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

2. 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?
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

3. 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)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

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

5. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

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

7. 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)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

8. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

9. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

10. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

11. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

12. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

13. 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.
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

14. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

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

16. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

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

18. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

19. 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)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

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

21. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

22. 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)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

23. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen
Speaking
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

24. 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)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

25. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen
Reading
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

26. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen
Writing
There is a large variety of writing tasks, ranging from writing business letters and s 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)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

27. 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.
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

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

29. Teaching cultural awareness
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

30. 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)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

31. Teaching cultural awareness
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

32. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

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

34. 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!)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

35. 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
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

36. 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)
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

37. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen
Teach learning skills
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press/Cornelsen

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