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1 Introducing a Company

Quartet Business Teacher’s Guide1

Objective/s: Students will be able to produce website content describing a company.

Target Functions: asking about and describing company functions, goals and mission

Key Vocabulary: background, colleagues, conservatives, early adopters, experience,expertise, familiar with, franchise, global leader, headquarters, in charge of, laggards,management, manufacturer, multinational company, outsource/outsourcing,pragmatists, put in a tender, RFP (Request For Proposal), subsidiary, worldwide

Target Language Structures: Present Perfect Simple, Present Perfect Simple vs. PastSimple

Simulation: Students will work in groups of four to produce the About Us page for afictional company of their own choosing. The About Us page should include companydescription, philosophy and mission, corporate highlights, recent product releases, andpositioning in the field.

Materials: role cards

Page 1

Time: 20-25 minutes

• Explain the concept of a simulation to your students. Include an explanation of the four group roles (chairperson, mediator, language assistant and secretary) and their purpose. Tellstudents that in addition to the group roles, they will each have a job title in each simulation, representing their role in the company simulation.

• Describe the scoring rubric. Explain that students can use it as a self-assessment tool to mark the product they are producing. It can also be used by the teacher as a tool for grading the simulations. Discuss issues of grading group activities, and how the group grades are reflected in a final, individual grade.

• Discuss the purpose of a company website, and the different sections it might include. Elicit from the students information they would expect to find in an About Us section.

• Write Yamaguchi Electronics and PGK Ltd on the board, and ask the students to brainstorm points about each company, based on what they have already been exposed to in the onlinelessons.

Lesson Summary

Quartet Business Teacher’s Guide2

Page 2

Time: 15-20 minutes

• Read the model About Us page with your students. Discuss what types of things are included in each section of this About Us page. Then go back to the lists on the board. Ask students to classify the points they came up with into the different categories. Explain that each category becomes a section in the About Us page on the website.

• Ask students what other sections an About Us page might contain. Provide them with any they have missed. If your classroom has computers with an Internet connection, ask them to look up the About Us pages for other companies.

Page 3

Time: 15-20 minutes

• Go over the new words in the language box. Ask students to read out sentences in the text that include some of the new words.

• Have students complete the exercise. Go over the answers.

Answer Key:a. global leader b. headquarters c. subsidiary

d. multinational e. management f. experience/expertise g. familiar with

Pages 4-6

Time: 10-15 minutes

• Ask students to read out examples of the Present Perfect Simple in the model text. Ask them when the Present Perfect Simple is used.

• Go over the grammar explanation.

• Ask students to complete exercises 1 and 2. Go over the answers.

Answer Key:1. Present Perfect Simple: b, c, e

Past Simple: a, d, f

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Quartet Business Teacher’s Guide3

2a. 1. made 2. has always loved 3. bought 4. has been

2b. 1. began 2. loved 3. had sold 4. gave5. have 6. taught

Page 6

Time: 10-15 minutes

• Ask students to get into pairs. Turn to the activity in the In Pairs section. Ask students to discuss each of the ten statements from different About Us pages in their pairs and decide which section they belong in: company description, philosophy and mission, recent corporate highlights, recent product releases or positioning in the field.

• Go over the answers.

Answer Key:Company Description:Country Fried Burgers opened its first franchise in 1975.By the end of the decade, Marvellous Mattresses had expanded to include a staff of 300employees countrywide.

Philosophy and Mission:We believe in providing our customers with quality service at reasonable prices.We aim to provide customers with health supplements that will take care of all their nutritionalneeds.

Recent Corporate Highlights:2002: Started production of first mobile phones with GPS technology.2004: Opened factory in Portugal.

Recent Product ReleasesIn August 2004, Toddler Toys released the Bubo doll.In December of 2003 we released our new and improved vacuum cleaner, the RT-70.

Positioning in the FieldOur ultra deluxe caviar is intended to appeal to customers in the higher income brackets.We are aiming the product towards lower- and middle-income families.

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Quartet Business Teacher’s Guide4

Page 7

Time: 90-100 minutes

Goals:

• Students will generate sufficient information through discussion and negotiation to enable them to write the About Us page for a company website.

• Students will write the About Us page for a company website.

Task:

Groups of four collaborate to invent a fictional company and produce an About Us page for thecompany, using the Yamaguchi web page as a model. While they will negotiate the informationas a group, each student in the group will be responsible for producing one section of theAbout Us page. The teacher will decide whether the assignment will be submitted in writtenform at the end of the class, submitted by e-mail to the teacher or handed in at the beginningof the next lesson.

Instructions:

• Divide the class into groups of four and assign each member a group and company role.

• Hand out role cards to the appropriate students.

• Explain to the students that one of the main goals of the simulation is to discuss, negotiate and come to a compromise, despite opinions and goals that sometimes differ.

• Review the job titles involved in this simulation and what each position would generally involve.

• Summing up: At the end of the class, ask the group to introduce group members by title (CEO, etc.), and ask the secretary to read out the notes detailing the decisions the group made. Have students write down two or three questions or comments to ask each group after their report.

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Quartet Business Teacher’s Guide5

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CEO / Meeting Chairperson

Task: to produce the company philosophyand mission section

Group Role: As meeting chairperson,your goal is to lead and direct themeeting. It is also your responsibility tomake sure the assignment is completed.

Considerations: You are the CEO of thecorporation. You see yourself as a high-powered businessperson whose goal isto bring cutting-edge technology to theworld, and you want to make as muchmoney as possible doing it. You want toproduce an About Us page that useselaborate and showy language andreflects this goal.

Human Resources Manager /Language Assistant

Task: to produce the company descriptionsection

Group Role: As language assistant, it isyour responsibility to clarify any languagedifficulties the group is having, by lookingup words in the dictionary or asking theteacher for clarification.

Considerations: You are the HumanResources Manager. You think it isimportant to spend money making surethat company employees are happy andmotivated. You believe that the mostimportant asset any company has is itsstaff, and you want the About Us page toreflect this belief.

Marketing Manager / Secretary

Task: to produce the recent corporatehighlights and the recent productreleases sections

Group Role: As secretary, your role is totake notes documenting decisions and/orquestions raised during the groupdiscussion.

Considerations: You are a creative,dynamic Marketing Manager who wantsto take an innovative product that youbelieve in and make it known around theworld. You dream of creating anadvertising campaign so successful thatthe product and slogan become famous.You want the About Us page to bedynamic, creative and most of allmemorable.

Outsourced Consultant / Mediator

Task: to produce the positioning section

Group Role: As mediator, your role is tomake sure that any disagreementamongst group members is brought to aconclusion.

Considerations: As the outsourcedconsultant, you have less loyalty to thecompany than the other members of theteam. In addition, you have other, moreinteresting projects on your plate rightnow. Your goal is to produce work that isof a high enough quality to maintain yourreputation, and to get the About Us pagedone so that you can move on to otherthings. You want to convince the groupthat "simple is best", and that theyshouldn’t try to produce an elaborateAbout Us page.