An ESP Program for Entry-Level Manufacturing Workers Judith Gordon Instructor: Dr. Hsiu-Hui Su Presenter: Chia-Hsiu Lai Number: Date: May 24 th, 2012

Introduction ESP training programs for entry-level international workers with low educational backgrounds face the dual challenge of meeting these workers’ needs and convincing companies to pay for the training. This chapter describes a successful short-term program for training international in a U.S. manufacturing company in production-line ESP. The program resulted in increased individual learning, measurable improvements in job performance, and a significant return on investment, in that the monetary benefits of the program far exceeded its costs.

The company With the aim of gaining recognition as a world-class company, it has applied for certification of its standards by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 9002), and quality, safety, and advanced training are offered to all employees. These employees are inability to understand and speak English sometimes causes problems on the production floor. The company asked the ESP Program in the Division of English as an International Language at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for help. Offering a full 44-hour course based on P.148 performance goals.

The workers The company selected 15 workers for the first class based on their work ability, their work records and their need for further training in English. Their ability to speak English ranged from no ability to minimal ability to understand simple instructions and communicate basic needs. No worker could meet the company goals stated above before taking the class. The low literacy levels and a 44-hour time limit meant that we had to illustrate concepts with photos, drawings, and realia and use as many hands-on and total physical response activities as possible to make learning successful.

This figure on page 149, Module 1, getting started, introduced language common to most companies plus this company’s quality policy. Module 2-5 dealt with specific language used in the company, and Module 6 involved communication coworkers, including supervisors. This figure on page 149, Module 1, getting started, introduced language common to most companies plus this company’s quality policy. Module 2-5 dealt with specific language used in the company, and Module 6 involved communication coworkers, including supervisors.

Work processes (Module 2) Module 2 involved language that technicians use in training new workers and assigning job tasks.

Line diagrams To help workers understand their line, teaching them how to ask line technicians for names of machines and tools. They then drew simple diagrams of machines on their line and took the diagrams to their technicians to ask for the names of machines they did not know.

Tools and materials A symbolic drawing for every type of material or tool used on the line, pasted these drawings around the edge of a piece of paper, and wrote names of materials and tools in the middle. As each item was presented to the class, workers drew lines to connect the names to the respective tools and materials.

Job tasks After workers discussed the job tasks performed on their lines, they took digital photos and combined these with symbolic drawings to illustrate each job task. Workers used the resulting list of 78 tasks and illustrations to select the tasks they performed on their own lines. Working in pairs, they used the page of illustrations to practice giving instructions to other workers in the class.

Work orders, shipping labels, and shipping sheets (Module 3) Using drawings in all aspects of Module 3, even when checking the reading comprehension of work orders. The use of illustrations guaranteed that, for quality purposes, workers understood what they read instead of merely matching words to find an answer.

Quality measures related to work processes (Module 4) Working on reporting problems not only with products produced by the factory but also with labels, packing materials, and packaging, always emphasizing the necessity of identifying problems immediately.

Safety measures of work processes (Module 5) To teach the reading of safety signs, which typically consist of a series of words with no pictorial symbol, we created colorful symbols to illustrate the meaning of 63 signs appearing around the plant and taped them on the wall on 2 separate days in four groups of eight signs. The reporting of aches, pains, and accidents was treated similarly.

Communication with supervisors and other employees (module 6) Module 6 incorporated some aspects of general English as workers practiced talking about their families and activities. To teach workers how to order food in the cafeteria. Instructor read the news aloud and workers followed. The entire class understood that English is phonetically different from their native language, which made reading together and accepting help much easier.

Understanding clients and responding to their needs The program combined oral English with realia and labeled illustrations, employed pair and small-group practice, and made learning enjoyably through a rich variety of useful and interesting activities. Workers were happy that the class allowed them to individualize much of the language learned to their particular lines.

Developing appropriate materials and delivering effective instructions The ESP program developed a multimedia program on CD-ROM for training entry-level workers---both native and nonnative speakers of English---to understand oral instructions for line production, safety, and efficient work. Each module contains three sections: 1. teaching section 2. practice section 3. test section

Generating positive, observable results The program resulted in improvements in workers’ individual learning and in their job performance, and the company’s return on its investment in the program was high.

Individual leaning All workers, even those with no or minimal literacy in their native language, showed improvement in final tests of learning.

Change in job performance Questionnaire results plus interviews with line technicians and other immediate supervisors showed definite changes in job performance, with workers asking more questions, translating for other worker, reporting more problems, and starting to train new workers who were native speakers of English.

Return on investment The human resources director turned in an analysis of the company’s return on its investment in the program with a comment that benefits had far exceeded the cost.

Practical ideas Various elements that helped make this program successful were (a) the use of digital photos and drawings (b) worker participation in needs analyses and instruction (c) the introduction of something new in every class (d) frequent review (e) a combination of ESP and content-based instruction

The drawings are typical of those used in this program.

Conclusion This case study has shown, customizing the program to meet the company’s production needs and the workers’ learning needs can overcome all of these obstacles. Companies increase their bottom line, and workers beg to be allowed into the class. The company, its workers, and the ESP providers all benefit.