A task-based approach
What is a task-based approach
?
The focus is on real world tasks in the workplace.
The process of learning English is inseparable from the professional tasks and processes you carry out in the workplace. As a result, transference is immediate and there is no gap between what you learn and how you use it at work. This leads to real self-belief and credibility in your ability to use English.
To give you an example:
You need to ask colleagues to bring you up to date with situations.
What is your methodology?
~ Our approach to training is to define training outcomes for the student in a training needs analysis.
~ Outcomes - or work-oriented speaking, listening, reading and writing tasks - are agreed in a 30 minute session and written into the student’s training plan.
Here is an example of a training needs analysis:
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| You work for HE Company Ltd, a manufacturer of commercial, industrial and residential building low voltage product solutions. You are a junior training specialist, finding training solutions for employees in the company. This is your second year in the post. You graduated two years ago.|
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| You use a computer for your work but you also take calls about requests for training. You organise internal and external training. 99% of your employees are Chinese. You have some English contacts with other Hager employees.|
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| Your department of three is part of the larger HR department of 18 and is based near Hong Kong. You communicate in English by email.|
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| In conference calls with foreign colleagues you take longer to understand and therefore you fall behind in the conversation. |
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| This is the case when you are not familiar with the situation. This means you need to ask colleagues to bring you up to date with the situations. At the moment they do this by sending you the minutes. You would like to participate in discussions more actively by using the same language as your colleagues. You think you lack some of the words and phrases. |
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| We will focus on interactive language for meetings: sharing and asking for opinions, outlining facts, agreeing or disagreeing with others, clarifying, verifying or confirming what other mean and requesting further information. |
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| You will also like to practice strategies for managing native speakers who talk too quickly or using idiomatic language. |
How do we elicit outcomes for the students?
We ask SMART questions to elicit this information, using question grids.
See an example below:
Trainer: How effective was your last telephone call?
Student: The caller spoke too quickly. I forgot how to
clarify what he was saying and I panicked. I didn’t
handle it very well.
How do we elicit outcomes for beginners?
We work with instances of typical situations that students face at work. In other words, the professional tasks are broken down into their basic processes and concepts.
We work with functions, simple linguistic structures, to build up their ability to work in these situations.
How do we elicit outcomes for advanced students?
We use imagination techniques such as role-play, reverse role-play, playing-devils-advocate, analogy and metaphor to challenge advanced students.
~ Comment below and join the MyEnglishTutor community or sign up for classes.
~ Have Questions?