ELTAU Online

Workshop with Rebecca Sprengel 07.02.2009
18 participants attended the workshop by Rebecca Sprengel at the VH in Ulm on Sat. Feb. 7th. We looked into the 4 types of learning styles which can be applied to all learners - from Honey and Mumford's book - The learning styles helper's guide.
We looked at our own learning preference and considered how this influences our teaching.
Practical examples were taken from English for Business Life, the four-level course published by Langenscheidt/Marshall Cavendish ELT. And practical gifts were also distributed by Langenscheidt.

2008 programme of events:

On Friday October 24th ELTAU invited Laura Hudson, ELT consultant at Macmillan in Oxford to present Macmillan's new book Presentations in English. 35 interested teachers were in attendance to learn more about practicing presentations with our students and how we might benefit from the book , which uses a flexible seven-step approach to help students 'find their voice' and develop their own unique presentation style.

Coffee and chatting with other trainers were also on the agenda.

5 lucky participants won a copy of the new book to use in their classrooms

The changing world of business English
Reviewed by Manuela Oberfrank (ELTAU)

ELTAU workshop presented by Ian Badger
Friday, 7 March 2008 at the Jam Café, Ulm

‘D bil cum arnd hre n wl vzit our olds if ur messin bout.’1 – Do you understand these words? Well, probably not, unless you went to Ian Badger’s workshop, where he used this phrase to illustrate how difficult understanding each other can potentially be.

Ian spent some time setting the international business English scene as he views it: worldwide contacts have increased and with them the need for clarity in speech, writing and grammar. There is no margin for unclear language when important decisions have to be made. This has resulted in changing requirements when it comes to business English. International companies follow the ‘Everything-in-English’ policy; the pressure on people to be permanently available is high, and with that the pressure to communicate well in English. Many companies are moving their managers and experts to other locations, which means that more people live away from home and communicate largely in English as a second language. They need to have a working knowledge of what mistakes they are likely to make, and a familiarity of what their colleagues’ grammar errors and word choices are likely to be. Armed with this knowledge, managers and experts as well as the people they work with have a fighting chance of communicating clearly.

As an added complication, according to Ian, there are now many coined ‘incorrect’ English words, grammar or terms in use within companies themselves. For example, the word ‘handy’. As we all know, in German this word means mobile phone, in English it is an adjective meaning useful or convenient. A German, or someone familiar with German culture, will of course know that it is a favoured word for mobile or cell phone, however someone not familiar with German is going to be a little lost as to what it is being referred to. But this is the kind of term that may be being used within the company all over the world and has become accepted. As English teachers, Ian Badger wants us to search for these expressions and help students identify and define them. “English” may no longer be strictly defined in terms of a language, it can also describe a culture in the office which needs tailoring to every business.

The cause of most communication problems results from a lack of vocabulary or pronunciation issues. Rapid sales growth may be understood as rabbit sales growth; intensive training is needed becomes intensive draining is needed. Other problems could be issues of protocol (Du/Sie? Dear/Hi?), poor listening skills or misunderstanding of humour and sarcasm (congratulations, you’ve lost a customer!).

Together with his co author Pete Menzies, Ian Badger has published a series of books to address these issues entitled ‘English for Business Life’, reviewed in the book review section of ETM. Despite teaching general rather than business English, I have also found the book useful.

It was the first workshop I’ve been to and it fulfilled my expectations. It was very interesting for me. I think Ian got his message across quite well; sometimes, when hearing an English word which is also used in German, I think about it and I am wondering if it is ‘proper’ English, or another favoured word for something else.

1. ‘D bil cum arnd hre n wl vzit our olds if ur messin bout.’ - These words were seen on a sign outside a pub. In ‘proper’ English they mean ‘The police patrol this area and will pay your parents a visit if you’re messing around’.

19 April CEF + Testing Workshop 14.00 – 17.00
Roger Randall
Roger represents Mondiale Testsysteme, a full-service language testing organisation specialising in testing language students in the corporate sector. Mondiale has developed a suite of tests with CEF-based scoring to fill in the gaps left by the high-stakes, high-cost tests offered by Cambridge ESOL, ETS, LCCI, TELC etc.

The workshop will focus on how the CEF can be used for placement, gap/needs analysis and course design. The examples will be based on our own tests but can be extended to any testing system based on the CEF. It will not be a high-pressure sales pitch.

31 May Using podcasts 14.00 – 17.00
Jo Westcombe (Spotlight)

Spotlight on ... listening activities
In this session we will try out simple, effective listening tasks for the classroom and self-study, using podcasts and other audio material that accompany Spotlight and Business Spotlight. There will be plenty of time for discussion and knowledge sharing. Participants will leave the session with hard copies and “sound ideas”.

Jo Westcombe came to Munich in 1992 for two years, needing a change from teaching French and German in rural Suffolk, England. Since then, she has taught general and business English, one-to-one and groups, exam courses and intensive residential courses in Germany and England, and has been a Lektorin at the LMU (Munich university). She is also the activities coordinator for MELTA. Since September 2005, Jo has been the language editor of Spotlight magazine, with responsibility for the language section of the magazine, as well as for the supplements Plus and Spotlight in the Classroom.

13 June “The Business“ 17.00 – 19.30
Macmillan book presentation
Sandra Zwirchmayr, ELT consultant Macmillan

The Business is a major new Business English course offering an exciting blend of electronic and print material. Its modular structure allows teachers and students to select different paths through the course in order to adapt the syllabus to best suit their needs.
The fully-integrated DVD-Rom is a unique feature; an interactive workbook including video, business dilemmas, grammar reference, class audio and much more besides.
Come along to this workshop and find out all about this innovative new business course with its unique DVD-Rom and see how you can adapt it for your different classes

Events