esp course design (2)

7/21/2019 Esp Course Design (2)

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Del Carmen PT-29

Teacher Training College

English for Specific Purposes

13

ESP COURSE

DESIGN

FOR HOTEL EMPLOYEES

Students: Elun Garca and Agustina Snchez

Professor: Beln Farr


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2ESP Course Design Garca, Elun and Snchez, Agustina

ESP COURSE DESIGN FOR

HOTEL EMPLOYEES

ESP methodology is characterised by the use of

tasks and activities reflecting the students

specialist areas.

efore plunging into this course, it is important to say that we have based its design

on an English for Specific Purposes Strategy. Firstly, we will specify some general

considerations about the course. Secondly, the results of the needs analysis will be

analysed in order to identify the students current knowledge, hopes and needs. Thirdly, wewill specify the objectives of the course and. Fourthly, we will focus on just one unit of the

course to provide an example of what the course would look like and how it should be

planned. For this purpose, we will focus on the conceptualization of contents to be taught,

the materials to be used, the planning of the lesson and the unit evaluation.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Level of the students: Pre-Intermediate level

Type of course: English for Tourism: A course designed for a group of eight HotelEmployees.

We have been hired by the owner of a five-star Hotel, in which the employees claimed in

their CVS that they have an advanced level of English but they actually don t. As a matter

of fact, the owner of the hotel has discovered that his employees do not know the specific

language for communicating with English-speaking tourists.

B


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his section of Needs Analysis is dedicated to study the target environment in which

we will teach; their hopes, strengths, weaknesses and needs. Besides, the needs

analysis will give us two types of information about the learners: Their possessions

(current proficiency level in the foreign language, field knowledge, motivation, learning

strategies and styles and learning methods they have already experienced). The needs

analysis will also help us to compile information on both the individuals and the use which

they expect to make of the language when they have learnt it.

NEEDS ANALYSIS

CURRENT PROFICIENCY LEVEL OF THE STUDENTS

Intermediate level.

FIELD KNOWLEDGE

After analysing the results of the placement tests provided to students in order to know

which their current proficiency level is, we can say that the learners are at an A2 level, in

which:

The learners can understand sentences and frequently used expressions, related to

areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic and personal family

information, shopping, local geography, employment);

They can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct

exchange of information on familiar and routine matters; They can describe -in simple terms- aspects of his/her background, immediate

environment and matters on areas of immediate need.

MOTIVATION

After analysing the Needs Analysis questionnaires, we arrived at the conclusion that most

learners want to learn English because its essential for their jobs. However, most of them

are not trying to improve it, as they claim that they do not have enough time to do it.

Nevertheless, they all agree that the skill they need to improve the most is speaking, since

it is crucial when communicating with foreign tourists at work. Moreover, they expect to

achieve more fluency when speaking in English, not only for this job but also for their lives.

They also expect to acquire specific vocabulary related to the field of tourism, so that they

can deal with particular situations that they may encounter with at work (e.g: when

showing a tourist the different areas of the hotel, when booking, when having to clarify


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possible doubts that the tourist may have, etc). Finally, most of them believe that the best

way to learn English is through speaking.

LEARNING STRATEGIES, METHODS AND STYLES STUDENTS HAVE ALREADY

EXPERIENCED

Most of them had had English just at school. The teaching methods they are accustomed

to are quite behaviourist and teacher-centred. Most of them did not have the opportunity

to study English in context.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

The owner of the hotel wants the employees to be able to communicate with foreign

tourists in an appropriate and fluent way in different situations. What is more, he wants

the employees to make the course in the least time possible, because holidays are coming

and they need to be ready before that time comes.

LEARNING REQUIREMENTS

As ESP teachers, we want the students to be able to communicate properly in particular

situations at the hotel. As we have a short period of time to do so, we will focus on

teaching them how to deal with these communicative situations, rather than looking for

fluency. What we want to make sure of is not only that the employees acquire the ability

to understand the tourists needs, but also that the employees can communicate with the

tourists efficiently.

DESIRABLE KNOWLEDGE

B1 Level, in which:

The learners can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar

matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.;

They can deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling in an area where

the language is spoken;

They can produce simple connected texts on topics that are familiar or of personal

interest;

They can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly

give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

DEFICITS IN KNOWLEDGE:


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After analysing the needs analysis questionnaires, we could say that the employees have

difficulties in communicating orally. What is more, they do not have the specific vocabulary

to communicate or understand the foreign tourists fully. As we can see in the graphs, they

feel that they do not have enough knowledge in most of the skills, especially in speaking.

0%

12%

38%

50%

0%

Pronunciation

Very Good

Good

Ok

Weak

Very Weak

0%

12%

50%

38%

0%

Knowledge of Vocabulary

Very Good

Good

Ok

Weak

Very Weak

0%

12%

62%

13%

13%

Knowledge of Grammar

Very Good

GoodOk

Weak

Very Weak


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12%

12%

38%

25%

13%

Listening

Very Good

Good

Ok

Weak

Very Weak

0% 0%

25%

50%

25%

Speaking

Very Good

Good

Ok

Weak

Very Weak


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POSSIBLE TARGET SITUATIONS OF LANGUAGE USE

Welcoming an English-speaking tourist at the hotel;

Showing the areas of the hotel and the requirements or rules of each area;

Explaining the basic rules of the hotel and the rooms;

Answering phone calls;

Answering letters and e-mails;

Suggesting places to visit in the city, like restaurants, museums or entertainment

activities.

12%

25%

63%

0% 0%

Reading

Very Good

Good

Ok

Weak

Very Weak

12%

25%

37%

13%

13%

Writing

Very Good

Good

Ok

Weak

Very Weak


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PLACEMENT TEST

&

NEEDSANALYSIS

QUESTIONNAIRE samples


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fter arriving at significant conclusions about the students and the companys

needs, we are now able to specify the general goals and objectives for this ESP

Course. This stage will help us to focus on fulfilling the students needs by trying to

achieve the general goal through the specific objectives.

FORMULATION OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

GENERAL GOAL

At the end of this ESP course, the learners will be able to communicate efficiently in

specific situations at work with English-speaking tourists;

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

Throughout this course, the learners will need to acquire the linguistic ability to:

Complete a register;

Take a message by phone;

Take a booking;

Deal with a telephone;

Deal with a complaint;

Describe a building;

Write an email describing a hotel;

Writing an email of confirmation;

Check in a guest;

Recommend places to visit;

Change a booking;

Explain a bill;

Confirm a reservation by replying to a letter/e-mail.


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aving stated the goals and objective for this course, we will now give an example

of what a unit of this ESP course would look like. Before focusing on planning and

evaluating the lesson, the contents to be taught in the unit will be conceptualised,

in order to simplify the remaining stages. It is of paramount importance to highlight that

these contents are based on the conclusions drawn about the needs of the parties

previously stated.

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF CONTENTS

The content that we will focus on is Confirming a reservation by replying to a letter.

NECESSARY SKILLS TO DEVELOP:

Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing.

NECESSARY COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE TO ACHIEVE:

The ability to reply to a letter in English in order to confirm a reservation at a hotel.

NECESSARY GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE TO DEVELOP

Simple Present and Present Continuous. However, as learners already have background

knowledge about these tenses, we would suggest just reviewing them before plunging

into the activities.

NECESSARY FUNCTIONS AND SITUATIONS LANGUAGE IS GOING TO BE USED FOR

Functions: Language is going to be used for giving/confirming information through a

formal letter. In order to do this, the teacher/s will need to present the appropriate letter

format for this purpose, apart from presenting the necessary expressions of formality and

politeness corresponding to this genre.

Situation: Language is going to be used for replying to a letter formally, so as to confirm a

hotel reservation.

TIME AVAILABLE (CLASS LENGHT AND COURSE LENGTH)

Time available to develop this unit:three hours.

Amount of lessons per week:Three lessons of three hours per week.

Course length: Three months.

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INFORMATION FROM NEEDS ANALYSIS (PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE, MOTIVATION, JOB

REQUIREMENTS, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH)

Taking into account the previous needs analysis, we have decided to focus this unit

primarily on productive skills, providing students with a communicative context. Besides,

they will be able to learn the specific vocabulary, such as expressions of politeness, so as

to build up their self-confidence before performing the productive tasks.

APPROACH TO BE FOLLOWED

Learner-centred approach, Genre-Based Approach, Task-based approach.


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he following -and last- three stages in this ESP course will be developed as one

single stage, as this is just an example of what a syllabus design should look like.

Therefore we will focus just one of the units, as it was previously stated in the

conceptualization of contents.

SELECTION OF MATERIAL, PLANNING OF THE C OURSE AND COURSE EVALUATION

OBJECTIVE OF THIS UNIT

THROUGHOUT THIS UNIT, THE STUDENTS WILL NEED TO ACQUIRE THE

LINGUISTIC ABILITY TO WRITE A CONFIRMATION LETTER.

ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 1

The first activity consists of handing out a set of two letters for each student. After

observing and reading the letters carefully, the students will have to decide which of them

they think is better and state orally the reasons for their choices.

MATERIAL

The following two letters, extracted from the course book Welcome! English for

the travel and Tourism Industry


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ACTIVITY 2

In the second activity, the students have to work in pairs. In the previous letters, they will

need to highlight four phrases that help them to seem better. After this short activity, the

teacher conducts an oral discussion to share the phrases highlighted. Then, the teacher

hands out a worksheet with useful considerations and phrases when writing a formal

letter.

MATERIALS

The letters that students already have

The following worksheet, with information taken from English for International

Tourism (Longman)and Welcome! English for the Travel and Tourism Industry:


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ACTIVITY 3

After reading the useful considerations, rules and expressions to be used when writing a

formal letter, the teacher hands out a worksheet in which the parts of a formal letter are

jumbled. Apart from that, there are some mistakes of register in the letter. Students have

to order the letter and correct the mistakes in register by working in pairs. When they

finish, the teacher asks students to pair differently and hands out the corrected version of

the letter. The learners have to compare the letter and discuss about their mistakes. A

whole class discussion can also be carried out.

MATERIALS

A worksheet containing a jumbled letter;

A worksheet containing the corrected version of the letter, taken from English for

International Tourism (Longman).


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Activity 3:a. The following formal letter is jumbled. Place the parts of the letter in the

correct order. Then, find the expression mistakes inside the letter and correct them.

Sea View Hotel

39 Beech Grove

Brighton BN2 3PD

TEL: 044 487 877

FAX: 044 095 894

Email: [email protected]

20th November 2013

Dr. Nicola Talbot

Flat A, 87 Moonmouth Drive

Oxford

OX5 2CG

Ref: Guest questionnaire

Yours for ever,

With love,

Andrew Miller

Hotel Manager

Dear Dr Nicola Talbot,

Thank you so much for completing our questionnaire during your stay at our hotel

last month.

We always appreciate hearing from our clients. Your comments are great for us to

continue improving our accommodations. We should like to say we are sorry for the

problems that you mentioned. The service you experienced is unusual and not thestandard of our hotel. Please find enclosed a complementary voucher for a night in

one of our luxury hotels as compensation.

Once again, we are so sorry for any inconvenience caused during your stay and we

hope that you will give us another chance to serve you.


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Activity 3: b. In pairs, compare this corrected version of the letter to you own corrections

in the previous activity.


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ACTIVITY 4: EVALUATION OF THE UNIT

THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITY IS AN INSTANCE OF FORMAL ASSESSMENT, IN WHICH THE

TEACHER WILL EVALUATE THE COHERENCE AND COHESION OF THE LETTER, APART

FROM CONSIDERING THAT AN APPROPRIATE LETTER STRUCTURE IS USED THE TEACHER

WILL NOT GRADE THE LETTER, BUT SHE WILL GIVE FEEDBACK TO EACH OF THE

STUDENTS SO THAT THEY CAN IMPROVE THEIR MISTAKES AND CLARIFY THEIR DOUBTS.

In this final activity, the teacher hands out a worksheet with information about a booking

of a conference room in a hotel to each of the students. Students have to -individually-

write a formal letter of confirmation of the booking.

MATERIALS

The following worksheet, containing the necessary information to complete the letter of

confirmation and taken from Welcome! English for the Travel and Tourism Industry and

completed by Elun Garca and Agustina Snchez.

If students are able to complete this task, the objective of this unit can be considered

successfully achieved.


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INDEX

General Considerations ......................................................................................................................................................... 2

Needs Analysis ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Current Proficiency Level of the Students .................................................................................................................... 3

Field knowledge ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

Motivation .................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Learning strategies, methods and styles students have already experienced ............................................................. 4

Job Requirements ......................................................................................................................................................... 4

Learning Requirements ................................................................................................................................................ 4

Desirable knowledge .................................................................................................................................................... 4

Deficits in knowledge: .................................................................................................................................................. 4

Possible target situations of language use ................................................................................................................... 7

Formulation of goals and objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 9

General Goal ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Specific objectives ............................................................................................................................................................ 9

Conceptualization of contents ............................................................................................................................................ 10

Necessary skills to develop:........................................................................................................................................ 10

Necessary communicative competence to achieve: .................................................................................................. 10

Necessary grammatical competence to develop ....................................................................................................... 10

Necessary functions and situations language is going to be used for ........................................................................ 10

Time available (class lenght AND COURSE LENGTH) .................................................................................................. 10

Information from needs analysis (previous knowledge, motivation, job requirements, and so on and so forth) ..... 11

Approach to be followed ............................................................................................................................................ 11

Selection of material, planning of the course and course evaluation ................................................................................. 12

Objective of this unit .................................................................................................................................................. 12

Activities ..................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Activity 1 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Activity 2 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Activity 3 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Activity 4: evaluation of the unit .................................................................................................................................... 18


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esp course design (2)

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