 0.93 0.96 0.98 0.91	Organise a presentation structure Manage the content of a presentation Maintain audience rapport Use high impact techniques Use professional vocabulary Use visual aids effectively	4.7 4.5 4.5 4.2 3.6 3.5	0.69 0.7 0.7 0.82 0.85 1.2

Evaluation of skills' development

The second aim of the questionnaire was to gather data regarding presentation skills' development, whilst at the same time identifying existing skill gaps observed by students, facultymembers, and corporate partners inpresentation delivery. Given below are the results of the questionnaire of GSOM students who were asked toidentify their own strengths and skill gaps in academic presentation delivery (Table 3) and the faculty's perspective on the development of these skills (Table 4).

Table 3.

Strengths and skill gaps identified by students

Strengths	Skill gaps
Manage the content of a presentation (53%) Organise a presentation structure (13%) Apply critical methods of analysis (13%) Use visual aids effectively (7%) Work collaboratively or work in a team (7%) Understand various accents in spoken English (7%) Participate in a group discussion (7%) Plan a text for presentation (7%)	Maintain audience rapport (40%) Maintain a reasonable pace of delivery (33%) Understand various accents in spoken English (27%) Organize a presentation structure (13%) Use academic and professional vocabulary (13%) Manage the content of a presentation (0%)

Corporate partners evaluated the oral communication skills of GSOM graduates currently working in companies according to the level required in the professional arena. Likewise, faculty members appraised the performance of3rdyear undergraduate students to rate their business presentation delivery skills (Table 5).



Table 4.

Development of presentation delivery skills

Faculty members' perspective
Skills	Average perception	Standard deviation
Use visual aids effectively Organise a presentation structure Manage the content of a presentation Use academic and professional vocabulary Maintain audience rapport Use referencing	4.2 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.4 3.1	0.66 0.66 0.710.5 0.86 1.05

Table 5.

Evaluation of skills for effective business presentation delivery

Corporate partners' perspective		Faculty members' perspective
Skills	Average assessment	Standard deviation	Skills	Average assessment	Standard deviation
Organise a presentation structure Adhere to corporate culture norms Answer audience questions *Manage the content of a presentation Maintain audience rapport*Demonstrate time management skills	3.6 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.0	1.12 0.94 0.98 0.87 0.95 0.95	Use visual aids effectively Organise a presentation structure Manage the content of a presentation Maintain audience rapport Use professional vocabulary Use high impact techniques	4.5 4.0 3.7 3.3 3.3 3.1	1.0 0.7 1.2 0.9 0.9 1.0

Results

Academic presentation skills

The results of the survey conducted among faculty members and GSOM students regarding the importance of skills for effective presentation delivery (see Tables 1, 3 and 4) reveal that both groups of respondents have reached a consensus on their importance rating. As can be seen in Table 1, all of the basic skills were ranked in the sameorder of importance: from `organizing a presentation structure' (rated the highest) to `using academic and professional vocabulary' (rated the lowest). This implies that there is no conflict of opinions between the two groups ofrespondents and the data collected can be easily compared. In spite of this consensus, however, it is clear that faculty members tend to give these skills more importance than students (each skill was rated 0.2 - 0.8 points higher).

Apart from `organising a presentation structure', which was almost unanimously recognised as critically important for effective presentation delivery by the majority of respondents (M=4.7 and 4.9), another highly appreciated skill is the skill of `maintaining audience rapport' (M=4 and 4.7). As for the least important skills, in addition tothe above-mentioned `using academic and professional vocabulary', the lowest rating was given to `maintaining areasonable pace of delivery' and `understanding various accents in spoken English' (M=3.7) followed by `using referencing' (M=3.5). Regarding the latter skill, it is important to mention that a high standard deviation (SD=1.09) implies that there are two distinct categories of teacher: those who recognise the crucial importance of this skill (rating 5), and those who consider itto be of moderate importance (rating 3).

The analysis of the data in Table 3 shows that while giving their presentation in overseas business schools, half of the students perceived themselves as being efficient at managing the content of a presentation effectively. However, there is no strong evidence that students are fully aware of what contributed to this success as only 13% of themattributed it to their ability to `justify data', `provide critical analysis', and `apply new methods of analysis'.

Questions aimed at gathering data with reference to presentation skills' development, demonstrated that 40% ofthe students had problems with `maintaining audience rapport'. The second most frequent answer was `maintaininga reasonable pace of delivery' (33%). 27% of the students mentioned the problem of `understanding various accents in spoken English', which can be explained by the fact that for the majority of them it may have been the first serious experience of public speaking in an overseas academic environment and meeting the challenge of comprehending adifferent accent. Thus, thisdeficiency has become more noticeable. It should also be noted that only 13% of the studentsdid not experience any problems with presentation delivery.

It was also discovered that not all the students were provided with the feedback from a panel on the effectiveness of their presentation. Therefore, we can assume that students' appreciation of their skill gaps is based on self-evaluationonly, and some oftheir needs might be still unrecognised by them.

Faculty members who evaluated the development of their students' communication skills (see Table 4) highlightedthat most of the skills (5 out of 6) are developed at an `acceptable' level as most of them received rank 3. Thus, according to the data presented, the only skill that 1styear students have at a `developed' level (rank 4) is `using visual aids' (M=4.2). It was rated the highest with `organizing a presentation structure' in second place (M=3.7). The skills that need training the most, according to the faculty members, are `maintaining audience rapport' (M=3.4) and `usingreferencing' (M=3.1).

The observation of academic presentations delivered by 4thyear undergraduate students in their native language enabled us to make a more detailed list of sub-skills students have difficulties with.

Table 6.

Undergraduate students' difficulties in academic presentation delivery

Skill	Sub-skill	Difficulties
Organise a presentation structure	Complete each part of the structure with the necessary type and size of information	The length of presentation parts was irrelevant (long introductions, short bodies and conclusions); it meant that the students could not complete each part of the structure adequately and the presentations were not well-structured as a result.
Use academic and professional vocabulary	Use relevant academic language	The lack of awareness regarding academic register and the subsequent use of everyday language instead of academic one.
Use visual aids effectively	Use graphs and diagrams professionally	Students could not underline necessary information using diagrams and graphs; incorrect sizing and formatting rendered visual aids unreadable for the audience.
Manage the content of the presentation	State the aims and objectives,main points and outcomes of the research clearly	Students could not provide the audience with clear information; their conclusions were often irrelevant (did not correspond to the research aim).
Maintain audience rapport	Respond appropriately toaudience questions during the Q&A session.	Students did not welcome audience questions.

The aforementioned sub-skills being underdeveloped resulted in the audience's difficulty getting a full understanding of the content presented.Business presentation skills

The results of the questionnaire conducted among faculty members and corporate partners reveal that both groups of respondents were in agreement on the importance rating of the two oral communication skills for effective business presentation delivery (Table 2) - `organise apresentation structure' and `manage the content of a presentation' (the average perception, that is ?4.0, accounts for being important).

The importance of `organise a presentation structure' for an effective business presentation received the highest rating of 4.7 and 4.4 by faculty members and corporate business partners respectively.

The indicators of importance of `manage the content of a presentation' skill (M?4) serve as another measure ofan effective business presentation.

It turned out that business executives rate `maintain audience rapport' as a moderately important skill (M=3.8), whereas academics tend to attach greater importance to it (M=4.5). Presumably,delivering a clear message during a presentation implies keeping one's audience focused at the same time for executives, which explains their rather low evaluation of the `maintain audience rapport' skill.As for the least important oral communication skills, faculty members gave a low rating to `use visual aids effectively' and `demonstrate time management' skills (both have M=3.5), yet the former has rather high standard deviation (M=1.2). This means that 50% of the teachers believe that the skill of using visual aids appropriately in a presentation must have been already developed by this stage, while the other half continue to pay attention to its importance. Attributing a low rating to `demonstrate time management' seems unexpected and infrequent in professional situations. A possible reason is that a valuable discussion can last more than the time allocated to it.

Analysing the data gathered on the oral communication skills evaluation of GSOM graduates working in companies, altogether, graduates receive lower ratings than undergraduate students. However, the average assessment changes slightly concerning the skills of `organise a presentation structure', `manage the content of a presentation', and `maintain audience rapport'.

Corporate partners are almost consistent in assessing the aforementioned skills: `organise a presentation structure' (M=3.6), `manage the content of a presentation' (M=3.5), and `maintain audience rapport' (M=3.4) in spite of the lackof consensus evaluating `organise a presentation structure' skill (SD =1.2). In other words, not all GSOM graduates can transfer this skill to fulfil their job-related tasks effectively. The business executives' assessment fluctuates from fully developed (25.9%), developed (37%), acceptable (18.5%), needs a lot of training (14.8%) to not developed (3.7%).

As for the faculty members, they reached a consensus (SD <=1.0) on the assessment of `organise a presentation structure' (M=4.0) and `maintain audience rapport' (M=3.7). In contrast, their evaluation of `manage the content of a presentation' (SD=1.2) ranges from fully developed (37.5%), developed (25%), acceptable (25%) to even not developed (12.5%), which could be explained by the lack of clear understanding of this assessment criterion among the faculty members.

In contrast, the `use visual aids effectively' skill (M=4.5) received the highest rating in the evaluation of oral communication skills, which signifies that the majority of the 3rdyear undergraduate students (62.5%) have fully developed the skill, yet the teachers are not unanimous in their assessment (SD =1.0). In fact, 25% of the students have already developed this skill, while students of fair performance in English (12.5%) demonstrate the `acceptable' use of visual aids.

To summarize the findings of the `present situation analysis' [8], it is worth mentioning that 14.3% of the corporate partners pointed out that GSOM graduates need pre-service training in how to deliver an effective professional presentation.

The above-mentioned skill gaps were also observed during four days of business communication skills seminars for GSOMgraduate students. 19 presentations delivered by 81 students were evaluated to reveal the level of development of the same set of six oral communication skills for academic and business presentation delivery.

Among the main skill gaps for effective business presentation delivery we identified the following sub-skills' deficiencies.

Structuring a presentation: imbalance in content allocation. The tendency notto deliver the main message atthe beginning of the presentation leads to audience's confusionor lack of interest. The presenters fail to facilitate rapport while addressing the target audience.

Ability to convince the audience: failure to persuade the audience as credible and reliable decision-makers.

Poor techniques of establishing reaction-provoking contact with the audience.

These skill gaps make it all the more probable that the audience's expectations of the presentation will not be met.Discussion

Academic Presentation

Comparing the results of the questionnaires aimed at identifying the students' academic needs and their skill gaps in delivering academic presentations, we have identified a set of skills that needs to be emphasised when planning a further development of the course programme. Among these skills are the following:

`organise a presentation structure' since only 13% of GSOM students described it as their strong point and 13% identified it as one of their skill gaps. The faculty members who evaluated the development of this skill among first year GSOM students agreed that itis developed at an `acceptable' level only (rank 3.7);

`maintain audience rapport' as none of the students described it as their strong point compared with 40% who identified it as one of their skill gaps. The faculty members confirmed that students do not have this skill developed at a satisfactory level (rank 3.4);

`maintain a reasonable pace of delivery' and `understand various accents in spoken English.' These are ofmoderate importance (rank 3.7) according to the students' perspective, but as many as 33% and 27% of them identified these skills as their skill gaps. Only 7% mentioned that they were their strong points.

Business presentation

Based on the findings from the questionnaire, we evaluated the information about the learners' needs - the target situation analysis and the present situation analysis concerning GSOM undergraduate and graduate students' oral communication skills for an effective business presentation delivery.

Employing the above-mentioned methods, we identified and specified the academic and professional needs, which make up the prerequisites for programme design.

Overall, at this stage of the findings qualitative analysis, we can identify the skill gaps in oral communication skills for effective business presentation delivery.

Thus major oral communication skills' deficiencies of GSOM 3rdyear students refer to `organize a presentation structure' (SG=0.7), `manage the content of a presentation' (SG=0.8), and `maintain audience rapport' (SG=0.8), which results in possible negative effects, which can lead to a communication breakdown in professional situations. For example, we consider that the inability to manage the content of a presentation is caused by not maintaining an appropriate balance between known and new information. As a result, this leads to the audience losing interest. Moreover, failure to produce a feasible solution to a communication task can also contribute to a loss of audience interest in a presentation.

Consequently, there should be specified a set of oral communication skills and sub-skills essential to the delivery of an effective academic and / or business presentation.

The present research disclosed that while delivering an academic or business presentation, GSOM students encounter similar difficulties, which arise because of their `lacks' [4]in some critically important communication skills. To help students overcome these skill gaps, certain changes should be made in the course programs, which are mainly aimed to put special emphasis on the development of the communication skills students have difficulties with. The detailed set of skills to match academic and professional needs that we consider to incorporate into the course program is given below.

Presentation skills

1)Organise a presentation structureSub-skills

Introduction

introduce the topic (research question) clearly;

state purpose clearly and early on in the presentation;

provide an overview of the presentation; -introduce group members.

Main body

present information in a logical and interesting sequence with explanations and elaboration; -maintain an appropriate balance in content allocation;

use discourse markers and cohesive devices for effective transitions;

summarise information selected from different sources with good reasoning.

Conclusion

summarise the main points to match the conclusion with the purpose stated in the introduction; -deliverthe outcome or result of the task.

2)Manage the content of a presentationSub-skills

Communication task is completed

produce the content and extent of the presentation consistent with that of a communicative task; -keep the message simple;

thoroughly elaborate on the topic of the presentation.

Content management

express ideas clearly in spite of the subject's complexities;

support statements with facts;

give appropriate examples, illustrations, statistics;

use well-selected information, avoiding ambiguous or unclear statements;

describe, analyse and synthesize data, ideas and information correctly and effectively; -make a clear distinction between information and data.

3)Maintain audience rapportSub-skills

Establish audience rapport

adapt to a specific audience;

show awareness and knowledge of the audience;

gain immediate attention in an appropriate manner (understand an audience's expectations); -create introductions that `hook'; -establish response-provoking contact.

Keep contact with the audience

keep the audience focused on the topic;

use contact-setting techniques (checking understanding, reformulating, etc.);

maintain effective communication with the audience (show enthusiasm, voice, tone, energy);

use good posture, natural gesturing, controlled movement;

end with a memorable statement;

check understanding of questions from the audience by paraphrasing;

provide adequate answers;

check if the audience have given a satisfactory response; -demonstrate a depth of commentary.

4)Maintain a reasonable pace of deliverySub-skills

avoid being too slow and halting, or too fast and nervous;

be audible in all parts of the room, and to all members of the audience;

speak clearly and fluently;

articulate clearly, with proper volume and a steady rate; -speak with ease and little hesitation.

We got a comprehensive picture of needs analysis as a result of evaluation of presentation skills in different contexts, academic and business, in different languages, English and Russian, in different target groups - students, academics, and employers. The evaluation of presentations in Russian has become a strong benefit of our research; iteffectively helped to point out presentation skills per se apart from being a foreign language constituent.

We assume that students develop a basic set of presentation skills in academic contexts consequently, starting acourse of business communication that is taught as a next stage, students acquire a set of context-specific presentation skills, thus expanding the initial set of basic ones.

The development of the abovementioned communication skills implies a cyclical gradual process of training themin both academic and business contexts.

A further step of the research implies ranking the identified oral communication skills hierarchically on a simple to complex basis to incorporate them into the programmes organised by the LABC Department: Academic English Communication Skills: a basic course; Academic English Communication Skills: subject-specific; and Business English Communication Skills.

In the context of realising communication programmes, an academic presentation is to be trained and delivered prior to a business one. We should take into account that the difficulties we identify when students perform academicpresentations can occur when a business presentation becomes a focus of evaluation. Students tend to demonstrate the same gaps that were spotted in a specific context (e.g. academic) on performing in another context (e.g. business). For example, if effective `time-tuning' is identified as an important skill in academic presentations, this skill becomes necessary in business presentations. The skill of effective timing has even become a rule of corporate culture that students should become aware of.

There appears to be a limitation of the study that is connected with the interpretation of the term `business presentation'. By business presentation in this research we mean a presentation based on some general communication principles which are more or less typical of all types of business presentations regardless their purpose, i.e. to inform, persuade, build goodwill,etc., or their business context, i.e. sales results presentation, new product launch presentation, etc. However, the set of communication skills needed to perform successfully in each type of presentation might vary to some extent, and, therefore, the lacks business graduates face when delivering them might vary as well. However, this study sought to find out only a set of general business communication skills that the majority of business graduates need to have to do their job well.

Another limitation deals with the perception of lacks and needs in academic communication identified by those students who reported in their questionnaires that during an inclusive learning semester abroad, the panel did not always provide feedback on their presentation performance. This means that the students' assessment of their strengths and weaknesses was sometimes based on self-evaluation only and we assume, therefore, that some of the needs haveremained unrecognized by them.



Conclusion

The data from the multiple stakeholder questionnaires and the criterion-based performance tests have revealed anumber of programme development tasks, which need to be considered, as they offer significant implications when introducing programme development.

First, the three-pronged needs analysis that enables researchers and designers to gain insights into the specific needs concerning the academic and business communication skills. Regular needs analysis is to become a standard procedure for the further programme development.

Second, regular assessment of communication skills gaps can provide a comprehensive and objective picture ofwhat sets of skills at macro level and sub-skills at micro level should be incorporated into the academic and business communication skills programmes. Thus, the findings of this study revealed communication skill gaps that prevent the students from effective academic and business presentation delivery.

These findings underlie our decision to introduce a priority scale for teaching the identified communication skills tailored to specific academic and professional needs. The research results empowered the program designers to use these principles of communication skills programmes development as opposed to generic teaching suitable for all cohorts of students. It is imperative for teachers of academic and business communication to explicitly teach students those skills and sub-skills in which the gaps were identified, i.e. structuring a presentation, establishing and keeping contact with the audience, managing the content of a presentation effectively, using appropriate pace of delivery, etc. By practicing these skills in language classrooms students will be able to effectively transfer them later into real-life academic and professional communication tasks context.

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