b Professional Development Session:
Giving Lessons Without Material
Activity 1:
As a whole group, the instructors
brainstorm when they would have
to give lessons without material.
Set the right expectations with
instructors
Tell the instructors the Policy for rush-ordering material
Set the right expectations with
customers
Ask the instructors what we
should tell the students, and who
should tell them. Then clarify the
points at the right.
• When the student wants to start immediately and Berlitz material
is not in stock
• When special non-Berlitz material is required, and it has not
arrived by the start of the lessons
• When the student has a special program of “discussion”,
“conversation”, “practice”, etc.
• Last-minute instructor replacement off-site
• Berlitz material is not adequate for a particular lesson
• Student’s level is evaluated in the first lesson, and special
material is then found to be required.
• We make every effort to provide the materials in time for the
start of the lessons, including postponing start dates when
possible.
• However, sometimes a student needs to start his/her lessons
before material is available.
• Rush-ordering material implies extra cost for the LC
• Rush-orders must be authorized by the Country Manager (John
Bennett), and will only be authorized in special cases
• There is no guarantee the material will arrive in time anyway
• Instructors should be prepared to teach without material if
necessary. This is not a problem, if the instructor understands
what to do, and does not panic. We can teach the student
relevant language items in a professional way, and be confident
that we are giving the student what we have promised him, even
though the materials have been delayed.
• Salesperson must set the right expectation with the customer
• In order to customize a program, Berlitz does a Needs
Analysis on the first day of class. If non-Berlitz material is
needed, it will be ordered according to the results of this
Needs Analysis. This implies a certain delay.
• If the customer understands that there is a specific process that
Berlitz follows to (1) diagnose their exact needs, and (2) make
sure the material ordered is appropriate, the customer will not
mind waiting for a few classes to get this material.
• Instructor must confirm the expectations, and give timely
information to the LIS about the student’s needs
• LIS must give information to DIS as quickly as possible, so that
special non-Berlitz material can be ordered
• The instructor must make the interim classes
productive and directly related to the student’s needs.
US Training + Development
June 2004
Making the lesson productive
without material
Activity:
The instructors work in pairs to
come up with a list of how they
would handle the lessons without
materials.
When they are done, debrief their
answers as a whole group, and
write them on the flipchart.
Helping the students realize
they are benefiting from classes
without materials
Activity:
The instructors split into two
groups, and brainstorm how they
can show students that they are, in
fact, benefiting from these
lessons.
When they are done, have the two
groups compare ideas. Each
instructor should write these ideas
on a piece of paper or index card,
to take away from the PDS.
The instructor’s attitude will make all the difference. If the
instructor is prepared to handle these lessons, the student will
automatically follow the instructor’s lead.
- If the student is using a combination of Berlitz and non-Berlitz
material, obviously they would start with the Berlitz material first.
- If there is a copy of the special material already in the LC, they can
teach from that, even if the student doesn't have his copy yet.
- They can use an Instructor's Manual for the appropriate level to
identify grammar strengths and weaknesses, and work with some
task-based activities to improve accuracy.
- They can work with a role play or discussion topic, tape-recording
and playing it back for the student to identify areas of improvement,
whether for pronunciation, fluency, accuracy, strength of argument,
successfully developing a topic, etc.
- They can work with vocabulary or idioms for a few days, using
authentic material that is relevant to the student.
- The instructor can make a mind-map with the student, to identify
the uses he will have for the new language, to review what language
content the student has already mastered in these situations, and to
show what areas the student will need additional practice with.
- For writing programs, the student can bring recent writing samples
from real life and go over these in class with the instructor.
- For low-level exotic languages, the instructor can model what he is
teaching on any low-level Berlitz material (colors, numbers, family,
introducing self, food items, etc.) or the lesson plans prepared for
the Crystal Cruise lessons.
In order to help students realize the progress they are making in
these first few lessons, the instructor should:
• look for specific areas for improvement and point them out to
the student
• give honest feedback to learners about their progress
• constantly challenge the learners to think harder and say more in
class.
• Assign homework each lesson – have the student write a few
sentences, or read something to discuss in the next lesson, etc.
• Make sure the content of the lessons is directly related to the
student’s identified needs
• Once the material arrives, the instructor should make an effort to
integrate the activities done over those first few days, or the
weaknesses discovered, into the rest of the program, so that there
is continuity and flow to the program.
US Training + Development
June 2004
Additional practice Practice some of the activities in the BIT, modules 5-A, 5-B, 5-C, 5-D.
These modules give many ideas for working with different skills in
isolation as well as in combination.

Tie-Up

Once we have diagnosed what the student needs out of a program,

the instructor should be able to focus their lesson on that, even if
the required material is not readily available.

It is up to the LIS to make sure that the instructors feel

comfortable enough to do this, by giving them guidelines and in
some cases assisting the instructor in making specific lesson plans.

US Training + Development
June 2004