Designing One-to-One Language Courses
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The document outlines the design of one-to-one language courses, focusing on personalized, needs-driven, and flexible approaches tailored to individual learners. It includes essential steps such as needs analysis, level assessment, and identifying learning preferences, along with practical course design principles and sample lesson plans. The goal is to create effective and motivating learning experiences that cater to specific language skills and scenarios relevant to the student's professional or personal requirements.
Designing One-to-One Language Courses
- 1. Designing One-to-One Courses Chris Moore, Managing Director, Specialist Language Courses
- 2. One-to-One Courses are… specialistlanguagecourses.com • Needs-driven – courses focus only on the language the student’s needs • Personalised – courses reflect a student’s level and learning style and go at their pace • Flexible – courses can change to reflect emergent needs • Motivating – courses are designed for students to have a great learning experience • Collaborative – you work with the student at all stages to ensure the course is on track • Effective – courses waste no time as students progress towards their goals
- 3. Step 1. Needs Analysis specialistlanguagecourses.com One-to-One courses start by clearly identifying the learner’s language needs. These become the objectives of the course. The learner’s needs may be a. Highly focused, for example giving a company presentation in English a. More varied, such as the many types of language required to pass an English exam at school Needs Analysis needs to be detailed. It examines the specific scenarios the learner needs to use their target language in. It identifies what language knowledge and skills they need to do that effectively.
- 4. Needs Analysis specialistlanguagecourses.com How do you do a Needs Analysis with your students?
- 5. Some Questions specialistlanguagecourses.com How often do you need to use English? What accents do you need to understand? What kind of writing do you do? Who do you use English with? What words do you need to express yourself? Do you workwith native or non- native speakers? Describe in detail the key scenarios you need to use English in What kind of texts do you read in English?
- 6. Step 2. Level Assessment specialistlanguagecourses.com • Needs Analysis is combined with a language level assessment. This measures how far the learner currently is from being able to achieve their objectives. • This assessment should focus on the areas the learner will be using the language in. It should be scenario-specific, and target the relevant skills the learner will focus on during their course. • The assessment results should be shared with the learner in order to manage their expectations. • If there is a wide gap between level and needs, but not much time allocated, then course objectives will need to be scaled back to what is achievable.
- 7. Level Assessment specialistlanguagecourses.com How do you assess what level your students have?
- 8. Level Assessment specialistlanguagecourses.com Remember! Accurate assessment reflects what the student needs to do in English. Tests should therefore contain an appropriate mix of a. vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation b. speaking, listening, reading, writing And be careful! Many tests on the market are grammatically based and this may not always be relevant to what your student needs to do. In practice, for example, your student may need a strong command of a few common forms, but her vocabulary requirements may be much higher
- 9. Step 3. Learning Preferences specialistlanguagecourses.com
- 10. Learning Preferences specialistlanguagecourses.com www.vark-learn.com How do you discover your students’ learning preferences?
- 11. Course Design Principles 1 specialistlanguagecourses.com Begin with the end in mind & work backwards 1. Objectives What are you here? What’s the point of this course? What do you want to be able to do by the end of this course? 2. Language Skills required What language skills are required to achieve the learner’s objective? Better business vocabulary? Writing accurately? Speaking clearly and confidently? Understanding native speaker conversations? Understanding business reports? Summarising an argument? Ordering a beer?
- 12. Course Design Principles 2 specialistlanguagecourses.com 3. Course Pathway • How to best to introduce, practice and review the language skills identified • Scaffolding learning – how are you developing more complex language skills? • Is the context appropriate? Learning has to be meaningful, to make sense to the world outside the classroom 4. Lessons • Identify discrete modules, activities and map them out so they match the Course Pathway • Share it with your student, elicit feedback – both you and the learner need to know what’s happening • Build in regular reviews and assessments
- 14. Course Design – sample 1 specialistlanguagecourses.com 1. Objective: “I need to write company reports in English” 2. Language Skills Required: - Writing to your audience (shareholders, board of directors, staff) - Using formal language correctly – register, style, passive voice, modal verbs - Connecting ideas within and between sentences, different clause types - Using an appropriate format – headings, paragraphing - Expressing key ideas effectively, eg summary, problems, conclusions, recommendations, forecasts - Writing clear case studies and industry examples
- 15. Course Design – sample 1 specialistlanguagecourses.com 3. Course Pathway needs to include: Vocabulary - Connectors.. Within sentences, between sentences - Language to.. introduce ideas, describe cause and effect, state challenges, recommend solutions, conclude - Formal language conventions – contractions, phrasal verbs, formulaic expressions. Impersonal style - Relevant business and technical vocabulary Grammar - Reporting what happened, past tense - Describing processes, focus on passive, present tense - Using modal verbs, especially would - Forecasting future, including 1st conditional Report Writing - Understanding the audience and writing appropriately - Format, structure, paragraphing - Writing an impactful executive summary - Importance of clarity
- 16. Course Design – sample 1 specialistlanguagecourses.com 4. Lesson Plan Objectives Week 1: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Course Programme Arrival Needs Analysis & negotiation of this week’s Course Programme Describing processes, using present tense, inc passive voice and impersonal style Focus on connecting ideas effectively – sentence and paragraph level Describing the past clearly and accurately Write an effective executive summary Review
- 17. Course Design – sample 1 specialistlanguagecourses.com 4. Lesson Plan Activities Week 1: Please Zoom! Daily Record of Lessons Clarify needs – language scenarios, skills required, student priorities Language Analysis – spoken, written (contextualized to reflect needs) Learning Preferences test Map out programme, agree with student Read text describing relevant business process. Check for comprehension. Analyse structure and grammar used. target present forms and passive Focus on present – simple, continuous, perfect Practice on mixed forms (gap-fill, writing) Focus on passive (in present tense) Apply to process description – student writes text from pictures/notes Review, look at ways to improve Intro different connectors: By type (within and between sentences) By meaning (contrast, addition, exemplification, time, etc) Practice – gap fill, write examples (relevant to report subject matter) Integrate with relevant process text Take text from yesterday and improve with connectors Read past narrative (relevant to student needs, eg business case study). Check for comprehension Look at examples of grammar – past simple, continuous, perfect, modal Analyse use and balance in the text Practice using mixed forms Write a case study on a relevant topic. Use notes/video to introduce Review, look at ways to improve Read 2 examples of exec summaries – 1 good, 1 bad. Analyse - Subject - Audience - Structure - Tone - Impact Practice – words into sentences Write an executive summary (from a report where the summary has been removed), review and discuss, compare with original, look at ways to improve Review main learnings from the week, look forward to week 2
- 18. Course Design – sample 2 specialistlanguagecourses.com 1. Objective: “I want to speak better English” 2. Language Skills Required: - Key Skill 1: Speaking with clear pronunciation - Key Skill 2: Understanding a variety of accents - Scenario 1: Getting to know people, networking - Scenario 2: Talking about your interests and preferences - Scenario 3: Asking questions, responding appropriately - Scenario 4: Travelling overseas – asking for info/directions, ordering food/drink, etc - Scenario 5: Key functions - inviting, suggesting, requesting - Scenario 6: Giving opinions
- 19. Course Design – sample 2 specialistlanguagecourses.com 3. Course Pathway needs to cover: Scenario-focused language development • Introducing yourself and others, small talk, • Discussing what you and others do in free time • Getting to know people, asking questions • Going places: Asking for info, making invitations and suggestions • Travel – ordering food and drink, asking for directions, asking for help and info Pronunciation focus • Individual sounds • Intonation – word & sentence level • Connected speech Listening skills development • Listening for gist, listening for key information • Different accents – native, non-native • Dialogue practice
- 20. Course Design – sample 2 specialistlanguagecourses.com 4. Lesson Plan Objectives Week 1: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Course Programme Arrival Needs Analysis & negotiation of the week’s Course Programme Talking about yourself – self, family, job, where you live Pronunication focus Greetings, Asking questions Pron focus Describing preferences and free time activities Making invitations/ suggestions Pron focus Travelling overseas Ordering and requesting Asking for information Review
- 21. Course Design – sample 2 specialistlanguagecourses.com 4. Lesson Plan Activities Week 1: Please Zoom! Daily Record of Lessons Clarify needs – language scenarios, skills required, student priorities Language Analysis – spoken, written (contextualized to reflect needs) Learning Preferences test Map out programme, agree with student Listening to people introduce themselves Note key phrases, practice in context (mini-dialogues) Read transcript, highlight (a) target language (b) common grammatical structures (b) new vocab Practice – student introduces him/ herself (could be a famous person – teacher guesses who) Extend where appropriate – note vocabualry Pron focus: Highlight one area of weakness & review/ practice. This should be prepared beforehand. Include listening practice. Elicit greetings – formal informal Elicit question words, contextualize with simple questions Focus on question structures (a) qs about the subject (b) qs about the object Focus on intonation for questions (listening ex) Familiarisation work: gap-fill / words into sentences ‘Meeting people’ st writes qs to ask when at a party (review some language from yesterday) Roleplay above, using greetings, Q&A with teacher, review and feedback Pron focus: Highlight one area of weakness & review/ practice. Elicit free time activities – sports, hobbies Personalise – Q&A on favourite activities, when started, how often, achievements, etc. Note language as it emerges – focus on likes, dislikes, preferences Focus: language of preference – analyse, practice, contextualize Introduce invitations and suggestions in context, eg through listening /video activity – highlight and note down key phrases. Roleplay the above, review, feedback – look at question forms used, note common forms Pron focus: Highlight one area of weakness & review/ practice. Elicit target vocab – travel, accommodation, activities Note key scenarios and elicit language needed – eg asking for directions/help, ordering food/drink, requesting a room. Use listening/ video prompts Roleplay the above, note use of relevant language Note down key expressions – check understanding. Practice again. incorporate target language from previous lessons where possible. Review week’s learning points (inc pron), feedback on student progress, note areas of improvement
- 22. Find out more specialistlanguagecourses.com Specialist Language Courses organises outstanding 1:1 courses around the world. Choose from: • English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Arabic and many more • Intensive immersion courses at language schools around the world • Tailor-made in-company courses • Specialist online courses • A blend of the above Contact us to find out more: e: enquiries@specialistlanguagecourses.com t: +44 1273 757535 w: www.specialistlanguagecourses.com