How to Pronounce 'BICOASTAL' - English Pronunciation
In this episode, Linda takes on the pronunciation of the word "bicoastal". Enjoy the episode!
Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next.
For the past several decades, English has grown into the primary language for international communicatio.
Just like people, companies in today's economy find that their primary source of competitive advantage lies in the knowledge they posses, so they are investing more and more on training their staf.
Nowadays, people not only need to know English, but they need to develop a range of communicative language competences in order to be able to perform their job-related tasks properl.
They usually link their English studies to their area of expertise and the attention becomes more focused on language as a tool for communication rather than on language knowledge as an end in itsel.
So, providing them with the service they need, we need to get to know the organization that requests our services, its culture, its global situatio.
We will also have to get to know the participants of the courses, their strengths, their situations, their needs, their learning style.
Some steps you can follow when designing business English courses to help our students bridge the English skills ga.
? Identify students' needs: needs analysis ? Define programme goals and objectives of the instruction ? Syllabus design: ? identify topics, themes, situations ? design learning activities and tasks ? define types of assessments ? Select suitable material ? Course delivery ? Programme evaluation Identifying the students' needs Why do we need to do so? We must remember that the course has to fulfil your students' expectations, and they want a course that relates to their professional language need.
Before we can start delivering the course, we have to gather information on: ? Where they are concerning English, their language competence ? Where they need to be, what language skills your students need in order to perform their job-related tasks properl.
In order to collect this information we will need to hold interviews with our students and in many cases with the people in charge of Human Resources from the organization requesting your service.
Regarding their current language competence you can ask your students to fill in the Language Passport developed by the Council of Europe as part of the Language Portfoli.
It can be download it from the following sites: ? ww.
co.
int/t/dg4/education/elp/ ? ww.
co.
int/t/dg4/education/elp/elp-reg/ELP_passport_E.
asp It includes a self-assessment of language skills related to the Common European Framework, a resume of language learning and intercultural experiences and a record of certificates and diploma.
We may also need to administer placement tests or diagnostic tests; this could be task-based as a way of actually testing their English while carrying out tasks that reflect real-life situation.
The results should be checked against a list of can do statements or proficiency guidelines: ? The Common European Framework (CEF) developed by the Council of Europe (ww.
co.
int/t/dg4/linguistic/CADRE1_E.
asp) or ? the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century developed by the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (http://ww.
actf.
org/i4a/pages/inde.
cfm?pageid=3324) With regard to where they need to be, .
.
the language competence just right for their jobs, you will need to conduct needs analysi.
We will need to focus on the language requirements of your students' position.
? Do they need to give presentations in English? ? Do they need to participate in conferences and meetings? ? Do they have to negotiate? ? Do they usually entertain clients? We will also have to find out about their area of expertise, their interest.
The course content has to be relevant to them, challenging, stimulatin.
Most business students lack time, and you have to help them make the most out of the time they devote to English learning, to enjoy the experienc.
By using topics that they are familiar with and interested in, they will be able to learn more as they will already know a lot of the content and contex.
People have different learning styles and there are a number of different ways to look at the.
We can take a look at some articles concerning that here: http://ww.
teachingenglis.
or.
uk/think/articles/learning-styles-teaching Define programme goals and objectives of the instruction The goals should provide a clear definition of the purpose of the programme; they should be a guideline for our, the students and the organization requesting our service.
We can establish these goals in terms of extension or diversification of communicative language competences, or in terms of the enrichment of strategies, or in terms of the fulfilment of task.
They are determined by the information we gathered during the needs analysi.
Some examples of goals are: ? To be able to write effective business reports ? To build up students' confidence and provide them with language resources to participate in business meetings ? To use the language flexibly and effectively for social and professional purpose.
Objectives result from an analysis of the goals into their different component.
They are statements of more specific purpose.
Ideally, these objectives should meet SMART criteria: ? Specific ? Measurable ? Attainable ? Realistic ? Time bound - limited to a certain period of time The objectives lay the foundation for the organization of the teaching activities, so they simplify the course planning, the selection and preparation of materia.
Following the examples above, goals and objectives can be described: Goal: ? To be able to write effective business reports Objectives: ? To be able to write a report which develops an argument systematically with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detai.
? To evaluate different ideas or solutions to a proble.
? To have a sufficient range of language to be able to give clear descriptions, express viewpoints and develop argument.
? To have a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to their field and most general topic.
To be able to vary formulation to avoid frequent repetitio.
Goal: ? To build up students' confidence and provide them with language resources to participate in business meetings Objectives: ? To be able to interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction, and sustained relationships with English speakers quite possible without imposing strain on either part.
? To be able to highlight the personal significance of events and experiences, account for and sustain views clearly by providing relevant explanations and argument.
? To be able to use phrases and expressions to state and ask for opinion, interrupt and handle interruptions, ask for and give clarification, delay decisions, emphasize a point, summarize what has been said, end the meetin.
In this case we won't be able to state a measurable objective concerning \"building up students' confidence\.
We can perceive it, but not measure i.
The Common European Framework provides a common basis for the explicit description of objective.
Conclusion Designing business English programmes is a complex task, but by following certain steps we will be able to do s.
In this part of the article we have discussed the significance of understanding the language needs of our students and how we can find that ou.
We have also looked at how we can define the goals and objectives of the programm.
Just like people, companies in today's economy find that their primary source of competitive advantage lies in the knowledge they posses, so they are investing more and more on training their staf.
Nowadays, people not only need to know English, but they need to develop a range of communicative language competences in order to be able to perform their job-related tasks properl.
They usually link their English studies to their area of expertise and the attention becomes more focused on language as a tool for communication rather than on language knowledge as an end in itsel.
So, providing them with the service they need, we need to get to know the organization that requests our services, its culture, its global situatio.
We will also have to get to know the participants of the courses, their strengths, their situations, their needs, their learning style.
Some steps you can follow when designing business English courses to help our students bridge the English skills ga.
? Identify students' needs: needs analysis ? Define programme goals and objectives of the instruction ? Syllabus design: ? identify topics, themes, situations ? design learning activities and tasks ? define types of assessments ? Select suitable material ? Course delivery ? Programme evaluation Identifying the students' needs Why do we need to do so? We must remember that the course has to fulfil your students' expectations, and they want a course that relates to their professional language need.
Before we can start delivering the course, we have to gather information on: ? Where they are concerning English, their language competence ? Where they need to be, what language skills your students need in order to perform their job-related tasks properl.
In order to collect this information we will need to hold interviews with our students and in many cases with the people in charge of Human Resources from the organization requesting your service.
Regarding their current language competence you can ask your students to fill in the Language Passport developed by the Council of Europe as part of the Language Portfoli.
It can be download it from the following sites: ? ww.
co.
int/t/dg4/education/elp/ ? ww.
co.
int/t/dg4/education/elp/elp-reg/ELP_passport_E.
asp It includes a self-assessment of language skills related to the Common European Framework, a resume of language learning and intercultural experiences and a record of certificates and diploma.
We may also need to administer placement tests or diagnostic tests; this could be task-based as a way of actually testing their English while carrying out tasks that reflect real-life situation.
The results should be checked against a list of can do statements or proficiency guidelines: ? The Common European Framework (CEF) developed by the Council of Europe (ww.
co.
int/t/dg4/linguistic/CADRE1_E.
asp) or ? the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century developed by the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (http://ww.
actf.
org/i4a/pages/inde.
cfm?pageid=3324) With regard to where they need to be, .
.
the language competence just right for their jobs, you will need to conduct needs analysi.
We will need to focus on the language requirements of your students' position.
? Do they need to give presentations in English? ? Do they need to participate in conferences and meetings? ? Do they have to negotiate? ? Do they usually entertain clients? We will also have to find out about their area of expertise, their interest.
The course content has to be relevant to them, challenging, stimulatin.
Most business students lack time, and you have to help them make the most out of the time they devote to English learning, to enjoy the experienc.
By using topics that they are familiar with and interested in, they will be able to learn more as they will already know a lot of the content and contex.
People have different learning styles and there are a number of different ways to look at the.
We can take a look at some articles concerning that here: http://ww.
teachingenglis.
or.
uk/think/articles/learning-styles-teaching Define programme goals and objectives of the instruction The goals should provide a clear definition of the purpose of the programme; they should be a guideline for our, the students and the organization requesting our service.
We can establish these goals in terms of extension or diversification of communicative language competences, or in terms of the enrichment of strategies, or in terms of the fulfilment of task.
They are determined by the information we gathered during the needs analysi.
Some examples of goals are: ? To be able to write effective business reports ? To build up students' confidence and provide them with language resources to participate in business meetings ? To use the language flexibly and effectively for social and professional purpose.
Objectives result from an analysis of the goals into their different component.
They are statements of more specific purpose.
Ideally, these objectives should meet SMART criteria: ? Specific ? Measurable ? Attainable ? Realistic ? Time bound - limited to a certain period of time The objectives lay the foundation for the organization of the teaching activities, so they simplify the course planning, the selection and preparation of materia.
Following the examples above, goals and objectives can be described: Goal: ? To be able to write effective business reports Objectives: ? To be able to write a report which develops an argument systematically with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detai.
? To evaluate different ideas or solutions to a proble.
? To have a sufficient range of language to be able to give clear descriptions, express viewpoints and develop argument.
? To have a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to their field and most general topic.
To be able to vary formulation to avoid frequent repetitio.
Goal: ? To build up students' confidence and provide them with language resources to participate in business meetings Objectives: ? To be able to interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction, and sustained relationships with English speakers quite possible without imposing strain on either part.
? To be able to highlight the personal significance of events and experiences, account for and sustain views clearly by providing relevant explanations and argument.
? To be able to use phrases and expressions to state and ask for opinion, interrupt and handle interruptions, ask for and give clarification, delay decisions, emphasize a point, summarize what has been said, end the meetin.
In this case we won't be able to state a measurable objective concerning \"building up students' confidence\.
We can perceive it, but not measure i.
The Common European Framework provides a common basis for the explicit description of objective.
Conclusion Designing business English programmes is a complex task, but by following certain steps we will be able to do s.
In this part of the article we have discussed the significance of understanding the language needs of our students and how we can find that ou.
We have also looked at how we can define the goals and objectives of the programm.
