Post on 25-Dec-2015
Projects, tasks and case studies
Bridges to Business
Overview
• Your university students’ needs• Simple business project ideas to help
students orientate themselves to work / company culture
• Engaging business tasks that help learners imagine workplace scenarios
• Varied case studies that build confidence to apply knowledge to the workplace
• Do your students have substantial work experience?– If no do they see the relevance of studying
business English?– If no do they find it difficult to envisage
working scenarios?– If no do they feel confident that they can
apply what they are learning in their future careers?
• What business skills and knowledge do your students most need to develop?
• What do they expect to gain from studying a business English course?
Lead in
Business projects
• Project work is a task-based learning process
• It involves a sequence of tasks over a period of time
• Projects have a visible end product• Projects are flexible• Projects in the language classroom
should involve linguistic input, processing and output
Project Work step by step
Starting a project
•Invent a company•Choose a job•Design a business card•Introduce yourself
Developing the project
•Review what’s been done•Build up a more detailed company profile•Exchange information
Developing your project
•Plan and create an advertisement for your company’s products / services•Display and read ads.•Give feedback
What are the advantages of project work?
• Allow students to express their individual strengths
• Accommodate varied learning styles• Promote learner independence• Enhance group dynamics and interpersonal skills• They are motivating for the learners• Create a need to use the target language• Help build bridges from the language classroom
to the real world• Produce visible results• Increase learners’ self-confidence
Tasks
“A task is a classroom activity whose focus is on communicating meaning. The objective of the task may be to reach some consensus on an issue, to solve a problem, to draft a plan … In the performance of the task, learners are expected to make use of their own linguistic resources.”
Scott Thornbury An A – Z of ELT
Business tasks
•Brainstorming•Planning•Explaining•Presenting
Student roles: Team A
Student roles: Team B
Business tasks
•Analysis data•Presentation•Feedback
Student roles: Teams A - C
Other business tasks
• Planning an employee ice-breaking session
• Planning redecorating the office
• Drawing up teleconferencing guidelines
• Planning a meeting
• Writing a resume
• Simulated job interviews
Introducing case studies
Criteria for good case studies
The incident • has emotional power• entails difficult choices• entails fundamental/underlying value
conflicts • allows multiple interpretations and
solutions • presents issues that benefit from
collegial discussions
• (ntlf.com - National Teaching and Learning Forum)
Good EFL case studies are:
• accessible for learners
• manageable for teachers
• structured and staged
• delivered via a variety of media
• designed to provide practice in a range of language and communication skills
Type of Type of casecase
Skills practiceSkills practice StrengthsStrengths WeaknessesWeaknesses
Dilemma and Dilemma and DecisionDecision
Brainstorming, Brainstorming, discussiondiscussion
Authenticity, Authenticity, interestinterest
Input-heavy, open-Input-heavy, open-ended, ended, unstructuredunstructured
Multiple choiceMultiple choice DiscussionDiscussion Structured, Structured, controllablecontrollable
Less scope for Less scope for involvementinvolvement
SimulationSimulation Meeting / NegotiationMeeting / Negotiation involvement, involvement, realismrealism
Potential lack of Potential lack of conflict of interestconflict of interest
Problem-Problem-solvingsolving
DiscussionDiscussion Clear Clear success/failure success/failure outcomeoutcome
Logic more Logic more important than important than language?language?
Role-playRole-play Meeting / NegotiationMeeting / Negotiation Conflict of interest Conflict of interest built inbuilt in
Less realistic than Less realistic than simulationsimulation
Creative BriefCreative Brief Brainstorming, Brainstorming, discussion, discussion, PresentationPresentation
Room for creativity Room for creativity and competitionand competition
Timing & Timing & outcomes outcomes unpredictableunpredictable
In-trayIn-tray Prioritizing, problem-Prioritizing, problem-solvingsolving
Structured, Structured, controllablecontrollable
Less scope for Less scope for involvementinvolvement
MazeMaze DiscussionDiscussion StagingStaging Less scope for Less scope for creativity, creativity, “cheating”“cheating”
ManagemeManagement Gament Game
Meeting / NegotiationMeeting / Negotiation InvolvementInvolvement Complex set-upComplex set-up
Example case study – Gap Years
The benefits of case studies
• Bridge gap between classroom and Bridge gap between classroom and real worldreal world
• Real-world issues foster authentic Real-world issues foster authentic communicationcommunication
• Develop communication skillsDevelop communication skills• Familiar tool for business peopleFamiliar tool for business people• Learner-centred = meaningful, Learner-centred = meaningful,
motivating, memorablemotivating, memorable• Fun!Fun!
Let’s do a case study
When to use case studies
• as a free production activity• to practice
meeting/presentation/negotiation skills• as a change, e.g. in intensive courses• to get away from the coursebook• as a test/teach/test sequence• when you don’t know the group• with mixed ability classes• as a back-up• as a reward
References:
www.businessenglishonline.net
An A – Z of ELT Scot ThornburyProject Work: Step-by-Step (out of print)