Sources for videos to teach Business English

This blog has experienced a four month haitus because I've been doing an online course with International House for teaching business English. I'm almost at the finish line, writing the final essay, and now I'll be able to spend more time updating with ideas that I've only had the time to jot down in between work and the course.

 I'd like to share some videos that are ripe for business English lesson adaptation and fit right into the skills and subskills of the business English world (meetings, negotiations, interviews, etc.). I haven't adapted any lessons to these yet, but at least they have a place to hang out until I do.

Sources:

TED talks - TED is my go-to source when I want to use video to spice things up. Often (and especially if I notice that the students could use a little change), I give a "Find a TED talk" homework assignment. I show them the 'browse video' page, how to search by various parameters (topic, length, popularity, etc.) and then tell them to find a video, watch it (with or without English subtitles), write down any vocabulary that they don't know, look up the words, and give a summary of the video to the class the next day. It's great how involved they get and how their choice of video allows them to share their personal interests with the class.

Film English: Kieran Donaghy, the creator of this site, finds interesting videos across the web and designs entire lesson plans based either on topic (lexis sets), or grammar. They're detailed, clear, interesting, and he even has a glossary of film terminology and concepts that range from ´cinematography´ to a breakdown of all different kinds of shots (aerial, birds-eye view, long, etc.), each with their own embedded example from films throughout the history of cinema. Preeetty preeetty good.

Videos to teach skills and subskills of business English:

Here are some videos I've found that can be incorporated into business English lessons. I'll list them by topic and by skill, whichever is the most relevant.

                                           Sales/Promotion, Marketing:

The first clip is an example of business failures from comedy central's Nathan For You. Students could rate the ideas from best to worst, discuss why the ideas failed, whether they've experienced something similar with their companies, and this could lead into a lesson on Sales/Promotion or Marketing lexis.

Fake Promo for a lawyer from Breaking Bad.

Meetings/Conference Calls/Technology 

A humorous skit which shows all the problems with conference calling, but in real life.

 Again, a ranking activity seems best.

Presentations, Graphs

Life After Death by PowerPoint by Don McMillan -

 a great way to start a discussion about do’s and don’ts when presenting. 

Negotiations

Mad men - Peggy negotiates her own office.

Miscellaneous
 Michael Scott from The Office being a classy boss. Not sure where to categorize this, but maybe on the topic of company structure/hierarchy or human resources (bad practices?).

Thanks for reading and hope it's useful!

Lesson Plan: "Imagine Finding Me" - Chino Otsuka

Chino Otsuka

Chino Otsuka - Imagine Finding Me 

Lesson Plan: Imagine Finding Me, Chino Otsuka

Level: B1+

   Language aim: Physical descriptions/clothes, comparative structures, ‘Used to’.

1. Ask students if they have a photo album where they keep family photos or photos of themselves when they were young. “When was the last time you looked at them?”
2. Tell the students that they’re going to look at some photos by a woman called Chino Otsuka who has had quite a lot of success with her work.
3. Show the first photo (if a student recognises them, ask him/her to not tell the information): Ask the following questions.
1. Where do you think this is? (There is English and Spanish text in the window, so be open to answers) When was this photo taken and how do you know? (From now to the last 40 years based on clothes, architecture…)
2. What is the relationship between the two people and why do you think so? ( Mother –daughter, aunt – niece, Big sister, Cousins, etc.)
3.  How old are they? (elicit, “about…”, “in her mid/early/late….”)
4. Go to the next photo. Ask:
1. Where and when was this photo taken? (Japan, based on the characters, though be open to the correct pronunciation of “China”). “When” can also elicit time of year (going on holiday or a day trip)
2. Are these the same people as in the previous photograph?
3. Who do you think took the picture?
5. Next photo:
1. How do you think these people are feeling? Why? (Physical distance between them could imply annoyance, irritation, etc.)
2.  What could have happened before the moment the photo was taken? (elicit may/might/could + have + participle)
6. Next photo:
1. Where was this photo taken (Europe, Asia…)?
2.  What are they doing? (elicit “having a break/snack”, “sightseeing”)
3. Do you think these are the same people? How old do they look? (It should be obvious that either the younger girl has grown or that it might be a different girl)
7. Ask the students why they think these photographs have been so successful. Is there anything special about them? The composition, the content…etc.? Then tell them that the photographer photoshopped/superimposed recent images of herself as an adult onto old images of herself as a child.
8. Go to the next slide and elicit comparisons:
1. How has she changed physically?
2. What do you think she used to like doing as a child? Does she feel the same as an adult?
9. Discussion Questions on next slide:

·      •Why do you think the photographer made these photos? What is she trying to say?

·      •Think about photos or videos you have of yourself as a child. Tell your partner about the photos (where, when, what was happening, etc.) What do you remember from those moments? Can you remember things that you used to like doing that you don’t anymore?

·      •If your childhood self traveled in time to the present day and found you, what do you think he/she would say or ask you? What would you say to him/her?

·      •Do you have any memories that you would have liked to have captured in a photograph or video? Why?

·      •Do you think that people will continue to print and make photo albums in the future? Or, will we keep our images in digital formats , e.g. on facebook, instagram, our computers?

·      •Media, images, and even books are now disappearing in physical format and moving to digital spaces. Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of printed material versus digital files. 

10. Optional follow-up: students bring childhood photos to class the next day and share with the class. They can describe the photo, what they used to be like, what they would do, what was difficult to get used to when they grew up, etc.

Chino Otuska

Chino Otsuka

Chino Otsuka

Green Eggs and Ham

Lesson Plan

Level: Elementary to Pre-intermediate (A2)

Language aim: Listening, prepositions (in, on, with)

Topic: children's stories/morals

1. Ask the students: "Have you ever eaten food that was a different color than what you had expected? E.g. Green ketchup? Clear coca cola? Century Eggs? Black pasta? Did it taste differently than the ''normal-colored" food?

2.  Tell the students that they're going to watch a video of an English author (Neil Gaiman of novels and comic books, including "The Sandman" and "Coraline") read a short book called "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. The students listen/watch the video and fill-in the gaps of the sentences below. (You may have to explain that "SAM-I-AM" is the name of the character...)

Complete the following:

Where does "SAM-I-AM" suggest eating green eggs and ham?

Part I:

1. Would you like them here or there?

2. Would you like them _____ ___ ____________?

3. Would you like them  _____ ___ ____________?

4. Would you eat them  _____ ___ ____________?

5. Would you eat them  _____ ___ ____________?

6. Would you, could you  _____ ___ ____________?

7. You may like them  _____ ___ ____________.

8. Could you, would you,  _____ ___ ____________?

9. Would you, could you, _____ ___ ____________?

10. Would you, could you,  _____ ___ ____________?

11. Could you, would you,  _____ ___ ____________? 

12. Would you, could you,  _____ ___ ____________?

Part II:

What do you think the moral of the story is?  

a. If you are persistent, you can convince anyone to do what you want.

b. Food tastes better if you eat it in different places and in the company of small mammals.

c. You should try things before judging them.

answers:

1. Would you like them here or there?

2. Would you like them in a house?

3. Would you like them with a mouse?

4. Would you eat them in a box?

5. Would you eat them with a fox?

6. Would you, could you in a car?

7. You may like them in a tree.

8. Could you, would you, on a train?

9. Would you, could you, in the dark?

10. Would you, could you, in the rain?

11. Could you, would you, with a goat? 

12. Would you, could you, on a boat?

The gist question is obviously open to debate, but the generally-accepted conclusion is that the answer is "C".

Post-task (depending on level): 

In groups of 2-3, the students write a short children's book. First, elicit one-syllable words. (Or write on the board: life, one, eye, cat, air, king, ate, end, near, love, day, it, at, see, go.) This lesson can either branch off into a pronunciation lesson, focusing on rhyming vowel phonemes and writing poems, or it can become a group creative writing assignment to write a short children's' book with a moral. Elicit common lessons that young children usually learn and/or provide a list if necessary. (I found a list of morals to aesop's fables HERE.)

• "Appearances are often deceiving." - The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
• "Slow and steady wins the race." - The Hare and the Tortoise
• "Little friends may become great friends." - Aesop's fables: Lion and the Mouse

If the level of the class is elementary, I would suggest focusing on pronunciation and/or poetry, rather than writing a full children's story. Another option is to eliminate the moral and allow the students more liberty in the creation period. 

Of course, there are many more alternatives - feel free to adapt as fit!

Jamie Keddie and Videotelling - a treetop rescue review

         In my classes, I find myself wondering how I can structure my lessons to be more engaging - both mentally and emotionally. Oftentimes, I see my students sighing into their watches in the middle of a written gap-fill exercise (working in pairs or not) and I can't help but feel that clock-gazing is equivalent to boredom. After some reflection, I come to the logical conclusion that mental exercise, just like physical exercise, can be strenuous and it is completely normal for a person to reach a saturation point. But, there is a part of me that believes that it's possible for every class to be so engaging that despite the level of difficulty or challenge, time seems to fly by and so, I'd like to talk about one of the methods I've found to be effectively engaging for students and something that I think is worth a closer look.

   "Videotelling" is a teaching method developed by Jamie Keddie, in which lessons are centered around videos or pictures and the material (and target language) is controlled by the teacher. This means that the teacher becomes a sort of "primary source" in the classroom - students work harder to decipher new sounds and meanings without the aid of written material, a dynamic that mimics situations in 'the real world' (i.e. going through customs, making a doctor's appointment by telephone, etc.). In his words:

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Video + storytelling = Videotelling. In this technique, the teacher is the deliverer of the material. The delivery process is a whole class communicative event. The secret to videotelling is to decide what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. This will force you to consider ways to encourage learners  to interact (e.g. what questions are you going to ask?)

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       I saw Jamie speak at a conference last spring and I was impressed. Without showing the audience any pictures or videos, he evoked a very particular image - men holding a hammerhead shark above their heads on a street in Somalia. He evoked this image through eliciting information from the audience and delivering his prepared speech, while simultaneously highlighting target vocabulary, grammar points and language chunks. What was telling here, is that by virtue of withholding the visual information, every single person had a different and unique image in their mind, a visual image that had been activated through aural stimulation before seeing any 'real' image at all. This withholding created a suspense that made the 'revealing moment' (the punch line, the twist ending, what have you) that much more powerful and therefore, emotionally engaging. 

      I've done quite a few of Mr. Keddie's lessons, (found here), the most successful being "Mr. W" (a commercial for alternative energy personifying the wind), "Speechless" (a woman rejects a marriage proposal at a halftime basketball game), and "If the earth had rings..." (a video demonstration of the earth with rings like Saturn). But today I did "Treetop Rescue" for my B1 level students to review transport lexis and I'd like to reflect on that here. 

     In this lesson, the teacher elicits a hobby (Radio Controlled Model Aircraft flying) through a teacher-led game of closed questions. Then, the students work in pairs to define relevant words (e.g. 'runway', 'take off', 'aircraft', etc.). The teacher reads the story of a man named Ben who went with his friend one day to fly his RC model aircraft in the countryside. But what happens? The plane gets stuck at the top of a tall tree. The students are told that Ben gets his plane back in five minutes and they can figure out how by reading a dialogue between two people who witnessed the whole thing go down. The dialogue reveals that there were two men in a helicopter who saw the plane get stuck, they fly down to retrieve the plane, and then land to give the model plane back to lucky Ben. 

    In my class, I immediately noted a change of energy when I began the activity - guessing the hobby together brought up intrigue and suspense. However, when I asked the students to define the terms I'd written on the board, I sensed the familiar tone of drudgery. The students enjoyed reading the dialogue aloud for the class (in manners of elicited adverbs, "cheerily", "angrily", "lazily") but the "reveal moment" didn't have the effect I was expecting. I couldn't tell if they actually enjoyed the lesson or not and found myself questioning how effective the lesson was in terms of the language aim. It's true that the students reviewed some transport lexis, but beyond that, there was little activation. I could have continued with some discussion questions, or asked follow-up questions as a group, but time was up and they had already started packing.

     In some of the lessons I've used, there has been a low level of language activation in the students. It's true that students activate target structures through mimicking and urging on my part, but I've found it effective to supplement the materials with activities which encourage the students to create/produce their own relevant language.

      Another factor is the strong aspect of storytelling that is essential for his lessons to work. The teacher must be comfortable telling stories and must learn to draw out silences in order to allow students to explore further possibilities (for example during the stage of eliciting possible explanations for the aircraft's prompt return.) Personally, I have never been the kind of person to mesmerize others with stories or jokes, but I welcome the opportunity to develop this side of myself.

     So, in sum, I highly recommend his website and method, especially for teachers looking to incorporate video, current events, and creative ways of teaching 'tired' themes, but I would also recommend incorporating other materials and methods to address other learners' styles.