Job Discussion Forums

[fpshangzhou]

Hi,

My company wants me to create a class for the consultants/sales people to collect pertinent information about the potential student. The most basic info they get include:

Name
Age
Reason to study English
How long they have spoken/studied English


If anyone has any other ideas on what important information is necessary to evaluate the student so the teacher can prepare for future demo classes and better prepare for cirriculum to the student's needs. Look forward to hearing your feedback.

Cheers,

Aaron

[spiral78]

You've got 'reason to study English,' but this could be more specific. How/when/where do you need to use English now? And in future?

Specific goals make it easier to design relevant lessons.

'How long' is often off the mark if the intent is to find out how much students are likely to know. Younger students usually learn much faster than older ones - how long doesn't give much information except on what the expected learning curve of the individual students may be.

Are you doing some sort of level test?

[nomad soul]

- Prerequisite skills or knowledge. For example, skills and/or knowledge they should already have mastered in order to take this course.
- Prior knowledge of the English domain: What does the learner already know about the domain/focus of the course?
- Highest education level
- English language proficiency levels (should be assessed via a placement test, if possible)
- Their individual interest in the course; how they believe the course will benefit them professionally
- Job role: What it is that they sell or consult on---a brief description of their job role
- Number of years in their current position
- Any physical disabilities that could hinder their ability to learn (e.g., hearing, vision, mobility problems)

[Non Sequitur]

I think the responses should be placed in age groups.
High schoolers will be obsessed by Gao Kao.
Young students will respond to games songs and other activities.
Parents of small children will know if their kid likes to sing or dance or play find my pair games etc.

[spiral78]

[nomad soul]

[fpshangzhou]

Sorry for being vague in my description of information. The company's clients include young children to adult learners. My FAO asked me to create a lesson plan to teach the consultants how to better describe the client's needs to the FTs by providing a more in depth analysis of the student's needs and method of study, level of fluency. She also said something about a student breaching his/her contract, but I don't see how that has any relevance for the teacher, as that pertains more to the sales consultants job.
Basically, she wants the consultants to provide enough background information about the student to the teacher so the teacher can plan accordingly for the demo by providing the right level of language material/lesson plan.
I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Aaron

[BleedingBlue]

[3701 W.119th]

For demos, I'll have a lesson prepared for each of the different levels we teach. I spend the first 5 minutes placing them with general small-talk and questions, then demo the lesson accordingly.

I don't worry too much about tailoring the demo specifically to students needs, goals, etc., as it's really only supposed to show what they can expect at the centre in terms of teaching style of FTs, and materials used. It's not a free English lesson.

[wangdaning]

Might help to have a survey made up. Purpose of English can be unclear. One person might say business and mean email, phone calls while another might mean meeting clients/customers. Might be better to ask what English skills are needed with check boxes. Writing, conversation, etc, what do they want rather than why are they studying.

[Bud Powell]

Shouldn't you determine proficiency, or at least ask how well the prospective student THINKS he speaks English?