Developing students’ skills

Submitted by: Ikram Ait dra Nadia Bat Brahim Mezgar Elmostafa

Omarakly

Content:

introduction Tips for success Talking to clients Snail mail and formal texts Tellephoning Dealing with visitors Talking to colleagues Reporting to managers Presentations and Q&A sessions suggested activities

Tips for success

Students’ ability to achieve a task: a task should be very specific so that it can be mesurable in terms of performance.

Decontextualised practice when it is necessary: : sometimes you have to decontexualise the language practice because of certain practical reasons(lack of materials) but then you have to tell students how it relates to the performance areas and more practical situations.

Using authentic materials: put students in real like sitaution for language practice.

Ongoing assessement: ongoing assessement is important in the same way as summative assessement especially because of the ongoing of reporting to your manager.

Talking to clients

Students should be able to:

Introduce themslves and their Companies.

Put their clients at ease through very smoth conversations, avoiding embarassement…

Keep the conversation going.

Snail mail and formal texts:

Students are required to :

Achieve a certain level of formality.

Be introduced to conventions and layout for letters: 1-Block layout( no intended paragraphs) and open punctuation

( no commas in addresses). 2-Initials must be included with the surname: instead of using

Mr j 3-Know how letters begin and end: for eg. Using a name in the

salutation and with expressions like yours sincerly/ yours truly in USA.

For people and companies whose name we don’t know, letters beging with expressions like Sir/ Madam/ gentlemen in USA and end with expressions like yours faithfully…

Telephoning

Teachers should help students to :

overcome their fear and be more confident.

understand how telephones are typically used in Britich or American corporations.

Improve their pronunciation(stress, intonation, pauses…) and audible non-verbal languag

( understanding the meaning of silence, pauses…).

Be familiar with how the telephone is usually answered in the companies (good morning/ afternoon ! name of the company) and how the conversation is ended. (thanks for calling, goodbye, ok bye…).

Telephoning

Dealing with visitors

Students should :

Imagine real like situations for language practice. practice common beginings: how to begin a

conversation, ask appropriate questions and responses…

Improve both their verbal (linguistic skills) and non-verbal language (eye contact, body space…) through role play activities.

Talking to colleagues

Practice should be devoted to: Identifying the cultutral differences at

the level of converstaion, turn taking, and topic management.

Making students aware of the importance of body language.

Consider what specific language can be used depending on specific relaxed situations.

Reporting to foreign managers students should :

Understand that the way they report to the foreign managers is culturally defined : understand your relationship with

foreign colleagues and boss and the way you should report to them.

Be aware of the importance of the language practice in terms of both career developement and day-to-day survival.

Presentations and Q&A sessions Students should be aware that:

presentaions can take many forms: they can be presented in one’’s own company, at a client’s, at home or abropad, for one person or many people.

Q&A sessions is an integral part of the presentations.

what makes a good presentation: help students understand what makes a presentation good (effective planning, effective use of different visual aids, body lge, non vebal lge…

Suggested practical activities

Activity1: sales and clients

Ikram AIT DRA

Activity2: Question Quandry

Students select and practice questions typically used by people when they first meet.

o Language: selected by the teachero Level: elementary and aboveo Time: 15-20

Nadia BAT

Mini lesson by: Brahim

Mezgar