IELTS Preparation Series 1, Episode 3: Company Growth

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Hello. I'm Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.

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Today we're going to talk about businesses, and different ways to discuss economic information.

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We're going to listen to an interview with the head of a large clothing company.

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Then we're going to look at how he describes the success of his company.

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Here's Derek O'Neill.

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Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years. We've

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delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years. You know, growing earnings

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at 25, 30, 35% forever becomes impossible. I think we end up owning US GDP in about 2023

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with 25% growth.

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We've registered that 15 per cent is our plan and we think that's a good target.

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We're very happy with our level of sales. We grew sales in the US in girls' wear at

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50 per cent and we think that's a fantastic performance, so we'll stand by those numbers.

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We've had solid momentum in that market for four or five years and we expect that momentum's

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going to continue.

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OK. So today we're going look at the language of description, particularly describing economic

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information.

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In formal academic writing, it's important to use impersonal, objective language when

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describing things.

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Notice that in the interview, Derek O'Neill often begins his sentences with We've, short

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for we have.

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Using phrases like I've or we've is very common in spoken English.

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Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years. We've

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delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years.

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He says: We've had consistent growth.

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We've delivered growth in excess of 20 per cent.

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We've had solid momentum in that market.

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How would you turn these sentences into more formal descriptions?

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Take the first sentence: we've had consistent growth.

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Generally the first person forms of I and we are not used in more formal writing, or

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when describing economic data.

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We'd use an objective form: there is, there are,

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there has been, or there will be.

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So, "We've had consistent growth," becomes, "There has been consistent growth."

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Look at this one: We've delivered growth of 20%.

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That becomes: There has been growth of 20%.

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Now listen to him again.

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We've had solid momentum in that market for four or five years and we expect that momentum's

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going to continue.

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He said: We've had solid momentum.

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We expect that momentum is going to continue.

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We've had, we expect.

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How could you write that information in a formal way?

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We've had solid momentum. There has been solid momentum.

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We expect that momentum is going to continue. It is expected that momentum is going to continue.

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So looking for the use of the first person is a good way to tell whether someone is discussing

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information in a formal or informal way.

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You should remember that in an academic context, you always need to include evidence to support

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your opinions or descriptions.

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You should try to always include data to explain and support what you're saying.

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Data is information, especially facts and figures - numbers, percentages, and dates.

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In formal language, you need to include data to support your arguments.

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Listen to the data Derek uses.

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We've delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years. You know, growing

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earnings at 25, 30, 35 per cent forever becomes impossible. I think we end up owning US GDP

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in about 2023 with 25% growth.

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We've registered that 15% is our plan and we think that's a good target.

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He mentions a variety of facts and numbers, but he also describes how the data has changed

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- that is, the degree or type of change.

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To describe data, there is a variety of word choices.

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You can use both adjectives and adverbs - words that describe.

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Of course, adjectives describe things, and adverbs describe actions.

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So you'll need both nouns and verbs for your descriptions.

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For example, you might use nouns like the rise, the increase, or the growth.

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Listen to Derek again.

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Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years.

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They've had consistent growth.

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He uses an adjective, consistent, with a noun, growth.

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Let's look at a table.

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To describe numbers going up, we can use nouns like the rise, the increase, or the growth.

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And to describe numbers going down, we can use the drop, the decrease.

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Then we've got adjectives to describe those nouns - like rapid, slow,

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slight, dramatic, sudden or consistent.

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And we can put these together: a sudden rise, a slight decrease,

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a sudden drop, a consistent growth.

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But, there's another way of describing these changes.

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We can use verbs and adverbs.

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Many nouns like the rise, the increase, the growth can be used as verbs:

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to rise to increase

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to grow to drop

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to decrease

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And many adjectives can become adverbs - rapidly

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slowly slightly

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dramatically suddenly

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consistently

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By using these new words, we can describe data by using verbs and adverbs.

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We can say to rise suddenly, to decrease slightly, to drop suddenly, to grow consistently.

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So look how these phrases change: a sudden rise, becomes to rise suddenly

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a slight decrease, to decrease slightly

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a sudden drop, to drop suddenly

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And look at how sentences can be changed to fit these different phrases:

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It has grown consistently There has been consistent growth.

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It's important to always use a variety in your written work. Sometimes use verbs and

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adverbs to describe data, and sometimes use adjectives and nouns. It will make your English

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sound much better.

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OK, listen to the clip again, and then we'll try to put together all the things we've looked

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at today. Listen for personal descriptions, simple verbs, and descriptions of data.

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Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years. We've

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delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years.

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We've registered that 15% is our plan and we think that's a good target.

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We're very happy with our level of sales. We grew sales in the US in girls' wear at

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50% and we think that's a fantastic performance.

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He finishes by commenting on the data, and its significance for the company.

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OK, let's go back over the steps we've looked at today.

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When you're making an argument, it's important to support your case - you must include data

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or facts.

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Make sure you discuss this data - use objective, impersonal language.

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Describe changes to data by using a variety of noun/adjective, and verb/adverb combinations.

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And finally, comment on the data, using formal objective language.

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And that's all for Study English today. Don't forget to keep reading, writing, speaking

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and listening to English as much as you can. And why not try to rewrite some conversational

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English into more formal academic styles.

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I'll see you next time for more IELTS preparation. Bye.

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