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Date Posted: 06:29:59 08/01/03 Fri
Author: J. Antonio A. Santos
Subject: TASK 13

COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY

Business English Course
Lesson suitable for UPPER-INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED

Previous activity
Go to http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/speakers_corner/discussion/ and read the article about research tips before buying shares. Use the dictionaries on the network to find out the meaning of new words.

(It has to be set up as homework because it will take long to read the whole article and find out the meaning of new words)


A 45 MINUTES COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY

Now that students have some knowledge about market and shares and how companies operate to make and share profits with investors, we can organize a hole-play to stimulate use of English as in a real world. The main objective is to provide students to apply the information and vocabulary they have learnt on the article and to practice the amount of knowledge in English they already know. The class should be divided in different groups depending on the amount of students in the classroom, i.e. a class with 6 to 10 students should be divided in two or three groups. Each group will operate as a stall to sell shares or to represent a company that are launching shares on the market; furthermore, students/consultants have to provide advice to a very important investor interested in buying £100,000.00 in shares (in this case the teacher that will act more as an listener during the activity). Thus, let’s move through the activity to understand how it will be developed in one hour class. The activity is divided into four steps. The first one is just a review of words related to stock and shares that appeared in the article they have read. It should not take longer; otherwise, the focus in practicing communication could be lost. The second step involves the student’s aiming to set up a company they are representing. It should be done in ten minutes maximum with the teacher acting as a counsellor if necessary. On the next step, each group will have about 5 minutes to make a presentation about the company they are representing. The arguments should convince the investor to invest money on the company. Meanwhile, the second group has to find holes in the first group presentation, thus they second group have to pay attention and jot down information to be confronted afterwards. When the second group starts presenting the first group will do the same. Presentations by both groups will occur without interruption. The groups will have opportunity to criticize each other in another moment; basically the teacher will create this moment asking them to find holes in each other company, time should be provided for a discussion between members of the group and between the groups itself.

So, let’s go through the four steps more attentively.

WARM UP (about 10 minutes)
Ask the students what they think about the article they have read. After listening to some opinions ask them which words they have learnt related with share market, and if they can remember them.

Make sure the following words will be revised: (write on the board) Heaving 24/7, dividends, share-holder, bids, assets, profits, interest rates, stock market, stake, hedge, brokerage.


INTRODUCTION (about 15 minutes)
‘Now that we have learnt the basic information about stock and market let’s make two groups’ (choose the components of each group to create balance between them if you the students well and fell confident to do so). ‘You are going to represent to companies specialized in stock and shares market that are looking for investors, I will be the investor, so, you have to convince me to invest £100,000.00 in the company you are representing’. Check if the students have understood the instruction asking them what they have to do. ‘You have to know the company you are representing very well, to do so you have 7 to 10 minutes to set up the companies OK’. Meanwhile write on the board some points to be considered.

‘Each group should consider for example:
- What is/are the product(s) made by the company
- Target market
- Level of quality/final price
- Who are the share-holders
- Ins the company going to pay dividends
- Where is it based
- Etc.’


PRESENTATION (about 10 minutes)
‘Now that you have set up your companies each group will have about 5 minutes to make a presentation and convince me to invest my £100,000.00’ (this information should be informed to the groups previously if the teacher feels necessary).

‘Please, listen attentively the information presented by each company and write down the information each group feels necessary to be criticised. I am going to invest only in one company, the one I feel will guarantee more profits in a near future’ (these information should also be provided previously avoiding teacher’s interruption in students task)

DISCUSSION (about 10 minutes)
The teacher must incentives an organized discussion launching the question:
‘So, group B why do you think I should not invest my money in the company represented by group A, and vice-versa.’ ‘You have about 5 minutes to discuss the arguments between your colleagues’

Group A present their argument against Group B (group B just listen)
Group B replicates.
Group B present their argument against Group A (group A just listen)
Group A replicates.

The investor (the teacher) chose the company that is worthy investing in.

REFLECTION
The activity above is based on the theory presented by Littleowood, W in his book Communicative English Teaching. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1981. It is an activity aiming, as stated by Littleowood, to provide ‘whole-task practice’, improve motivation, allow natural learning and create a context which supports learning. It is a learner-directed activity “the teacher creates a situation and sets an activity in motion, but it is the learners themselves who are responsible for conducting the interaction to its conclusion.” As perceived above the teacher’s hole is just to create and motivate students to do the task and to supervise their development with as minimum intervention as possible. The activity should be developed in a “functional aspect of communication”, thus, the grammar accuracy is not important in this phase; however, the students should be able to use appropriate terms in the situation proposed to communicate and exchange meaning, and they should complete the task achieving an practical result.

J. Antonio A. Santos

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