Digital Immersion for English

ENGLISH ATTACK! PRO The English Attack! E-learning solution for

Companies and Organisations

ENGLISH FOR EMPLOYEES: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

ENGLISH, a strategic issue for organisations

Beyond its de facto status as the global language of business, English is today strategically important at ALL LEVELS of any organisation.

ü English is a key driver of employees’ professional mobility and skills evolution.

ü It is the must-have language for full use of web-based tools, digital desk research, and more generally information and knowledge management.

ü As customers and clients become more international, English becomes a key competitive asset for establishing and developing business relationships.

ü English is also a key component of corporate image for those companies and organisations wishing to project an open, modern, international identity.

Staff at all levels today realise the importance of English for their current jobs and for the evolution of their careers. In a 2011 workplace study,* English language training was by far the most-requested staff training request, mentioned as most important by 20% of employees. * Source: Baromètre de la Formation Professionnelle

Companies invest several billion dollars every year in English language skills for their employees.

To what EFFECT? In France, 63 % of managers believe that differences in language and culture limit the potential of their company for international expansion. * French adults rank 17th in English language skills among 44 countries where English is not an official language.** * Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit - May 2012 ** Source: Education First – March 2011

WHY does English training effectiveness disappoint? 1  The HIGH COST of traditional language

training leads many companies to focus resources on managers to the detriment of the language needs of staff as a whole.

2  Training formats and pedagogical approaches felt to be BORING or OUTMODED can lead to low rates of engagement or participation by staff.

3 SCHEDULING and LOGISTICAL ISSUES often do not enable sufficient frequency of exposure to English for linguistic learning progress to occur.

4 RIGID, LINEAR and REPETITIVE training approaches induce learner exhaustion and can lead to training being abandoned, meaning no learning in the mid-to-long-term.

Current options for English language training

Training Method

Avantages / Drawbacks

Capsule Description & overall evaluation of effectiveness !

Cos

t per

E

mpl

oyee

Rol

lout

ac

ross

Sta

ff

Sch

edul

ing

Com

plex

ity

Em

ploy

ee

Mot

ivat

ion

Sho

rt-te

rm

effe

ctiv

enes

s

Long

-term

ef

fect

iven

ess

€ " "

Trad

ition

al L

earn

ing

Pla

tform

s

Full physical immersion /

Study Abroad

!! ! ! ! ! "

The employee is typically sent for a minimum of one week to language classes in an English-speaking country. Very popular with staff, because of the travel and the perceived prestige of such training, but very expensive and removes the employee from his or her job for that period. Effective in the short-term, because of the high degree of motivation, but not in the long-term unless supported by other, more regular forms of training.

In-company classes ! ! ! ! !

A trainer is sent to conduct group or one-on-one sessions in the offices of the organisation. More convenient than external lessons for staff, but requires logistics of organising free conference rooms, etc. Not very popular with staff; low frequency of lessons and low levels of learner motivation lessen the effectiveness of this approach in the longer term.

Classes at Language Institute ! ! ! "

This method, especially if done at the intensive “immersion” level, can be effective in the short term but longer-term regular exposure to English - and opportunities to use it - need to be organised as well if the learning benefit is to have longer-term effect. Also logistically complex as staff time ls lost during travel to and from the external training facility.

Online or Telephone Tutoring

! ! !

With this method, the employee is trained one-on-one via telephone, webcam, or videoconference by an English language teacher. It can be effective for oral expression, but also needs session scheduling that can create inconveniences. Learner motivations can be low with this method, which takes time to implement. It can however compare favorably, cost-wise, with in-person training.

E-le

arni

ng

Online Courses ! ! !! ! !

On paper, the most attractive option for an organisation due to lower per-headcount costs and greater flexibilty (training can happen at work or from home). But this method can be one of the least effective ones, due to highly structured, linear course materials that are not very motivating, thus discouraging repeat use and leading to the course being used very little or abandoned.

Courses via email ! ! Short-session exercises are e-mailed to employees on a regular basis. This can be effective in the short term, but can also intrude on normal work e-mail management. The non-authentic content typical of this method, as well as the limitations of the format (minimum visuals; no way to practice verbal expression) limit its effectiveness in the longer term.

Digital Immersion ! ! ! ! This new approach to training retains the flexibility of conventional online courses for a lower per-learner cost. Its key advantage is the constant availability of new learning units based on current, authentic content, resulting in maximum learner motivation and autonomy. This results in both short-term and longer-term effectiveness as exposure and involvement are both deep and prolonged. As with an e-mail based approach, this method is best supported by in-person training giving learners an opportunity to practice verbal communication skills.

THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING

MARKET VISION The (R)EVOLUTION of media consumption

Film

Music

Knowledge

Education ?

Place-based training

Packaged physical course (books, CD-Roms)

Linear structure

Product purchase

Anywhere / anytime

Online services

Short-session discovery

Subscription

Individual learning Social learning

Graded materials Authentic content

TRENDS in English language learning The (R)EVOLUTION in consumer behavior

DIGITAL IMMERSION ENGLISH

English Attack! is a digital platform for English language learning which uses an innovative pedagogical approach based on learner motivation and frequency of use.

English Attack! subscribers improve their English via short, daily interactive online

sessions based on current authentic content (movies, music, TV series). Newly acquired language items are consolidated with practice games and the ability to use English

communicatively within a global virtual community of learners of English.

Key advantages of English Attack!

A TRULY EFFECTIVE way of helping learners improve The English Attack! method was developed in association with researchers in cognitive neuroscience and fine-tuned with the help of teachers of EFL and ESL in various countries as well as with that of experts in video gaming, learning games and mobile entertainment.

A 100% ONLINE APPROACH English Attack! was designed to meet the expectations of a new type of learner - digital natives - and is fully in tune with web trends, conventions and best practice.

English ACCESSIBLE for all Integrating content based on popular culture, an easy-to-use interface and very accessible pricing, English Attack! is designed for widespread rollout across all levels of an organization.

The English Attack! pedagogical method

social

game photo

video

PHOTO DICTIONARIES sports, travel, cuisine, science, business…

PRACTICE GAMES

4  The 4 key components of WEB use

INTERACTIVE VIDEO EXERCICES Clips from recent movies, TV series, music, news…

Over  800  videos.  New  units  published  every  day.  

GLOBAL SOCIAL NETWORK friends, comments, leaderboards…

Pedagogical Principle #1: Motivation

ENTERTAINMENT and MEDIA attract, captivate and stimulate

The pedagogical units on English Attack! (interactive videos and visual dictionaries) are all based on popular culture entertainment and media: clips from current films and TV series, music videos, news, sport, travel, hobbies, and business.

MOTIVATION is a key condition required for learning to occur. Only a method which creates enthusiasm based on what the learner is interested in can lead to voluntary repeat use at a frequency

sufficient to enable the effective learning of English.

A REWARD ECOSYSTEM providing constant positive reinforcement

Learners’ activity on the site is compensated with the awarding of badges, user level cards, and scores, marking achievement and rewarding effort in a continuous positive reinforcement loop.

AUTONOMY involves the learner in the educational objective

Instead of being limited by the time and scheduling constraints of a conventional classroom course, the learner can define his or her own task and time in which to do it, choosing – according to what is most motivating at that specific moment – from a huge library of learner units categorized by content theme and difficulty.

Pedagogical principle #2: Long-term memory

CONTEXT accelerates memorization and learning

The language exercises on English Attack are based on authentic content (film clips, photography…) and always situated uniquely in the context of that content. They thus engage the learner both intellectually and emotionally.

The MEMORIZATION of newly acquired language elements over the longer term (previous three months) is obviously essential to learning. Advances in cognitive neuroscience have given us a better understanding of how information moves from short-term to long-term memory, allowing us to design

pedagogical approaches that result in greater effectiveness in retention.

SHORT SESSIONS optimise learner concentration.

The video clips used have an average duration of 2 minutes, and a learning unit never takes more than 8 minutes to complete. Each video-based lesson or learning game is limited to a maximum of 8 lexical items, an ideal number for focus and comprehension.

REPETITION: the key factor in long-term retention and acquisition

The Practice Games on English Attack! allow learners renewed contextual contact with lexical items seen in the video and photo-based exercises. The high “replayability” of these games, together with the score mechanism which creates additional performance motivation, helps accelerate the shift of these items from short-term to long-term memory through repetition and association.

Pedagogical Principle #3: Learning effectiveness over time

A constant flow of FRESH AUTHENTIC CONTENT constantly renews the learner’s level of interest, making it easier to get into the habit of using the site several times a week or even daily, even if for brief periods.

New pedagogical content is published on English Attack! every day. They might be based on a new film currently showing in theatres, the hit music video of the moment, or a current news item. Currency = motivation.

The learning of English is only worthwhile if it is effective over time, with LASTING RESULTS. This can only be achieved via regular and self-motivated exposure to the language over a relatively long period of

time. English Attack! can thus be an ideal complement to more intensive but short-duration training sessions such as classroom courses or language study abroad.

A combined system of level cards and points allows learners to measure their PROGRESS.

Everything the learner does on English Attack! generates points, and at set points totals the learner is granted a new Status Card. With 50 levels of cards to move up through, there is a constant challenge-reward loop which creates motivation and positive feedback over an extended time period.

The site allows learners to use their developing language skills in the context of an INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL NETWORK OF LEARNERS, from over 70 countries, all of whom use English as their common language. The learner can thus establish contact with some of the over 100,000 learners already registered on the site and use his or her English for true communication.

What the MEDIA are saying

THE ENGLISH ATTACK! PRO ENTERPRISE SOLUTION

English Attack! PRO in 4 client benefits

1  SIMPLIFIED ACCOUNT CREATION and ADAPTIVE COMMERCIAL TERMS

The PRO solution enables user accounts to be created in seconds via a range of delivery methods, from physical distribution of unique user codes, to the e-mailing of registration links, to the automatic creation of accounts linked to a database of employees. For each learner or group of learners, you can select the duration of the license, and thus volume-discounted subscription rates which apply. 2  INDIVIDUAL and COLLECTIVE learner activity and progress monitoring

The administrator of a PRO account has access to a comprehensive online dashboard summarising the activity on the site of the group of learners as a whole, with the ability to drill down to the individual learner level and see his or her level of sight, completed exercises, score progress, badges earned, and so on. 3  The option of integrating your TRAINING STAFF in the pedagogical programme

Your PRO account includes the possibility of creating Teacher accounts. Your Training staff, whether internal or external, can thus create classes, select specific learning units to assign to each class, communicate via the site with the class or with learners individually, and of course monitor site usage, assignment completion, and the activity, scores and progress of each learner. 4  A bespoke EDITORIAL CHANNEL OPTION for your company’s specialised English requirements

The PRO license gives you the option of an exclusive content channel integrated with the rest of the site. This company-branded area can feature site content that you want to feature for your learners, or can host learning units specially created for you according to your company or industry requirements.

English Attack! PRO is an e-learning enterprise solution designed for rapid rollout and easy implementation across large numbers of accounts in companies and organisations.

English Attack! PRO Rates

Num

ber o

f le

arne

rs

License duration 1 month

3 months

6 months

12 months

24 months

50 -

99 Learner Account 18€ 51€ 96€ 168€ 288€

Teacher Account 20€ 57€ 108€ 192€ 336€

100

- 999

Learner Account 15€ 42€ 78€ 132€ 216€

Teacher Account free free free free free

999

+ Learner Account 12€ 33€ 60€ 96€ 144€

Teacher Account free free free free free

Rates (ex-tax) applicable for organisations with 50 or more learners

www.english-attack.com

paul.maglione@english-attack.com

Contact us to receive trial codes for the Premium version of the site