Job Discussion Forums

[yourstruly]

Hello everyone,

I'm beginning my first contract this week: 4 sections of corporate classes, 2-3 students each, classes range from low-intermediate to advanced. Each section will meet twice a week, 75 minutes each session, lasting until Christmas. However, other than the information I just provided, I don't know much about the contract. I'll be getting a bit more information from my coordinator tomorrow, but I'd still like to spend the first session with each class doing a needs analysis (eg: what they want to learn, what they need to do). I also want to make sure I don't forget anything.

So, does anyone have a checklist of standard questions they ask during a needs analysis? If so, could you post it here or send it to me?

Many thanks,
Julie

[denise]

Get them to tell you how they use English at work. Do they need to participate in or lead meetings? Give presentations? Exchange emails with people in other countries? Read or write technical reports? Business letters? Have telephone conversations?

What they tell you can give you some ideas for class content, and how they say it should give you an idea of their level of proficiency, whether one student is better than the other, etc.

When I had corporate students, I asked them to bring in copies of their email/letters, examples of their presentations, etc., to have some authentic materials to work with.

d

[Guy Courchesne]

Try googling that...I needed some printable examples a few weeks ago of the very same thing you're seeking and found four nice sites with pdfs I don't still have the links though, sorry.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

This was taken from www.onestopenglish.com but now I think you have to pay...

Negotiated Syllabus
Page One
Put these in order from number 1 (the one to spend most time on in class) to 10 (the one
to spend least on)
�Reading articles
�Practising social and functional English
�Listening to tapes
�Watching videos
�Discussing current affairs
�Talking about your job
�Written grammar exercises
�Spoken grammar exercises
�Learning specialist vocabulary
�Learning general English vocabulary
�Other (please specify)
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
4. ____________________________
5. ____________________________
6. ____________________________
7. ____________________________
8. ____________________________
9. ____________________________
10. ____________________________
Now work together with another student. Compare your answer, and negotiate a new list
from 1 to 10 together.
When you have finished, get together with another group of 2 and negotiate another new
list.
Finally, the two halves of the class should present their conclusions.
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the business section in www.onestopenglish.com