In Company Pre-Int TB

FINAL

PROOF

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classroom is an artificial environment in which imagination

Grammar syllabus

and fantasy play an essential role. Whilst learnersÕ

At pre-intermediate level, although students have met some

backgrounds and needs must be respected, what happens in

of the major structures previously, they are meeting others for

the classroom doesnÕt necessarily have to be a rehearsal for

the first time. The approach in In Company Pre-intermediate

real life. It is unlikely that students will have to use their

is to highlight the grammar as it naturally emerges in the

English in a situation in which they are approached by an

activities. Meaning and concept are made clear through

executive headhunter (Unit 11, page 53), or discover that a

context and example, and provision is made for adequate

job candidate is a fraud (Unit 14, page 65). Yet situations like

controlled practice before students attempt to use the

these have a dramatic impact which makes the target

language in a more ambitious context. Throughout the

language memorable.

course, there is a strong, progressive grammar syllabus, which

Why are the units divided into categories?

learners particularly appreciate at this level. This is backed up

by fifteen Grammar links (at the back of the StudentÕs Book),

In Company Pre-intermediate contains four types of unit:

cross-linked to the fifteen main skills-based units, which

Conversation skills, Work issues, Connecting and Company

provide more explicit explanation and practice exercises.

life.

Controlled practice

Conversation skills

Acquiring communication strategies for a variety of work-

For pre-intermediate students, the most appreciated parts of

the lesson are often those moments when they are asked to

related and social contexts is the main emphasis of these

produce stretches of accurate English in a controlled context.

units. Functional language is presented and practised through

In Company Pre-intermediate places special emphasis on

dialogues. There is some lexical input but no grammar focus

controlled practice as part of the build-up for fluency-based

in these units.

work. For example, students listen to a conversation and then

Work issues

reconstruct it from prompts before going on to act out their

These units are built around themes which are common to all

own dialogues.

working situations such as work-related stress, time

Class Cassettes and CDs

management, office gossip, business travel and working from

home. The approach taken is designed to bring these topics

Throughout the course, substantial use is made of audio

to life. For example, in Unit 14 Hiring and firing, the themes

recordings to input business expressions and grammatical

of sacking and labour conflicts have been included because

structures. Indeed, very little of the language work is not

topics like these are likely to generate strong opinion and

either presented or recycled in a recording.

interest in the classroom.

The recordings feature both native and non-native speaker

Connecting

accents, providing the students with extensive exposure to

The focus of these units is the world of communication and

real spoken English. There is frequently an element of

humour in the recordings which, besides entertaining the

travel. Particular importance has been given to the Internet

students (and teacher!), motivates them to listen again for

and the role of information technology in present-day

things they missed the first time round. The target language in

business practice. Not only does this reflect the reality of the

the units is printed in bold in the recordings (provided at the

IT revolution in the workplace over recent years, but it also

back of the StudentÕs Book and in the TeacherÕs Book with

gives students the opportunity to look at the conventions and

the accompanying lesson notes).

language of this world.

Company life

How can I exploit the dialogues further?

These units include tense work to enable learners to discuss

Distinguish between different types of listening skills practice.

The exercises are initially task-based activities which focus on

their routines, past experiences, achievements and future

comprehension. However, it is also important to give learners

plans in relation to their work and their company. Students

the opportunity to listen to texts again in a more detailed

are also encouraged to think outside the realms of their own

way. In other words, having understood what was said, you

experience and use their imagination, for example, by

should then give some attention to how things are said. Try

inventing their own dot.com (Unit 1, page 9) or writing a

the following intensive listening techniques:

report on a company with problems (Unit 10, page 48).

¥

allow the students to listen to the recording again in a

Categorising the units in this way helps teachers to identify

relaxed way while they follow the script at the back of the

more easily areas which are of interest to their students. It

StudentÕs Book.

also helps students to keep track of the progress they are

¥

pause the recording after questions for students to recall or

making.

predict the response (if they write these down as they go,

Lexical syllabus

you can ask them to recall the questions as well at the

end).

In Company Pre-intermediate devotes a lot of attention to

¥

pause the recording after responses to questions and ask

students to think of other possible responses.

lexis, which is presented through both written and recorded

¥

pause the recording in the middle of lexical chunks

texts. Students are encouraged to take note of common

(collocations, fixed expressions) for students to complete

collocations and word building, and this is reinforced by the

them either orally or by writing them down.

optional Lexis links (at the back of the StudentÕs Book),

which can either be set for homework or made the basis of

vocabulary-building lessons.

PROOF

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FINAL

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¥ ask students to write down a recording as you play it, line

In order to avoid learner and teacher frustration, sufficient

by line. If they miss a word, encourage students to look at

preparation for both types of activity is essential, and it may

the words around it and imagine what could go in the gap.

sometimes be advisable to carry out the actual fluency activity

Ask students to compare their transcripts to the original.

in a subsequent lesson to ensure plenty of time for

Focus on common errors and spelling problems.

preparation and feedback.

¥ ask students to listen to a conversation and repeat line by

line. Then build up the conversation on the board using

TeacherÕs Book

word prompts. Ask students to re-create the conversation

In this book youÕll find comprehensive teacherÕs notes which

from the prompts.

give an overview of each unit, detailed procedural

¥ looking at the recording line by line, ask students to ÔplayÕ

instructions for all the exercises and an ÔIf youÕre short of

each line in their heads without actually speaking, and

timeÕ section at the end of each unit. These are interleaved

then listen and compare to how it actually sounds.

with the StudentÕs Book pages and contain the recordings

Reading texts

scripts which relate to the StudentÕs Book page opposite. The

StudentÕs Book pages themselves are faded slightly so that the

The reading texts in In Company Pre-intermediate have been

overprinted answer key stands out clearly, helping teachers to

chosen to involve, entertain and provoke students into lively

locate the answers easily. Suggested answers for longer tasks

discussion, as well as to contextualise key target vocabulary.

are provided in the teacherÕs notes. The Grammar and Lexis

Squeezing a text completely dry of all useful language usually

links pages may be photocopied and given to students to

demotivates a class, but many of the longer texts in In

check their answers.

Company Pre-intermediate are informationally and lexically

The book also features a Resource materials section

rich and can usefully be revisited.

containing thirty photocopiable worksheets which extend

How can I exploit the texts further?

and/or revise elements in the StudentÕs Book. These were

written by nine practising business English teachers and

Try some of the following:

provide approximately twenty extra hours of material to

¥ ask students to set each other questions on the text.

supplement the StudentÕs Book.

¥ ask students set you questions on the text, and vice versa.

Ten Ôrules of thumbÕ teaching tips

¥ give students several figures from the text and ask them to

recall the context in which they were mentioned.

¥

Avoid saying ÔLetÕs turn to page ÉÕ when starting a new

¥ read the text aloud but slur certain words/phrases and get

lesson. Instead try to generate interest in the subject matter

students to ask for repetition/clarification.

while students still have their books closed.

¥ give students the first half of 8Ð10 collocations and a time

¥

Always do the first item of an exercise with the whole class

limit in which to search for the collocates in the text.

to make sure that students know what they have to do.

¥ give students a set of miscollocates and ask them to correct

¥

When doing written exercises in pairs, donÕt let students

them by referring to the text.

write to begin with. This will encourage them to speak and

¥ read out the text pausing in the middle of collocations /

to remember their answers for a subsequent feedback

fixed expressions / idioms for students to predict the

session. Allow them to write the answers after the

completions either by shouting out or writing down the

feedback so that they have a written record to refer to at a

answer.

later date.

¥ read out the text pausing at specific vocabulary items and

¥

Use drills to give students the opportunity to get their

ask questions like: WhatÕs the opposite of X? WhatÕs the

tongues round new language. Most students enjoy well-

word we learned the other day which is like X? X is a noun:

executed drills (and itÕs also a way to pick up a flagging

whatÕs the verb form / adjective? X often goes with the word

lesson).

Y: what other words can go with Y? Give me another

¥

Students sometimes complain about not being corrected

sentence using X.

enough, but rarely about being corrected too much.

¥ ask students to read the text aloud as a pronunciation

¥

Always revise something from a previous class during the

exercise. DonÕt look at the text yourself as they read: this

lesson.

will force you to concentrate on the comprehensibility of

¥

Arrange your classroom to suit your class. In small classes,

their output. Ask them to do this in pairs.

make sure students sit near you.

¥ write key words on the board relating to the main ideas in

¥

Avoid asking questions which are impossible to answer.

the text and ask students to reconstruct the text orally.

For example, for students to answer ÔWhat does X mean?Õ

Fluency work

often requires more complicated language than youÕre

actually trying to teach.

In Company Pre-intermediate includes two types of fluency

¥

Plan your lesson backwards. Decide what you want the

students to be doing at the end of the lesson and work out

activity which draw on both the specific language presented

how to get there.

in a unit and the wider linguistic resources of the students.

¥

Keep a note of ad-hoc items which crop up and critical

These are:

mistakes that students make. Use these as the basis for

¥ roleplays and simulations, where the students are given a

informal revision and warm-up activities.

scenario and perhaps some kind of Ôpersonal agendaÕ.

¥ ÔframeworkÕ activities, where the students decide on the

Simon Clarke

content for an interview, report or phone call and the

July 2003

StudentÕs Book provides them with a linguistic framework

to help deliver that information.

(with thanks to Mark Powell)

PROOF

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FINAL

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