Below are some suggested assessment practices that teachers are encouraged to adopt to inform learning and teaching. Information on public assessment for the modules in the Elective Part is provided in Chapter 5 of the English Language Curriculum and Assessment Guide (Secondary 4 - 6) (2007).
Assessment in the Workplace Communication module will focus on learners' demonstration of their ability to:
• write appropriate texts
• speak in a suitable style for workplace purposes
• organise and convey information relevant to a workplace-related situation
A range of the following activities from the module can be used for assessment purposes:
• short oral tasks
• short writing tasks
• presentation/performance of workplace-related tasks
• quizzes
A suggested scheme of work
for Learning English through Workplace Communication
General remarks
1. The following suggested scheme of work is pitched at S6 level. Teachers might like to make any necessary adaptations considering the needs and level of ability of their students. For illustration purposes, some teaching materials have been developed to indicate how some of the lessons could be conducted. These materials are marked with a ^ in the Teaching Resources column and are available online at http://cd.edb.gov.hk/eng. There are also suggested activities catering for students with different needs and paces of learning in the online Teaching Resources. Teachers might like to use their discretion as to whether to adopt them for use.
2. This module requires students to apply the language knowledge and skills that they have developed in the Compulsory Part. It aims to provide the basis for further exploration of some of the text-types (e.g. memos, articles, advertisements, letters) in the context of workplace communication.
Students taking this module are expected to have had previous exposure to some of these text-types.
3. Students should be encouraged to keep a folder for this module which will serve as a record of their learning. The folder may comprise all the assignments the students have done for the module, both oral and written. Students are also encouraged to reflect on and monitor their own learning process, and teachers should provide them with feedback and assistance where necessary.
Suggestions on how to cater for students with different needs and paces of learning are indicated by
* in the Remarks column.
Sections which are marked with # in the Focus column contain activities which are either more
demanding or are intended to further enrich students' learning experience. Teachers should use
their discretion as to whether to include or skip these sections, or to replace them with other
appropriate learning activities, based on students' needs and abilities.
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Module
introduction Building knowledge and vocabulary of different trades/
4 periods Lessons 1-4
Students are able to:
• understand the aims of the module
• understand and use some business-related vocabulary
The teacher introduces to students what they will be studying in the module.
Students form groups and choose a trade/
business (e.g. hospitality and tourism, sales, logistics, banking, marketing and advertising) to focus on.
Students search for information (such as job nature, duties or services involved) and vocabulary related to their selected trade/
business and then make a short presentation on their findings.
Starting a scrapbook of a selected trade/
3 periods Lessons 5-7
Students are able to:
• demonstrate a general understanding of business-related matters
• demonstrate an awareness and an understanding of business-related discourse
Students are given a variety of business texts (e.g. charts, reports, news articles, interviews, advertisements/classified ads) covering different trades. They learn how to give comments or reflect on them.
Students are asked to keep a scrapbook and start to collect cuttings from
newspapers, magazines and websites related to their selected trade/business, and give brief comments/reflections on these texts.
Concepts relating to organisations
3 periods Lessons 8-10
Students are able to:
• understand the
organisational set-up in various trades/
• demonstrate an awareness of the concept of
Students brainstorm a list of company posts (e.g. salesman, secretary, accountant, human resources manager) and discuss their duties.
Students prepare an organisational chart for their selected trade/business.
In groups, students choose a trade-specific business
businesses businesses
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks A handout with a list
of different trades/
businesses and guiding questions to help students to make selection and search for
information and develop vocabulary
Teachers might like to tell students that the module will cover different text-types related to the workplace context, and engage them in a range of workplace tasks which aim to develop their knowledge and skills in communicating with others about work-related matters.
Given its worldwide importance, there is an enormous amount of business-related material on the Web. A search for almost any item in the module will produce a wealth of information. In addition, the school library should be encouraged to stock books on business English. One website that teachers and students can gain a great deal from is http://www.eleaston.com. The business materials are at http://www.eleaston.com/biz/home.html.
A bank of business-related materials, possibly located in the library, would also be a useful resource for the teacher and class.
It would not be suitable to make it a requirement of the module, but an activity that involves actual contact with the world of business would be an excellent addition and could either be carried out as an out-of-school-hours activity or replace one of the writing lessons. A tour, conducted in English, of a company or a discussion session with an English-speaking businessman in his office or the school would offer variety and useful exposure to English in use.
Possibly the Parent-Teacher Association could be of assistance in arranging something of this sort.
^Handouts with sample cuttings and comments, giving examples of topics and texts to be collected, and requirements about length and content of comments/reflections
The scrapbook, which comprises cuttings from various sources, with students' comments and personal response, can be reviewed regularly.
The scrapbook is intended to encourage students to do some reading about business and to familiarise them with their selected trade/business. The teacher can remind students of the newspapers, magazines and websites that carry business news, and encourage them to consult these regularly during the course of the module and extract cuttings that are related to the trade they selected.
For Hong Kong news, students might like to consult:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/
http://www.atimes.com/
The handouts are meant to provide an example of what might be included in the scrapbook. Students, however, are
encouraged to exercise their imagination in determining its content. The teacher should also take into consideration students' abilities and the make-up of the class to decide on the size and complexity of the scrapbook.
(*The more able students may be asked to follow a more complex issue (e.g. being "green", the price of oil and its impact), one particular big company (e.g. HSBC), an
industrial sector (e.g. airlines), or a topic such as innovation in computer products.)
A handout on company posts, organisational charts and company image A presentation feedback form
Peer and/or teacher assessment of the presentation Students' work on organisational chart can be kept in the folder.
A familiar context (e.g. a restaurant business) can be used to introduce the key vocabulary and concepts relating to organisations.
Teachers might like to refer to the following websites for organisational charts:
http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/orgchart.asp?id=10520 http://www.solbaram.org/articles/clm3.html
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/home/index.asp
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities
Handling business telephone calls
4 periods Lessons 11-14
Students are able to:
• understand English telephone etiquette
• handle telephone calls in a professional manner
• apply strategies of establishing and maintaining relationships in telephone English
Students listen to some good examples of telephone conversations, and identify the subjects of the conversations and the relationship between the parties involved.
Students identify manners and etiquette (e.g.
a courteous opening) that are characteristic of good telephone
conversations in the business context and note useful phrases.
In pairs students read transcripts of business telephone dialogues, and identify and revise areas incorrectly handled.
Students role-play the telephone dialogues using the revised transcript.
Memo writing 4 periods Lessons 15-18
Students are able to:
• write memos in English
• demonstrate an understanding of the need to be succinct in memo writing
• understand and apply strategies of politeness and tact
Students read examples of good memos and identify the subjects and the
relationship between the parties involved.
Students discuss examples of good and bad memos, noting the format, use of tact and politeness when necessary and need for precision and conciseness.
Students are then given situations and asked to write appropriate memos, e.g.
sending a reminder, making a request.
Conventions and style of business letters
4 periods Lessons 19-22
Students are able to:
• write business letters in appropriate format and style
Students read samples of good business letters and identify the purposes, subjects and target readers of these letters.
Students then examine the samples and look for the characteristic features of good business letters (e.g. good layout, supplying or requesting information precisely, and building good customer relations).
Having noted points of good practice, students write appropriate business letters for given situations.
organisational "image"
• understand and use some trade/
business-related vocabulary
context (e.g. starting a restaurant business) and think of the various ways in which the business can build or preserve its image (e.g. uniforms, logos, stationery, courtesy, service). They then present their ideas to the rest of the class.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
A recording of telephone
conversations which cover such points as establishing identity, correct forms of address, level of formality, offering help, asking someone to wait, taking a message, passing the caller on to someone else, building company images and closing the call
A transcript of incorrectly handled calls
The corrected transcripts can be assessed. If the teacher feels the class' oral English needs extra attention, students could be asked to record examples of some simple phone calls to be added to the folder.
The school may have recordings of telephone conversations among its listening resources. If not, it may be worthwhile for the teacher to make some. Alternatively, two students could be asked to read to the class from prepared scripts.
For the activities suggested for Lessons 11-24, students may work on any relevant trade/business. They need not be tied to the specific trade/business that students have elected to focus on in the earlier lessons or for the scrapbook.
A handout on memo writing
A memo writing feedback form
Self and/or peer assessment of the memos written The memos can be added to the folder.
Memos are covered extensively in books on business English that can be consulted for ideas. Another useful source of information is:
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/documents/memo/
index.cfm
A handout with sample business letters
A business letter writing feedback form
Self and/or peer assessment of the business letters written The letters can be included in the folder.
In addition to the many books on business letters that can be consulted, teachers may also refer to the following website:
http://www.trinity.wa.edu.au/plduffyrc/subjects/english/writing/
letters.htm
(*Instead of merely focussing on the conventions and basic style of business letters, the more able students could be introduced to the persuasive qualities and techniques of business letters.)
http://www.swin.edu.au/corporate/hr/f_orgchts.htm (*For the more able students, the range of vocabulary and concepts introduced can be expanded to cover less common posts.)
A possible task would be to ask students to suggest an image for a new company and design uniforms, etc. This could also be part of the final project for students with some artistic ability.
For company image one can consult:
http://www.mbda.gov/?section_id=2andbucket_id=129 andcontent_id=23
For uniform design:
http://www.customuniformcompany.com
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Handling
complaints
2 periods Lessons 23-24
Students are able to:
• demonstrate oral skills through making and handling a complaint
• observe politeness and handle complaints/
situations diplomatically
• demonstrate an
awareness of the nature of service transactions
Students are given role cards and
instructions which require them to role-play making and handling a complaint. Students practise how to be polite, solve problems and handle difficult people.
The teacher and classmates then comment on the dialogue and suggest how the complaint could have been handled better.
Planning the final project
3 periods Lessons 25-27
Students are able to:
• work co-operatively on a business project
• use English creatively for a business purpose
Students form their own groups of four to five for the final project. They identify a major business task or event that they have to accomplish as a group. This may be related to the trade that they have been working on throughout the module, or in a new area if they prefer.
Students then make a list of the sub-tasks (e.g. holding a meeting, conducting a survey) that would need to be carried out in order to accomplish their project, and decide on two to three sub-tasks (see examples in Teaching Resources) that their group would carry out.
Based on the initial plan produced by each group, the teacher provides feedback and suggestions on matters such as the feasibility/suitability of their project, format, content and appropriate length of each of the sub-tasks.
Making sales presentations
4 periods Lessons 28-31
Students are able to:
• demonstrate oral skills through making a sales presentation
• research and organise information
• present information persuasively and with suitable visual aids
• speak before an audience
Students read/view examples of sales presentations and identify the content and major features of these texts.
In groups, students choose a product, research it fully and prepare a presentation on it for a group of potential customers.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
^A handout on language and strategies for handling complaints
^Role cards A role-play feedback form
Peer and/or teacher assessment of students' work on handling complaints
Teachers may refer to the following website for material on this topic:
http://www.pdptoolkit.co.uk/Files/wellclosetraining/
wellcloseconsult/training/consult/diffic.htm
(*The more able students can be asked to write brief guidelines for employers on how to handle complaints.)
^A handout on the final project
^Examples of projects and sub-tasks
The initial plan, and other materials which will be produced for the group project, can be put in a separate file.
Students' completed work for the final project can be placed in the folder.
This is an information session in which the teacher assigns or helps students to decide on the major tasks for the group project, deals with problems and answers questions.
(*For the less able students, it might be necessary for the teacher to help them to select the sub-tasks. Teachers should exercise their discretion in setting the number of sub-tasks, level of difficulty, and amount of work expected in performing them.)
Students can be asked to append a breakdown of the way in which the work was shared with the final product.
^A handout on preparing and conducting a sales presentation
^An example of a sales presentation A presentation feedback form
Each presentation can be assessed with grades for pronunciation, clarity, preparation, interest, accuracy, fluency, etc.
Peer assessment can be conducted based on the same set of criteria.
The main aim is getting the students to use oral English in an enjoyable and business-oriented way. A certain amount of research for material will also be necessary. As teamwork is an important feature of business life, group presentations are suggested here. Each presentation should last
approximately 10 minutes and each group member should be given an opportunity to perform.
It will be necessary to give students information about the presentations, possibly in the form of a handout, much earlier on. A useful address for the students is:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/SN006
If recordings of good work done by earlier classes are kept, students can also be given an opportunity to view such material to help them to gauge the standard expected.
(*For the more able students, individual or pair presentations can be attempted. It would also be possible to include a short Question and Answer session for the audience to ask
questions and the presenter to give appropriate answers.)
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Producing
sales/
promotional materials
3 periods Lessons 32-34
Students are able to:
• demonstrate an understanding of the language used in sales/
promotional materials
• select important information
• demonstrate creativity
• write sales/promotional materials
Students review the sales/promotional materials they bring back to class and discuss:
• their main components (e.g.
information, illustrations, addresses, maps, telephone numbers) and purposes (e.g. to persuade, to attract attention)
• the ways in which companies
communicate with potential customers Students make use of the language and techniques they have learned and produce one or two types of promotional materials such as leaflets, flyers and posters for a product or service related to the trade/
business that they have been working on.
#Setting up and holding
meetings, and preparing minutes
6 periods Lessons 35-40
Students are able to:
• understand the procedure and the necessary preparation and follow-up for meetings
• co-operate on a business meeting task
• use appropriate language skills for conducting a meeting and taking minutes
Students engage in tasks involved in setting up meetings, e.g. sending emails to confirm meeting date and time, booking venue and preparing agenda.
Students look at some minutes samples and note their formal features.
Students then work in groups of four or five.
Each group is given a situation, a number of roles and instructions for role-playing a meeting. The groups assign roles, invent details and practise the role-play.
All group members take notes at the meeting, and the group as a whole has to write up and submit the minutes after the meeting.
Job interviews 4 periods Lessons 41-44
Students are able to:
• understand the
dynamics of an interview and how to prepare themselves for one
• demonstrate oral English skills in a job interview
In pairs or small groups, students read job advertisements and decide on one or two jobs that interest them most.
They then discuss how they could prepare for the interview, speculating on the sort of person being looked for, possible
questions to be asked at the interview, and appropriate answers to these questions.
Based on the result of the discussion, and with the teacher's feedback and advice, students role-play the interview.
Quiz on general business knowledge
2 periods Lessons 45-46
Students are able to:
• demonstrate their general knowledge of the business world
• use some trade/
business-related vocabulary
• gain a sense of achievement and enjoy learning
Students are to take part in a quiz which tests their knowledge of the business world.
Each student has to bring to class ten questions (with the answers) which are put on separate pieces of paper. These are put in a container and drawn out one by one for the quiz.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks Examples of leaflets,
brochures, pamphlets, flyers, advertisements, letters, catalogues, posters, stickers, webpages, etc.
^A handout on advertising language used in sales and promotional materials
The promotional materials produced can be placed in the folder.
Students are asked in advance to collect and bring back to class sales materials in English.
As well as looking at actual examples students can be directed to websites such as the following:
http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/brochuretips
Handouts on:
• checklist on pre-meeting procedures
• sample agenda and minutes
^Sets of role-play instructions
A role-play feedback form
Feedback on the role-play can be provided by using a role-play feedback form.
The minutes can be placed in the folder.
Teachers might like to refer to the following websites for assistance.
For minutes:
http://www.lupinworks.com/roche/pages/minutes.php For meetings (with some Chinese):
http://cycnet.com/englishcorner/practical/business/
meeting.htm For agendas:
http://www.usi.edu/extserv/training/agenda_guidelines.htm (*The groups with the more able students can be asked to stage their meetings first to provide examples for the rest of the class to follow.)
Classified job advertisements
^A handout on interviews
A role-play feedback form
The handout comprising activities related to job interviews and the role-play feedback form for the interview role-play can be placed in the folder.
Many websites offer advice and suggestions on interviews.
Below is one example:
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa113097.htm?once=
trueand
(*For the more able students, it would be valuable to have them produce a brief report on the group's discussion and the interview that followed.)
These two lessons are basically for pleasure and expanding students' English vocabulary. The questions must relate to major world companies or reasonably well-known Hong Kong companies. Students should choose questions that are neither too easy so that everyone will get them right, nor so hard no one knows the answer. The teacher can discard any unsuitable questions. If the teacher keeps the questions that work well, a question bank can gradually be built up.
The quiz can be done by all the class or by teams on a knockout basis with a student quizmaster.