Needs Analysis- Extended Speaking and Instant Practice

Needs analysis extended speaking and instant personalised practice

Think of one, real (specific/ particular, past, present or future) situation in your life where you have to use English such as one of the situations below. Describe the situation to your partner in as much detail as you can, speaking for a minute or two non-stop if possible. They will then ask you questions about that situation and using English at that time.

A challenging A common A daily A disastrous A memorable A recent A regular A semi-annual A successful A tricky A typical A weekly An annual An important An unsuccessful An upcoming An urgent The last/ next	English conversation English document English email English interview English meeting English networking event English online discussion English phone call English presentation English report English Skype call English small talk English social situation English speech English teleconference training in English English videoconference workshop in English	that I (will) attend/ (have) attended that I (will) have/ had/ (have) had that I (will) make/ (have) made that I (will) read/ (have) read that I (will) receive/ (have) received that I (will) take/ have taken part in that I (will) write/ wrote/ have written
A person who	I email/ (have) emailed emails/ (has) emailed me I (will) speak/ have spoken to I (will) meet/ (have) met	recently last next regularly a lot sometimes occasionally

 

Suggested questions after listening to your partner describe their situation

• Did you find it…?
• Did you think about…?
• Did you try to…?
• Did you/ he/ she understand…?
• How did you/ he/ she respond to…?
• How did you/ he/ she feel about…?
• How did… start/ end?
• How difficult was it to…?
• How often do you…?
• If it happened again, would you…?
• Was it (very)… (for you/ for him/ for her)?
• When did you/ he/ she first/ last…?
• Who started/ ended…?
• Why didn’t you/ they…?

Useful language/ Suggested sub-topics

Situations

• (formal) banquet
• going out for drinks
• job interview
• product launch
• regular meeting
• town hall meeting
• trade fair/ conference

People

• acquaintance
• auditor
• colleague (= workmate/ co-worker)
• customer/ client
• direct boss/ line manager
• fellow guest
• fellow passenger
• friend/ mate
• help desk staff
• middle manager
• neighbour
• PA/ secretary
• people in other branches/ departments/ divisions/ sections/ teams
• receptionist
• sales rep/ supplier/ vendor
• shop assistant
• someone from the Netherlands/ The Philippines/ Belgium/ The Czech Republic/…
• stranger (e.g. passer-by)
• subcontractors
• temp staff
• the authorities (civil servants, politicians, etc)
• the general public
• top manager/ executive/ director
• visitor

Documents

• agenda
• cover letter
• CV/ résumé
• (application/ online) form
• job references
• memo(random)
• minutes
• (feedback) questionnaire

Kinds of language/ Kinds of communication

• (polite) negative replies
• active listening/ listening sympathetically
• advice/ recommendations/ feedback
• apology
• asking for payment
• asking for permission
• booking/ making reservations
• checking progress
• checking/ confirming/ clarifying
• command/ instructions/ reminder/ demanding action
• complaint
• describing (products/ services, company, job, figures/ trends, etc)
• directions on how to get somewhere
• enquiry
• giving bad news
• giving good news
• introducing other people
• introducing yourself
• invitations
• making arrangements (fixing meetings, etc)
• meeting people (for the first time/ again)
• negotiating
• networking (being a host, being a guest, etc)
• offer
• purchasing/ ordering products
• request
• rescheduling
• selling
• sending attachments/ discussing topics
• thanking

Formality

• very formal
• formal
• medium formality
• fairly informal
• very informal/ very casual

Difficulties

• accent/ pronunciation
• accuracy/ errors
• cultural differences
• fluency
• politeness/ level of formality
• speed
• thinking time/ silence
• turn taking/ interrupting

 

Ask about any words above you don’t understand or have questions about doing in English, each time sharing your experiences.

Which of the things above are priorities for you?

Personalised roleplays

Describe one situation using English that you’d like to practise, e.g. something you often do in English, have particular problems doing, will have to do soon, or often do in your job and might have to do in English. It can be one of the situations that you described before or something different. Describe it in as much detail as you can, including who the other person is, and then roleplay that situation with your partner. Roleplay the whole exchange, from the very beginning to the very end, with you as yourself and your partner taking the role of the other person. If it is written communication (an email exchange, online chat, etc), just take turns saying what you would write, without writing anything but including absolutely everything that you would write (names, greetings, etc).

 

Post-roleplays reflection and brainstorming

What functions were there in those exchanges? What language did you use to do those things? What other phrases have the same functions?

How did you start and finish those exchanges? What other language can be used to start and finish that kind of communication?

Which of the things mentioned in today’s lesson do you most need to improve?

What can you do outside class to improve on those things?

Share your experiences of learning English (inside and outside of class):

• Conversation exchange
• English club/ Study group
• Grammar practice
• Language learning app(lication)
• Language learning games
• Learning idioms/ idiomatic language
• Learning things by heart
• Listening practice
• Movies
• Music
• Podcasts
• Preparing before using English
• Pronunciation practice
• Radio
• Reading practice
• Recording your own voice
• Self-study book
• Skype lessons
• Social media
• Speaking to strangers
• The phonemic script
• Translation
• TV programmes
• Using a dictionary
• Using a digital voice recorder
• Using English abroad (= overseas = in foreign countries)
• Vocabulary practice
• Websites
• Writing practice