9.1 Telephone Conversations

Pre-listening task: Can you name any telephone etiquette rules? Do different nations have different styles of telephone communication?

Main activity: Track 12/CD2

1) You will hear four phone conversations. Decide ...who is speaking to who/ what they are talking about/ how well they know each other.

2) Listen again and complete the expressions from the conversations:

I.Pete: Hello?

John: Is _____ Pete?_____John.

John: Sorry. We were____off. Listen, I`m ______because led can`t _____it on Thursday.

Pete: I`m not sure. Can I get _____to you later?

John: Sure. I`m going out now, so give me ___ on my mobile.

John: Oh, and can you ______me Andy`s number? I can`t find it anywhere.

Pete: I haven`t got it____me, sorry.

II. John: Hello? _____Andy?

Francis: No, I`m _____, he`s out at the ______. Can I take a ____?

John: Yes, please. Can you say that John_____, and I`ll____ again____?

III. Receptionist: The line`s_____. Would you like to ____?

It`s _____for you now.

Secretary: Who`s____please?

Darshan: _____is Darshan Gandhi.

Secretary: Yes, I`ll put you ____.

IV. Simon: ______I speak to Dawn Edwards, please?

Dawn:______.

Simon: Great! I`ll _____you a call on Friday, then.

Simon: Ok. Speak____ you soon. Bye for____!

Follow-up: Work in pairs and role-play two telephone conversations: a personal and an official one.

9.2 Leaving a Message

Pre-listening task:

Which expressions can you use:

- to ask to leave a message? ______________ .

- to thank the person taking the message?_______________.

- to check the person has understood you correctly?__________.

Main activity: Tracks 13,14 /CD2

1) You will hear some phrases from telephone conversations. Listen and fill in the gaps.

A Could I leave a message, please?

B Thanks a lot. I___________.

C Does that ______________?

D Do you think you could?

E Can I ask ___________?

F Have you ___________?

G ____________, please?

H ___________taking a message?

I I______________. Thank you.

J Sorry. I didn`t _________.

K Could you ___________?

2) You will hear Kieran and Hilda speaking. Tick the expressions in Exercise 1 (a-k) you hear.

Follow-up: Have you ever spoken English in your telephone conversations? Why do some people prefer to discuss difficult matters on the phone rather than tet-a-tet ?

10.1 Giving a Formal Talk on your Research

Pre-listening task: Is there any how-to of giving a speech? Share your ideas. Do you think the way you speak affects the way people perceive you?

Main activity: Track 15/CD2 You will hear

Milan, an immunology PhD student, researching T-cell responses to viral-based malaria vaccines. He is presenting his research at the 7th European Malaria Conference at Trinity College Cambridge.

1) Listen and underline the phrases Milan uses while giving a formal talk on his research.

1. Good afternoon, everybody. / Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.

2. To start, thank you / I’d like to start by thanking you all for coming to my talk today.

3. I’m Milan Poborski and at present / My name is Milan Poborski and I’m a PhD candidate at Northumbria University.

4. I’m going to talk today / My talk today is about my recent research investigating ...

5. I’ll begin by explaining I To start with, I’ll explain briefly how T-cell responses

6. After that, I’ll / I’ll go on to describe the alternative method I have been investigating ...

7. Finally, I will discuss / I’ll conclude by discussing why this method could be useful as a way ...

8. / plan to talk for about 40 minutes, leaving plenty of time for / / will talk for about 40 minutes and then I’ll answer any questions at the end of my talk.

2) Match each pair of phrases (1-8) to their correct function (a-f) below. Note that one of the functions may be expressed with three different pairs of phrases.

a Give instructions for asking questions

b Greet the audience

c Introduce the topic of the presentation

d Introduce yourself

e Outline the structure of the presentation

f Thank the audience for coming

Follow up:

1) Comment on the way Milan is going to organize his talk.

2) Think of a piece of the research (course paper) you have done recently. Use the words and phrases in Exercise 1 to help you plan the introduction to a presentation about your research (course paper).