Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Success Matters – Teaching English At Vocational Colleges With "Matters" Books Wolfgang Towara, StD 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Vocational training in Germany 1. What are the guidelines of teaching at vocational colleges in Germany? 2. What‘s the purpose of vocational training in Germany? 3. What does vocational training in Germany look like? 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Guidlines of teaching at vocational colleges General Curriculum valid for the whole of Germany (State) Curriculum valid for each federal state (each state determines its own curriculum) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Purpose of vocational colleges in the dual system Generally speaking, vocational colleges provide Vocational Training General Education 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

The specified aims of vocational colleges are to provide a theoretical vocational background necessary for a particular job prepare for flexibility in a job promote willingness for extented vocational training and life-long learning 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Vocational training is part of the Dual Educational System which combines company training training at the vocational college 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

company training training at the vocational college 40 weeks of on-the 12 weeks of classroom job training (35 – 40 teaching (41 hours/week, hours/week, mainly mainly theory) practical work) (day or block release) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

General principles of teaching English at vocational colleges 1. Why should we teach/learn job-related English? 2. What is job-related English? 3. Principles of job-related English 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Why should we teach/learn job-related English? Trade and work have become international Computers are an indispensable tool in all kinds of jobs The Internet has made the world a ‘global village‘ English has been established as an international means of communication 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

What is job-related English? (1) Model A: Technical terms (job-related terms) G e n e r a l E n g l i s h 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

What is job-related English? (2) Model B: G e n e r a l E n g l i s h J o b – r e l a t e d E n g l i s h G e n e r a l E n g l i s h 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

What is job-related English? (3) is not just teaching and learning technical terms (in technical texts technical terms are below 10 per cent) centres expecially on the students‘ needs in their later jobs should improve the knowledge and skills necessary to fulfill job-related tasks 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

What is job-related English? (4) Teaching job-related English means to put students into typical situations which they encounter in their jobs (and in normal life). The students should acquire the skills to cope with these situations in English. 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Principles of job-related English Create job-related real life situations Practise all skills - listening, speaking, reading, writing Deal properly with multi-level classes Teach cultural awareness Show tolerance concerning language mistakes in spoken English Use grammar only as a ‘servant‘ to make communication possible Inspire students to learn and improve their language skills on their own Change your teaching methods during each lesson Teach learning techniques 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

How to transfer these job-related principles into practical teaching? The “Matters“ books are the answer 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

The “Matters“ textbooks for students Basic concept of the “Matters“ textbooks: In 12 units students get confronted with various aspects of authentic job-related situations ( in reading, writing, listening and speaking) The situations deal with the job reality of the students in their specific jobs The “Matters“ textbooks teach the students how to cope with situations they are faced with in their jobs in English 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

The “Matters“ textbooks for students 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Teacher‘s book The teacher‘s book – A valuable support for teachers Teachers who are no specialists in the job/subject can adequately teach job-related English on a high level The preparation time is reduced significantly 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Create job-related real life situations Job-related real life situations are presented to the students The teaching is task-related, i.e. the students are given the chance to use the language in simulated real life situations (in pair work, role plays, group work, etc.) ( see IT-Matters page 4/5) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Practise all language skills: Listening Speaking Reading Writing 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Listening All “Matters“ textbooks contain lots of listening exercises (e.g. IT-Matters has 25 listening exercises) The listening tapescripts are printed at the end of the textbooks. Thus they can be used as reading exercises or as references for weak students/for corrections) see IT-Matters Unit 2 (Dealing with a customer), exercise 9: Choosing the right equipment, p. 19 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Speaking There are a variety of “real-life“ situations in the textbook stimulating oral interaction, e.g. Trade fair planning Plan the representation of your company at a trade fair (IT-Matters p. 83) Discussing a project: Set up a website for your local cinema (IT-Matters p. 90) A “Learning skill“ box dealing with “How to improve my speaking skills“ is also provided. (IT-Matters p. 39) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Speaking 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Reading There are many reading texts with a large variety of exercises, e.g. A concise guide to trade fair participation (IT-Matters p. 80) with a gap-filling exercise and the task to design a mind- map, etc. A “Learning skill“ box dealing with “How to read a difficult text“ is also provided. (IT-Matters p. 48) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Reading 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Writing There is a large variety of writing tasks, ranging from writing business letters and e-mails to writing a letter of application, e.g. Confirming an order (IT-Matters p. 30) Covering letter (IT-Matters p. 100) Writing an invoice (IT-Matters p. 112) An info-box “The structure of a business letter“ dealing with the layout of business letters is also provided. (IT-Matters p. 101) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Dealing with multi-level classes properly How can we tackle the problem of multi-level classes? Each unit contains “Advanced Material“. This material can be worked on by good students, e.g. Gadget Galore - a text on innovative products. (IT-Matters p. 86) There are exercises with various levels which can be worked on by students with different levels, e.g. IT-Matters p. 81: Weak students do exercise 4 (Complete questions) whereas good students create a mind-map of the text. 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Dealing with multi-level classes properly 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Teaching cultural awareness 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Teaching cultural awareness Teaching cross-cultural differences is very important in a globalized world. The “Matters“ books deal with this important issue in several units, e.g. Making small talk (IT-Matters p. 73) Useful advice (IT-Matters p. 75) Critical incidents (IT-Matters p. 76/77) A “Learning skill“ box dealing with “How to improve my cultural awareness“ is also provided. (IT-Matters p. 75) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Teaching cultural awareness 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Grammar is only a “servant“ Grammar no longer plays the dominant role it used to Make sure it only serves the purpose to put the desired message across Grammatical structures will be backwashed when used frequently in class Grammar should always be introduced and practised in job-related contexts Grammar should be introduced where it is actually needed The “Matters“ books revise all important grammatical structures to put all students on a common level Example: IT-Matters p.46,47: The Passive 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Grammar is only a “servant“ 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Inspire students to learn and improve their language skills on their own Normally there are not enough lessons available per year for English at vocational colleges Teachers (and teaching material) should give incentives to students to improve their command of English on their own The “Matters“ books have the learning skill boxes and the grammar in Chinese to make it easier for students to look at this information on their own. Inspire students to use modern media such as CDs, computer software, etc. (Teach life-long learning!) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Change your teaching methods during each lesson Change your teaching methods during each lesson to avoid monotony and boredom Use pair work, group work, role plays, group discussions, students‘ presentations,etc. The “Matters“ books offer a large variation of exercises in each unit ensuring motivating changes of methodology, e.g.: IT-Matters p.18: Pairwork and dialogue: Arranging a meeting, p. 19: At Architects International (Listening exercise), p. 19: Pairwork and presentation: Planning a computer system 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Teach learning skills When learning, learning skills are important for all subjects and in all aspects of life Learning skills help the students to learn more efficiently All “Matters“ books contain several learning skills, e.g. in IT-Matters: “How to improve my English (p. 9), What is mediation? (p. 22), How to learn new vocabulary? (p. 31), How to improve speaking (p. 39), How to read a difficult text? (p. 48), How to learn grammar? (p. 57), How to improve my listening skills? (p. 64), How to develop cultural awareness? (p. 75) 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen Teach learning skills 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen The “Matters“ books – A successful way to improve your students‘ English 27.11.2018 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen