Keith's Handout 2

The Power of Business Video – Part 1: Using ‘graded video’ in Business English teaching

Ahead of his talk at BESIG on 19th November, John Hughes examines the case for using graded video in the first of two posts on using video in the Business English classroom.

At my BESIG presentation in Dubrovnik this November, I’ll be talking about the power of video in Business English teaching both as an informational tool and for language development.

In particular, I’ll be supporting my arguments with extracts from a new series of ‘graded’ video material produced by Oxford University Press to accompany the popular Business Result series. By ‘graded’ video, I mean that the listening part of the video has been adapted or carefully controlled (in terms of vocabulary and speed of delivery) for a particular level of learner in much the same way that graded readers are books that have been adapted or written with a certain level in mind.

So you might ask: why use ‘graded’ video when you could draw on the vast amounts of authentic video content which is freely available for use via the internet? Authentic is always better, right? Well, I’m not sure that it is and here are some reasons why.

Logically organized and ease of access

I just mentioned the ‘vast amounts’ of video available on sites like YouTube, and that in itself is part of the problem. Where do you start looking if you need a video for a lesson on the vocabulary of retail or a good model version for the presentation skills lesson? You can spend several hours searching in order to find something appropriate.

A set of graded video clips which are logically organized by content and language need solves this problem. It saves time for the teacher, and this ease of access means a learner can watch the video in their own time as well as in class.

Removing barriers to comprehension

As with graded readers, graded video removes the barriers to real comprehension. By ‘real comprehension’ I mean comprehension where the student understands 90-100% of the video content, not just parts of it. By ‘barriers’ I mean the content, the language, but also the cultural barriers to understanding. Many YouTube videos have strong cultural bias which can be exploited in some cases but can also frustrate the learner and so demotivate them.

Graded language doesn’t mean graded content

Graded video (by definition) means that use of video is open to every level. The new Business Result videos go from Elementary to Advanced levels but the real pleasure of graded video is that a video made for an elementary learner with elementary language structures still includes visual content which treats the learner as an intelligent working adult. It is pitched at a learner with sophisticated views on the world of business regardless of language level.

Ready-made materials support

Graded video has the advantage of being accompanied by plenty of ready-made support materials. For example, each Business Result video is linked to a unit in the Student’s Book. This means you can pre-teach a lot of the language and content from the course book which is then recycled in the video.

Alternatively, the video can be used with stand-alone worksheets which can be downloaded from the Class DVD. There are further exercises linked to the video through the Interactive DVD-ROM, and the videos include a subtitles option on screen.

Greater sense of achievement and confidence

Finally, if you still think ‘authentic’ is better, then you have to ask what is ‘authentic’? The Business Result graded videos include interviews with real business people sharing their knowledge and experience. They show real companies at work and deal with the issues facing them. The only difference between this and the recorded interview with a business expert on CNN or a BBC finance report is that the language has been graded to make the whole experience more satisfying for the student.

Which video activity gives your students more confidence to pursue their language learning: the one they only understand half of, or the one they watch, enjoy, understand everything and come away from with a greater sense of achievement?

http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2011/11/03/the-power-of-business-video-part-1-using-graded-video-in-business-english-teaching/

Keith's Handout 1

HANDOUT 1: USING VIDEO IN THE BUSINESS ENGLISH CLASS

Using informal language for a team meeting. Target language could include these expressions taken from the OUP video book ‘Successful Meetings’:

Asking about progress

How are things going?

What’s happening in your department this week?

How is everything in your department?

What’s the current situation with?

Is that everything (for your department)?

Discussing projects and schedules

We’re meeting / talking to / setting up...

(Progressing well)

We’re within the budget / ahead of schedule / on time / on track

(Not progressing well)

We’re over budget / behind schedule / out of time /

We’ve hit a problem / missed the deadline.

Clarifying problems

What exactly is the problem?

What do you mean?

What are you saying?

Are you saying...?

So is the problem that...?

What do you mean exactly?

Offering help

I’ll do it. / I can do it.

Why don’t I do it?

Leave it with me.

Do you want me to do it?

Delegating

Can you / Can’t you do it?

Would you like to...?

I need somebody to...

Would someone ... for me?

Summarising the action to be taken

To recap / To sum up

I’m going to... / We’re going to... / He’s going to

We’ve also agreed that...

Some practical iTools ideas.

Guess the word!

Equipment: iTools on IWB or data projector

Aim: to review words in a reading text.

When: after completing the reading or at the start of the next lesson.

Preparation:

Enlarge a reading text by choosing the magnify tool. [g1]

Choose the thick black pen from the tool box

Use the pen to black out words in the text. (When the text goes back to normal size the pen marks stay.)

In the lesson:

Put students into groups and tell them they are going to guess some words in a text.

Enlarge the text and give them a few minutes working in their groups to try to guess or remember what the words are.

Elicit the words from the class rubbing them off as you go along. Award points for the groups for getting the correct words. You could also award points for synonyms.

If students are struggling reveal just part of the word to help them.

Variation: To make this a little easier write the missing works around the text.

Correct the Mistake

Equipment: iTools on IWB

Aim: to revisit gap-fill exercises or to get feedback on gap-fill exercises.

When: as a warmer at the start of the next lesson or straight after the activity.

Preparation:

Enlarge a gap-fill exercise using the magnify tool.

Choose the thin pen.

Write the answers in to the gaps; some correct some incorrect. . (When the text goes back to normal size the pen marks stay.)

In the lesson:

Tell the students they will see the answers but some are correct and some are incorrect.

Give them a few minutes working in pairs to try to spot the incorrect answers.

Elicit the answers and correct them using the pen tool.

Variation: Turn this into a game by putting students into teams and awarding points for correct answers.

What’s in the picture?

Equipment: iTools on IWB or Data Projector

Aim: to review vocabulary or to create interest in a reading / listening using pictures.

When: when using the pictures before a reading or listening or as a warmer in the next lesson.

Preparation:

Enlarge a picture by choosing the magnify tool.

Choose the thick white pen from the tool box

Use the pen to hide items in the picture (When the text goes back to normal size the pen marks stay.)

In the lesson:

Tell the students they are going to look at some pictures and try to identify what is missing.

Enlarge the picture and give them a few minutes working in pairs to try to guess or remember what the items are.

Elicit the words from the class rubbing them off as you go along.

If students are struggling reveal just part of the picture to help them.

Variation: Turn this into a game by putting students into teams and awarding points for correct answers.

Choral Drill Dialogue

Equipment: iTools on IWB or Data Projector

Aim: to practice pronunciation

When: Any everyday English Dialogue

Preparation: none

In the lesson:

Divide the class into two parts A and B (or how ever many roles there are in the dialogue). Tell them that they are going to read the dialogue in the book.

Assign a role to each half of the class and then play the listening with the sound down but the script open.

The students read along in unison with their roles. Following the Karaoke bars.

Do it twice or three times before swapping roles. Then put students into pairs, one A one B. Ask them to do the same but speaking to each other.

Guess the Picture

Equipment: iTools on IWB or Data Projector

Aim: create interest in a reading or listening

When: Before a reading or listening

Preparation: find an interesting picture or pictures, cover the picture with post-it notes by pressing the T button and dragging the notes where you want them.

In the lesson:

Divide the class into three or four groups, each group comes to the board in turn and clicks the x to remove a post-it. They then have to guess what’s in the picture. repeat until someone guesses correctly or all the post-its have been removed.

Variation: Just put one note in the middle of the picture. Ask students to discuss with their partners what they believe the note is covering.

Picture Memory Game

Equipment: iTools or iTutor on an IWB

Aim: create interest in a reading or listening

When: Before a reading or listening

Preparation: find an interesting picture.

In the lesson:

Divide the class into three or four groups, display the picture for a short time and then blank the board. Get students to write a list of all they can remember in the picture. To get feedback go around each group award a point for the words they give.

Variation: Do this in reverse, tell students briefly about the picture they are going to see. Ask the to talk to their partners and predict what things they think will be in the picture. Elicit some answers then show the pictures, students award themselves points for words they have on their lists.

Interactive Whiteboard Revisited

Why should I use an IWB?

Interactive whiteboards offer you everything a whiteboard offers you but can add more to the classroom. Because you can move words around, make them bigger or smaller, spin them, cover them with shapes, you can make a range of impromptu games for your classes. You also never need to erase anything, which means you can revisit things you have already done in the lesson or even in previous lessons.

Recent research from the UK suggested that both students and teachers liked using IWBs.

On the one hand:

• Students feel more empowered

• Students feel more engaged

• Students feel there is more variety and interactivity

• Students feel there is more support.

• Students feel there is shared ownership in the lesson.

While teachers spoke of:

• the support for the range of learning styles

• the fact that lessons became more interactive

• learners having a role within the classroom as something other than passive recipients of knowledge.

However outside observers dispute that, they have found that IWBs encourage a direct approach to teaching, with students stuck to their desks, while classes without IWBs have more creativity and variety.

Therefore the introduction of IWB’s in the classroom alone does not transform the learning process. It is up to teachers, trainers and publishers to introduce better practices to ensure the benefits for both the teacher and the students.

Best Practices

• avoid chalk and talk – keep the lesson student centred, you don’t always need to be involved when the students are working with the board.

• involve the students – empower them – give them the chance to display their own things on the board or decide what to click on.

• limit IWB use – only use it when it adds something to the lesson.

• be willing to move back and forth through slides – the board allows us to move between slides, and do activities again, take advantage of this, it improves the learning experience.

• appeal to different learning styles – think of ways to appeal to visual, audio and kinaesthetic learners.

• avoid alienating students with a lack of discussion of answers – don’t rely on the computer to give the answer, discuss answers and encourage per correction.

The ability for learners to visualize a process through the sequence presented on an interactive whiteboard is an extremely powerful reason for using IWBs. The use of colours, movement, the ability to move backwards and forwards between stages of a process all provide learning reinforcement for students

Seeing the meaning. The impact of interactive whiteboards on teaching and learning Cuthell, J. P.

But in order to bring those benefits the teachers have to be willing to examine their teaching approach and adapt it to suit the IWB.