Normally, I get very interested in the jobs of my students, from testing sunroofs, to secretaries to the CEO, to manure sellers (really!). But some jobs just don't personally interest me; for example, a lot of finance stuff leaves me cold. For these classes, I find it a bit harder to motivate myself to teaching their business-specific needs, as I don't particularly feel like researching the job to find stuff to use.
Does anyone else feel like this sometimes? What do you do about it?
Boring jobs
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intriguing...
I like the financial topics
but chemical stuff floors me...
I also hope for useful tips to your question...
Sita
but chemical stuff floors me...
I also hope for useful tips to your question...
Sita
Most engineering fields leave me bored to death. *yawn*
I try and find relevant articles but I really don't tailor my entire lesson to one particular field. Part of a student's job is to provide me with information about his/her needs; I do a needs assessment before I begin the semester.
And I am an offspring of the "writing across the curriculum," so I try not to get bogged down by jargon that I'm not familiar with.
Of course, this would all be different if I were teaching a class which consisted of engineering students only, for example.
I try and find relevant articles but I really don't tailor my entire lesson to one particular field. Part of a student's job is to provide me with information about his/her needs; I do a needs assessment before I begin the semester.
And I am an offspring of the "writing across the curriculum," so I try not to get bogged down by jargon that I'm not familiar with.
Of course, this would all be different if I were teaching a class which consisted of engineering students only, for example.
same here
I have to teach over 40 analysts ( financial sector)
so I had to become familiar with their lingo!
Sita
so I had to become familiar with their lingo!
Sita
Mr. Science
Bored with chemists and engineers? Send them my way!
Just kidding. I do have a background in science, so I find these types easy to work with.
Don't get bogged down in jargon. Have those science types explain things to you in simple English. You'll be teaching new verbs and adjectives to them that way. It also helps them to simplify or compare to things that a layman can understand.
Just kidding. I do have a background in science, so I find these types easy to work with.
Don't get bogged down in jargon. Have those science types explain things to you in simple English. You'll be teaching new verbs and adjectives to them that way. It also helps them to simplify or compare to things that a layman can understand.
thanks
Hi Glenski!
Helpful ideas!
I have done this. I also make them write their job descriptions.
I ask who are they responsible to and what they are responsible for.
I even sometimes make them write a job advertisement for their own job.
( Salaries left blank - just kiddin...
)
They like these activities, and as you pointed out in the 'real world of business' they may well be dealing with laymen. Quality engineer vs. Sales manager, CFO vs. R&D manager....
Siân
Helpful ideas!
I have done this. I also make them write their job descriptions.
I ask who are they responsible to and what they are responsible for.
I even sometimes make them write a job advertisement for their own job.
( Salaries left blank - just kiddin...
)They like these activities, and as you pointed out in the 'real world of business' they may well be dealing with laymen. Quality engineer vs. Sales manager, CFO vs. R&D manager....
Siân
Here's an idea that often works well : the site visit.
Get each student to draw his or her work area / floor / building, etc, on a large piece of paper, labeling as many things as they know how (laboratory, changing room, rest area, etc)
Give them the basics about how to welcome visitors, useful expressions and how to pose and respond to visitors questions.
Then, arrange the group so that the other students 'visit' one student's work area. The selected student has to 'welcome' his visitors, show everyone around ('on your left you can see the store room' , 'please follow me' , 'mind the step!'....) and finally respond to the other student's questions.
Meanwhile, the other students can be thinking up questions or thinking of alternative expressions.
Unless you have a bunch of students who work in exactly the same place in the same company, this exercise is quite interesting.
It can also be funny if the other students decide to act a role, for example, pretending to be visitors from a regulatory authority (e.g. the FDA) or from a rival firm.
Another possibility is to do an actual site visit - if you're teaching in a company it may be possible to leave the training room and have the students take you on a guided tour of the facilities.
Get each student to draw his or her work area / floor / building, etc, on a large piece of paper, labeling as many things as they know how (laboratory, changing room, rest area, etc)
Give them the basics about how to welcome visitors, useful expressions and how to pose and respond to visitors questions.
Then, arrange the group so that the other students 'visit' one student's work area. The selected student has to 'welcome' his visitors, show everyone around ('on your left you can see the store room' , 'please follow me' , 'mind the step!'....) and finally respond to the other student's questions.
Meanwhile, the other students can be thinking up questions or thinking of alternative expressions.
Unless you have a bunch of students who work in exactly the same place in the same company, this exercise is quite interesting.
It can also be funny if the other students decide to act a role, for example, pretending to be visitors from a regulatory authority (e.g. the FDA) or from a rival firm.
Another possibility is to do an actual site visit - if you're teaching in a company it may be possible to leave the training room and have the students take you on a guided tour of the facilities.
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markphillips_helsinki
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:05 pm
I've had this problem too....one student works in finance, another in customer services, another in sales. They find each others specific vocabularies dull...they each want to focus on their own area naturally.
It's often a useful question to ask to the students what they have in common. In my class it turned out to be motivation and problem solving. We worked around these topics fruitfully for quite a number of months, digging occasionally into each persons' particular domain. In amongst this, I tried to give a class or two to each persons' specific needs, with activities that meant the 'expert' was leading activities that 'informed' the non-experts.
One thing that happened spontaneously that got me thinking was one of the students had to write a difficult email in response to a problem. The language was L2, so we used this as a class based activity that focused on how to get a problem solved diplomatically...how to motivate people to problem solve for you. The final draft was quite different from the initial one brought to the class by the student
Another student I had worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry. It soon became clear that I couldn't understand a great deal of what she said about her very technical subject (I have a degree in Biological Sciences as well). As her objective was to communicate with the lay public, it was clear that what was required was more communication skills, not language learning. We looked at how to provide information for different need requirements, proficient and novice. Also, how to go into detail without losing sight of the big picture. Concept check questions became something she applied to help manage the information flow. All of this helped me become accustomed with the concepts and the vocabulary and to facilitate the development of her communicative skills.
I'm not sure if this helps make a dull subject interesting, but it does offer hope that technical and dry subjects can have more 'human' dimensions that can be utilised to develop different approaches to language learning. Provided your students are happy to try something different...
Mark
It's often a useful question to ask to the students what they have in common. In my class it turned out to be motivation and problem solving. We worked around these topics fruitfully for quite a number of months, digging occasionally into each persons' particular domain. In amongst this, I tried to give a class or two to each persons' specific needs, with activities that meant the 'expert' was leading activities that 'informed' the non-experts.
One thing that happened spontaneously that got me thinking was one of the students had to write a difficult email in response to a problem. The language was L2, so we used this as a class based activity that focused on how to get a problem solved diplomatically...how to motivate people to problem solve for you. The final draft was quite different from the initial one brought to the class by the student
Another student I had worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry. It soon became clear that I couldn't understand a great deal of what she said about her very technical subject (I have a degree in Biological Sciences as well). As her objective was to communicate with the lay public, it was clear that what was required was more communication skills, not language learning. We looked at how to provide information for different need requirements, proficient and novice. Also, how to go into detail without losing sight of the big picture. Concept check questions became something she applied to help manage the information flow. All of this helped me become accustomed with the concepts and the vocabulary and to facilitate the development of her communicative skills.
I'm not sure if this helps make a dull subject interesting, but it does offer hope that technical and dry subjects can have more 'human' dimensions that can be utilised to develop different approaches to language learning. Provided your students are happy to try something different...
Mark