Many English language learners are studying English with the aim of getting down to the nitty-gritty of the language they need for their profession. Whether the learner is an engineer, a lawyer, a nanny, a nurse, a police officer, a cook, or a salesperson, simply teaching general English or even English for specific purposes is not enough. We need to improve our learners’ skills for employability.
In his article Logic and Conversation, Paul Grice, a philosopher of language, proposes that every conversation is based on four maxims: quantity, quality, relation and manner. He believes that if these maxims combine successfully, then the best conversation will take place and the right message will be delivered to the right person at the right time.
The four maxims take on a deeper significance when it comes to the workplace, where things are often more formal and more urgent. Many human resources (HR) managers have spent hours fine-tuning workplace conversations simply because a job candidate or employee has not been adequately educated to the level of English language that a job role demands. This, coupled with the fact that many companies across the globe are adopting English as their official corporate language, has resulted in a new requirement in the world of business: mastery of the English language.
It would not be satisfactory for an employee to be turned down for a job vacancy, to be disqualified after a while; or fail to fulfil his or her assigned tasks, because their English language profile either does not correlate with what the job fully expects or does not possess even the essential must-have can-dos of the job role.
The Job Profiles within the can help target those ‘must-have can-dos’ related to various job roles. The ‘Choose Learner’ drop-down menu offers the opportunity to view GSE Learning Objectives for four learner types: in this case, select ‘Professional Learners’. You can then click on the ‘Choose Job Role’ button to narrow down the objectives specific for a particular job role – for example, ‘Office and Administrative Support’ and then ‘Hotel, Motel and Resort Desk Clerks’.
Then, I can choose the GSE/CEFR range I want to apply to my results. In this example, I would like to know what English language skills a hotel desk clerk is expected to master for B1-B1+/GSE: 43-58.
When I click ‘Show Results’, I am presented with a list of 13 learning objectives in the four skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. For example:
The Professional section of the GSE Teacher Toolkit also has the option to select learning objectives according to a specific business skill. Consider this scenario: Ms. Lahm is an HR manager at the imaginary LydoApps company, which designs and sells computer programs and apps in Germany. She already knows her team has the following English language profile:
English language profile: GSE 10-42 / <A1-A2+
Number of employees: 15
Nationality: German
Department: Print programs
English language profile: GSE 10-42 / <A1-A2+
Number of employees: 12
Nationality: German
Department: Packages
English language profile: GSE 10-50 / B1
Number of employees: 9
Nationality: German
Department: Customer care
English language profile: GSE 10-50 / B1
Number of employees: 5
Nationality: German
Department: Design engineering Ìý
English language profile: GSE 10-58 / B1+
Number of employees: 3
Nationality: German
Department: OverseasÌýÌý
Ms. Lahm wishes to critically check what skills her Customer Care employees need to answer telephone calls in English. She selects ‘Business Skills’ and then ‘Telephoning’, with a GSE/CEFR range of 10-50.
Ms Lahm now has 28 GSE Learning Objectives related to English telephoning, for example:
Ms. Lahm can now use these GSE Learning Objectives to help organize her current team and recruit new colleagues with the appropriate skills for the job.
The GSE Teacher Toolkit is a fantastic resource when it comes to teaching English. General English is often not enough – and it can be daunting for teachers when they are faced with the whole of the language to teach.
Both teachers and HR managers can use the Job Profiles feature of the GSE Teacher Toolkit to examine more than 200 jobs for their English language profile and, by targeting these specific language functions, can prepare students for their chosen careers and recruit candidates with the level of English required to successfully perform a given job.
Watching films can be a great way for people to learn English. We all have our favourite movie moments and, even as passive viewers, they're probably teaching you more than you realise. Here's a selection of our favourite scenes, along with the reasons why they're educational as well as entertaining.
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It's 6 AM on a Monday morning. Ms. Lopez wakes up early to prepare for the day ahead. She spends the morning reviewing lesson plans, making sure everything is ready for her students. By lunchtime, she is preparing for the afternoon, grabbing a quick bite between classes... but it doesn’t stop there. The school day finishes but Ms. Lopez stays late marking assignments. Finally, on Sunday night, she sits at her kitchen table, surrounded by papers, course books and lesson plans.
Does this sound familiar? You are not alone.
In 2024, ÃÛÌÒapp research found thatÌý76% of teachers spend at least one hour of their personal time on lesson planning each week, with 43% spending more than three hours. This is a lot of time that could be spent on other important tasks. Teachers need a solution that helps them plan lessons fast, is connected to their course books and is built by learning experts.
Tom Chi is an internet veteran with quite a resumé. His roles have been many and varied – from astrophysical researcher to Fortune 500 consultant and corporate executive, developing new hardware and software products and services.
He worked on Microsoft Outlook when it was in its infancy, was a major influence in taking Yahoo Search from 0 to 90 million users and is now Head of Product Experience at Google X – Alphabet’s secretive division focused on creating technological innovations for the future. It has produced the self-driving car and Google Glass, and its Project Loon aims to provide internet to every square inch of the earth.
At Google X, Tom was in a unique position – always having to think five, ten or even more years ahead in order to conceptualize and build the technology of the future. As you might imagine, this is far from an easy task; not only do the ideas have to be original, but they have to meet people’s future needs – something that is not easy to predict.
So, how does Tom and the others at Google X deliver their vision for the future using today's materials and technology?
That’s where Rapid Prototyping comes in. It’s a concept that allows teams to experiment, learn and adjust prototypes quickly and cheaply, so that projects (and products) get off the ground. Failure is seen as a starting block and an inevitable part of the learning process. Following his workshop, we are going to look further at rapid prototyping and how it can relate to the ELT classroom.
