Business English for IT
Instructor Handbook
Produced in partnership between Creativa and the U.S. Embassy of Cairo.
Written by: John Whalen, English Language Specialist
With support from the team who proposed this course, arranged and participated in
its needs assessment phase, led all sessions with the two pilot cohorts, shared example PPTs,
assessment results, and session recordings, and provided developmental feedback for it in 2023-2024:
Katie Skipper, Virtual English Language Educator
Kelsey Ulrich-Verslycken, Virtual English Language Educator
Dr. Heba Saleh, Information Technology Institute (ITI) - Chairman
Eng. Ahmed Salem, Creativa Aswan - Center Manager ITI - Aswan Branch - Branch Manager
Mr. Taha Abdel Sabour, Information Technology Institute - Aswan Branch - Training Manager
Ms. Bassma Sabry, ITI - English Program Technical Manager
The Regional English Language Office at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo
Special thanks to the Creativa teachers who participated in the 48-hour Training of
Trainers course that helped to pilot and polish this handbook. In particular, they lent their experience,
insight, and unique, diverse approaches to the addition of the Further Resources listed at the end of
each chapter as well as to the sample PPTs for each lesson that are to be shared throughout Creativa.
Ahmed Taha Othman Saleh
Alzahraa Mandour Sayed
Eman Gebreel Ahmed
Fatma Alzahraa Ali Ebrahim
Menna Allah Mamdouh Soliman Yonis
Rowaa Mohammed Mohammed Ahmed Marwan
Samar Sobhy Sadek
Sumayyah Jamal Dawood
Yossr Yasser Ebrahim Ahmed
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 1 of 131]
Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2
How to Use This Handbook ................................................................................................................... 3
Course Learning Outcomes.................................................................................................................... 3
Course Scope and Sequence Table......................................................................................................... 4
Course Grading Scheme ........................................................................................................................ 5
Course Rubrics and Quizzes .................................................................................................................. 6
Presentations Rubric .......................................................................................................................... 6
Feedback Rubric ................................................................................................................................ 7
Resume Rubric (Week 3) ................................................................................................................... 8
Elevator Pitch Videos Rubric (Week 6) ............................................................................................. 9
Customer Service Instructional Videos Rubric (Week 9) ................................................................ 10
Business Proposals Rubric (Week 12) ............................................................................................. 11
Unit 1 Quiz....................................................................................................................................... 12
Unit 2 Quiz....................................................................................................................................... 15
Planning Lessons ................................................................................................................................. 19
Some General Supplementary Resources ............................................................................................ 21
Week 1: Introduction to the Business of IT ......................................................................................... 22
Week 2: Jobs in IT ............................................................................................................................... 29
Week 3: Applying to Jobs .................................................................................................................... 40
Week 4: Job Interviewing .................................................................................................................... 51
Week 5: Professional Networking........................................................................................................ 59
Week 6: Supporting Our Ideas ............................................................................................................. 69
Week 7: Meetings................................................................................................................................. 77
Week 8: Customer Service ................................................................................................................... 86
Week 9: Explaining Our Work ............................................................................................................. 93
Week 10: Collecting and Presenting Data.......................................................................................... 105
Week 11: Analyzing the Current Market ........................................................................................... 117
Week 12: Entrepreneurship ................................................................................................................ 125
Introduction
This course is intended for recent college graduates from Egypt who are at an A2-B1 level of English
and intend to soon begin a career related to Information Technology (IT). The course is 12 weeks in
length and is intended as a broad orientation to the use of business English in IT environments.
The course is designed to promote “usable skills” development in two primary ways—first by
creating opportunities for communicative exchange within relevant business/IT subtopics and second
by the completion of group projects that correspond to real language tasks in work environments,
such as job interviews and business presentations.
Each week of the course will focus on a different content area, and each week of the course will
include two sessions. Generally, the first session of each week is intended to be spent on introducing
new content, language activities, and communicative tasks, whereas the second session is intended to
be spent on scaffolded project work and/or review of prior learning.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 2 of 131]
How to Use This Handbook
Each week of this 12-week course has been given a heading that is accessible from the handbook’s
Table of Contents. For each of those weekly sections, three parts are provided:
• Two lesson plans
o Suggested lesson plans are provided. However, please note that no lesson plan is
perfect. Even if a lesson plan is somehow perfect for one group of students and their
teacher, it will not be perfect for another group of students and their teacher. For this
reason, it is expected that all teachers in this course will need to adjust the lesson plans
to best suit their students’ strengths, interests, and needs, as well as their own.
• Supplementary materials
o These materials, including items such as vocabulary lists and reading passages, are
recommended for use in the lesson plans. However, they can be modified,
supplemented, or ignored if teachers deem doing so beneficial to their classroom.
• Further Reading
o These items do not serve a direct purpose in this course as designed, but they can
provide helpful support on particular topics. The Further Reading section will generally
link to outside materials such as articles and instructional videos. Some are useful to
share with students in/after class, whereas others are best for helping the teacher
themselves learn more about content topics and feel comfortable teaching about them.
Teachers of this course would benefit from reviewing the full handbook before the course begins so
that they can anticipate the ways in which each week connects to the others and make modifications
ahead of time, if necessary. As the learning is designed to be cumulative, there may be cases in which
significantly changing one lesson has effects on the lessons that come several weeks later.
Course Learning Outcomes
Students who complete this course will be able to do the following in English:
1) Feel more confident than before in common workplace interactions, including discussions,
meetings, presentations, and interviews;
2) Feel more confident than before in negotiating for meaning when uncertain about something;
3) Recognize, understand, and utilize vocabulary terms related to our weekly topics;
→ 10-20 terms are recommended in this handbook most weeks, though instructors will
likely augment each list based on their own in-class discussions and observed needs;
4) Discuss IT-related industries and job titles for possible future employment;
5) Analyze and evaluate real entry-level IT job advertisements on the internet;
6) Prepare/edit personal resumes to emphasize self-representation, hard data, and key terms;
7) Prepare responses that show formality, confidence, and personal specificity to ten common
job interview questions;
8) Engage in “small talk” that is appropriate for the professional workplace;
9) Express opinions, preferences, and advantages/disadvantages on industry-related topics;
10) Agree and disagree politely and professionally while exchanging opinions;
11) Explain the steps required for common IT processes related to software and/or hardware;
12) Describe how basic numerical and visual data supports their interpretation of a topic;
13) Analyze common IT markets for gaps and design and evaluate solutions to them;
14) Create a simple business proposal presentation for solving a perceived IT market gap.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 3 of 131]
Course Scope and Sequence Table
Topic Language Professional Skills Project
Unit 1: Preparing for the World of IT Work
1 • Vocab: Professional • Industry Analysis
• Employment • Presentation Skills
Qualities Presentation
2 • Describing Jobs
• Vocab for Duties • Analyzing and • Group/Pair IT Job
• Jobs in IT
• Making Comparisons Comparing Ads Analysis
Opportunities
3 • Emphasizing
• Applying to • Resume
Numbers • “Selling Yourself”
Jobs Workshop*
• Using Key Words
4 • Job • Mock IT Job
• Tenses Review • Interviewing Skills
Interviewing Interviews
Unit 2: Professional Interactions in IT
5 • Unit 1 Quiz*
• Professional • Vocab: Business • Writing Emails
• Small Talk Role
Communication Terms and Idioms • Small Talk
Play
6 • Pros and Cons • Argument
• Supporting Our • Elevator Pitch
• Explanation, Structure
Ideas Presentations*
Examples, Evidence • Delivering a Pitch
7 • Turn-Taking • Active Listening • Group IT Seminar
• Meetings
• Disagreeing Politely • Discussions Discussions
8 • IT Customer
• Vocab for Conflict • Active Notetaking
• Customer Service Role
Resolution • Empathizing
Service Plays
• Hedging Language • De-escalating
• Unit 2 Quiz*
Unit 3: IT in a Changing World
9 • Customer
• Giving Instructions • Describing Tasks
• Explaining Our Service
• Signposting • Giving Clear
Work Instructional
Language Instructions
Videos*
10 • Questions • Survey Design
• Collecting and • Classmate Survey
• Explaining Charts and • Collecting and
Presenting Data Presentations
Graphs Presenting on Data
11 • Making
• Analyzing the • Modals and Predictions • Market Analysis
Current Market Probability • Defining Market Research Notes
Segments
12 • Outlining • Group IT
• Entre-
• Parts of a Proposal Proposals Business
preneurship
• Live Presentations Proposals*
*Marked items will be assessed formally, according to the course grading scheme below.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 4 of 131]
Course Grading Scheme
Timing Assessment Value Notes
Marked cumulatively throughout term to reflect students’
Weekly Participation 20%
participation in daily activities as well as nightly homework
Week 3 Resume 10% Submitted written document
Week 5 Unit 1 Quiz 10% Taken in class (45 min)
Elevator
Week 6 10% Submitted individual videos (1-2 minutes)
Pitches
Week 8 Unit 2 Quiz 10% Taken in class (45 min)
Customer
Service
Week 9 10% Submitted group or individual videos (3-4 minutes)
Instructional
Videos
Business
Week
Proposal 30% Presented by small groups in class (10-15 minutes)
12
Presentations
The assessments in this course serve several purposes. First, they are meant to promote student
learning. In a project-based environment, it is expected that students will put significant effort into
their projects each week. If those projects have been designed successfully to resemble real-world
tasks, then their completion will both encourage and reflect readiness for real-world tasks.
Second, these assessments are meant to document student learning in the course. In addition to the
course pre-test and post-test, each assessment should help students and teachers to notice and address
areas of mastery as well as areas that need continued improvement.
Finally, these assessments should help teachers to differentiate their higher-achieving students and
lower-achieving students. This is important for gauging group mastery as well as for determining
how best to serve all students in future lessons and courses.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 5 of 131]
Course Rubrics and Quizzes
Below is our basic rubric template. You may wish to adjust it for each assignment in order to adapt
its components very specifically for students, or you may wish to use it as-is to reinforce its
components more consistently. The following pages include several rubrics that are lightly adapted
for each major graded assignment in our course.
Presentations Rubric
Content (and 20% • The ideas in this work should be relevant to the assignment, broad
Integration enough not to miss any important parts of the assignment, deep enough
of Research, to include supporting detail for all main ideas, and clear enough to be
if applicable) easily understood the first time.
• The research used in this work should be integrated meaningfully in
terms of the argument, smoothly in terms of style, and accurately in
terms of format.
Organization 20% • The division and sequence of ideas in this work should be clear and
(+ Slideshow, logical, and each part should be connected to the others.
if applicable) • The slideshow used in this work should be attractive but not distracting,
support all parts of the presentation, and use short phrases in large font.
Language 20% • The vocabulary and grammar in this work should be accurate in
meaning, sufficiently formal for professional work, at an appropriate
level for this course, carefully edited, and varied.
Voice 20% • The speech in this work should show consistent and appropriate
pronunciation, speed, volume, intonation, stress, and rhythm.
Delivery 20% • The delivery of this presentation should be enthused and professional,
maintaining eye contact, using gestures, and respecting the time limit.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 6 of 131]
Below is the same rubric with spaces provided for feedback. It’s important that all students get
personalized feedback on all major outputs, and using this rubric is a great way to structure it. It’s
ideal to give 1-2 sentences of overall feedback in the top space and then 1-2 sentences of more
specific feedback on each criterion. You should plan to use a similar approach for every graded
assessment, though you may not have time to give this much feedback on weekly projects that are
not part of our formal grading scheme.
Feedback Rubric
Overall / 100%
Content / 20%
Organization / 20%
Language / 20%
Voice / 20%
Delivery / 20%
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 7 of 131]
Here is a version of the rubric customized to suit our Resume assignment. You may wish to use it
exactly as it appears, to adapt it to better suit the needs of your students, or to use it as the basis for a
new marking document, such as a descriptive matrix rubric or even a checklist-style rubric. Just make
sure that whatever marking document you use is always accompanied by detailed, personalized
feedback to help each student improve. Your assignment sheets, rubrics, and feedback should also be
consistent in the terms that they use—this will help students to interpret and make use of the feedback.
Resume Rubric (Week 3)
• The division and sequence of ideas in this resume should
be clear and logical, and the format should be
professional and attractive.
Organization and • Some formatting considerations:
40%
Format o Font and text size
o Use of section headers
o Use of space (neither crowded nor empty)
o Use of color (optional)
• The ideas in this work should be relevant to the assignment,
broad enough not to miss any important parts of the
assignment, deep enough to include supporting detail for
all main ideas, and clear enough to be easily understood
without rereading.
Content 30% • Expected content to include:
o Header
o Professional Summary
o Experiences
o Education
o Other
• The vocabulary and grammar in this work should be
accurate in meaning, sufficiently formal for professional
work, at an appropriate level for this course, carefully
edited, and varied.
Language 30%
• Specific strategies to demonstrate:
o Sell yourself.
o Emphasize numbers.
o Use key words from the job ad.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 8 of 131]
As for the Resume rubric (above), implement or adapt this Elevator Pitch rubric as you see fit.
Elevator Pitch Videos Rubric (Week 6)
• The ideas in this work should be relevant to the assignment, broad
enough not to miss any important parts of the assignment, deep
enough to include supporting detail for all main ideas, and clear
enough to be easily understood the first time.
• Expected content to include:
Content 20% o An introduction to the topic, including an explanation of
why that topic is important.
o 2-4 main pieces of support, including explanation,
examples, or evidence for each one.
o A counterargument and response.
o A conclusion that restates the topic and thanks the audience
for their time and attention.
• The division and sequence of ideas in this work should be clear and
Organization 20%
logical, and each part should be connected to the others.
• The vocabulary and grammar in this work should be accurate in
Language 20% meaning, sufficiently formal for professional work, at an
appropriate level for this course, carefully edited, and varied.
• The speech in this work should show consistent and appropriate
Voice 20%
pronunciation, speed, volume, intonation, stress, and rhythm.
• The delivery of this presentation should be enthused and
Delivery 20% professional, maintaining eye contact, using gestures, and
respecting the time limit.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 9 of 131]
As for the Resume rubric (above), implement or adapt this Customer Service rubric as you see fit.
Customer Service Instructional Videos Rubric (Week 9)
• The ideas in this work should be relevant to the assignment, broad
enough not to miss any important parts of the assignment, deep
enough to include supporting detail for all main ideas, and clear
enough to be easily understood the first time.
Content 20% • Expected content to include:
o A brief introduction to the topic, specifically pretending to work
at Engineers on Call. Students should also give their name.
o 10-15 specific steps for how to accomplish the chosen task.
o A description of how to know that the process was successful.
o A brief conclusion.
• The division and sequence of ideas in this work should be clear and
logical, and each part should be connected to the others.
• Signposting language* should be used clearly effectively between
each major section of the talk (Intro, Steps, Success, Conclusion).
• Sequencing language* should be used to help organize steps in
Organization 20% process. It does not need to be used in every single step.
* It is recommended to assess these elements within the Organization
criterion, not the language criterion, as they are a fundamental element of
effective presentation organization. Should you decide to mark them as
part of Language instead, make sure that a student who scores poorly on
these elements is not penalized in both categories for the same error.
• The vocabulary and grammar in this work should be accurate in
meaning, sufficiently formal for professional work, at an
appropriate level for this course, carefully edited, and varied.
Language 20% • Pay particular attention to:
o Appropriate language for customer service.
o Some use of specific instructional verbs, which may or may
not be the ones from our vocabulary list this week.
• The speech in this work should show consistent and appropriate
Voice 20%
pronunciation, speed, volume, intonation, stress, and rhythm.
• The delivery of this presentation should be enthused and
professional, maintaining eye contact, using gestures, and
Delivery 20% respecting the time limit.
• Presentation delivery should specifically fit genre expectations for
Customer Service, i.e. being friendly, open, and communicative.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 10 of 131]
As for the Resume rubric (above), implement or adapt this Business Proposal rubric as you see fit.
Business Proposals Rubric (Week 12)
• The ideas in this work should be relevant to the assignment, broad
enough not to miss any important parts of the assignment, deep
enough to include supporting detail for all main ideas, and clear
enough to be easily understood the first time.
• The research used in this work should be integrated meaningfully in
terms of the argument, smoothly in terms of style, and accurately in
terms of format.
• Elements specifically expected:
Content 1) Introduction
20%
+ Research 2) Analysis of Industry
3) Analysis of Existing Market
4) Market Gap
5) Description of Business
6) Challenges and Solutions
7) Conclusion
• Expected duration: 10-15 minutes (though a short/long presentation
could be affected by Delivery speed as well as amount of Content)
• The division and sequence of ideas in this work (see 1-7, above) should
be clear and logical, and each part should be connected to the others.
Organization
20% • The slideshow used in this work should be attractive but not distracting,
+ Slideshow
support all parts of the presentation, and use short phrases in large font.
• This PPT has been requested to include 1-2 charts and graphs.
• The vocabulary and grammar in this work should be accurate in
meaning, sufficiently formal for professional work, at an appropriate
Language 20% level for this course, carefully edited, and varied.
• Course vocabulary related to each major content portion (see 1-7,
above) should be utilized where relevant.
• The speech in this work should show consistent and appropriate
Voice 20% pronunciation, speed, volume, intonation, stress, and rhythm.
• The delivery of this presentation should be enthused and professional,
Delivery 20%
maintaining eye contact, using gestures, and respecting the time limit.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 11 of 131]
Business English for IT
Unit 1 Quiz
Student Name: ___________________________ Date: _______________________
Part 1: Vocabulary Matching (30%)
Instructions: Write the correct letter of each definition. (2% each)
Vocabulary Term Answer Definition
1) Adaptable a) To work with others on a project or task
2) Analytical b) Working well all alone
3) Big picture-oriented c) Thinking logically and systematically
4) Collaborate d) Solving problems before they appear
5) Criteria e) Specific standards for judging or deciding
6) Detail-oriented f) Driven forward by your own desires
7) Dynamic g) Able to adjust to different situations
8) Independent h) Good at thinking of new, different ideas
9) Innovative i) Can find and use different tools/resources
10) Monitor j) Good at working on overall strategy
11) Negotiate k) To watch something closely
12) Proactive l) Bargaining with people or a tough situation
13) Resourceful m) Good at working on small, difficult tasks
14) Self-motivated n) Being clear, detailed, and accurate
15) Specificity o) Always changing; good at many roles
Part 2: Reading (30%)
Instructions: Read the ad below and use words from it to answer each question. (6% each)
Sample Job Ad
Are you an innovative and detail-oriented web developer with some background in Java
and Python programming? Apply to join our team as a Front-End Developer today! No IT
degree or past work experience needed, but you must show knowledge of the two
programming languages mentioned above. At the interview, you will be tested on related
concepts, such as variables, data types, control structures, loops, arrays, and operators.
You should also have professional typing speed, troubleshooting skills, and you must be a
team player. If this sounds like you, use the link below to send a resume and cover letter to
our HR manager. Our pay is highly competitive for entry-level positions.
16) What is the Job Title that this ad is for? __________________________
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 12 of 131]
17) How many years of experience are needed for this position? ________________
18) What 3 professional qualities should a good applicant have for this position?
__________________ ___________________ ___________________
19) Name 3 important Key Words from this job ad.
__________________ ___________________ ___________________
20) What skills are required for this job?
__________________ ___________________ ___________________
Part 3: Writing (40%)
Instructions: Add details to help these job applicants to sell themselves better. Include 3 professional
qualities/skills for each, and check your grammar carefully, especially verb tenses. (20% each)
Interviewer: Please tell me a bit about yourself.
Job Applicant 1: Well, I have just graduated from university, so I don’t have
any work experience yet. However, I love to play chess. I was actually part of
the university chess club.
21) _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Interviewer: Your resume says you used to work at a grocery store?
Job Applicant 2: That’s right. When I was a student, I used to work at a
grocery store every weekend. It was not directly related to my future career as
a web developer. However, …
22) _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 13 of 131]
Answer Key for Unit 1 Quiz
1) Adaptable g
2) Analytical c
3) Big picture-oriented j
4) Collaborate a
5) Criteria e
6) Detail-oriented m
7) Dynamic o
8) Independent b
9) Innovative h
10) Monitor k
11) Negotiate l
12) Proactive d
13) Resourceful i
14) Self-motivated f
15) Specificity n
16) Front-end Developer
17) None
18) Innovative, Detail-oriented, Team player
19) Innovative, detail-oriented, web developer, Java, Python, programming Front-End Developer,
variables, data types, control structures, loops, arrays, operators, typing speed,
troubleshooting skills, team player, entry-level
20) Java skills, Python skills (or just “programming skills”), professional typing speed,
troubleshooting skills
For items 21 and 22, the professional qualities mentioned in responses do not have to be ones
assigned in our handbook. Your classroom discussions will produce others, as will students’ own
research. Example responses:
21) The chess club taught me the importance of paying attention to details and always creating a
plan. It also taught me to be adaptable, as you never know what the opponent will do next. Last,
it taught me independence, as you are not allowed to ask for help in chess.
22) Working at the grocery store made me more detail-oriented. It also taught me how to interact
with customers and how to be a team player. In these ways, it was an important experience even
though it was not related to web development.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 14 of 131]
Business English for IT
Unit 2 Quiz
Student Name: ___________________________ Date: _______________________
Part 1: Vocabulary Matching (30%)
Instructions: Write the correct letter of each definition. (2% each)
Vocabulary Term Answer Definition
1) Common ground a) A small-group discussion on a specific topic
2) Cons b) A specific way of thinking about an issue
3) De-escalating c) Using something to help with a task
4) Empathizing d) Statements that can be proven true or false
5) Facts e) Someone who manages a discussion
6) Hedging f) To check for updates from someone
7) Leverage g) Relieving tension to prevent an argument
8) Moderator h) Acknowledging someone’s feelings.
9) Opinions i) Using terms that sound weaker, not stronger
10) Perspective j) To make something simpler or more efficient
11) Ping k) To send an electronic message to someone
12) Pros l) Statements based in personal feeling/belief
13) Seminar m) Advantages; strong points
14) Streamline n) A shared idea or opinion
15) Touch Base o) Disadvantages; weak points
Part 2: Reading (30%)
Instructions: Use the following Cybersecurity Email to answer questions 16-25 (3% each).
A) Urgent: Potential Data Breach Investigation
B) Dear [Your Name],
C) I hope this email finds you well. My name is Eman Ebrahem, and I am a Client
Outreach Coordinator at SafeTech Cybersecurity. I am reaching out to you regarding a
matter of utmost importance concerning the security of your organization's data.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 15 of 131]
D) Our proactive monitoring systems have detected unusual activities that may indicate a
potential data breach within your network. At least, it appears that your clients’
account data has been exposed. While our investigation into whether this data was
accessed by hostile parties is still in its early stages, we believe it is crucial to keep
you informed and to work collaboratively to assess and mitigate any potential risks.
Although details of the situation are still emerging, we recommend that you contact all
clients of your web services company and inform them that sensitive information may
have been accessed by hackers. This will give them time to freeze accounts, change
passwords, and take other precautions against attack.
We also recommend that you hold an in-house training on data security using the
training video linked at the bottom of this email. This can help to raise the awareness
of your employees and ensure that client data is not left vulnerable to attack again in
the future.
As already mentioned, our findings are still preliminary, so it’s possible the data
exposure was not actually exploited by hostile parties. If this is the case, the two
solutions mentioned above could possibly seem like a waste of time or even decrease
client confidence in your organization. Nevertheless, managing threats proactively is
the best way to ensure minimal impact.
We understand the sensitivity of this matter and are committed to working closely
with you throughout the investigation. Our team is available to answer any questions
you may have and provide regular updates as we progress.
Please let us know your availability for a follow-up call to discuss this matter in more
detail. Your cooperation is crucial in ensuring a swift and effective resolution to this
incident.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter, and we look forward to
collaborating with you to safeguard your organization's security.
E) Best regards,
F) — Eman Ebrahem
Client Outreach Coordinator
SafeTech Cybersecurity, International
For 16-21, please indicate which sections of the email, labelled A-F, are the following:
16) The Closing: ______
17) The Greeting: _____
18) The Opener: ______
19) The Subject: ______
20) The Main Idea: ____
21) The Signature: _____
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 16 of 131]
For 22-26, please answer each question with a few words taken from the email:
22) What are the solutions proposed by Eman Ebrahem?
_________________________ ____________________________
23) What does Eman say are the pros of these solutions?
_________________________ ____________________________
24) What does Eman say are the cons of these solutions?
_________________________ ____________________________
25) What are three examples of hedging language used in this email?
__________________ ______________________ _____________________
Part 3: Writing (40%)
Instructions: Do you think that the increase of e-commerce (selling products online) is mostly
positive or mostly negative for society in Egypt? Why? Please answer with a short written argument
(100-150 words) that includes all of these parts:
o Topic and position
o 3 reasons
o Counterargument
o Response
o Conclusion
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 17 of 131]
Unit 2 Quiz Answer Key
1) Common ground N 16) The Closing: E
17) The Greeting: B
2) Cons O 18) The Opener: C
3) De-escalating G 19) The Subject: A
4) Empathizing H 20) The Main Idea: D
21) The Signature: F
5) Facts D 22) Inform the clients, hold an in-
6) Hedging I house training
7) Leverage C 23) Keep clients safe (time to
freeze accounts, change
8) Moderator E
passwords, and take other
9) Opinions L precautions against attack) and
10) Perspective B raise awareness of employees
24) Waste time, decrease client
11) Ping K
confidence
12) Pros M 25) May indicate, potential, it
13) Seminar A appears, still in its early stages,
14) Streamline J may have been, this can help,
it’s possible, if this is the case,
15) Touch Base F could possibly, you may have
For question 26, you do not need to utilize a formal rubric, but consider each of the elements outlined
below. It is strongly suggested to write at least 1-3 sentences of personal feedback on each student’s
response so that they can read it and continue to improve their work.
Content The response must clearly establish a position of MOSTLY GOOD or
MOSTLY BAD. It should also include all 6 required parts. Each part should be
clear and detailed, and the response should clearly address the topic without
introducing irrelevant ideas.
Organization The ideas in this response should conform to the length requirement (100-150
words), and they should follow the expected sequence of Topic and Position →
3 reasons → Counterargument → Response → Conclusion. They should be
logically connected in a way that is easy to understand.
Language The vocabulary and grammar in this response should be accurate, specific,
varied, and at a level appropriate for this course.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 18 of 131]
Planning Lessons
Lesson planning needs to be flexible, as the resources and needs available for each course, lesson,
student, and teacher are different. However, including a certain amount of structure can establish
helpful routines as well as make sure that some important foundational elements of each lesson are
always present. For these reasons, our lessons in this course will each be structured differently, but
they will all be based on the following model.
Lesson Plan Model (to be modified each day)
1) Warmup • Within the day’s topic, try to generate student interest with the help of
a discussion question, picture, chart, video, or short reading.
• This is also sometimes called a “hook” or “activating prior knowledge.”
It should make students want to know what’s coming next.
2) Outline • Give a clear overview of what the day’s session will include. Students
who are adults and have enrolled in a class by choice often appreciate
this context and indication of purposeful design.
3) New Content • Introducing content can take place by lecture, a reading, or a video.
• If we lecture, we want to interrupt it about every 5 minutes with some
open-response interaction (such as a critical discussion question) to
check comprehension and to renew student interest. Do not just ask a
simple closed-response question, such as “do you understand?” or “any
questions?” Get them to talk to each other, and then listen to see if their
ideas demonstrate good understanding.
4) Guided • Give students some controlled exercises that can be quickly assessed by
Practice the teacher to show whether students have mastered the new content or not.
This could include:
1) A straightforward activity, such as having students apply the content
they’ve just learned to a provided sample, e.g. identifying the key
words or required qualifications in a provided sample job ad.
2) Open response items, such as discussion questions.
3) Closed response items, such as quiz questions.
5) Free Practice • Now for the fun part! Once we have seen that students understand the
content, we can assign our “main task” for the day.
• Our main criteria for a successful task include:
1) GOAL TO ACCOMPLISH: A clear outcome of their hard work, such
as producing something that will be shared with the class afterwards.
2) FREE EXPRESSION: Discussion that uses students’ own ideas, not
simply repeating what is written or told to them.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 19 of 131]
3) S-S INTERACTION: In a communicative task, students cannot
succeed without interacting with one another.
4) FOCUS ON MEANING: Students can only succeed if their interaction
focused on ideas, not just grammar.
5) RELEVANCE: The task should use concepts and vocabulary related to
the day’s lesson topic.
6) IMPORTANCE: The task should somehow relate to students’ future
professional needs, not only to their language improvement.
• Some great options are presentations, debates, jigsaws, and role plays.
6) Consolidation • Ask and/or explain: what did we do today, and why did we do it?
/ Reflection
• This reminds students of important content learned as well as increases
their awareness of the learning process itself.
7) Feedback • Always give praise along with corrective feedback, such as telling students
that they are making good progress.
• Always ask students if they have any final questions about what was
covered in class this session.
• Offering some corrections to the whole group can help to make sure that no
individual student feels embarrassed or “targeted.”
8) Closure • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final encouragement
that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is paying off.
• Assign the homework, if there is any, and give students time to analyze it
and to ask questions if they need to.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 20 of 131]
Some General Supplementary Resources
Each unit in this handbook ends with a “Further Reading” section that offers some articles, videos, or
even textbooks to help teachers prepare for their sessions and support their students. However, some
useful resources can apply to many units in this course. Here are some particular favorites:
1) SlidesGo: A website for downloading free slideshow templates.
• [Link]
2) SlidesCarnival: A website for downloading free slideshow templates.
• [Link]
3) Rachel's English: A YouTube channel with many helpful videos related to English
pronunciation, grammar, and more.
• [Link]/@rachelsenglish
4) Anglolink: A YouTube channel with many helpful videos related to English pronunciation,
grammar, and more.
• [Link]/channel/UCaRMivfyupj3ucUyJbZbCNg
5) Kahoot: A website for making interactive, competitive review quizzes in class.
• [Link]
6) Educaplay: A website for building a variety of interactive learning games.
• [Link]
7) [Link]: A website for removing the backgrounds on images for slideshow use.
• [Link]/upload
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 21 of 131]
Week 1: Introduction to the Business of IT
Overview
In Week 1, we want to introduce students to their new teacher, their new course, and their new
classmates. In doing so, we will establish our expectations for the next 12 weeks together as well as
start to build a sense of classroom community that will help our students to thrive, whether they are
participating in person, online, or in a mixed “hybrid” format.
Our first day together, Lesson 1.1, will focus on student discussions in small groups and utilize few
outside resources so that we can focus on getting to know one another and becoming comfortable in
our new workspace. This lesson plan offers teachers a relatively high amount of structure, but
elements can be adjusted or replaced at teachers’ discretion. See what works best with your group.
Our second day together, Lesson 1.2, will introduce some important presentation skills for use
throughout our course. This lesson offers more freedom to both teachers and students. It will also
integrate several outside tools, such as QR codes, websites, and video recording, which will become
more common throughout our 12-week course together.
Lesson Plan 1.1
Topic: Intro to Our Course and the IT Business
Objectives: Students will…
1) Get to know one another;
2) Discuss their goals in this course;
3) Understand, define, and use selected terms about professional attributes;
4) Discuss professional qualities in the world and in themselves;
5) Develop confidence exchanging perspectives with their teacher and their peers.
Warmup: • T tells Ss a bit about T’s background, experiences, and interests. It can be
Getting to nice to show a few pictures from past courses you’ve taught, your
know each hobbies, your travel experiences, etc. (5 min).
other (20-25) • GROUPS: T tells Ss that they will be put into FIVE groups of 3-4 to:
o exchange names;
o find one thing that their group members all have in common
(such as all liking a certain music or food);
o come up with a group name, such as Team Scary Robots or The
Genius Group (you can use different examples if you wish—
encourage humor and creativity);
o choose a group spokesperson for our full-class discussion.
• They will be working with this group for the rest of the week. While Ss
talk, T circulates to encourage discussion, making sure that everyone is
using English, and gets to know them (10 min).
• Once all groups have finished, T asks each group’s spokesperson to share
each of the points above with the class. T records the group names for
calling on later today and next session (5-10 min).
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 22 of 131]
Outline (0-5) Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Getting to Know Each Other
2) Intro to Our Course
3) Discussing Professional Qualities and Qualifications
4) Connecting Professional Qualities to the Real World
5) Reflecting on Our Own Professional Qualities
6) Homework for Next Time
Discussion: • T displays our course’s scope and sequence table (from the beginning of
Intro to our this handbook) for students to examine.
course (15) o Remember that if you’re using Zoom Breakout Rooms, your PPT
may not be visible once students join their room—double check
this and consider sharing a screenshot of the scope and sequence
table to the chat box or to your class’s WhatsApp group.
• GROUPS: Ask students to discuss it with their group and choose the 2
most interesting parts as well as a new spokesperson (5-10 min).
• Ask each group’s new spokesperson to tell the class what they find most
interesting about our course content and why (5-10 min).
• Make sure to draw attention to our course’s assessment scheme—Ss
should understand that their grade in this course will mostly come from
presentations and participation, not from quizzes and exams.
• You may want to also establish your expectations for the term, including
classroom participation, food/drink rules, ChatGPT protocol, etc.
New Content: • Tell students that different personal qualities are necessary for success in
Discussing different jobs. For example, a security guard needs to be intimidating
Professional (or scary)—but a person selling ice cream should not be. They should be
Qualities and friendly. Name a few more example qualities.
Qualifications • Ask the class: what qualities should a teacher have?
(25) o E.g. friendly, helpful, patient, knowledgeable, organized
• GROUPS: Ask students to work in their groups to think of a specific job
and list as many personal qualities as they can that are especially helpful
for that job. They should also choose a new spokesperson. (10 min)
• Ask each group to share what they came up with. (5 min)
• Display the words from our Vocabulary List: Professional Qualities
and Qualifications (at the end of this handbook unit) without their
definitions. Ask students to discuss the terms in groups. Are there any
words they’d like help with? (10 min)
Guided • Display the words from our Vocabulary List: Professional Qualities
Practice: and Qualifications (at the end of this handbook unit).
Vocabulary • Also display their definitions, but list the definitions in a random order.
Matching (20) Ask the students which definition matches the term quality.
• Put the students in groups and ask them to match the rest. (10 min)
• Bring the students back together and have them share answers with you.
You can rotate groups or ask for volunteers, but make sure all groups are
talking and that different group members talk. Clarify any confusing
terms and give examples as needed. (10 min)
Take a 10-minute break!
Guided • Ask students to discuss a few questions in their groups: (10 min)
Practice: 1) Which 2 qualities on our list do you think are becoming less
Connecting important for most jobs over time, and why?
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 23 of 131]
Professional 2) Which 2 qualities on our list do you think are becoming more
Qualities to the important for most jobs over time, and why?
Real World 3) I’ll show you data from a recent study that looked at 45,000 job ads
(20) in the USA. Which 3 of the qualities on our list do you think were
found important for the most jobs? Why?
• As Ss discuss, encourage them to consider why certain qualities are
becoming more or less important, such as the development of technology
or the growth of certain job types. If any groups finish early, ask them
follow-up questions or ask them to write notes for their answers together.
• Bring the groups together to exchange ideas as a class. Encourage groups
to interact with one another directly, not always through the T (5 min).
• Display the chart from Davidson (2020):
[Link]
• The most valuable skills were found to be (1) collaboration, (2)
innovation, (3) confidence, (4) patience, and (5) creativity. Ask Ss to
consider why these skills might be more important than others, and
support Ss in a brief whole-class discussion (5 min).
Consolidation • Ask Ss to write answers to the following few questions alone: (5 min)
/ Reflection: 1) Which 3 of the qualities on our list are you strongest at?
Think Pair 2) Which 3 qualities on our list do you need to continue
Share on developing?
Professional 3) How can you continue to develop them?
Qualities (15) • After 5 minutes, ask them to discuss with a partner (5 min).
• After that, ask a few pairs to share their thoughts with the class (5 min).
Feedback (5) • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity. Give the class some final encouragement
that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) If possible, it would be best for each of our work groups from
today to bring a laptop or tablet for class next session so they can
work on designing group PPTs together. If this isn’t possible, a
phone is OK if it has an app that can make PPTs.
2) Join our course WhatsApp group (if you haven’t already).
3) Write our course WhatsApp group a polite greeting and 3-4
sentences about your goals in this course.
4) Reply to 2 classmates’ messages in the course WhatsApp group.
Now the conversation has begun!
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
• Pay attention to what students write in the course WhatsApp group—
knowing their interests, goals, and writing errors can help you to
customize your future interactions and class sessions with them.
• Nice work! You have finished session 1.1 ☺
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 24 of 131]
Lesson Plan 1.2
Topic: Industries that Utilize IT
Objectives: Students will…
1) Learn about 5 main focus areas for giving effective presentations;
2) Practice designing research-supported PPTs;
3) Gain experience delivering group presentations;
4) Research an IT-adjacent industry with their group;
5) Plan a high-stakes group presentation together.
Project: Produce and Record an Industry Analysis
Warmup: • GROUPS: Ask Ss—what are the qualities of a good IT worker? Discuss
Discussing with your same group from last week and make a list. (5 min)
Qualities of IT • Synthesize responses in a visible place (whiteboard, chat box, etc.)
Workers (10) • As responses come in, make sure to discuss them and engage students with
follow-up questions, such as “I agree that an IT worker should be patient—
but what kinds of specific tasks would being patient help them do?” (5 min)
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Discussing Qualities of IT Workers
2) Reading About Presentation Skills
3) Practice Presentations
4) A Sample Industry Analysis
5) Creating Industry Analyses of Our Own
6) Homework Due Next Time
New • Tell Ss that they will remain with their Week 1 Work Groups today.
Content: • Each group will read about a different important skill in giving effective
Reading presentations. Once they’ve finished, they should discuss it as a group and
about Pres. write down the 3-6 most important ideas as well as the last name of the
Skills (20) article’s author and the year it was written.
• If you are teaching online, share a different one of the 5 links below with
each group. If you are teaching in person, I suggest converting each link to
a QR code with a tool like [Link] and
displaying them on your PPT for students to scan and read on their phones.
1) Body Language: [Link]
during-a-presentation/
2) Voice: [Link]
improve-your-public-speaking-voice/
3) Presentation Structure: [Link]
skills/writing-assessment/presentations/structuring-your-presentation
4) Slideshow Design: [Link]
of-presentation-design/
5) Using Data: [Link]
• As Ss read, discuss, and take notes, circulate to support them as needed.
Emphasize that they should focus on the main ideas—they do not need to
understand every word in their article. (20 min)
Guided • Show students a sample PPT slide. Point out that it has a title, some bullet
Practice: points with main ideas, and possibly a relevant picture. Point out that the
Practice website the info came from is cited in (Surname, year) format at the bottom
Pres.s (45) right. (5 min)
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 25 of 131]
• You can rewrite the info from the sample slide below, if helpful. In this
case, we pretend the ideas came from an article by John Whalen in 2023.
• Affordable
• Healthy
• Delicious
• No washing
(Whalen, 2023)
• Ask each group to create ONE slide of their own to display the main ideas
from their article. They will have 15 minutes to prepare it and then 5
minutes as a group to present it to the class. All members should speak. It’s
best if each group has a laptop or tablet for this task, but they can do this on
a phone (or even use markers on a piece of paper) if needed. (15 min)
• When calling on groups to present, mind the time for them but also give them
encouragement—since it is the first week, Ss may be nervous. (30 min)
Take a 10-minute break!
New • Display the first slide of a sample PPT of your own design, using the
Content: A information below. I like the templates available at [Link] to
Sample make slideshows more attractive looking.
Industry • Tell students that you will be delivering a sample Industry Analysis to them
Analysis (10) on the topic of Cybersecurity, a common industry of employment for IT
graduates. Once you finish, they can ask questions about the content and
design. Afterwards, they will design similar slideshows of their own.
• You can use the PPT linked below or design a similar one of your own. If
you use the one here, you’ll need to download it and add your name and
date to the title slide:
[Link]
iBabA52c/edit?usp=sharing
Free • Tell students that they will be preparing Industry Analysis presentations of
Practice: their own for the rest of class today. After class, they can record a video of
Creating their presentation and share it with the course WhatsApp group as
Industry homework. Explain that recording ourselves and watching it afterwards is a
Analyses of way to gain awareness of our own presentation style and make
Our Own (45) improvements. It is a technique commonly used by professionals who
present often for work.
• Here are some industries with major IT involvement. You can either assign
one to each group yourself or just display them all for groups to choose
from. However, it’s best to make sure that no groups choose the same
topic:
o E-Commerce
o Education
o Healthcare
o Government
o Software Development
o Finance and Banking
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 26 of 131]
o Manufacturing
o Telecommunications
o Transportation and Logistics
• You can decide whether to require that Ss search for information online,
allow them to search for info online but not require it, or tell them to only
use their own ideas. This will depend on your particular students. If they do
use information from online, make sure that they cite it on each slide in
(Surname, Year) format and also include their URLs on a References slide.
If an online article has no author name listed, cite the name of the website
instead.
• GROUPS: Put groups together (in person, or in breakout rooms) to begin
the work. They should work in the same group as last session—staying in
the same group all week should mean they are now comfortable with each
other and ready to collaborate more comfortably.
• Circulate among groups to help them in the process. You can judge for
yourself whether they also need technical help with creating PPTs and
recording videos. In my experience, the younger generation tends to be
better at video editing than we Ts are. However, they are likely to add too
much small text on each slide—encourage them to use short phrases in
large font.
• Here is an outline that the groups can use for their PPTs. Give them help as
they work, but don’t stress too much about making all presentations
perfect: it is our first project as a class, and we are focused on completing it
successfully, not necessarily on making every element of it as professional
as possible.
o Slide 1: Title Slide
o Slide 2: Outline Slide
o Slide 3: Industry Overview
o Slide 4: IT Jobs in this Industry
o Slide 5: Important Qualities in this Industry
o Slide 6: Future Prospects of this Industry
o Slide 7: Conclusion
Feedback (5) • Use what you observed in each group to give Ss some overall feedback as a
class. Make sure to also encourage Ss if they seem nervous about recording
their first presentation video. Remind them that mistakes are expected, and
that the more we practice presentations now, even though they make us
nervous, the less nervous we’ll feel when giving presentations at future jobs.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final encouragement
that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Work with your group to create a video presentation of about 4-6
minutes in length. Send your video to our course WhatsApp group.
Watch the other videos that groups submit and see what you can
learn from them.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Week 1 Supplementary Materials
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 27 of 131]
Vocabulary List: Professional Qualities and Qualifications
Adaptable (adj) Being able to adjust to unexpected changes
Analytical (adj) Working logically and breaking large systems into small parts
A team player (n) Working smoothly and effectively with other people
Big picture-oriented (adj) Able to think about big projects and make strategic decisions
Creative (adj) Able to solve problems in a different way from other people
Detail-oriented (adj) Able to focus on small, complicated tasks
Dynamic (adj) Able to succeed at different and unrelated tasks/jobs
Experienced (adj) Having already worked at a particular job/task for a long time
Hardworking (adj) Putting in lots of effort at work every day
Independent (adj) Able to succeed at work without help or supervision
Innovative (adj) Able to think of new ideas, solutions, and products
Patient (adj) Able to tolerate delays and challenges
Proactive (adj) Able to predict and solve problems before they appear
Qualification (n) A past accomplishment, such as a diploma or work experience
Quality (n) A personal characteristic/attribute
Reliable (adj) Consistent and trustworthy—unlikely to make mistakes
Resourceful (adj) Able to solve problems even without having the perfect tools
Self-motivated (adj) Working hard without needed pressure from other people
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based on their
(any other)
own interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
Notes and Further Reading
1) Guide: 15 good work qualities to help impress employers
o [Link]
References
Davidson, B. (2020, September 8). The most In-Demand Soft Skills in America. NetCredit Blog.
[Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 28 of 131]
Week 2: Jobs in IT
Overview
This week, we want to prepare students for the process of searching for job opportunities, analyzing
them, and comparing them. This is their first major step in the process of transitioning from students
to professionals.
In Lesson 2.1, we will introduce students to the vocabulary associated with discussing common IT
jobs in English. We will practice using it to discuss individual jobs as well as to make comparisons
between different jobs.
In Lesson 2.2, we will analyze individual job ads in greater detail as well as evaluate what makes
them more and less desirable from the perspective of job applicants. We will work in groups to create
an in-depth Jobs Ad Analysis and present it to the class.
Lesson Plan 2.1
Topic: Duties at IT Jobs
Objectives: Students will…
1) Reflect on their Week 1 projects (Group Industry Analyses);
2) Discuss what makes job opportunities more and less attractive in our own opinion;
3) Learn some important vocabulary terms for describing IT job duties;
4) Learn some common terms for making comparisons in English;
5) Practice comparing specific Job Ads in English.
Warmup: THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
Reflecting on • Display a few critical questions for students to consider and ask Ss to
Our First write down their idea alone for 5 minutes. You can use the questions
Presentations below or create your own. (5 min)
(15) 1) How did your presentation go last week?
2) What did your classmates do in their presentations that was
impressive to you?
3) What will you do differently in your next presentation?
• Put Ss in groups of 2 to share their responses. (5 min)
• Bring the full class back together to synthesize Ss’ ideas. (5 min)
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Reflecting on Our First Presentations
2) Feedback
3) Vocabulary for Job Duties
4) Describing Jobs
5) Comparing Jobs
6) Homework Due Next Time
Feedback (5- • Share some overall feedback of your own on the presentations. Make sure
10) to emphasize things done well and also to highlight some specific areas
for improvement. (5-10)
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 29 of 131]
• You may find it useful to include a short exercise that targets whatever
specific issues you noticed in the videos. Two examples are below, but
many more possibilities exist.
o EXAMPLE 1: If Ss had trouble with their verb tenses, you can
display some sentences with verb tense errors and ask groups to
fix each sentence before describing the tense issues you noticed in
the presentations.
o EXAMPLE 2: If Ss seemed very nervous in their videos, you can
display some text for a short speech and have Ss work in groups to
practice reading that speech in different ways. I have sometimes
called this a “Roll for Personality” activity and asked each student
to roll a 6-sided die before their turn to speak. If you roll a:
1) Give the speech like you are very happy.
2) Give the speech like you are very sad.
3) Give the speech like you are very energetic.
4) Give the speech like you are very sleepy.
5) Give the speech like you are very hungry.
6) Give the speech like you are a robot.
o In the “Roll for Personality” activity, getting students to laugh
together can help them to be less worried about sounding perfect.
New Content: • Teach the short passage titled “Lesson 2.1 Reading: Duties at Jobs in IT,”
Vocabulary which is included at the end of unit 2 in this handbook. You may want to
for Job Duties teach the passage as outlined below, but you may also prefer to offer more
(15-20) or less support, depending on your group:
o First, display the passage for students to read alone. (5 minutes)
o Second, ask if there are any vocabulary words that they would like
help with. Provide explanations and examples as necessary, using
the reading for support. (5 min)
o Third, read the passage aloud to them, paying special attention to
rhythm, intonation, and pronunciation. (2 min)
o Finally, call on students to read each sentence aloud for the group.
There are 9 sentences. Provide support with pronunciation as
necessary. (3 min)
• If the reading seems a bit advanced for your students, you can either pre-
teach some of the vocabulary or have them read and discuss in small
groups instead of as a full class. If you put them in small groups, use
different groups than last week.
Guided • Share the vocabulary list for Duties and Responsibilities at the end this
Practice: unit. Give students a moment to review it, and provide clarification as
Cloze Passage needed. (5 min)
(20) • GROUPS: Display the following Cloze passage and ask students to
discuss it with their groups. Which vocabulary word should fit in each
blank? Remind them that verbs may have to change form, e.g. changing
“enter” to “enters” or “entering.” Not all words will be used. (10 min)
• Elicit the answers as a group (provided below) and offer discussion,
clarification, and detail as necessary. (5 min)
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 30 of 131]
Meet Heba, an IT Project Manager with the responsibility to (1)________ app
development and (2)____________ finished products to her bosses. Heba
(3)_____________ closely with her team, (4)_____________ their efforts to
make sure that everyone is working toward the same goal. As her team develops
an app, Heba (5)_________________ progress, (6)_____________ data, and tries
to (7)______________ and solve any problems that arise. When team members
have very different ideas, Heba also has the duty of (8)______________ with
them to reach an agreement. Doing this helps to (9)_______________ positive
relationships at the office. Her work therefore involves a balance of working with
data and working with people. In the fast-paced IT world, Project Managers like
Heba play a crucial role in bringing innovative new products to life.
ANSWERS:
1) manage
2) deliver
3) collaborates
4) coordinating/directing
5) monitors
6) gathers
7) identify
8) negotiating
9) maintain
Take a 10-minute break!
Free • Display a list of 10-15 jobs that were mentioned in the homework
Practice: presentations. Call students’ attention to the fact that you used their work
Imagining Job to make this list. If you need extras for any reason, a list of 10 common IT
Duties (20) jobs (and their duties) is provided at the end of this handbook unit.
• Choose one of the jobs and ask Ss what a person with that job would do at
work. You can look for volunteers or call on a student to share some ideas.
Add supporting details of your own. (5 min)
• GROUPS: Next, tell Ss that they will be placed into NEW group of 3-4 to
look at the jobs list and write some ideas about what a person with that
job would do at work. You can assign a job to each group or let them
choose. Circulate and support them. If you allow groups to choose the job
for themselves, make sure they don’t take too long deciding. (10 min)
• Bring the class together and ask each group to share what they came up
with. Add details and offer support. (5)
Free • In a way of your own choosing, introduce Ss to the following list of
Practice: Terms for Comparisons. You can also add others if you wish. (5-10)
Comparing o And
Jobs (25) o The same as
o Similar to
o But
o Like
o However
o Whereas
o On the other hand
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 31 of 131]
• GROUPS: Ask groups to work together to answer the following questions
with sentences using the Terms for Comparisons. Each sentence should
use a different term. (5-10)
1) What are two jobs that require creativity?
2) What are two jobs that involve similar duties?
3) What is one job that requires more attention to detail than another?
4) What is one job that involves more collaboration than another?
5) Compare two jobs that have different salaries.
6) Compare two other jobs in a new way.
• Synthesize responses as a full class. (5-10)
Consolidation • Today, we can close with a similar THINK, PAIR, SHARE to the one we
/ Reflection: began the class session with. You might use the questions below, or you
(15-20) can replace them with some new questions of your own.
1) Which of the duties we discussed today do you think sound most
interesting/enjoyable to you? Why? Which ones sound least
interesting/enjoyable?
2) Which of the job titles we discussed today do you think sound
most interesting/enjoyable to you? Why? Which ones sound least
interesting/enjoyable?
3) Would you rather have a job that you love or a job that earns lots of
money? Why? Do you think that most people probably agree with
you or disagree?
• During the SHARE phase, try to engage the whole class together, e.g. by
asking students to raise their hands: “OK, who says money is more
important? Raise your hands. And who says enjoyment matters more?
Please raise your hands.” Tell Ss that there is no correct or incorrect
answer, and encourage Ss with differing opinions to share their ideas and
reasoning with each other in a respectful way.
Feedback (5- • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
10) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Visit a job posting website such as [Link] or [Link]
and find a job related to IT that does not require any years of
previous work experience (we call this an “entry-level” job).
2) Read the ad. Write down some ideas: what would you like and
dislike about working at that job? Save the URL so that we can
discuss the job ad together next session.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 32 of 131]
Lesson Plan 2.2
Topic: Evaluating and Comparing Job Ads
Objectives: Students will…
1) Discuss their own criteria for determining a “good” job;
2) Evaluate the desirability of a sample job ad;
3) Select and compare two other job ads;
4) Draft some talking points to describe the similarities and differences between them;
5) Deliver an impromptu oral presentation to the class summarizing the similarities and
differences.
Project: Jobs Ads Analysis
Warmup: • Today’s warmup should be brief to leave room for the other activities.
Discussing • Ask students to brainstorm alone about the following question:
“Good” Jobs 1) What do we look for in a “good” job? Think of at least 3 criteria.
(10) • You may need to explain the word “criteria.” This word will be used
frequently throughout our course and may require reminders.
• After 5 minutes, call on some students to share their ideas with the group.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Criteria for a “Good” Job
2) Evaluating a Job Ad
3) Comparing More Job Ads
4) Job Ads Analysis Presentations
5) Reflection and Review
6) Closure
New Content: • Tell your Ss that we will look at a sample job ad together.
A Sample Job • Explain and show that we are most concerned with 6 elements (5 min):
Ad (20-25) 1) Job Title
2) Type of Business
▪ Cybersecurity? Hospital? Hotel? Paper Company?
3) Location
▪ Think of desirability as well as cost of living.
4) Benefits
▪ Pay as well as others
5) Requirements
▪ Education
▪ Work experience
▪ Professional qualities
▪ Any others?
6) Duties
▪ As discussed last session
• GROUPS: In groups of 3 or 4 (but not the same groups as last week), ask
Ss to examine the Sample Job Ad included at the end of this handbook
unit. Ask them to look for all 6 elements above and then decide what they
like and don’t like about this job ad. (10-15)
• This job ad has been changed and simplified—the university and email
address listed there do not really exist.
• Circulate among rooms to support groups and make sure they are going
through all 6 elements.
• Bring all groups together and synthesize answers (5-10).
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 33 of 131]
Guided • Ask Ss to work with a partner in examining all 6 elements in the job ads
Practice: Our that they each brought in for homework.
Homework • Circulate and ensure that all Ss understand the task.
Job Ads (15) • If any pairs finish early, ask them to compare their job ads—which one
would they like to apply to more, and why?
Project: Jobs • Introduce Ss to the assignment included at the end of this handbook
Ad Analysis chapter: Lesson 2.2 Project Assignment Sheet: Job Ads Analysis. (10)
Part 1 (20) o Explain each part of the project and that their presentations will be
recorded on video so Ss can rewatch themselves later.
o Review the presentation skills practices in Lesson 1.2.
o Explain that Ss will work in groups of 3-4 and should begin by
each explaining the job ad they have brought and choosing 2 as a
group to create their presentation on. They might want to:
▪ Choose 2 similar jobs to compare;
▪ Choose 2 very different types of jobs to compare;
▪ Choose a very good job and a very bad job to compare;
▪ Choose 2 ads by any other method they prefer.
• GROUPS: Place Ss in groups of 3-4 and encourage some in-depth
discussions on which jobs they will compare. Your results may be most
interesting if you circulate among groups and ensure they are not all
choosing very similar ads to compare. (10)
Take a 10-minute break!
Project: Jobs • After the break, allow Ss to continue working in groups. Remind them:
Ad Analysis o They should be prepared to talk for 5-10 minutes;
(timing varies) o They do not need a PPT, but they should be ready to show the job
ads to our full class (e.g. on the classroom Projector or by sharing
their screen in Zoom);
o Even though there is no PPT, they should still plan an
INTRODUCTION to the topic, some COMPARISONS between
their two ads, an EVALUATION of which is better, and a
CONCLUSION;
o They should know which group members will speak during which
parts of the presentation;
o Although they can read and use notes, their ideas should be
organized, prepared, and practiced.
• Depending on your class’s level, timing, and format (in person or online),
you might have time for groups to deliver their Analyses in class today, or
you might have them submit their analyses as videos to the course
WhatsApp group after class. Decide this in advance and plan around it.
Feedback (5- • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
10) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Consolidation • Due to the nature of today’s session, the time spent both developing and
/ Reflection delivering the Job Ad Analyses will vary between classes. This means the
(remaining time remaining in our session for consolidation/reflection will also vary.
time) • Use the remaining time (if there is any) to review what we’ve done
together in our first 2 weeks and to reflect on it.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 34 of 131]
• I recommend planning flexibly so that you can scale-up or scale-down
depending on how much time you have.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Before assigning the homework, you should ask Ss whether they already
have resumes or have never written one before. If nearly all of them have
a resume already, you can use the same homework suggested below or
modify it to work with students’ existing resume drafts.
• Assign the homework:
1) If they didn’t present their Job Ads Analyses in class today,
ask groups to submit them as homework.
2) Make a list of several (3-5) experiences that you could
include on your resume. These might be jobs you’ve had,
sports teams you’ve played on, university clubs you were a
part of, or even hobbies. We will work together on how best
to write and describe them.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Week 2 Supplementary Materials
Vocabulary List: Duties and Responsibilities
Collaborate (v) to work with another person or group in order to achieve something
Consolidate (v) to combine multiple things into one thing
Coordinate (v) to make arrangements so that people or groups can work together well
to produce something promised or expected, such as a report; to do what you
Deliver (v)
say you will do or what people expect you to do
Direct (v) to guide, control, or manage a person or process
Enter (v) to type things into a computer, such as words or data
Evaluate (v) to judge the value of something in a careful and thoughtful way
Gather (v) to bring things or people together into a group
Identify (v) to find someone/something and point them out to others
Maintain (v) to keep something in good condition, e.g. by correcting problems
Manage (v) to have control of and make decisions about people or projects
Monitor (v) to watch something closely over time, looking for changes or issues
Negotiate (v) to discuss something formally in order to make an agreement
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based on their own
(any other)
interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 35 of 131]
Lesson 2.1 Reading: Duties at Jobs in IT
In the field of Information Technology (IT), professionals collaborate on many projects. Teams of
Developers may work together to create innovative software, websites, apps, and games. Testers
and Data Analysts then gather information about these new products and enter it into
spreadsheets and databases, often consolidating information from many sources into just one
place. This data is then used to write reports, which are delivered to management and can be
important for effective decision-making.
IT Managers are needed to lead most projects, directing employees and coordinating teams to
ensure everything runs smoothly. Managers sometimes evaluate both employees and products,
sharing ideas for how to make things better. They also negotiate with other departments to make
sure that everyone is working toward the same goals. Once a project is complete, employees such
as Bloggers, Technical Writers, and Tech Support Specialists work to make sure that customers are
enjoying it, monitoring issues and offering help as needed.
In the end, the IT industry relies on many skills, from detail-oriented data management to big-
picture creative thinking. Being a team player is key to success in this dynamic field, where
hardworking and resourceful professionals collaborate to shape the future of technology.
Lesson 2.2 Reading: Sample Job Ad
Company: Three Waves National University
Location: Marsa Alam, Egypt
Job Type: Full-Time
Salary: Commensurate with Experience (Competitive in Field)
Job Description:
Are you passionate about technology and looking to kickstart your career in the exciting field of
IT? We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Entry-Level IT Support Specialist to join our
team. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain valuable experience and grow in a dynamic industry.
Key Responsibilities:
• Provide first-level technical support to end-users via phone, email, or in person.
• Troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software issues, including desktops, laptops, and
peripherals.
• Assist with software installations, updates, and user account management.
• Collaborate with senior IT/library staff to escalate and resolve complex problems.
• Set up and configure computer systems and network devices.
• Maintain accurate documentation of support requests and resolutions.
• Assist in basic network troubleshooting and connectivity issues.
• Learn and adapt to new technologies and tools as required.
Qualifications:
• Four-year degree from accredited institution. Degree does not necessarily need to be in
IT—all candidates must pass a hands-on hardware/software competency test at interview.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 36 of 131]
• Strong passion for technology and a desire to learn and grow in the IT field.
• Excellent communication and customer service skills.
• Basic knowledge of computer hardware, operating systems, and software.
• Eagerness to take on new challenges and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a team and independently.
• Willingness to work flexible hours as needed (some evenings/weekends required on
rotating schedule).
Why Join Our Team:
• Comprehensive on-the-job training and mentorship.
• Opportunities for professional growth and career advancement.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Positive and collaborative work environment.
• Access to university facilities such as cafeteria, clinic, and gym.
• Exposure to a wide range of IT technologies and projects.
If you are a tech-savvy individual with a passion for IT, we encourage you to apply and embark on
a rewarding journey with us. Kickstart your IT career today by joining our team!
How to Apply:
Please send your resume and a brief cover letter outlining your interest and qualifications to
ITservices@[Link]. Be sure to include "Entry-Level IT Support Specialist
Application" in the subject line. We look forward to reviewing your application.
Lesson 2.2 Project Assignment Sheet: Job Ads Analysis
Summary: Compare two entry-level jobs related to IT. Tell our class (1) what the jobs are like, (2)
how they are similar and different, and (3) which one you would prefer to work at, and why.
Format: A group oral presentation (no PPT) of about 5-10 minutes in length
Details: This presentation has 3 parts. Make sure that all of your group members speak when you
are delivering it. Here are some details about each part:
1) Tell the class what your group’s two jobs are like. This includes the following criteria:
a) Job Title
b) Type of Business
c) Location
d) Benefits
e) Requirements
f) Duties
2) Tell the class 2-3 ways that these jobs are similar and 2-3 ways that they are different.
Make comparisons based on the specific criteria labeled a-f, above.
3) Tell the class which job your group thinks is better, and why. Make sure to refer to the
specific criteria labeled a-f, above.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 37 of 131]
Week 2 Extra Resource: Duties of 10 Common IT Jobs
1. Software Developer:
• Design, develop, and maintain software applications.
• Collaborate with teams to gather requirements and user feedback.
• Write, test, and debug code to ensure functionality.
• Create user-friendly interfaces.
• Stay up-to-date with programming languages and development tools.
2. Network Administrator:
• Manage and maintain an organization's computer networks.
• Install, configure, and troubleshoot network hardware and software.
• Monitor network performance and security.
• Implement and maintain network security measures.
• Plan for network expansion and upgrades.
3. System Administrator:
• Administer and maintain servers and systems.
• Install and configure server software and hardware.
• Perform routine system backups and data recovery.
• Troubleshoot system and software issues.
• Ensure system security and compliance with policies.
4. Database Administrator (DBA):
• Manage and maintain databases, ensuring data integrity and security.
• Create and optimize database structures.
• Backup and restore databases regularly.
• Tune database performance and resolve issues.
• Collaborate with developers to design efficient database systems.
5. Cybersecurity Analyst:
• Monitor and analyze security threats and incidents.
• Implement security measures to protect systems and data.
• Conduct vulnerability assessments and penetration testing.
• Respond to security breaches and incidents.
• Stay updated on cybersecurity trends and best practices.
6. IT Support Specialist:
• Provide technical assistance to end-users and customers.
• Troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software issues.
• Set up and configure computer systems and peripherals.
• Assist with software installations and updates.
• Maintain documentation and provide user training.
7. Web Developer:
• Create and maintain websites and web applications.
• Develop web content, layouts, and user interfaces.
• Optimize websites for speed and performance.
• Ensure cross-browser compatibility and responsiveness.
• Collaborate with designers and content creators.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 38 of 131]
8. Data Analyst:
• Collect, clean, and analyze data to extract insights.
• Create reports, dashboards, and data visualizations.
• Identify trends and patterns in data.
• Collaborate with teams to make data-driven decisions.
• Use data tools and programming languages like SQL and Python.
9. Cloud Solutions Architect:
• Design and implement cloud-based solutions.
• Select appropriate cloud services and providers.
• Ensure scalability, security, and cost-efficiency of cloud deployments.
• Migrate on-premises systems to the cloud.
• Monitor and optimize cloud infrastructure.
10. Business Analyst:
• Analyze business processes and requirements.
• Identify opportunities for IT solutions to improve efficiency.
• Develop and document business and functional requirements.
• Collaborate with IT teams to design and implement solutions.
• Evaluate the impact of IT projects on business operations and outcomes.
Notes and Further Reading
• How to Read a Job Description the Right Way
• [Link]
• Red Flags in Job Ads
• [Link]
• How To Read a Job Advertisement
• [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 39 of 131]
Week 3: Applying to Jobs
Overview
In our third week together, we want to start strengthening the connections between the new content
and concepts we’ve been working on and our students’ real professional needs. The way we will
strengthen those connections is by using our study of professional attributes (week 1) and job ads
(week 2) to assemble personal resumes that help students to “sell themselves,” meaning to showcase
their experiences and abilities in a way that impresses interviewers and hiring managers.
This process will necessarily look different for each student, as some of them may already have real
IT job experiences to list on their resume, while some will have unrelated job experiences, and others
will have no work experience at all yet. This is normal for recent graduates. When applying to entry-
level positions, it’s crucial to be able to discuss various activities (whether professional, academic, or
personal) in a way that shows self-awareness, maturity, and readiness for the workplace.
Lesson 3.1 will introduce the concept of “selling yourself,” meaning to give the best possible
representation of yourself that is still completely honest. This is a common practice in English-
speaking countries (and at the companies originating there), but it may be unfamiliar to students.
In Lesson 3.2, students will learn about the more universal strategies of emphasizing numbers and
using key words in resumes, and they will apply these strategies to their own resumes. They will also
customize their resumes to best suit an individual job ad, which is becoming common practice as the
internet leads to greater numbers of applicants for each open position, increasing the importance of
using a resume to demonstrate a candidate’s compatibility for that position and secure an interview.
Lesson Plan 3.1
Topic: Skills for Writing Resumes
Objectives: Students will…
1) Describe their past experiences that relate to employability;
2) Learn our first strategy for describing those experiences in a professional way:
o “Selling yourself”
3) Write a professional summary of their own experiences;
4) Begin to develop their resumes, with the help of a template.
Warmup: Discussing • Tell Ss that for a person in the middle of their career, a resume
Experiences (15-20) mostly highlights their work experiences. For a recent graduate
with limited or no work experience, however, we need to get more
creative.
• Today we will start by looking at how we can each connect our
own unique pasts to our professional futures.
• GROUPS: Put Ss in new groups of 3-4. Ask them to share their
homework with each other. See what is unique and what their
group has in common. (5-10 min)
• CLASS: Bring everyone back together and synthesize their
responses. Encourage them to identify trends between groups, e.g.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 40 of 131]
asking the class to all raise their hands if they’ve ever had a job
before or if they’ve ever been part of a club or team before. (5-10
min)
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Discussing Our Experiences
2) “Selling Yourself”
3) Writing Our Professional Summary
4) Beginning to Draft Our Resumes
5) Homework Due Next Time
New Content: • Tell Ss that a crucial professional skill is learning to “sell
Selling Yourself (10- yourself,” meaning to give the best possible representation of
15) yourself that is still completely honest.
• Display and read an example such as the following:
o Imagine that an interviewer asks two job applicants what
they like to do outside of work:
▪ Job Applicant A: “I pretty much just eat and watch
TV with my roommate.”
▪ Job Applicant B: “I socialize a lot in the daytime, so
at home I look for quiet routines to help myself
reset. I find cooking very relaxing, because
following the steps in a recipe requires focus but
without any pressure. It’s also a nice reward when
the food turns out well and I can share it with other
people, such as my roommate.”
• Ask Ss to talk with a partner about how they would describe each
of these applicants. Even though they might do the exact same
thing after work, one has presented themselves very differently
from the other. (3 min)
• Elicit some responses and guide them with follow-ups (5 min), e.g.:
o What makes the second response more professional? Just
saying “it’s longer” is not enough!
o What personal and professional qualities could we
associate with each person? Who seems lazy? Who seems
thoughtful? Who seems childish? Who seems mature?
• Explain that this is what we can call “selling yourself:” giving the
best possible representation of yourself that is still completely
honest. (5 min)
Guided Practice: • Place Ss in groups of 3-4 to consider the following (15 min):
Selling Yourself (25) • GROUPS: How could each of the following be written differently
to showcase the applicant’s skills? Write 3 skills or qualities that
each experience could help a person to develop.
• Working at a restaurant
• Playing on a university basketball team
• Helping run the family laundry business
• Working in technical support
• Circulate and provide support. Some groups may have trouble
getting started. If any groups finish early, encourage them to write
their answers out in sentence form instead of just a list.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 41 of 131]
• When groups have mostly finished, bring them together to
synthesize responses. Example responses are below.
• Here are some example responses:
o RESTAURANT: Listening to customer needs, developing
communication skills, working in a fast-paced environment
o BASKETBALL: Learning teamwork, following directions,
leadership, self-discipline, motivation, focus, and
persistence
o FAMILY BUSINESS: Learning about small business
operations, attention to detail, and customer service
o TECH SUPPORT: Communicating technical issues to a
general audience; customer service; troubleshooting;
working independently
• If desired, you can extend this activity by mentioning another
activity or two and guiding the class through a discussion of the
professional skills and qualities it may help to develop.
Free Practice: • The way you conduct this next activity can vary by teacher and
Working on Our Own classroom. While some classrooms might be ready to work
Experiences (20) independently, others could require more structure.
• In either case, support Ss in applying the technique just practiced
to the list of 3-5 experiences that each S brought in for homework.
Some suggested guidelines:
o Give each experience 1-3 bullet points.
o Each bullet point should include a single short sentence
that clearly connects that experience to a professional
quality or skill.
o Try to use professional vocabulary, e.g. changing a word
like “good” to a word like “exceptional.”
• Once Ss have each completed at least 2 of these, have them share
in pairs/groups for feedback and then discuss as a full class.
Take a 10-minute break!
New Content: Parts • Tell Ss that we normally look for 5 main components in a resume,
of a Resume (10) and display a list for them to read and take note of:
1) Header: list your name and contact information. This section
often includes a link to your LinkedIn profile, if you have one.
2) Professional Summary: A 2-3 sentence summary of who
you are. This might include background, interests,
experiences, and/or goals.
3) Recent Experiences: This part might have a different title,
such as “employment” or “recent positions.” For experienced
workers, this always lists jobs. For recent graduates, it might
include less professional items, such as clubs, sports, and
volunteering.
4) Education: This lists universities attended, degrees attained,
and GPA (overall grade scores). It can also list certificates.
5) Other: It’s common to add one more section at the bottom,
such as Certifications, Language Skills, Relevant Courses
Taken, or Community Service. Make sure that anything you
include is professionally relevant.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 42 of 131]
• Display the sample resume included at the end of this textbook
unit. Ask Ss questions to help identify and digest each major part
of the resume.
Guided Practice: • Use the Resume Template from the end of this chapter to support
Assembling Our Own students in entering their own experiences into a basic resume of
Resumes (30) their own. Edit it to best suit your Ss, if needed.
• You will need to decide whether to have all students stick to this
basic template for now. If some students already have completed
resumes of their own, you can suggest that they experiment with
limited use of color and design. Examples can be seen at sites like
[Link]
• As they are ready, encourage students also to write a “professional
summary” similar to the one in the sample resume. It should be
just 2-3 sentences long and give an overview of who they are as an
individual, not simply repeat the information already included in
their resumes.
• They may not finish in the time provided—that’s OK. Finishing
the draft will be assigned as homework.
Free Practice: • Assign the homework and explain that students will have some
Choosing a Job Ad time to begin it together now.
(15) 1) Use websites like [Link] or [Link]
to find an entry-level job post that you would like to have. It
can be a job ad that we discussed last week or a new one.
Remember that an “entry-level” job does not require much
professional experience.
2) Finish writing your resume. We will improve it together next
class, but it must already be fully written.
• Since Ss will need a suitable job ad and a suitable resume to
succeed in the next session together, it’s best to have them begin
this homework in front of you so that any students with questions
can get extra help.
Feedback and • Provide some feedback to students based on what you have
Closure (5) observed this lesson. As usual, make sure that positive feedback is
included and that any negative feedback given is phrased
specifically and constructively, not hurtfully.
• Remind them of the homework (as above)
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 43 of 131]
Lesson Plan 3.2
Topic: Resume Writing Workshop
Objectives: Students will…
1) Participate in a guided peer review of one another’s resume drafts;
2) Learn our remaining two techniques for resume improvement:
o Emphasizing numbers
o Using key words
3) Examine their job ads for key words;
4) Edit their resumes to emphasize numbers and utilize key words from their chosen job ad;
5) Present their work in small groups;
6) [teacher’s choice]
Project: Resume Workshop
Warmup: • Give Ss instructions for the following and place them in groups of 3-4.
Discussing • GROUPS: Take turns telling your group what job you chose to apply for
Jobs (15) and WHY you chose it. Do your group members have similar ideas or
different ideas to yours? (10 min)
• Circulate to observe and take note of common trends.
• When satisfied, bring the class back together, ask for volunteers, and
describe what you observed among groups. (5)
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Discussing Job Ads
2) Identifying Key Words in Job Ads
3) Using Key Words in Our Resumes
4) Emphasizing Numbers in Our Resumes
5) Presenting Our Resumes to Groups
6) [Teacher’s Choice]
7) Homework Due Next Time
New • Explain that job ads contain lots of information about what qualities and
Content: qualifications the companies are looking for. One way we can figure out
Using Key what they’re looking for is by identifying key words in the job ad.
Words (10) • Display the Sample Job Ad from week 2.2 in this handbook.
• The first two sentences from the “Key Responsibilities” section are
written below, with the key words underlined. Show and explain them to
Ss—we can think of key words as the ones that contain the most
important information about qualities, skills, and experiences.
o Provide first-level technical support to end-users via phone, email,
or in person.
o Troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software issues, including
desktops, laptops, and peripherals.
• Here are the first two sentences from the “Qualifications” section of that
same ad, again with the key words underlined.
o Four-year degree from accredited institution. Degree does not
necessarily need to be in IT—all candidates must pass a hands-on
hardware/software competency test at interview.
o Strong passion for technology and a desire to learn and grow in the
IT field.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 44 of 131]
• Explain that identifying and focusing on these key terms is one of our best
strategies for understanding how to apply for the job successfully.
Guided • GROUPS: Ask Ss to work in groups of 3-4 to identify the rest of the key
Practice: words in that sample job ad. (10)
Identifying • Circulate to support them and encourage them that it’s OK to have slightly
Key Terms different answers—key words analysis is not an exact science for us.
(15) • When groups have mostly finished, synthesize responses as a full class.
Free • Ask Ss to read their own job ads and write down a list of the most
Practice: important key words they find.
Identifying • Depending on how smoothly this goes, you may choose to synthesize
Key Words in responses as a group or just move straight into the next lesson stage.
Our Own Job
Ads (10-15)
Free • Tell Ss that using these key words in our own resumes is the second major
Practice: (15) strategy for resume success.
Enhancing • This means that a good job applicant will be changing their resume a little
Our Own bit for every single position that they apply to.
Resumes • Here is how we can use key words to improve one sentence in a resume:
o My Old Resume: “Participated in university’s Robotics club,
experimenting with various simple robots and learning new IT-
related skills.”
o Job Ad Key Words: hardware skills, software skills,
troubleshooting
o My New Resume: “Participated in university’s Robotics club,
learning advanced hardware skills and software skills and working
as a team to troubleshoot issues.”
• Ask Ss to work on taking the key words they’ve identified and edit them
into their resume.
New • Explain that a third major technique for enhancing resume entries is to
Content: emphasize numbers when describing duties.
Emphasizing • When a hiring manager sees terms like “many,” or “a lot,” they can’t
Numbers (10) interpret them. A number changes this. Show some examples, such as:
o Tutored younger students in math. → 2 years tutoring math skills
for more than 30 students aged 12-14.
o Ran the Instagram account for family business. → Ran the
Instagram account for family business, creating 3-6 posts per week
and growing the account from 75 to 300 followers.
o Participated in university chess club. → Participated in university
chess club, attending over 100 total meetings and helping to
organize 3 major inter-school competitions.
• Explain that when we emphasize numbers, we accomplish 3 things:
o Makes the hiring manager’s job easier (this is good for us).
o Makes our resume clearer and more trustworthy.
o Shows that we are careful and detail-oriented.
Free Ask Ss to re-examine their own descriptions of past experiences and see where
Practice: emphasizing numbers might be helpful. Just like the previous Free Practice stage
Enhancing in this lesson, some groups of students may be very comfortable working
independently on this, whereas others may need to be walked through more
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 45 of 131]
Our Own examples together beforehand and supported in an ongoing fashion throughout
Resumes (15) the effort.
Take a 10-minute break!
NOTE • The structure of today’s lesson may vary significantly between student
groups. Some groups may be new to resume writing, in which case the
content presented today will be new and challenging. Other groups of
students may have already prepared resumes before, in which case today’s
lesson may seem a bit repetitive. Being sensitive to the needs of your
group, you can use the rest of today however they need. Three options are
presented below, though there are many more possibilities.
OPTION 1: Keep Editing
• If your group need more time and support, the rest of this session can be
spent as a sort of “study hall” in which they keep editing in small groups
and you circulate to provide support.
• More rounds of peer review could also be useful.
OPTION 2: Editing Real Recent Graduate Resume Examples
• If you have access to any past student resumes, you can remove the names
from them and display them in class. If they are very well made, you may
wish to make some changes so that they have obvious areas for
improvement (especially according to our 3 strategies from this unit).
• GROUPS: Ask Ss in small groups to edit and improve the resumes.
o Pay particular attention to areas in which translation is noticeable.
OPTION 3: Cover Letter Writing
• If your group has mostly already written resumes before and seems ready
to move on to something new, you can use rest of today to work on cover
letters together.
• Ask Ss: does anyone already know what a cover letter is?
• A cover letter is a 1-page self-introduction that is sometimes sent to
companies alongside a resume.
• A good cover letter begins with a greeting, such as “Dear Hiring
Manager,” and then often includes 3 main paragraphs:
1) A basic introduction (but don’t repeat the info below too much)
2) Your qualities and qualifications
3) Why you want to work at this specific company
4) Your goals for the future
• Pretend you will apply to the same job ad used for your resume editing.
Work on writing a short (3-4 sentence) paragraph for each of the topics
above.
• Circulate and provide support. Some students will have an easy time of
this task, whereas others may need extra guidance and encouragement.
• When finished, direct students to add “Dear Hiring Manager” as a
greeting and “Sincerely, — [student name]” as closure.
• Have students peer review one another’s cover letters for specificity,
professionalism, and grammar.
• A sample cover letter is included at the end of this chapter to provide
support if needed, but be mindful that providing a sample may result in all
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 46 of 131]
students approaching this task in the exact same way instead of
interpreting it as individuals.
Feedback (5- • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
10) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Submit your resume and a link to your job ad. Remember to use
our 3 strategies: sell yourself, use key words, and emphasize
numbers. The teacher will read your resumes, grade them, and
return them with feedback.
• You will need to decide a deadline, method of delivery, and timeline for
grades + feedback for your class. Collecting them in class may not be
ideal, as some students will edit more slowly than others. Allowing them
at least a day to finish at home can allow them to produce their best work.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 47 of 131]
Week 3 Supplementary Materials
Week 3.2 Resume Template
[Name]
[Email Address] | [LinkedIn account, if available]
Professional Summary: [3-4 sentences describing vision for career. Try not to repeat the
information below too much]
Recent Experiences:
[Name of Organization], [location] [dates]
[Job Title]
• [description of duties]
• [description of duties]
[Name of Organization], [location] [dates]
[Job Title]
• [description of duties]
• [description of duties]
[Name of Organization], [location] [dates]
[Job Title]
• [description of duties]
• [description of duties]
Education
[name of university], [location] [dates]
[Name of degree] GPA: [GPA]
Other Skills
Certifications: [list of certifications attained]
Languages Spoken: [list of languages and level]
Computer Skills: [list of programs and proficiency levels]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 48 of 131]
Week 3 Resume Example (IT Graduate applying to job ad from Week 2.1)
Omari Hassan
[Link]@[Link] | [Link]/in/omarhassanfake
Professional Summary: Motivated IT graduate with passion for technology and customer support
as well as 1 year of internship experience. Now seeking entry-level position and ready to learn.
Recent Experiences:
Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Tech Support Intern Sep, 2022 – May, 2023
• Developed both customer service and troubleshooting skills by assisting faculty and
students with hardware/software issues on laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.
• Frequent issues involved application updating/reinstallation, account management,
and resolution of compatibility issues. Solved average of 25 case tickets per week.
• Selected competitively for position as part of university’s work-study program.
• Worked flexible hours (16 weekly), with both independent and team shifts.
Audio-Visual (A/V) Club Member 2020 – 2023
• Participated in weekly A/V club meetings to discuss new technology.
• Collaborated with small team to provide A/V support at 14 school events, from small
guest speaker events to large annual International Gala, troubleshooting issues with
lights, microphones, speakers, and D/J table in front of up to 400 attendees.
Cairo Public School System, Cairo, Egypt
Math Tutor 2020 – 2022
• Spent 4 hours per week in school library to assist high school students with their
statistics, algebra, and geometry work. Helped average of 15 students per week.
Education:
Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
BA in Information Technology (GPA 3.7), 2023
Other Skills:
Languages Spoken: Arabic (native), English (advanced)
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 49 of 131]
Week 3.1 Sample Cover Letter
Dear Hiring Manager at Three Waves National University,
I am writing to express my interest in your open position of Entry-Level IT Support Specialist.
With my proven educational background in IT, a passion for troubleshooting, and a dedication to
providing exceptional customer support, I am eager to contribute my skills and enthusiasm to your
esteemed institution.
I recently graduated with a Bachelor's degree in IT from Cairo University, where I gained a
comprehensive understanding of IT principles, networks, and system administration. During my
academic journey, I actively sought opportunities to apply my knowledge in real-world settings. I
completed a work-study internship with my own university’s Library Tech Support Desk, where I
assisted in resolving technical issues, performed software installations, and contributed to the
maintenance of hardware and software systems. This experience allowed me to develop strong
problem-solving skills and a customer-focused approach to IT support.
I am impressed by Three Waves University's commitment to academic excellence and its
dedication to providing cutting-edge technology resources to its community. I have read about
your institution’s founding principles of diversity, opportunity, and innovation as well as its
various partnerships to benefit its host city. I am eager to support the university’s faculty, staff, and
students in their pursuit of knowledge and community support.
As a recent graduate, I recognize that I am still at the beginning of my IT journey. I am looking for
a position that I can learn and grow in. Your advertisement for this position and reputation as a
center of higher learning suggest that working as your Entry-Level IT Support Specialist would
give me the opportunity to gain experience at a dynamic institution with highly-qualified
coworkers and an environment of progress and respect. Thank you for considering my application,
and I look forward to discussing this opportunity in greater detail soon.
Sincerely,
— Omari Hassan
[Link]@[Link]
Notes and Further Reading
1) 6 Ways to Make Your Entry-Level Sales Resume Stand Out
o [Link]
2) Templates for Resume s
o [Link]
3) Difference between Hard Skills and Soft Skills
o [Link]
4) Resume Words
o [Link]
5) How to Kill Your CV: The Egyptian Guide
o [Link]
6) Switching Careers? Here’s How to Write a Strong Resume
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 50 of 131]
Week 4: Job Interviewing
Overview
In Week 4, we will apply the skills learned throughout this course so far to a particularly challenging
and stressful element of every new graduate’s job search—the interview. This will involve a
combination of tried-and-true techniques and sample questions with some hands-on practice for
students. You may need to remind them that feeling a little nervous during interview practice is
actually a good thing—the more we practice with this real feeling of nervousness, the more we can
learn to master in and perform well in actual job interviews.
In Lesson 4.1, students will learn about the stages of a typical job interview and consider their own
responses to some common interview questions. They will also practice delivering those responses in
small groups and then video record this process for homework submission.
In Lesson 4.2, students will learn about the STAR model for behavioral interview responses and
practice applying them to their own ideas and experiences. Although behavioral questions are most
common in higher-level interviews, they are useful to be aware of at any time. They also provide an
excellent framework for promoting critical thinking, student self-awareness, and meaningful student-
student interaction in the classroom.
Lesson Plan 4.1
Topic: Preparing for Job Interviews
Objectives: Students will…
1) Describe the stages of a typical job interview;
2) Explain strategies to help prepare for job interviews, especially predicting and practicing;
3) Respond to five common job interview questions with specificity, confidence, and
formality;
4) Review the English tenses necessary for accurate responses to interview questions;
5) Practice delivering their interview responses in small peer groups.
Project: Mock IT Job Interviews (Homework)
Warmup: • THINK: Display questions for students to brainstorm on alone (5):
Think Pair 1) How can we prepare to succeed at a job interview?
Share (15) 2) If you get interviewed for a job, what are some questions that the
interviewer might ask you?
• PAIR: Ask students to share their ideas with a partner.
• SHARE: Synthesize responses as a full class.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Considering Interview Preparation
2) Stages of a Job Interview
3) Interview Strategies
4) Answering Some Common Questions
5) Using Tenses Effectively
6) Preparing for Next Session
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 51 of 131]
New • T states that interviews often follow certain stages and explains a bulleted
Content: list on the PPT:
stages of an 1) Scheduling
Interview (5) 2) Entrance/Greeting
3) Answering Questions
4) Your Own Question
5) Closure
6) Follow-up
• The scheduling normally takes place by email before the interview,
whereas the follow-up involves sending your interviewer a polite email
afterwards to thank them for their time and consideration.
Guided • T shares video of sample job interview and asks Ss to watch it two times
Practice: and take notes on the interviewee’s:
Observing a 1) Answers to Questions
Sample 2) Body Language
Interview (15) 3) Language Use
• Recommended video to use: (2 min video = 5 min total time)
[Link]
• GROUPS: Once Ss have watched it twice and taken notes, place them in
groups of 3-4 to compare ideas (5 min)
• After, bring all groups together and synthesize responses on board or PPT
(5 min). Try to elicit and reinforce:
1) Specific Remarks
2) Confidence
3) Formal Language
• Explain that these will be our 3 main strategies to work on today.
New • Tell Ss that we will be practicing with 5 common job interview questions.
Content: All Ss should answer these questions as if applying to the same job ad that
Common they wrote their resume for last week.
Interview • Display this list of questions and explain each one a little, using the bullet
Questions (5) points below for support:
1) Can you please tell me a bit about yourself?
➔ This is when our practice explaining personal hobbies and
activities in a professional way becomes important. Hiring
Managers want employees that are easy to get along with,
so you need to show your unique personality in a way that
is also professional and reliable. Don’t only talk about
work here, as it can be seen as avoiding the question.
2) How do your past experiences align with the duties of this job?
➔ This question really has three parts: what are your
experiences, what are the duties of this job, and how are
they connected? Be brief but specific.
➔ This is sometimes called the “why you” question.
3) Why are you interested in working for our company?
➔ This question is meant to see whether you have really
researched the company or if you are just desperate for any
job you can get. Use some specific facts to show you have
“done your homework,” which means researching the
company beforehand. They want employees who care.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 52 of 131]
➔ This is sometimes called the “why us” question.”
4) Please tell me about one strength you have as an employee and one
weakness you have as an employee. For the weakness, what are
doing to improve it?
➔ The strength you mention should be specific and positive
but not arrogant. The weakness is meant to display self-
awareness and self-improvement, so be honest. Don’t give
a fake answer (also called a “humble brag”), like “my
weakness is that I work too hard” or “my weakness is that
I’m so smart that it makes all my coworkers feel bad.”
5) Do you have any questions for me?
➔ Always be prepared to ask a specific question that shows
awareness of the job position and the company. Possible
options can relate to teamwork, independence, daily tasks,
or which software systems are used in the office.
Free • Display the 5 questions above and ask Ss to write personal answers for
Practice: each one. Aim for 3 sentences per answer (for #5, this can instead be 3
Considering options of questions to ask). Circulate and provide support as necessary.
Our Answers • If students finish early, you can ask them to check each other’s answers.
(20) Does each response satisfy the criteria below?
▪ Specific
▪ Clear
▪ Unique
▪ Professional
▪ Grammatically Accurate
Guided • Prepare a tenses review activity to suit your group’s current mastery of
Practice: English tenses. At a minimum, you should review:
Tenses o Simple Past
Review (30) o Simple Present
o Simple Future
• Inclusion of the present perfect would also be helpful but depends on
student readiness.
• Remember to include some interactive elements, if possible—a simple
lecture and quiz may not yield optimal results.
Take a 10-minute break!
Free • We will now facilitate a roleplay in groups of 3-4.
Practice: o STUDENT 1: Interviewer (reads the questions)
Role Play o STUDENT 2: Applicant (responds to the questions)
(30) o STUDENTS 3/4: Observers (listen for 5 criteria below and then
give feedback afterwards)
1) Specific
2) Clear
3) Unique
4) Professional
5) Grammatically Accurate
• Ask for 2 volunteers to model this roleplay in front of the class first. You
can be the interviewer. Remember our interview stages:
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 53 of 131]
1) Scheduling (before this interview, the applicant and interviewer
have agreed on the time and place)
2) Entrance/Greeting
3) Answering Questions
4) Your Own Question
5) Closure
6) Follow-up (after the interview, the applicant will send an email to
say “thank you for your time.”)
• Make sure to begin by greeting the applicant appropriately. In some
places, this involves a handshake. In others, a bow. Model the appropriate
professional greeting for your region and then proceed through the other
interview stages with your Applicant volunteer. (5 min)
• After modeling, ask the second student (Observer) to share feedback.
GROUPS: In groups of 3-4, have students practice interviewing one
another using the roles advised above. Circulate to make sure they are
taking turns, giving complete responses, and giving useful feedback.
Feedback • Today’s feedback will likely be more detailed than in most sessions.
(15) • Depending on what you’ve observed, it may be helpful to focus on editing
S responses, improving professional body language, etc.
• It may also be helpful to improvise a short review activity, e.g. practicing
one of the interview questions with a partner with an added focus on
whatever you’d like them to improve—speaking more slowly, sounding
more excited, etc.
Guided • Tell Ss that we will be watching one more example interview and
Practice: critiquing it.
Watching • This example actually has a lot of issues, but you can choose whether or
Another not to warn them of this beforehand. They may find it funnier to watch if
Example (15) they don’t know to expect that it includes jokes.
• You can decide whether to have groups watch and discuss the video or to
format it as a Think-Pair-Share.
• Video: [Link]
Reflection • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
and Closure encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
(5) paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Record an interview video with a partner. They should ask you our 5
interview questions from today, and you should give specific,
confident, and formal responses to them. You can glance at your
notes, but try not to read from them too much! Submit your video to
our class WhatsApp group and watch the videos from others.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 54 of 131]
Lesson Plan 4.2
Topic: Advanced Interview Skills
Objectives: Students will…
1) Reflect on the process, importance, and challenges of preparing for job interviews;
2) Learn about the STAR model for advanced interview responses;
3) Practice delivering STAR responses for behavioral interview questions;
4) Review what we’ve learned in weeks 1-4 together so far;
5) Reflect on the challenges and successes in our course together so far.
Warmup: Reflecting on • Think, Pair, Share:
Interviews (20) 1) Which of our interview questions last time was easiest for
you to answer well, and why?
2) Which of our interview questions last time was hardest
for you to answer well, and why?
3) What else can be hard about interviews, and why?
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Reflecting on Interviews
2) The STAR Model
3) Advanced Interview Questions
4) Weeks 1-4 Review
5) Homework Due Next Time
New Content: The • Tell Ss that some interviews will ask about specific past
STAR Model (10) experiences. This is most common for higher-level jobs but can
happen in any interview.
• When describing a past experience, we often use the STAR
model:
o SITUATION: What is the context for this experience?
o TASK: What was the problem you needed to solve?
o ACTION: What did you do?
o RESULT: What happened as a result of your action?
• Display an example such as the following and ask Ss to
identify each STAR component within it. You can ask them to
think alone or with a neighbor.
o Last year, I was working in tech support at a hotel. One
day, I was notified that the entire digital booking
system was down, which could cause serious problems
if not fixed immediately. I knew that the booking
system ran on an older desktop application on the
hotel’s lobby computers, so I checked their logs and
found that there had been an automatic Windows
system update downloaded the night before. I guessed
that our old booking app couldn’t run on the new
Windows version, so I temporarily uninstalled it and
then wrote a support ticket to the app company to
request a more permanent fix. As a result of my actions,
the booking app was running again on the old version
of Windows very quickly, and about a week later we
were able to update them as intended.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 55 of 131]
• SITUATION: Last year, I was working in tech support at a
hotel.
• TASK: One day, I was notified that the entire digital booking
system was down, which could cause serious problems if not
fixed immediately.
• ACTION(S): I knew that the booking system ran on an older
desktop application on the hotel’s lobby computers, so I
checked their logs and found that there had been an automatic
Windows system update downloaded the night before. I
guessed that our old booking app couldn’t run on the new
Windows version, so I temporarily uninstalled it and then
wrote a support ticket to the app company to request a
permanent fix.
• RESULT: As a result of my actions, the booking app was
running again on the old version of Windows very quickly, and
about a week later we were able to update them as intended.
Guided Practice: The • GROUPS: Ask Ss to work in groups of 3-4 to identify which
STAR Model (15) parts of a good STAR response are missing from each of the
following examples:
1) The problem was that even though the company had
spent a lot of money on the new system, nobody had been
trained in how to use it. I organized two voluntary
workshops to help show how the employees how the
system worked. Even though the workshops were
voluntary, I think 36 or 37 of our 40 employees wanted to
attend, and they completed a survey afterwards that gave
me a 96% approval rating. My manager was very
pleased.
2) I worked for about two years as a Cybersecurity Sales
Engineer, which meant I would participate in sales calls
to explain our cybersecurity system to the IT workers at
customer companies. We had one very big customer
company who didn’t involve their IT department in the
sales process at all, so I had to explain very technical
cybersecurity concepts to general business managers.
Despite the challenge, in the end we were able to close
the deal, which was our largest one of the year.
3) I worked as the only data analyst at a small accounting
firm. The older workers there kept a lot of their record on
paper, and the younger workers were frustrated with this
but didn’t have enough experience to make a better
recommendation. I did some independent research to find
out the preferred computer systems in our industry, made
a selection, and wrote a proposal to my supervisor,
explaining that their data entry work would be about 20%
faster with the new system, whereas my data analysis
would be nearly 100% faster, freeing up my time for
other company tasks.
• After they’ve mostly finished, bring the class back together to
discuss.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 56 of 131]
▪ Example 1 is missing a SITUATION. What
kind of company was this, and what was your
role?
▪ Example 2 is missing an ACTION. How did
you manage to communicate these complex
ideas to non-IT workers?
▪ Example 3 is missing a RESULT. Was the
proposal successful? Why or why not?
Free Practice: The • Ask Ss to choose one of the questions below and write a STAR
STAR Model (30) response of their own for it. Circulate and support them. (15
min)
1) What is a past accomplishment you’re especially proud
of?
2) Tell me about a time when you had to work on a team.
3) Please tell me about a time when you failed at something
and what you learned from the experience.
4) Please describe an example of a time you had to manage
a stressful situation.
• When most have a finished draft put Ss in pairs or small
groups to review their responses. Are all parts of the STAR
model present? (5-10)
• Ask Ss to pretend to be interviewers again and practice
delivering their STAR responses. (5)
• Bring the group back together and call on a couple of S
examples. (5)
Take a 10-minute break!
Teacher’s Choice (30) • We have arrived at the end of our first unit together. Use these
35 minutes to review what has been learned in weeks 1-4,
bearing in mind that a final reflection is also outlined below.
Consolidation / • Think, Pair, Share:
Reflection (20) 1) What has been most challenging for you in our first 4
weeks together?
2) What have you learned in our class so far that will be most
useful for you in the future?
3) What have you done in our class so far that makes you
most proud?
4) What about this class has been different than you expected?
5) What are your goals for our remaining 8 weeks together?
• NOTE: Now that we have reached the end of Unit 1, you may
want to record this feedback for future reference and for
helping you to hone your approach to Units 2 and 3. One
option is collecting students’ notes from this task or writing
your own notes as they speak; another option is putting similar
reflection questions online with a resource like SurveyMonkey
or Google Forms so that you will have their full feedback
recorded automatically. In that case, you can consider making
the survey anonymous and asking questions like “How could
this course be improved?”
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 57 of 131]
Feedback (5-10) • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group.
Start with praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors
that you noticed more than once today—these could relate to
ideas, pronunciation, grammar, interaction style, or other focus
areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard
work is paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Review our course materials to study for the quiz next
session! It will include the following parts:
• Matching Unit 1 vocabulary to definitions.
• Explaining some important ideas from a sample
job ad.
• Editing some personal descriptions to help job
applicants to “sell themselves” better.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Week 4 Supplementary Materials
• n/a
Notes and Further Reading
1) Preparing for Job Interviews: Common Interview Questions & How to Answer Them
o [Link]
questions-how
2) How To Use the STAR Interview Response Technique
o [Link]
response-technique
3) How To Dress for a Job Interview
o [Link]
4) 36 IT Interview Questions (With Sample Answers and Tips)
o [Link]
5) 10 Common IT Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 58 of 131]
Week 5: Professional Networking
Overview
In Week 5, we will shift our focus from Preparing for the World of IT Work (Unit 1) to
Professional Interactions in IT (Unit 2). While continuing to use the vocabulary, content, and
grammar practiced so far, we will introduce new scenarios related to interacting with colleagues and
customers as well as new content and language items to facilitate these interactions.
In Lesson 5.1, we will begin with a review quiz to cover the content and language studied
throughout Unit 1. We will then work on the parts and principles of professional emails by both
editing existing content and then by writing practice emails of our own.
In Lesson 5.2, we will focus instead on verbal interactions. While future lessons will go deeper into
strategies for more specific types of professional interactions (such as meetings), this lesson will
focus on small talk. Small talk is a general skill for establishing and maintaining friendly
professional relationships while also upholding a greater degree of distance than one sees in personal
relationships, such as those among friends or family members.
Lesson Plan 5.1
Topic: Professional Emails
Objectives: Students will…
1) Take a quiz to demonstrate (and encourage) their mastery of Unit 1 content;
2) Learn about the parts of a professional email;
3) Learn some basic principles for writing and editing professional emails;
4) Practice editing professional emails;
5) Write a professional email of their own.
Warmup: • Remind students that we will shortly be having our Unit 1 Quiz.
Unit 1 • Based on your experiences with these students, design and deliver a
Review (15- review activity of about 15-20 minutes to reinforce whatever quiz content
20) you anticipate will be most difficult.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Unit 1 Review
2) Unit 1 Quiz
3) Thinking about Professional Communications
4) Parts and Principles of a Professional Email
5) Email Editing
6) Email Writing
7) Homework Due Next Time
Assessment: • This quiz is likely to be complete in about 45 minutes.
Unit 1 Quiz • However, make sure your Ss have enough time. Some Ss may work more
(45) slowly than others but still have good mastery of the content.
• If teaching online, make sure to plan in advance how the quiz will be
proctored and collected.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 59 of 131]
New • Display the resource Problematic Email Example #1 from the end of this
Content: handbook section. Explain the word “problematic.” This is a useful term
Parts of an in business! Ask Ss (alone or in pairs / small groups) to identify as many
Email (20-25) problems with the email as they can. (5-10)
• Synthesize responses as a group (5)
• Display the resource Professional Email Example from the end of this
handbook unit. Discuss each part of it with Ss and answer Qs as needed.
(10)
Take a 10-minute break!
Guided • Display the resource Problematic Email Example #2 from the end of this
Practice: handbook section. Ask students to work with a neighbor to not only
Editing identify the errors but also to fix them. (8)
Emails (35) • Synthesize responses as a group (must add specific Subject Line, must
add appropriate Closing and Signature). (2)
• Prepare 5 emails that contain issues but also have enough information in
them for Ss to reasonably edit them without help. Distribute these to
groups as handouts, screenshots, etc.
• GROUPS: Ask Ss to work in groups of 3-4 to identify and correct the
issues in their emails. (10)
• When all groups have finished, ask them to show their email to the full
class and explain what they changed and why. Synthesize responses and
address any questions/issues that arise (15)
Free • GROUPS: Ask the same groups to think of something they would like to
Practice: change about class. This can be real or fake, such as asking for less
Writing Our homework or asking for ice cream every day.
Own Email • Each group should prepare a fake email to the teacher using formal
(remaining) language and all expected email elements:
1) A Subject Line that is specific, clear, and uses capital letters.
2) A Greeting that is appropriately formal for the audience.
3) An Opener to establish the tone of the relationship.
4) A Main Idea/Request that is specific and clear.
5) A Closing that is appropriately formal for the audience.
6) A Signature listing all group members.
• Once finished, instead of sending the message by email, they should
submit it to the course WhatsApp group for all other Ss to read.
• Tell Ss that this will be finished for homework and that only one message
needs to be sent per group, so it must be signed with all group
members’ names.
Feedback (5) • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 60 of 131]
1) Finish and submit your group’s practice email to the class WhatsApp
group.
2) Read all other groups’ practice emails.
3) Study our vocabulary list for this chapter: Business Terms and
Idioms. Choose one of the terms you find interesting and draw a
picture to represent it. Do not label your picture—you will show it to
your classmates and have them guess what you drew.
• If helpful, here are two example drawings. Which vocabulary terms might
they match? You can show them now or as part of the Warp Up in our
next class session.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 61 of 131]
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
• Note: the sample images above were created using the AI tool Midjourney.
Lesson Plan 5.2
Topic: Small Talk at the Office
Objectives: Students will…
1) Brainstorm about topics and taboos in professional small talk;
2) Learn about professional taboos;
3) Learn 3 strategies for generating and expanding on professional small talk;
a. Keep It Safe
b. Keep It Simple
c. Keep It Going
4) Practice small talk in groups;
5) Write and practice a short role play about professional networking.
Project: Professional Networking Role Play (video recording)
Warmup: • GROUPS: Put Ss in groups of 3-4 and ask them to share and discuss the
Business drawings they created as homework. (5)
Terms and • Ask each group to choose their favorite one to share with the class. (5-10)
Idioms (20) • Check comprehension of vocabulary list and address any issues/questions
that arise. (5-10)
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 62 of 131]
1) Warmup: Business Terms and Idioms
2) Professional Topics and Taboos
3) Topics and Taboos Across Cultures
4) Small Talk
5) Role Playing
6) HW Due Next Time
Feedback • Give Ss some feedback about the emails they wrote for homework.
and • When finished, draw their attention to element 3 of the previous resource
Transition (5) Professional Email Example:
3. A friendly opener establishes respect and appreciation. Avoid
professional taboos.
• We’ll talk next about this concept of taboos and appropriate topics.
New Content: • THINK, PAIR, SHARE: What topics are almost always inappropriate to
Professional mention to your coworker? Two easy examples are religion and politics.
Taboos (20) • Possible Answers:
1) Religion and politics.
2) How much money people earn.
3) Personal appearance, including how other people look or dress.
4) Dating and romance (both your own and other people’s).
5) Rumors about other co-workers.
6) “Gossip,” which means talking about who else at the office you like
or don’t like or whether other people like or don’t like each other.
New Content: • Some of the major small talk strategies we can use are:
Small Talk 1) Keep it safe.
Question ▪ Light, not heavy. Avoid taboos.
Strategies (20) ▪ Good: The rain this morning really surprised me! Did you
bring an umbrella?
▪ Bad: I ate some undercooked fish this weekend and got
very sick. My stomach still hurts today. Has that ever
happened to you?
2) Keep it simple.
▪ Ask questions that your partner can probably answer.
▪ Good: You’ve worked here a lot longer than me, what’s
changed in that time?
▪ Bad: Do you prefer Batman or Superman comic books?
3) Keep it going.
▪ Ask questions that are “open-ended,” meaning they can’t
be answered with “yes,” “no,” or a single word/number.
▪ Good: How did you spend your weekend?
▪ Bad: Please remind me, is today Monday or Tuesday?
• With these strategies in mind, ask Ss to discuss the following BAD small
talk questions with a partner. Each one fails one of our 3 rules. Which rule
does each one fail?
1) Does the concept of getting older frighten you?
2) Do you think the invention of the piano or the harpsichord had a
bigger impact on the development of world music?
3) For how many years have you worked here?
4) Do you think our government is doing a good job?
5) How much do you weigh?
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 63 of 131]
6) What is your favorite baseball team in the USA?
• Answers:
1) #1: This idea is too “heavy”—it is personal, private, and sensitive.
2) #2: Many people will not have an opinion on this.
3) #3: A number of years is a closed question, not open. This can be
OK if you have a follow-up question in mind.
4) #1: Politics are a professional taboo in many countries.
5) #1: Appearance is a professional taboo in many countries.
6) #2: Many people will not have an opinion on this. Sports can also
be seen as overly personal in some places, which violates rule #1.
Guided • Allow Ss to watch the following video 2-3 times.
Practice: • [Link]
Considering • Ask Ss to discuss in small groups: What is done well and poorly in this
an Example example? Does any information seem too personal to you, or is it all
(15) appropriate?
• Synthesize responses as a group. Note that this is a subjective discussion,
so while some Ss might say that discussing family relationships is too
personal for the workplaces, others could disagree. This shows why we
must be “safe” with small talk—beyond the taboos we listed before, it’s
impossible to know whether the person we are talking to will have the
exact same ideas as us about what is appropriate and inappropriate.
Take a 10-minute break!
Guided • THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
Practice: o Imagine you work at a large company in your home city. A
Small Talk businessperson is visiting from one of your partner companies in
Scenario 1 the U.K. They arrived yesterday morning (on the weekend) and will
(20) stay for 7 days, attending meetings at your office on workdays.
→ What are some appropriate small talk questions you could ask
them? Think of as many as you can.
New Content: • Explain to Ss that we can apply the same 3 Small Talk Strategies we used
Small Talk for asking questions to giving responses:
Answer 1) Keep it safe.
Strategies (5) ▪ Try to respect our list of taboo topics and in particular not
to share anything too personal or too negative.
▪ Bad: What did you do this weekend? Actually, I got into an
argument with my mom. Sometimes I feel that she tries to
make every conversation about herself and can never just
talk about someone else’s ideas for a few minutes.
▪ Good: What did you do this weekend? I spent some time
with my parents this weekend. I don’t get to visit my old
home city very often anymore, so we went to an old
favorite restaurant and park. How about you?
2) Keep it simple.
▪ Try to “steer” the conversation in a direction that your
partner can easily follow.
▪ Bad: What did you do this weekend? I like to create
different outfits for my cats to wear and post funny videos
of them on the internet. This time was Pokémon theme.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 64 of 131]
▪ Good: What did you do this weekend? I just relaxed with
my cats at home. The presentations last week left me
needing some time to recharge. Did you get out at all?
3) Keep it going.
▪ Try not to give “dead end” responses. When possible,
follow your response with a new question of your own.
▪ Bad: What did you do this weekend? Pretty much nothing.
▪ Good: What did you do this weekend? Not too much. I
spent some time walking around my neighborhood. I’ve
been looking for a good pizza restaurant in this city, do
you have any favorites?
Guided • THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
Practice: o Considering our three Small Talk Strategies of Keep It Safe, Keep
Considering It Simple, and Keep it Going, how could you respond to each of
Responses the following questions? Try to share something interesting but
(15) safe and simple, and then follow-up with a related question of
your own. Write down your ideas.
1) I mostly spent this weekend cooking—I am trying to
make the perfect cake recipe. What did you do this
weekend?
2) What do you think of this weather lately?
3) How did you decide what to study in university?
• Circulate and provide support as needed. Prepare your own sample
responses in advance in case they are needed.
Consolidation • Tell Ss that we will spend the rest of today beginning our Week 5 Project,
/ Free and that we will complete the project in pairs.
Practice: • PAIRS: In groups of 2, every student should write a 2-3 minute
Role Playing conversation, video record it, and submit to the course WhatsApp group.
(remaining) o Imagine that Partner A has just started work in a tech support
position. Partner B has been working in a similar role at the same
company for 2 years. You are walking to work in the morning and
see your new coworker. Start with the following conversation and
add more small talk until you reach 2-3 minutes.
o Remember to Keep It Safe, Keep It Simple, and Keep It Going.
▪ Partner A: Oh hello, I think your name is ____, right? We
just started working together.
▪ Partner B: Good morning. That’s right! And you are
__________?
▪ Partner A: Correct.
Feedback (5) • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 65 of 131]
1) Finish writing and practicing your conversation. With your partner,
create a video recording and send it to our course WhatsApp group.
Watch each other’s group videos and think about what is similar and
different about them all.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Week 5 Supplementary Materials
Problematic Example Email #1
From: (sender email address)
To: (recipient email address)
Subject: meeting
Aneta my friend,
We need to talk. how about next Wednesday or Thurssday?
Also, Kevin is driving me crazy right now, I think he is wearing some new cologne. You can
practically smell it from the parking lot.
Bye,
—Mark
Professional Email Example
From: (sender email address)
To: (recipient email address)
1) The subject line should be detailed, clear,
Subject: Proposed Meeting Times Next Week
and uses capital letters.
2) The greeting should be appropriately
formal/casual for your audience.
• Most formal:
o Dear ________,
o Good morning ________,
Hello Aneta, o Good afternoon, _______,
o Good evening __________,
• Less formal:
o Hello ________,
• Inappropriately casual:
o Hi, Hey, What’s Up?
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 66 of 131]
3) A friendly opener establishes respect and
I hope that you had a nice holiday break. I appreciation. Avoid professional taboos such as
remember that you planned to visit the beach religion, politics, sports, or strong opinions.
with your family. I’m glad the weather turned Mentioning the week, weekend, month, recent
out so nicely for traveling. national holiday (vacation), or a detail you
remember about the person is safe.
Now that we are all back in the office, I think
we should touch base on our project and make
sure we are all on the same page with it. Do you
have any availability at the following times? I
think we will need about 60 minutes to talk.
4) The main idea/request is specific and clear.
• Wednesday, Jan 4, 8:30am-12:00pm
• Thursday, Jan 5, 9am-11am or 2pm-4pm
Please let me know.
5) The closing is appropriate for your audience.
• Most formal:
o Sincerely,
o Best regards,
o All the best,
• Less formal:
Best regards,
o Best,
o Cheers,
• Inappropriately casual:
o Bye,
o Goodbye,
o See you later, Alligator!
6) The signature indicates whether or not you
would like to be referred to by your first name
in future communications.
• Signing with only your first name (e.g.
Mark) is appropriate if you know the
other person well and expect them to
call you by your first name when they
respond.
—Mark
• Signing with your full name (e.g. Mark
Smith) is usually necessary for the first
email, or they won’t know who you are.
• Signing with your full name (e.g. Mark
Smith) in later emails can indicate that
you do not expect them to reply using
your first name. Instead, they might call
you by the more formal “Mr. Smith.”
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 67 of 131]
Problematic Email Example #2
From: (sender email address)
To: (recipient email address)
Subject:
Dear Aasma,
I hope that your week is off to a good start. I am writing to see if we are still on track for the client
presentation next Tuesday. If you need any support preparing the PPT or arranging the room and
the coffee/snacks, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I am here to help.
Vocabulary List: Business Terms and Idioms
Backburner (v/n) To mark a task as less important than others right now
Circle Back (v) To return to a previous discussion topic
Circle the Wagons (v) To gather a group of people for the purpose of safety
Deep Dive (v/n) To explore a concept in great detail
Good to Go (adj) Ready or prepared
Herding Cats (v) Trying to get people to agree or collaborate even though their
opinions or preferences are not compatible
Kill It Meaning a: (v) To cancel a project
Meaning b: (v) To do something very well
Leverage (n) The power to do or control something
(v) To use something in a way that helps with a specific task
Low-Hanging Fruit (n) Something easy to acquire or achieve
Move the Needle (v) To make a difference
On the Same Page (adj) To have the same information or to be in agreement
Out of the Loop (adj) Missing information about something
Ping (v) To send an electronic message to someone
Reinvent the Wheel (v) To spend a lot of time doing something that has already been done
Streamline (v) To make something simpler, clearer, or easier to use
Touch Base (v) To check for updates from someone about a specific topic
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based on their
(any other)
own interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
Notes and Further Reading
1) Guidance and Examples for Small Talk
o [Link]
2) Mental Health and Well-being in the Workplace
o [Link]
Health-Care/[Link]
3) How to Talk to Anyone
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 68 of 131]
Week 6: Supporting Our Ideas
Overview
In Week 6, we will focus on supporting our ideas in professional environments, with a focus on
specificity and detail.
In Lesson 6.1, we will discuss the difference between facts and opinions and then practice
supporting our opinions with explanation, examples, and evidence. We will also brainstorm and
discuss some pros and cons on a variety of modern business/IT topics.
In Lesson 6.2, we will discuss Classical Argument Structure (though we will not use that term), and
we will apply this idea to the construction of simple individual Elevator Pitches on topics of
students’ choosing. We will deliver these Elevator Pitches to the class as students’ major project,
marking our completion of the first 50% of our course together.
Lesson Plan 6.1
Topic: Expressing and Supporting Our Ideas
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Hold a review discussion about professional small talk;
2) Practice differentiating facts and opinions;
3) Learn three techniques for supporting our ideas (explanation, examples, evidence);
4) Learn vocabulary terms for describing charts and graphs;
5) Practice discussing and describing charts and graphs.
Warmup: • Review the HW videos with students in a way of your choosing. It is
Discussing the recommended to include most or all of these elements:
HW (20) 1) Ask students to reflect on what went well and what was
challenging about this assignment.
2) Give some general positive feedback to the group based on what
was observed.
3) Highlight at least one exemplary student example and explain
what was so good about it.
4) Give some corrective feedback to the group based on errors that
were commonly observed.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Review of Small Talk
2) Pros and Cons
3) Facts and Opinions
4) Giving Reasons for Our Ideas
5) Homework Due Next Time
New Content: • Explain to Ss that workplace interactions often involve complex
Pros and Cons topics/solutions that have both advantages and disadvantages.
(15) • Define the terms “Pros” and “Cons.”
• Ask Ss to brainstorm as many pros and cons as they can of the statement
below (or another one like it of your own design):
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 69 of 131]
o Starting in the early 2000s, e-commerce began to drive the
world’s brick-and-mortar shops out of business.
• TRANSITION: Explain to Ss that examining the various pros and cons of
an idea can help people to let go of their “personal opinions” and focus on
“facts” instead. But what do these terms mean?
Guided • Explain that when holding professional discussions, we often need to
Practice: differentiate facts from opinions. Explain the term “differentiate.” (5 min)
Facts and • Fact: something that is true and can be proven. (objective)
Opinions (25) 1) e.g. Dates, locations, statistics
2) e.g. “Calvin got a new haircut.”
• Opinion: Something based on feeling or belief. (subjective)
1) e.g. thoughts, feelings, beliefs
2) e.g. “Calvin’s haircut looks _______.”
• If using the examples above, you may want to show a picture of a very
bad haircut to make students laugh.
• Show Ss a list of 10 statements, some of which are facts and others
opinions. Ask them to write down F or O for each one (5 min) and then
consult with a neighbor (2 min). Check answers as a group (5 min).
• Show Ss the resource Facts and Opinions Email at the end of this
handbook unit (or another, similar email of your own design). Ask them to
write down F or O for each one (5 min) and then check answers as a
group (5 min).
Take a 10-minute break!
Guided • Professional opinions need facts for support. This includes:
Practice: 1) Explanation – logical reasons to hold the opinion
Giving 2) Examples – a specific case showing the opinion to be true
Reasons (30) 3) Evidence – research data showing the opinion to be true
• GROUPS: Choose one of the opinions below and write down all 3 types
of support for it—explanation, an example, and some evidence. It’s OK if
they sometimes overlap, such as using research online to find an example.
▪ Adopting a vegetarian diet can help the environment.
▪ Many clothing brands destroy their unsold merchandise at
the end of the year instead of donating it or selling it at a
discounted price.
▪ Most employees prefer a democratic style of office
management instead of an authoritarian one.
▪ Many businesses have been affected by the increase in
working from home since 2020.
• Share responses as a class and address any questions/issues that arise.
Free • GROUPS: Ask Ss in small groups to think of a new opinion about
Practice: business/IT of their own. It must meet these two criteria:
Giving o Be appropriate for a business setting (remember unit 5!)
Reasons (40) o Be an opinion that some people would realistically disagree with.
For example, the opinion that “computers are useful” is not very
worth discussing, as it’s hard to imagine anybody disagreeing.
• Each group should come up with explanation, example(s), and evidence
to support their opinion and then present it to the class.
• TEACHER: If you hear any very interesting topics related to IT, you may
wish to write them down for use in lesson 7.1 next week.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 70 of 131]
Feedback (5- • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
10) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Study this week’s vocabulary list.
2) Think of a product or service that you wish you could improve.
• Examples: ice cream that melts more slowly; a computerized
fridge that notices when you run out of groceries; a bicycle tire
that can’t go flat; a water bottle that cleans your water; a
coaching service to help students organize their time; a librarian
service that helps you do research on the whole internet.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Lesson Plan 6.2
Topic: Arguments and Elevator Pitches
Outcomes: Students will…
• Discuss the concept of argument;
• Practice constructing arguments on a sample casual topic (snacks);
• Apply the same principles to creating individual Elevator Pitches on professional topics.
Project: Elevator Pitch Presentations
Warmup: • THINK, PAIR, SHARE
Remembering 1) What is an argument?
Arguments 2) What do people often argue about?
(20) 3) What is an argument that you had recently?
• When introducing these questions, you may want to “set the tone” by
telling the students a story about a funny argument you had in the past,
rather than a very serious argument.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Remembering Arguments
2) Discussing Arguments
3) The Great Snack Debate
4) Problems with Products
5) The Elevator Pitch
6) HW for Next Time
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 71 of 131]
New Content: • Tell Ss that in General English, an “argument” normally refers to a
Arguments (5) disagreement between people.
• In Academic (Classroom) English, an “argument” is a series of logical
statements a person uses to prove that their idea is correct. Argument
structure provides a strong foundation for professional proposal writing.
• Is the academic definition of an argument more like a fact or an opinion?
o Our POSITION in an argument is like an opinion.
o We can support that position with FACTS.
• For example:
o ARGUMENT: Large grass lawns should be outlawed.
o REASON: The World Economic Forum points out that large grass
lawns are not natural and do not support insect life, which in turn
leaves animals like birds, mammals, and reptiles without sufficient
food (Whiting, 2019). In other words, lawns are harmful to
biodiversity and can contribute to animal extinctions.
Guided • Tell Ss that this kind of academic “argument structure” is important in
Practice: The professional discussions, presentations, and reports.
Great Snack • Before we complete a professional exercise, we will do a casual one. We
Debate (55) will argue about the superior snack food.
• Present (show and narrate) the following argument, or another one like it,
to the group. Provide some verbal explanation of each point.
Bananas: The Greatest of All Snack Foods
Topic and Position: Many snacks, but bananas = best
Reason 1: Convenience
Reason 2: Environmentalism
Reason 3: Nutrition
Counterargument: High in Sugar
Response: Fine in Moderation
Conclusion: Due to the considerations above…
• Example explanation for the example above: Today, I will be
presenting an argument that bananas are the greatest of all snack foods.
There are many snacks in the world, but by the end of the discussion, I
hope you’ll agree with me that bananas are the superior option. First of
all, they are a highly convenient choice. You can purchase them at nearly
any convenience store, grocery store, or produce stand, and their cost is
low. It’s also convenient that they don’t need to be washed, which brings
me to my second point: environmentalism. Not only do bananas come
from farms, rather than factories, they come in their own biodegradable
wrapper and therefore require no plastic to transport and no extra water
to clean. This is good for our planet. Finally, bananas are a nutritious
snack, with high levels of several vitamins and minerals, most notably
potassium. Bananas therefore contribute to a healthy and balanced diet.
Opponents may point out that bananas have high sugar content, which is
true. However, I’d like to point out that this is natural sugar, not refined
sugar, and there is nothing wrong with consuming natural sugar in
moderation. Due to the considerations of convenience, environmentalism,
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 72 of 131]
and nutrition, bananas are a snack that can’t be beaten. Thank you for
your time and attention.
• Draw Ss’s attention to each part of this argument (on the outline slide—
don’t show them a transcript of your full elaboration). Provide extra
attention to the counterargument and response, which may be less familiar
to them. Acknowledging your opponents’ strongest point provides an
opportunity to respond to it on your own terms, showing the audience that
you have analyzed the issue from all sides and ultimately strengthening
your position.
• GROUPS: Ask groups of 3-4 to each choose a snack food of their own
and write an argument for it with each of these parts:
o Topic and Position
o Reason 1
o Reason 2
o Reason 3
o Counterargument
o Response
o Conclusion
• Have groups present their arguments to the class.
• Ask every student to vote on which argument was most persuasive. They
are not allowed to vote for their own group!
• Collect all votes and tally them one at a time on the board, “horse race”
style. This involves listing each snack food on the board, reading 1 vote at
a time, and marking it next to that snack name. This way, students can see
the votes stacking up next to each snack food and build excitement as they
wait to see which group wins.
Take a 10-minute break!
New Content: • Tell Ss that an “Elevator Pitch” is a very brief verbal presentation that
The Elevator often involves proposing a new idea or strategy. They sometimes include
Pitch (10) visual elements but most often don’t.
➔ Imagine: you get into the elevator at work one morning and find
yourself standing next to the president of your company. The
president asks you a question, and you recognize that this
opportunity will only last until the elevator reaches the top floor of
your building. In just 1-2 minutes, how can you pitch your idea?
• Explain that elevator pitches can cover many topics, but we’ll focus on 3
and watch an example of each one:
1) Proposing a product or business idea:
[Link] (“Allergy
Tracking App”)
2) Giving a piece of life advice:
[Link] “Saying Yes to
Life”)
3) Introducing yourself to a potential employer:
[Link] (“Prudence”)
• Walk through these examples with students and describe what is done
well in each case. Is there anything you’d suggest for improvement?
Free • Tell Ss that our project this week will be recording a 1-2 minute Elevator
Practice: Pitch video of our own. All students will work individually and can
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 73 of 131]
Elevator prepare a pitch that (1) proposes a product or business idea, (2) gives a
Pitches (40) piece of life advice, or (3) introduces themselves to a potential employer.
• Display/distribute the Elevator Pitch Assignment Sheet from the end of
this handbook unit and explain each element.
o NOTE: if your group is more advanced, you may want to provide
extra coaching or support to help them focus on IT business ideas
instead of advice and self-introductions. You could also require
them to propose a product/business instead of the other suggested
options if preferred.
• GROUPS: Ask groups of 3-4 to discuss the product ideas that they
completed for homework. Would any be a good topic for this assignment?
Allow them to discuss the assignment expectations and give feedback
individually and as a full class, as needed.
• Finally, give Ss the rest of today to begin putting together their Elevator
Pitches.
Feedback (5) • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Finish your Elevator Pitch and submit it to the course WhatsApp group.
Don’t forget—this is our course midterm assignment, so it is worth 10%
of our final course grades. Make sure to:
• Include all structure elements from the assignment sheet.
• Speak professionally and enthusiastically—don’t just read from
your notes the whole time.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 74 of 131]
Week 6 Supplementary Materials
Facts and Opinions Email
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing about the harm done to students by smartphones. According to research, smartphones
increase access to information but also reduce attention span (1). This is why they need to be made
illegal for children under 18 (2). I don’t think this can wait another year (3).
As you know, smartphones have become common since around the year 2000 (4). This is not good
(5). Some of the major manufacturers this year include Apple, Samsung, and LG (6). I believe
these companies are using their phones to make kids buy more McDonalds hamburgers and drop
out of school (7). Thank you for considering these important points.
Best regards,
- John
Assignment Sheet: Midterm Elevator Pitches
Overview: Imagine that you are sharing an elevator with someone important. What will you say
before the ride ends? Prepare a 1-2 minute elevator pitch video on one of the following topics:
1) Proposing a product or business idea
2) Giving a piece of life advice
3) Introducing yourself to a potential employer
Structure: Include each of the following parts:
• An introduction to your topic, including an explanation of why that topic is important.
• 2-4 main pieces of support, including explanation, examples, or evidence for each one.
• A counterargument and response. This probably means mentioning a challenge you’ll face
and explaining how you plan to overcome it.
• A conclusion that restates your topic and thanks the audience for their time and attention.
Notes:
• This video is only you speaking—no PPT or other visual aids.
• Elevator pitches don’t normally involve much research. You can include a statistic or two if
you want, but the focus is on explaining your ideas clearly, logically, and briefly.
• This assignment is our course midterm and worth 10% of the final course grades.
Grading: Your teacher will provide marks and feedback on the following:
• Content—make sure your ideas are clear, relevant, and fully explained.
• Organization—make sure your pitch includes all of the parts mentioned above and
connects them together smoothly.
• Language—make sure to use professional-level vocabulary and grammar and avoid
making mistakes.
• Voice—make sure to speak clearly and with appropriate volume, speed, and intonation.
• Delivery—make sure to look and sound professional, confident, and engaging.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 75 of 131]
Notes and Further Reading
1) The Art of Business English Podcast: Reason and Supporting Ideas
o [Link]
supporting-ideas/
2) Business English Pod Guidance on Expressing Support in English
o [Link]
support-in-english/
3) How to Craft a Personal Elevator Pitch
o [Link]
example-julie-vu-1c
4) Ways to Make an Academic Argument
o [Link]
5) 3 Elevator Pitch Examples
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 76 of 131]
Week 7: Meetings
Overview
In Week 7, our focus will be on preparing students for meetings at their future places of employment.
Building on our work with small talk (Week 5) and providing detail (Week 6), Lesson 7.1 will
introduce language for effective turn-taking in professional environments and then practice it in a
moderated seminar format, in which one group member facilitates discussions by acting as appointed
moderator.
Lesson 7.2 will extend this language practice into an unmoderated seminar environment, in which all
members of the discussion must use both turn-taking and organizational language on topics that
specifically require students to disagree with one another. Practice with disagreeing politely will help
to prepare them for more challenging professional discussions in their futures.
Lesson Plan 7.1
Topic: Moderated Professional Discussions in the Workplace
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Reflect on their midterm elevator pitches;
2) Learn some terms and strategies for taking turns politely in conversation;
3) Learn some language and strategies for professional seminar discussions;
4) Practice holding a moderated seminar discussion on a professional topic.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Discussing our Elevator Pitches
2) Feedback on the Elevator Pitches
3) Taking Turns Politely
4) Language for Managing Discussions
5) Seminar Discussions Practice
6) Homework Due Next Time
Warmup: Think, Pair, Share:
Discussing 1) What did your classmates do well in their elevator pitches?
Our 2) What did you find personally beneficial/challenging about that assignment?
Elevator 3) How might you use elevator pitches in your professional future?
Pitches 4) We are now halfway through our 12-week course. How’s it going for you?
(25)
Feedback 6) Bearing in mind that the elevator pitches were our midterm assignment,
(10-20) spend some extra time giving students group feedback on them.
7) You may also want to show one or two exemplary examples and explain
what made them effective, or you may want to add a 10-minute review
activity to address a very common issue you observed.
New • Explain that turn-taking is the ability to involve everyone in a discussion
Content: together smoothly and politely. Knowing how to politely add your own idea
Taking to a discussion, ask for a quiet person’s opinion, or encourage a loud person
to also let others speak are all important for participating successfully in
professional meetings.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 77 of 131]
Turns • Give a few examples of BAD turn-taking, ideally using funny images or
Politely (5) scenarios to generate student buy-in.
Guided • PAIRS: Ask Ss to practice the dialogue below, switching roles once they’ve
Practice: read it a couple of times. You may wish to model it first.
Using o Omar: From my point of view, cloud computing seems like the
Turn- future.
Taking o Emily: I agree. More specifically, I'd like to add that it could let our
Language operations grow faster without a corresponding price hike.
(20) o Omar: It sounds like you're saying that cloud computing offers both
scalability and long-term cost lowering, is that right?
o Emily: That’s exactly right. We can grow our company more
efficiently with cloud computing than we can by hosting our own
servers.
o Omar: Those are great points. We should explore this further and see
how it aligns with our long-term IT strategy.
• Once they’ve finished, ask Ss to identify the language used in each line to
connect new ideas to the ones that came before and to what comes next. This
is our “turn-taking” language, and it shows mutual respect as well as helping
the conversation progress more smoothly.
• Show Ss the Vocabulary List: Turn-Taking resource at the end of this
handbook chapter. Draw their attention to the five purposes we focus on:
o Expressing an Opinion
o Incorporating a Particular Perspective
o Requesting an Opinion
o Clarifying an Opinion
o Responding to an Opinion
New • Tell Ss that in many professional meetings, one person manages the
Content: discussion. They may be called the Moderator, the Chair, or something else.
Managing • Ask students to listen for the terms being used by the Moderator in this
a Meeting recording. Play it twice:
(10) [Link]
view?usp=drive_link
Transcript:
o Olive: Hello everyone, and thank you for coming today.
o Aria: Hello, Olive and Tom.
o Tom: Hello, Aria and Olive.
o Olive: As you know, our topic today will be the impact of the world’s
ongoing shift from brick-and-mortar shops to e-commerce. Aria has
prepared some thoughts on the pros of e-commerce, whereas Tom
will explain some of the cons. Shall we begin with the pros?
o Aria: Sure. First of all, the biggest group of people affected by the
shift to shopping online is consumers. From their point of view,
online shopping has lowered cost, increased convenience, and
multiplied the number of options available. For example, you don’t
need to choose from just the 10 shoe styles your nearby store
carries—you can browse thousands of shoe styles online.
o Olive: That’s a great point. E-commerce has certainly improved the
consumer experience. Thank you, Aria. And Tom?
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 78 of 131]
o Tom: Thank you, Aria, I totally agree with what you’ve said.
However, it’s also true that the factors of convenience, low cost, and a
huge number of options come with a major downside for
consumers—an inability to judge the quality of a product for
themselves. A person can easily identify fake Nike shoes in person.
When they shop online, however, it is easier to be fooled and harder
to hold dishonest shops accountable for selling fake goods.
o Olive: Wonderful. Thank you, Tom, I know what you mean.
Fraudulent merchandise online is a major concern. Shall we look at
the economic perspective next?
o Aria: Of course. Two important considerations are that (1) the shift to
e-commerce has made it significantly easier for people to start small
businesses, and (2) it has facilitated our society’s shift toward putting
more of our jobs online and hiring more IT workers to support the
online economy. These are both positive trends.
o Olive: That’s true—modern life is mostly online. What do you think,
Tom?
o Tom: Aria is correct that the shift to e-commerce has created more IT
jobs while also lowering barriers for entrepreneurs. However, you
mentioned earlier that e-commerce is relatively efficient, and this is
true. It is so efficient that a few online workers can take the place of
whole groups of people needed to run a brick-and-mortar store. The
effect on jobs is complicated, but it’s most likely that closing stores to
shift online results in more jobs lost than created overall. This can be
especially hard on the local economies of urban shopping areas.
o Olive: Yes, so even from a strictly economic point of view, there are
both good effects and bad effects. We have also established that the
same is true from the consumer perspective. Since the trend of
moving more and more businesses online seems certain to continue,
it’s important for us to monitor the effects this trend has on our lives
and our livelihoods. Thank you both for your time.
o Tom: Thank you also.
o Aria: Thanks.
Guided • Lead a short discussion about the main ideas in this talk.
Practice: • As a class or in groups, ask Ss about the role and usefulness of a moderator
The Role in the talk we just heard and in meetings in general.
of a • Display the transcript for the talk we just listened to, and draw attention to
Moderator the following functions of the moderator:
(10) 1) Open the discussion
2) Provide an introduction to the purpose and topic of the discussion
3) Facilitate a clear speaking order among the participants
4) Ensure that talk time among the participants is equal
5) Offer brief summaries of major points to keep the topic in focus
6) Request input on specific aspects of the topic, e.g. the economic
perspective
7) Respond positively to each participant, helping to set the tone for a
respectful exchange of ideas, not a “heated” argument
8) Close the discussion
• Each of these functions takes practice, skill, and close attention.
Take a 10-minute break!
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 79 of 131]
New • Explain to Ss that a “seminar” is a small group discussion about a specific
Content: topic. It is common for professional meetings on small teams to take this
Seminar format, especially when the team is working on a project together. Larger
Discussion meetings are often formatted more like presentations.
s (5) • Tell Ss that some meetings have a moderator, whereas others do not. What
are the advantages of having a moderator?
o Possible responses: Better organization, easier to keep time, helpful to
ensure that all members speak equally, helpful to ensure that
discussion remains on-topic, helpful to ensure that the discussion
remains respectful
Guided • Create a list of controversial (but appropriate) opinion statements related to
Practice: IT. It may be helpful to use opinions that Ss generated in Lesson 6.1. It is
Moderated recommended to use groups of 3-4 for this activity and to have 1 statement
Seminar prepared for each group.
Discussion o Example opinion statement: The covid-19 pandemic was mostly
s (40) beneficial for the global IT industry.
• Separate Ss into groups and assign each group 1 of the opinion statements.
Ask them to brainstorm reasons to SUPPORT the opinion as well as reasons
to OPPOSE it (10 min). If they run out of ideas early, tell them to use the
internet for support.
• OPTIONAL: you may wish to have groups trade topics with another group
before continuing to the next stage of this activity.
• Use an arbitrary method to assign roles to each S group, as below:
o Student 1: Moderator
o Student 2: Opinion Supporter
o Student 3: Opinion Opposer
o Student 4 (if present): Take notes and give feedback to others
o Do not allow Ss to choose roles or themselves—random allocation is
more fair and more challenging for them. You might say that the S
with the name that comes first in the alphabet is Student 1
(Moderator), you might say that whoever in the group is sitting
closest to the door is Student 1 (Moderator), whoever has the earliest
birthday in the year, etc.
• Ask Ss to take 5 minutes to silently prepare for their role.
o The Moderator must decide how to open and close the discussion.
They will also need to think of how to prompt each speaker, e.g. by
asking about another perspective on the topic.
o The Supporter and Opposer must think about their main points.
o The Note-Taker must think about what they will listen for and give
feedback about.
• Depending on S readiness and engagement, give them 5-10 minutes to
discuss their topic.
• When they have finished, you can either rotate topics and roles or else lead a
discussion about challenges and strategies in moderated seminar discussions.
Feedback • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
(5) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 80 of 131]
Closure • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final encouragement
(5) that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is paying off.
• Assign the homework (please note that you can replace the suggested video
below with another. It should be a moderated discussion related to
business/IT that includes clear turn-taking language. It is ideal to include
speakers from multiple countries/accents who are both men and women.):
1) Watch this moderated seminar discussion video from The Netherlands
about how technology is changing employment in their country:
[Link]
2) Take notes on the specific phrases they use for turn-taking and for
organizing the discussion.
3) What ideas or perspectives in this talk did you find interesting?
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Lesson Plan 7.2
Topic: Unmoderated Professional Discussions
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Discuss the turn-taking language observed in their homework video;
2) Learn some new terms and strategies for disagreeing politely in professional environments;
3) Practice applying those terms in a controlled environment;
4) Practice applying those terms in a free seminar discussion.
Project: Group Seminar Discussions
Warmup: Think, Pair, Share:
Homework 1) What turn-taking language did you observe in the homework video?
Discussion 2) Did you notice any times when speakers disagreed with one another? If
(20) so, how did they handle it?
3) What ideas did they discuss that sounded interesting to you?
4) Were there any terms or concepts in the video that you found hard to
understand?
• Make sure in the final stage of this Think, Pair, Share activity to share
some examples of turn-taking language and language for disagreements
that you observed in the video for yourself. Below are two examples:
o One speaker outlines the talking order clearly by stating, “I’ll start
and then hand it to you, Emily.” (Time = 32:45)
o Another speaker indicates that she intends to disagree with a prior
point, but before she does, she establishes a point of mutual
agreement in order to show respect: “I think I have a counter-point
to that. I do agree, though, that…”
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Homework Discussion
2) Disagreeing Politely
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 81 of 131]
3) Unmoderated Seminar Discussions Practice
4) Homework Due Next Time
New Content: • Tell Ss that not only can disagreements occur in professional contexts,
Disagreeing they are often expected. A team might, for example, agree to think of
Politely (10) many possible solutions to a problem and then find the best one together.
Doing so involves exchanging ideas about personal opinions, pros and
cons, and opposite perspectives. This means that learning to disagree
politely is critical, especially for workers on international teams.
• There are both interpersonal strategies as well as English terms we can
use to accomplish this. Display the resource Vocabulary List: Disagreeing
Politely from the end of this handbook unit.
• Walk students through the main strategies outlined there, and give a few
examples of each one.
Guided • Strategy #6 (avoid any blame, accusation, or insults) applies to all
Practice: responses. However, strategies 1-5 can each work best at different times.
Disagreeing Ask students to look at this list of 10 possible statements from the
Politely (20) workplace. Pretending they disagree with all of them, write down ways
they could politely respond. Use different expressions each time.
1) Artificial intelligence will eventually replace all desk jobs.
2) Social media is the most effective marketing channel for every
type of business.
3) Every IT project should prioritize speed of delivery over quality.
4) Businesses should always embrace the latest technological trends
as soon as they emerge.
5) The best IT professionals are those with the most certifications.
6) Traditional office work is becoming obsolete, and remote work is
the future.
7) The use of AI in customer service will lead to better customer
experiences.
8) Every company should invest in a mobile app for their business.
9) Email is an outdated form of communication in the business
world.
10) It’s important for work relationships to remain purely work-
oriented; talking about any part of your personal life is never
appropriate.
• Once they’ve finished writing, ask Ss to practice giving these statements
(and responding to them) with a neighbor.
• Third, ask Ss to put their notes away and practice disagreeing without
reading what they wrote before.
• Last, synthesize responses as a group and address any observed
challenges.
• NOTE: This lesson stage could also be formatted as a game, e.g. by
racing to reply to each statement or by displaying each statement one at a
time for just 30 seconds each and then seeing which group has responded
to the most when all time is up.
Free • Have Ss brainstorm as a class on pros and cons for the following 5 topics
Practice: (or replace them with contentious IT/business topics of your own).
Brainstorming o If your students are in-person, consider a “gallery walk.” This
involves having each topic written on a whiteboard/poster in
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 82 of 131]
on Seminar different areas of the classroom. Students are placed in groups to
Topics (20) brainstorm at each poster for 2-3 minutes and then told to rotate to
the next poster. Make sure all groups see all posters.
o If your students are online, consider using a website such as Padlet
or Google Jamboard to have small groups work on each topic for a
few minutes and then rotate to the next.
• Topics:
1) AI is replacing human workers in many industries.
2) It is becoming easier and easier for large companies to spread into
other countries.
3) More and more people are working in tech jobs from their homes
instead of from offices.
4) Many large businesses outsource their jobs to other countries.
5) Children are getting smart phones at a younger and younger age.
Take a 10-minute break!
Free • NOTE: If your students need more practice, you can choose to assign this
Practice: seminar discussion as homework (video recording) instead of completing
Seminar it in class. If you choose to give them more practice, you may use this time
Discussions to rotate topics between groups, giving groups 10 minutes to hold
Practice (40) discussions on one of the topics just brainstormed on and then having
them switch to another topic for the next 10 minutes. If you wish to hold
the assessment in class instead, proceed as below.
• Display our vocabulary for turn-taking as well as our vocabulary for
disagreeing politely and remind Ss that in professional meetings, both are
important.
• GROUPS: Assign one of the topics we just brainstormed about to groups
of 4. Decide who to randomly assign PRO students and CON students in
each group, e.g. “the 2 members sitting closest to the door are
representing CON ideas.” There are no moderators allowed today—all Ss
must manage and organize their discussion as equals. However, the
person speaking first should introduce the topic, and the person speaking
last should conclude it.
• Give Ss 10 minutes to discuss their topic. Circulate to ensure that:
1) The discussion is professional and respectful;
2) Ss are using terms from the vocabulary lists and ideas from our
brainstorming activity;
3) All group members are speaking equally, and if any students are
quiet, their colleagues are inviting them to share their thoughts;
4) No groups stop talking early (prompt them with follow-ups if
needed).
• After ~10 minutes, ask Ss to conclude their discussion, give them a brief
rest, and then rotate to a new topic. Change who is PRO and who is CON.
• Continue rotating as time allows.
Consolidation • This lesson stage is optional today. You may wish to review the language
/ Reflection learned to reinforce it or to reflect on the challenges of contentious
(10) meetings on professional topics.
Feedback (5- • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
10) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 83 of 131]
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) With your assigned group, choose one of the topics from today and record
a 4-6-minute discussion of its pros and cons. Make sure to:
• Have a real discussion—do not write out everything you’ll say in
advance.
• Make eye contact with one another—do not read too much from
notes.
• Keep the discussion professional and respectful.
• Use our vocabulary items for both turn-taking and disagreeing.
• Share the time equally. If any group members are talking too
much or too little, politely invite the quieter members to share
their thoughts.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Week 7 Supplementary Materials
Vocabulary List: Professional Turn-Taking
Term Lists Example Sentences
Terms for Giving an Opinion: • I’d like to add that our company is still doing more
• From my point of view, … research on this topic.
• I’d like to add that …
• I think that …
• Another perspective is that …
• Can I add something here? …
Terms for Incorporating a Particular • From a consumer perspective, e-commerce brings
Viewpoint: convenience and lower prices.
• From … perspective, …
• From … point of view, … • From an economic point of view, e-commerce
creates fewer jobs than brick-and-mortar shops do.
Terms for Requesting an Opinion: • What do you think, Ana?
• What do you think, …?
• How about you, …? • I’d love to get Iman’s perspective on this.
• I’d love to hear what … thinks
about this.
• I’d love to get …’s perspective on
this.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 84 of 131]
Terms for Clarifying an Opinion: • It sounds like you’re saying that the pros outweigh
• It sounds like you’re saying …, is the cons here, is that right?
that right?
• Do you mean that …?
Terms for Responding to an Opinion: • I hear what you’re saying. I’d like to add that…
• I hear what you’re saying.
• That’s a great point.
• Thank you.
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary
(any other) lists based on their own interests/expertise as well as
student ideas/needs.
Vocabulary List: Disagreeing Politely
Strategy Terms
1) Practice active listening to • Right.
show attention and • Okay.
respect. • Sure.
• That makes sense.
• Mhm.
2) Establish common ground • I agree that ____________.
before you disagree. • I like your point that/about __________.
• You’re right that/about ____________.
• I see what you mean.
• I see your point.
3) Use hedging language to • I’m not sure I totally agree.
soften your disagreements • I can’t completely agree.
and suggestions. • I think I have a different perspective here.
• We might also want to consider ________.
4) Try to focus on facts • One thing we should remember is ______.
instead of feelings. • Something we have to work around is _________.
• We should remember that ___________.
5) Try to ask questions • Can you expand on that?
instead of disagreeing • Can you tell me a little more about ______?
directly. • Can you walk me through ________?
6) Avoid any blame, -
accusation, or insults.
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based
(any other)
on their own interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
Notes and Further Reading
• BBC Video on Disagreeing Politely
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 85 of 131]
Week 8: Customer Service
Overview
In Week 8, we will take the interaction skills learned in weeks 5-7 and apply them to the challenging
scenario of interacting with customers instead of colleagues. We will focus on the single example of
office technical support for these lessons, though the strategies practiced can also be applied to other
contexts.
In Lesson 8.1, we will introduce some terms for supporting three customer service strategies:
empathizing, hedging, and deescalating. We will then observe these terms in several sample
dialogues as well as take and compare notes from some example customer service calls.
In Lesson 8.2, we will put our customer service skills to the test with an extended role play activity,
reflect on our course Unit 2 (Weeks 5-8), and have our Unit 2 quiz.
Lesson Plan 8.1
Topic: Customer Service (part 1)
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Reflect on seminar discussion challenges and strategies;
2) Learn three strategies for managing customer interactions: empathizing, hedging, and
deescalating;
3) Learn specific vocabulary terms for these three strategies;
4) Observe these vocabulary terms in context;
5) Utilize these vocabulary terms in a free-form roleplay activity.
Warmup: • THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
Seminars 1) What did you learn from the seminar discussion videos presented by
Reflection other groups?
(25) 2) Did you find moderated or unmoderated seminar discussions more
challenging? What was challenging about them?
3) What advice would you give to a different group of students who
will soon participate in their first seminar discussions?
• After the SHARE stage of this activity, give some full-group feedback of
your own on the seminar videos. What was done especially well, and what
could the class keep working to improve? You may want to assign a 5-10
minute activity to reinforce any skills observed to need more work.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Seminars Reflection
2) Vocabulary for Customer Interactions
3) Tech Support Sample Discussion
4) Active Note-Taking
5) Tech Support Role Play
6) Homework Due Next Time
New Content: • Explain that a major challenge of customer interactions is maintaining a
Vocab for positive and respectful discussion with people who may be frustrated,
Customer
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 86 of 131]
Interactions tired, or embarrassed by the issues they’re facing. This is true for tech
(20) support as well as for all customer-facing roles.
• Ask Ss what strategies they might use to keep the customer feeling good
about things.
• Tell Ss that we will be using last’ week’s strategy of active listening as
well as add 3 new strategies:
1) Empathizing: acknowledge their feelings.
2) Hedging: use softer language to avoid making the customer feel
foolish and to avoid them blaming you if solutions fail.
3) De-escalating: relieve tension if the customer is feeling annoyed
or confrontational.
• Using clear examples of your own design, teach the Vocabulary List for
Interacting with Customers from the end of this handbook unit.
o Consider displaying statements from irate customers and asking
students how they might use vocabulary from our list to respond.
Guided • Next, we will use a sequencing task. If you are teaching in-person, you
Practice: can print the following 11 statements, cut them apart, and ask Ss to work
Tech Support in pairs to physically reassemble them. If you are teaching online, you can
Sample display them out of order instead.
Discussion o For lower-level students, you may need to provide them some
(20) context for the dialogue—it is a customer support call
• Once students have correctly put them in sequence, you may wish to have
them practice the sample dialogue in pairs.
• You can also draw attention to the language used for our three customer
service strategies this week: empathizing, hedging, and deescalating.
o “Hi, I really need some assistance.”
o “Good morning. OK, my name is Ahmed, and I’m happy to help.
What seems to be the problem?”
o “My computer monitor was black this morning. I had an important
meeting on Zoom, and I missed it. My name is Hebi, by the way.”
o “Hi, Hebi. OK, I’m sorry for your trouble this morning. Let’s see
if we can figure out the problem together. First, can you try to
unplug the power cord from both the wall and the monitor and
then plug it back in? Sometimes these fall out of place.”
o “Power cord, sure. I tried that already before I called you, but I’ll
try again now. Yep, still no luck.”
o “I see. Thank you for trying it anyways. Next, let’s check the cable
between the monitor and your PC. It is probably an HDMI cord,
but it could also be a DisplayPort, USB-C, or something else.
When you find it, please unplug it from both the monitor and the
PC and then plug it back in at both ends again.”
o “Unplug and re-plug. Sounds familiar. Whoa! It made a little flash
on the screen, but now it’s black again.”
o “Alright, it sounds to me like the monitor cable might be faulty.
Does your office have any extras around that we could try
replacing this one with?”
o “Well not exactly, but my neighbor does. Let me ask him if I can
borrow it just to see. Hey! It worked. Thanks a lot, Ahmed. I’m
sorry if I was rude before. This really got me flustered.”
o “No problem at all, Hebi. I hope you have a great day.”
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 87 of 131]
o “You too. Bye.”
Take a 10-minute break
Guided • Explain that active note-taking is a critical skill in customer support as
Practice: well as in business meetings. This can include writing down:
Active Note 1) The meeting’s date and topic
Taking (20) 2) Names and times
3) Problems
4) Possible solutions
5) Predictions
6) Questions
7) And more
• Use this video to support some note-taking practice, pretending that Ss are
in the tech support role. Note that the video includes three separate tech
support calls. Depending on group readiness, you may need to scaffold
the activity and might want to use all 3 calls or only 1 or 2 of them. This
practice may be most useful if playing the audio from this video without
showing the video itself. This way, students can’t read/copy the notes that
are already provided on the screen.
o Video: [Link]
• When they’ve finished, ask them to compare notes with one another
before showing your own examples of thorough and organized notes.
• Last, ask students to listen again and identify the language used for active
listening (last week) as well as our three customer service strategies this
week: empathizing, hedging, and deescalating.
Free • Create a simple role-play scenario similar to the ones provided in the
Practice: Week 8.1 Customer Service Role Play Scenarios resource provided at the
Tech Support end of this handbook chapter. Ask for a volunteer and model the role play
Role Play (30- together. Make sure to utilize some of our Unit 2 vocab (Weeks 5-8).
40) • Place Ss in pairs or trios and have them practice role playing the scenario
you just modelled and then the two provided at the end of this chapter.
o When circulating, make sure Ss are maintaining professional,
positive tones and utilizing our course vocabulary. They may need
to practice each scenario several times, adding more detail and
vocabulary terms each iteration.
o If they struggle, you can model more as a class or help them
develop a structure for the conversation.
• Ask several pairs to model the role plays for the class.
• Provide support and group feedback as needed before moving on.
Consolidation • As you see fit, review either students’ impressions of customer service
/ Reflection: challenges or else this week’s vocabulary terms.
(5-10)
Feedback (5) • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 88 of 131]
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Review the PPTs and vocabulary terms for weeks 5-8. Next session,
we will have our Unit 2 Review Quiz. It will be formatted similarly
to the Unit 1 Review quiz from Week 5: matching, reading, and
writing.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Lesson Plan 8.2
Topic: Customer Service (part 2).
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Review the vocabulary learned in weeks 5-8;
2) Take the course Unit 2 Quiz;
3) Complete a longer role-play on customer service;
4) Reflect on their challenges and achievements in working with customer interactions.
Project: Customer Service Role Play
Warmup: • Students may be nervous about the upcoming quiz. Begin this session
Think, Pair, with a loose discussion that activates Unit 2 knowledge but doesn’t stress
Share (15) them out with correct/incorrect answers.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Warmup: Reflecting on Unit 2
2) Unit 2 Review
3) Unit 2 Quiz
4) Customer Service Role Playing
5) Homework Due Next Time
Consolidation: • Design and administer a fun but thorough Unit 2 review activity such as
Unit 2 Review a Kahoot quiz.
(20-30) • Address any issues/questions that emerge.
Assessment: • Administer the quiz included at the end of this handbook chapter.
Unit 2 Quiz • Students can take up to 60 minutes to finish, though most are likely to
(60) finish sooner.
Take a 10-minute break!
Free Practice: • Help Ss let off a little steam after completing their quiz, and then tell
Extended them we will be doing another role play activity on customer service.
Customer • This activity will be structured using a matrix and rolling dice.
Service Role
Play (30)
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 89 of 131]
• Using the resource Week 8.2 Customer Service Role Play Matrix from
the end of this handbook chapter, model with a partner according to the
provided instructions.
• Note that if your classroom has no dice or you are teaching online, you
can use a digital dice rolling tool such as [Link]
Feedback (5- • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
10) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Teacher’s Choice (design a review activity or allow students to rest)
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Week 8 Supplementary Materials
Vocabulary List: Interacting with Customers
Strategy Terms
• I see what you mean.
• I understand how you feel.
• That sounds
(challenging/frustrating/difficult/inconvenient)
Empathizing- acknowledge their • I appreciate your patience. Let's figure this out
feelings. together.
• I understand your frustration, and I'm here to
help.
• I apologize for any inconvenience this has
caused you.
• I’m not entirely sure, but…
• I think that…
• It’s possible that… (Is it possible that…?)
Hedging- use weaker language to avoid
• In some cases/instances/situations…
making the customer feel foolish and to
avoid them blaming you if solutions fail. • Some people find that…
• Another option that may/might/could work for
us is…
• It appears that…
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 90 of 131]
• Remain positive, and focus on solutions.
o Fortunately, this is a common issue,
and there are a few different ways we
can try to solve it.
De-escalating- relieve tension if the • Using “we” language can remind that
customer is feeling annoyed or customer that you both want the issue solved.
confrontational. o Let’s see what we can do about this.
• Pleasant small talk can also help.
o While we wait for the system to
reboot, can I ask how your day has
been?
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary
(any other) lists based on their own interests/expertise as well as
student ideas/needs.
Week 8.1 Customer Service Role Play Scenarios
The CUSTOMER gets this information. The IT SUPPORT gets this information.
1) You’ve just purchased this company’s 1) You work for a company that produces
accounting software, and it is not recognizing accounting software. People often make
your credentials. The software seems to think mistakes when entering their software keys, and
you downloaded an illegal version of it instead then they blame you for it. If they give you their
of purchasing an authentic license, which makes name, company name, and software key, then
you feel insulted. Your information is: you can activate their software manually. Make
NAME: Gregory Albright sure to double-check all spellings.
COMPANY: Greg’s Great Garments
SOFTWARE KEY: FIN23xFTi2450
2) You work at a software development 2) You work for a cybersecurity company.
company and need to file an “incident report” When clients call you to make reports, you need
with the company that provides your to take notes on their name, position, company,
cybersecurity services. Someone has been email address, and description of the issue.
repeatedly attempting to hack your clients’ Make sure to double-check spelling of the email
financial information. Your information is: address. If there is a website outage, you can
NAME: Heba Mohammed tell the client that a colleague from your server
POSITION: Development Team Lead team will be in contact shortly. If there is a
COMPANY: FuturWeb hacking issue, you can tell them that there will
EMAIL: [Link]@[Link] be a temporary freeze on all new accounts and
password changes until a member of their data
security team can contact them to resolve the
issue.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 91 of 131]
Week 8.2 Customer Service Role Play Matrix
Instructions:
o Pretend that we work at a large company together.
o Each student pair has an OFFICE WORKER and a person from COMPANY IT SUPPORT.
o The OFFICE WORKER rolls a 6-sided die 5 times and notes down their results from below.
These notes are a secret and should not be shared with their partner.
o The OFFICE WORKER is placing a phone call to the COMPANY IT SUPPORT for help.
o The OFFICE WORKER must say that they have a problem to fix.
o The COMPANY IT SUPPORT must ask polite questions to determine the problem and the
correct solution. They should use our vocabulary terms from weeks 5-8 to help.
o Once the pair agrees on a solution, they can end the call politely, switch roles, and try again.
First Roll: Second Roll: Third Roll: Fourth Roll: Correct Fifth Roll: Your
Brand Device Issue Solution Attitude
1 Battery life is Turn it off and on again Friendly and
Apple Desktop
very short polite
2 Try a different power Very shy
Can’t install
Huawei Laptop cord
updates
3 Doesn’t show Need replacement part Too talkative
Google Smart Phone
personal data
4 The screen Need to perform a A little frustrated
LG Smart Watch has a line “factory reset” through by the issue
through it the device’s menu
5 Very slow Bring to the IT office Very frustrated by
Samsung Tablet
operation for repair the issue
6 Device needs to be sent Having a sad day
Sony (free choice) Won’t turn on
to the manufacturer.
Notes and Further Reading
• Customer Complaint Example Video
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 92 of 131]
Week 9: Explaining Our Work
Overview
In Week 9, we begin the final unit in this course: IT in a Changing World. This unit will build on all
previously learned content and skills by applying them to more advanced tasks and scenarios.
Lesson 9.1 will expand on the technical element of the previous customer service practice (week 8)
by offering practice and terminology for giving specific descriptions and instructions for tasks.
In Lesson 9.2, students will learn (and practice using) some useful verbs for giving technical
instructions as well as some categories for giving precise descriptions of objects. They will then
apply these skills to the creation of their own Customer Service Instructional videos, one of the
major assessments in our course.
Lesson Plan 9.1
Topic: Describing and Instructing Specific Tasks
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Reflect on the most important content learned in Units 1 and 2;
2) Practice following specific directions;
3) Learn some vocabulary for signposting and sequencing;
4) Practice describing industrial processes using precise language;
5) Plan how to give precise instructions for how to complete a daily task.
Warmup: • We are now 2/3 of the way through our course! It’s a good time to reflect
Reflecting on on how far we’ve come together.
Units 1 +2 (20) • Display our course Scope and Sequence Table for Ss to observe while
they complete the task below.
• THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
1) What are the most important topics or skills we worked on in Unit 1?
2) What are the most important topics or skills we worked on in Unit 2?
3) Which topics or skills in Unit 3 look most useful to you?
• Be a little extra thorough with the SHARE portion of this task to
facilitate a thorough discussion of what we’ve learned so far. This will
remind students of items they forget and help to reinforce their learning.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) WARMUP: Reflecting on Units 1 and 2
2) Listen and Draw
3) Vocabulary for Signposting and Sequencing
4) Describing Industrial Processes
5) Directions Practice
6) Homework Due Next Time
Transition: • Tell Ss that giving clear explanations is critical for success in IT
Listen and environments: we need to balance between specificity with simplicity.
Draw (15) • OPTION 1: Look at the image below yourself (keep it private) and
describe it in detail for Ss to draw.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 93 of 131]
• OPTION 2: Distribute the image to groups (1 per group) and have one
student describe it while the others draw.
• In either case, end by comparing the accuracy of the drawings to the
original image and then asking Ss what makes the task difficult. Make
sure to connect it to our course content: giving clear instructions, even on
simple tasks, takes a lot of planning and practice for success.
Note: this image was generated by an A.I. tool (Midjourney) with the following
prompt: “imagine a simple black and white diagram of an office cubicle.”
New Content: • PAIRS: Ask Ss to examine the following steps for how to tie your shoes.
Vocab for • They need to be put in the correct order and also to have the correct
Signposting + vocabulary terms (left) added to each one to make them clearer.
Sequencing
(15) First, … _______ take a lace on that shoe in each
hand.
Next, … tighten and straighten the bow.
Today, we’ll be Cross the right lace over the left, tuck it
talking about … underneath, ________ pull both laces
tight.
Finally, … form each lace into a loop and then cross
the right loop over the left, tuck it under,
and pull it tight.
Next, … __________ how to tie our shoes.
Third, … _____decide which shoe to start with.
… and then … ____ place each shoe on the correct foot.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 94 of 131]
• Answers:
o Today, we’ll be talking about how to tie our shoes.
o First, place each shoe on the correct foot.
o Next, decide which shoe to start with.
o Third, take a lace on that shoe in each hand.
o Cross the right lace over the left, tuck it underneath, and then pull
both laces tight.
o Next, form each lace into a loop and then cross the right loop over
the left, tuck it under, and pull it tight.
o Finally, tighten and straighten the bow.
• Display the resource Vocabulary for Signposting and Sequencing, from
the end of this handbook chapter. Allow students time to read it, and
answer any questions they have.
Guided • Tell students that we will be practicing describing complex automated
Practice: processes (define automation if needed). In some cases, that means
Describing knowing a precise term—in other cases, it’s important to express
Industrial ourselves clearly with whatever words will be most easily understood.
Processes (25) • Play this “How It’s Made” video on Youtube:
o [Link]
o Video information: “Stackable Potato Chips,” part of the “How
It’s Made” series by Science Channel
• INDIVIDUAL: Once the video is finished, ask Ss to write down as many
steps from the process as they can remember.
• Either now or after the pairs phases (next), conduct a short full-class
discussion to discuss the meaning of words such as the following:
o Conveyor
o Device
o Mold
o Polish off
o Portion
o Stackable
• GROUPS: Next, put Ss in small groups to combine lists. Encourage the
use of sequencing terms during this phase.
• Once they have a combined list together, ask them to watch closely and
make additions as needed while you play the video for a second time or
even a third time. Just be mindful of your time—students may become
overly focused on reproducing every single step as accurately as possible,
remind them that our goal is to do the best we can in the time allotted—
not to reproduce the process fully and perfectly, which would be
extremely slow. Building our fluency requires building our speed.
• FULL CLASS: Compare groups’ lists with the full class and see which
list is most complete. Once more, encourage the use of sequencing terms
when discussing lists.
Take a 10-minute break!
Free Practice: • Tell Ss that this time, they will be watching many different industrial
Industrial process videos and then telling the class about what they learned.
Processes part • Divide the class into 4-5 small groups and assign each a “How It’s Made”
2 (40) video, as below:
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 95 of 131]
1) Team Paintbrush:
[Link]
ud5aKSvnYDhKdB7wTDUZRiE8RaJat&index=214
2) Team Rope:
[Link]
5aKSvnYDhKdB7wTDUZRiE8RaJat&index=173
3) Team Wooden Toys:
[Link]
d5aKSvnYDhKdB7wTDUZRiE8RaJat&index=190
4) Team Cupcake:
[Link]
d5aKSvnYDhKdB7wTDUZRiE8RaJat&index=241
5) Team Matchstick:
[Link]
d5aKSvnYDhKdB7wTDUZRiE8RaJat&index=244
• Ask each team to give a short talk to the group, including these elements.
Remember that the elements should be connected with signposting
language.
o A brief introduction to the topic.
o A brief explanation of the steps in the manufacturing process,
including sequencing language. Aim for 10 steps.
o A brief comparison of human vs. automated elements in the
process. Use terms from week 3 like “but” and “whereas.”
o A brief conclusion.
• If you want to choose different videos, here is the full How It’s Made
playlist on YouTube (from Science Channel):
[Link]
UZRiE8RaJat
o NOTE: Most How It’s Made videos are too long for our
purposes—try to use ones of 2-3 minutes in length.
Free Practice: • Tell Ss we will now move to giving instructions instead of just
Exact describing—this is our “Exact instructions Challenge.”
Instructions • If time allows, you can use this viral video as a warm-up:
Challenge (10- [Link]
20) o You may want to use the whole video, only the first minute, or the
beginning and the final attempt. Watch it in advance and decide.
o Ask Ss: What makes giving clear instructions so difficult?
▪ You can add that in IT, we are often giving instructions to
people with limited content knowledge, limited “tech
literacy,” and limited interest in the issue at hand.
• Tell Ss that for homework (or now, if they can manage in time), they’ll
each select a simple daily task, such as brushing their teeth, cooking a
simple food, washing dishes, etc. These tasks should not be IT-related, as
we will repeat the exercise for IT tasks together next session.
• Ask them to each choose a task and write a list of 7-12 steps that are
needed to complete the task successfully. Record an engaging,
professional video (just talking with eye contact, no PPT) explaining to
the viewer how this task can be accomplished successfully. Make sure to
include a brief intro and conclusion and to use both signposting and
sequencing language to support the talk.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 96 of 131]
• You will likely need to remind them that while glancing at notes is OK,
reading extensively from notes is not OK. Eye contact is critical for
engaging, professional delivery.
Consolidation • Before class ends, bring the group together to remind them of the specific
/ Feedback: expectations for the assignment and to address any common challenges
(5) that arose during prep time. This is likely to involve reminding them to
(1) use the week’s vocabulary list and (2) primarily look at the camera,
not just read from notes.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Choose a basic daily task and write a list of 10-15 steps that are
needed to complete the task successfully. Record an engaging,
professional video (just talking with eye contact, no PPT)
explaining to the viewer how this task can be accomplished
successfully. Make sure to include a brief intro and conclusion and
to use both signposting and sequencing language to support the talk.
2) Watch other students’ videos as they are submitted. Which are most
thorough? Which are most engaging?
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Lesson Plan 9.2
Topic: Process Explanations
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Reflect on the challenges of giving precise instructions, as seen in the homework videos;
2) Learn and practice using some verbs for technical instructions;
3) Read a technical instructions paragraph and consider the types of descriptions being used;
4) Write their own instructions for an IKEA furniture assembly diagram;
5) Plan their own Customer Service Instructional Videos, to be completed as homework and
graded by the teacher.
Project: Customer Service Instructional Videos
Warmup: • Begin the day by reflecting on the homework videos. You may wish to
Reflecting on highlight a few very successful ones, or you may wish to arrange a
our Exact think, pair, share activity instead.
Instructions • However you begin, make sure to also offer some group feedback on
Challenge what was done well and what could be improved in the future.
Videos (15)
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Reflecting on our Exact Instructions Challenge Videos
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 97 of 131]
2) Verbs for Giving Technical Instructions
3) Giving Specific Descriptions
4) Writing Technical Instructions
5) Designing Our Own Technical Instructions Videos
6) Homework Due Next Time
New Content: • Ask Ss to share the verbs they used in their Exact Instructions videos.
(10) o When we described tying shoes, for example, we used “place,
take, decide, tuck, pull,” etc.
• Ask small groups to determine which verbs were used most commonly
in their videos.
• Tell Ss that while some verbs are more useful for giving casual
instructions, others come up commonly in technical instructions.
Guided • Display/distribute the resource Vocabulary for Giving Technical
Practice: Cloze Instructions from the end of this handbook unit.
Passage (20) • Display/distribute the resource Technical Instructions Fill in the Blank
Sentences from the end of this handbook unit. Ask Ss in
PAIRS/GROUPS to work on filling in each space with 1 vocab term,
then review as a class.
o Answers: (1) configure (2) calibrate (3) disassemble (4) upgrade
(5) transform (6) install (7) debug (8) reassemble (9) reboot (10)
uninstall (11) refurbish (12) validate (13) optimize (14) diagnose
(15) visualize
Guided • Ask Ss to read the following passage and look for description words.
Practice: Some are based on color—what other types of description are used?
Giving Specific
Descriptions The first component we need to remove in this disassembly and repair process
(15) is a small rectangular item beneath the motherboard’s blue aluminum heatsink.
The component can be identified by its shiny black surface and location
between several round metal capacitors that are silver in color. To access the
component, gently unplug the thin red cable attached to its top-right corner and
carefully unscrew the two black cross-head screw that secure it in place. Be
mindful of the delicate plastic clips surrounding the component as you remove
it. Once uninstalled, place the component in the square grey cardboard box on
your left side labelled “check” for debugging and refurbishing. After it has been
analyzed, calibrated, and optimized by the other team, it will be placed in the
round, orange plastic bin on your right side labelled “good.”
• Giving specific technical descriptions may rely on:
o Number
o Color
o Shape
o Location
o Material
• …can you think of any others?
Guided • For the next activity, you will use the resource Instructions for IKEA
Practice: “Billy” Shelf from the end of this handbook unit. Do not display it yet.
Adding • You might begin by showing pictures of furniture assembly or by asking
Instructions to A Ss if any of them have every assembled their own furniture together.
Manual (40)
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 98 of 131]
• Next, tell Ss that IKEA, one of the top 10 most valuable retailers in the
world (total sales over $43.5 billion in 2022), gives its furniture
instructions to people with no words included at all. They are famous for
being very hard for some people to assemble. Since IKEA sells furniture
all over the world, selling it with wordless instructions saves them
money on translation and printing. However, it takes a lot of extra work
from consumers. We are going to try to add English words of our own to
the instructions PDF for an IKEA bookcase.
• Display the resource.
• You may wish to begin by reviewing each part of the image with the
class and then brainstorming text for the Advice parts (A-E) together.
• Once you’ve completed the Advice (and shown suggested answers,
below), ask GROUPS to each work on a few of the instructional steps.
o Each group can be assigned 1, 2, or 3 steps to write.
• Create and review a full set of instructions as a class, then review the
suggested answers together (below).
• Reflect on the challenge of giving clear instructions for technical tasks.
Suggested answers (remember that IKEA themselves provide no text):
A. Collect your tools before starting.
B. This assembly project may be easier if completed with a friend.
C. Work on a soft surface to avoid breaking the parts.
D. If you have any questions, please call our customer service number.
E. Anchor finished bookcase to wall with bracket to avoid tipping.
1) Insert 2 pegs into the holes located at the shorter ends of the top, middle, and
bottom shelf boards as well as the kick plate.
2) Use a screwdriver to attach 6 connectors into the corners and center part of
each of the bookcase wall boards.
3) Slide the kickplate, the middle shelf, and the bottom shelf board into place on
one side of the wall boards. Make sure that the painted part of the board is
facing forward.
4) Use a screwdriver to attach an anchor into each of the holes on the under-side
of the bottom and middle boards.
5) Use a screwdriver to attach an anchor into each of the holes on the TOP
SIDE of the top shelf. Do not align the top shelf with the anchor holes on its
underside, or they will be visible and ugly when using the bookcase.
6) Align the second wall board onto the shelf pegs.
7) Attach the second wall board using two anchors per shelf and tightening each
anchor with a screwdriver.
8) Use a pencil to mark the back of each wall board at the location where the
middle shelf is held.
9) Bend the cardboard back piece and slide it into the grooves located in each of
the bookcase walls.
10) Use a ruler to mark the part of the cardboard back piece that runs behind the
middle shelf.
11) Use a hammer to insert 6 screws through the cardboard back piece and into
each shelf (using 18 screws in total). For the middle shelf, follow the line you
just drew with a pencil for guidance. The top shelf and bottom shelf are visible.
Be careful not to miss them when hammering nails.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 99 of 131]
12) Attach the 2 brackets to the top of the bookcase using screws and washers.
Anchor the finished bookcase to the wall with long screws to prevent it from
tipping over.
Take a 10-minute break!
Free Practice: • It is time to begin our Customer Service Instructional Videos, one of the
Customer major graded assessments in this course.
Service • Start by telling Ss that we will be creating instructional videos like we
Instructional did in the previous session, but these ones will be on technical topics
videos instead of casual topics. Ask them to brainstorm some possible technical
(remaining, but topics that can be achieved in 10-15 specific instructions. They can
make sure to relate to hardware or to software. Some possible answers are below:
allocate at least o Replace a laptop battery
30 minutes to o Reset a phone to its factory default settings
ensure project o Create a specific type of chart from Excel data
success) o Create a Python script to calculate the average of a list of
numbers
o Create a Java script that checks whether a provided number is
prime or not
• GROUPS: Next, tell Ss to pretend that they work at a company called
“Engineers on Call,” and they need to create a short (2-5 minute)
group video to explain one of these technical tasks to a client.
• The video must include:
o Appropriate language for customer service, including a positive,
professional tone.
o Some signposting and sequencing language to organize the talk.
o Some use of specific instructional verbs, which may or may not
be the ones from our vocabulary list this week.
o A brief introduction to the topic, specifically pretending to work
at Engineers on Call. Make sure to give your name as well.
o 10-15 specific steps for how to accomplish the chosen task.
o A description of how to know that the process was successful.
o A brief conclusion.
o Equal talk time between group members.
• It will be assessed using the appropriate rubric in the Assessments
section of this handbook and marked as 10% of our final course grade.
NOTE 1: In your prep for this lesson, you may find it helpful to either record
a sample instructional video yourself or else take a very good example from
a past course group. It is not recommended to use an example from YouTube,
as it will not conform to our assignment’s specific expectations.
NOTE 2: Kelsey had groups write instructions together but asked each group
member to record their own full video alone. This allowed the Ss to help one
another in the planning phase but to get more individual speaking practice in
the speaking/recording phase. You can ask them to record together or alone.
Consolidation / • Use what you observed today to give some advice for the Customer
Reflection: (5) Service Instructional Videos, reminding students that these videos are
worth 10% of their final course grade.
Feedback • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 100 of 131]
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Complete your group’s Customer Service Instructional Video and
submit it to our course WhatsApp group.
2) Watch other students’ videos as they are submitted. What can you learn
from them?
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Week 9 Supplementary Materials
Vocabulary List: Signposting and Sequencing
• Today, we'll discuss…
Introductory language • Today's topic is…
• To begin, …
• As we'll soon see, …
• As indicated below, …
Previewing language
• As will be explained shortly…
• In the next section…
• Turning now to …
• Moving on to …
Signposting
Transition language
• We will next discuss…
• The next…
• In the previous section, …
• Ss mentioned before, …
Reviewing language
• As shown above, …
• As indicated earlier, …
• In conclusion…
• In summary…
• In brief, …
Concluding language
• To sum up, …
• To review, …
• In short, …
• Ordinal terms (e.g. first, second third, fourth)
• Initially, …
Sequencing language
• Next, …
• Subsequently, …
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 101 of 131]
• Afterwards, …
• Finally, …
• To finish, …
• Last, …
• Before,
• After,
(any other) • Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based
on their own interests/expertise as well as student
ideas/needs.
Vocabulary List: Verbs for Giving Technical Instructions
Calibrate To make very small adjustments to improve something's accuracy, such as a tool
Configure To adjust settings to make a tool, application, or system function properly
Debug To identify and fix errors, especially in software or in codes
Diagnose To identify a specific problem
Disassemble To take something apart
Install To add/connect new hardware or software
Optimize To make something function as well as it can
Reassemble To put something back together after taking it apart
Reboot To turn a device off and then on again
Refurbish To repair an older device so that it can function properly again, often to sell it
Transform To convert data from one format to another, such as between file types
Uninstall To remove a previously installed software or hardware component
Upgrade To improve something by making additions or replacements to its parts
Validate To make sure that data is accurate before using it
Visualize To create a visual representation of data, such as a chart
(any other) Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based on their own
interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
Technical Instructions Fill in the Blank Sentences
1. Please _________ the network settings to enable secure access to the company's servers.
2. Before deploying the new sensors, we need to_________ them to ensure accurate readings.
3. The technician had to___________ the laptop to replace the faulty hard drive.
4. It's time to______ the operating system to the latest version for improved security features.
5. The new software will _____ how we manage customer data and streamline our processes.
6. Remember to _________ the antivirus software on all company devices for security.
7. The software developer spent hours trying to __________ the code to fix the error.
8. After replacing the motherboard, it's time to ______ the computer and test its functionality.
9. Please ___________ your computer to apply the recent software updates.
10. You can _________ the app by going to the Control Panel and selecting 'Remove Program.'
11. We needed to _________ the old computers before they could be donated to the school.
12. The system will _________ the user's credentials before granting access to the network.
13. We should ____________ the website to improve its loading speed and user experience.
14. The IT specialist needs to ____ the server issue to pinpoint the root cause of the downtime.
15. The data analyst used charts and graphs to _________ the sales trends over the past year.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 102 of 131]
Instructions PDF for IKEA “Billy” Shelf (text added)
Available at: [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 103 of 131]
Notes and Further Reading
1) What are the Most Effective Ways to Create User Manuals?
o [Link]
2) What are the Essential Components of a Well-Written Instruction Manual?
o [Link]
instruction-manual-4irgf
3) Clear and Concise: Strategies for Writing Better
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 104 of 131]
Week 10: Collecting and Presenting Data
Overview
In Week 10, we will discuss the ways that both new and existing businesses use surveys to identify
the needs in their market. In a fast-changing industry like IT, staying abreast of new developments in
customer perception as well as industry norms is particularly important. In our case, practicing with
these surveys also offers a convenient framework through which to discuss modern developments in
the industry, explore the ways in which customer and competitor opinions can shape an IT
company’s strategy, gain hands-on experience with collecting and analyzing data, revise our
grammatical question forms, and start to consider topics for our final course project later this unit.
In Lesson 10.1, we will ask students to take a simple class survey and then show them the results
together, taking care to demonstrate and discuss how quantitative results are easy to analyze
numerically but limited in their expressiveness, whereas qualitative results are detailed and unique
but harder to analyze numerically. We will then give students some practice in writing grammatically
accurate questions, ask them to interview some classmates, and then shift to explaining existing data
on graphs and charts.
In Lesson 10.2, we will deepen students’ understanding of surveys by discussing 10 principles for
effective survey design, learning about the role of surveys in IT-related market research, and then
guiding students in developing their own surveys to administer to one another. These surveys will be
used to support our work in market analysis (week 11) as well as business proposals (week 12).
Lesson Plan 10.1
Topic: Asking Questions and Presenting Charts
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Take a brief survey about their class experiences so far;
2) Observe an example of survey data analysis;
3) Review the grammar of four question forms in English;
a. Yes/No Questions using DO and TO BE
b. Tag Questions
c. Multiple Choice Questions
d. WH-Questions
4) Interview 5 classmates on a topic of their choice;
5) Learn new vocabulary and points of focus for describing charts and graphs;
6) Prepare and deliver mini presentations about chart data.
Warmup: • Before class, use a tool like Survey Planet or Google Forms create a survey
Taking a that uses the following questions. You can change them if you’d like, but it
Survey (10) is best to make sure each of the question formats listed here are included.
o NOTE: Survey Planet might be unfamiliar to you, but one
advantage is that it automatically creates charts and graphs for all
questions as responses are submitted. If you use a tool like Google
Forms instead, you will need to export the data to a program like
Excel or Sheets in order to show visual representations of it.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 105 of 131]
• After greeting them, have Ss take the survey alone in class. It can be
efficient to share surveys by QR code so that Ss can easily open the
survey on their phone and complete it that way. A tool like qr-code-
[Link] can easily turn your survey link into a QR.
o When doing this, ensure that Ss know and understand the word
“survey.” We will use it many times this week.
• Multiple Choice Questions
o Is your undergraduate degree related to IT?
▪ Yes
▪ No
o Which part of last week’s content was most interesting for you?
▪ Learning vocabulary for signposting and sequencing
▪ Describing industrial process videos
▪ Creating “exact instructions challenge” videos about daily
tasks
▪ Learning verbs for technical instructions
▪ Adding instructions to an IKEA furniture manual
▪ Creating our own Customer Service videos
o What weekly project from this class has been most interesting for
you?
▪ (list all 9 we’ve had so far as options)
• Rating/ Likert Questions
o Was last week’s content more or less interesting to you than other
weeks?
1) Much more interesting
2) A little more interesting
3) A little less interesting
4) A lot less interesting
o Has your speaking confidence improved since beginning our
course?
1) It has improved a lot
2) It has improved a little
3) It hasn’t changed much
4) It is getting lower and lower
o Do you expect to ever start your own business?
1) Yes, I will definitely achieve it someday.
2) I hope to, but I’m not sure.
3) It’s unlikely.
4) Definitely not.
• Essay Questions
o What did your classmates do in their Customer Service
Instructional Videos that impressed you?
o If we did the Customer Service Videos assignment again, what
would you do differently?
o Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about this assignment?
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Taking a Survey
2) Examining Our Data
3) Question Grammar in English
4) Classmate Interviews
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 106 of 131]
5) Discussing a Graph
6) Mini Presentations
7) HW Due Next Time
Guided • Open your SurveyPlanet screen and look at the survey results with Ss. It
Practice: is recommended to experiment with this a little before class to get used to
Examining the interface.
Our Data (10) • Take some time to notice how each type of question produces different
data. While “selected response items” (multiple choice and rating scale
questions) produce convenient averages and pie charts that can be very
quickly and easily understood, the “open response items,” meaning essay
questions, are harder to understand as a group but individually provide
crucial details that are impossible to ascertain through selected response
items alone.
New Content: ▪ TRANSITION: tell Ss that we will be learning about how to create and
Question interpret survey data for ourselves. However, in order to do that, we need
Grammar in to first get good at writing grammatically accurate questions.
English (20) ▪ Teach (and then reinforce) the following basic question types in a manner
of your own choosing. Remember to get students interacting with one
another, not only writing their ideas down alone.
1) Yes/No Questions using DO and TO BE
→ Did you finish that data analysis project yet?
→ Are you interested in helping with another project now also?
2) Tag questions
→ Our meeting is at 11:00am today, right?
3) Multiple Choice Questions
→ Do you prefer wired or wireless earphones at your desk?
4) WH- questions
→ What industries do you think will be most affected by the growth
of AI chatbots?
Guided • Once Ss have demonstrated some working knowledge of these 4 question
Practice: types, tell them that they will be interviewing one another using questions
Classmate of their own.
Interviews • Ask Ss to first choose the topic that they’ll interview their classmates
(30) about. It could be something like budgeting, family life, hobbies and
interests, TV shows, music, or anything else. It can be IT-related, but there
is no need to focus on making these technical. We will write technical
surveys together later.
• Next, ask Ss to write 8 questions about their chosen topic for their
classmates to answer: 2 Yes/No questions, 2 multiple choice questions,
and 2 WH- questions. Tag questions are not very useful for this activity.
o As an example, if someone chose budgeting, they might ask:
▪ Are you careful with your budget?
▪ Did your parents teach you to budget when you were a
child?
▪ Do you think it’s best to focus on enjoying life or focus on
savings and investment?
▪ Do you usually shop with cash, a credit card, or digital
payments?
▪ What strategies do you think are most effective for
maintaining a responsible budget?
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 107 of 131]
▪ What age group do you think budgets most carefully on
average?
• You can format the actual interviewing portion of this exercise however
you’d like, but make sure students are taking notes about what their
classmates say. Have each S interview 5 classmates and record all
responses.
• Ask Ss to share some interesting trends in the responses they received.
Are their results predictable or surprising? Why?
Take a 10-minute break!
Guided • Explain that one way we often use evidence is the office is charts. These
Practice: present data (information) in a visual way.
Discussing a • Show the graph from Statista linked here (or choose another):
Graph (15) [Link]
remotely-worldwide/
• Slowly point out the following important elements (5):
1) The title of the chart
2) The year this data was published
3) The several labels of the X axis
4) The single label of the Y axis
5) Important/Interesting information shown on the chart
• Ask Ss a few questions to help them engage with the data (5)
• Display the resource Vocabulary List: Discussing Charts and Graphs from
the end of this handbook unit and provide support as Ss read it.
Free • Tell Ss you would also like them to tell us about a chart. Ask them to
Practice: discuss their assigned chart as a group and take notes of these points:
Mini 1) The title of the chart
Presentations 2) The year the data was published
(30) 3) The label(s) of the X axis
4) The label(s) of the Y axis
5) Trends suggested by the chart’s data
• Put Ss in 5 groups and assign the following charts:
1) Number of internet users in Egypt from 2013 to 2023:
[Link]
2) Population Density of Egypt from 2011-2021:
[Link]
egypt/
3) Number of smartphone users by leading countries in 2022:
[Link]
countries-smartphone-users/
4) Ranking of Worldwide IT Brands, 2023:
[Link]
value/
5) Worldwide Cybersecurity, 2021-2030:
[Link]
security-market-revenues/
• Circulate to offer support and to make sure they are ready to present.
• Ask each group to present and support them as they go.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 108 of 131]
• If time allows, ask the class some full-group consolidation questions, such
as which of the 5 topics presented about seems most interesting, and why,
or which piece of data was most surprising, and why.
NOTE 1: We will be keeping these same student work groups until the end of our
course. This is intended to help them become comfortable together and develop
expertise on the topics they discuss. You might allow them to choose their own
groups (more fun), or you might select groups deliberately to balance skill level
and talkativeness evenly (more fair). However you build these groups, make sure
that all of them are equipped to succeed in week 12.2, which is the hardest and
most advanced project in our course. If all members of a group are very shy, the
12.2 project may be challenging for them. We want all groups to end this course
with a successful final project that they are proud of!
NOTE 2: If these hyperlinks die over time, you can replace them with similar
ones from [Link]. You will notice that some of the content on that website
is free, while some is paid.
Feedback (5- • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
10) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Think about the different industries related to IT that we learned
about in week 1 of this course. You can also consider others that we
did not specifically discuss together. Choose one industry that is
especially interesting to you, a second industry that you think will
change the most in the next ten years, and a third industry that you
think would be easiest to open your own small business in. Write
them down, research all three of them online a little, and be prepared
to explain each choice to your classmates next session.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Lesson Plan 10.2
Topic: Designing and Delivering Surveys
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Discuss the purposes (and drawbacks) of surveys;
2) Learn 10 principles of effective survey design;
3) Discuss the role of surveys in market research for the IT industry;
4) Form the work group that they will keep until the end of our course;
5) Begin to develop an IT-related survey of their own;
6) Pilot their IT-related surveys.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 109 of 131]
Project: Classmate Survey Presentations
Warmup: •THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
Discussing 1) What can you guess the term “market research” might mean?
Surveys (15) 2) If you want to learn what people think about a topic, what are the
pros and cons of interviewing them vs. asking them to fill out a
survey?
• Some important general points for the SHARE phase:
o Interview pros: Can get a lot of detail from each participant; can ask
“follow-up questions” to each participant; can clarify questions if
participants seem confused
o Interview cons: Hard to ensure that all participants get exactly the
same experience; Participants might have reaction to the interviewer
(maybe the interviewer is scary, friendly, boring, attractive, etc.);
they take a lot more time and resources than surveys do; Long,
subjective verbal responses are harder to analyze
o Survey pros: Reach many respondents very cheaply and easily;
surveys often include objective, closed-response items, which are
easily to analyze; all respondents get consistent experience
o Survey cons: People can’t ask for help if a word/question confuses
them; people might easily lie, e.g. if they are obligated to take the
survey and just select answers randomly to finish faster
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Discussing Surveys
2) Survey Design
3) Identifying Common Question Issues
4) Terms for Market Research
5) Designing Our Own Surveys
6) Piloting Our Surveys
7) Homework Due Next Time
New Content: • Tell Ss that when using surveys, there are some basic principles to follow.
Survey Design • Teach the following principles using your own methods for reinforcement.
(15) 1) The survey should focus on a single topic.
▪ A clear focus is easier for respondents to understand.
2) All survey questions should also only ask one thing.
▪ Don’t ask a “double barreled” question like “do you like
warm days and cool nights?,” or else the answer “yes”
could refer to days, nights, or both.
3) All questions should be edited and easy to understand.
▪ Remember: they cannot ask for clarification, so any
misunderstandings will create problems with the data.
4) The survey should target a specific audience.
▪ Keep it relevant—don’t ask a 9-year-old about their
retirement savings.
5) All questions should be sensitive.
▪ Remember cultural taboos as well as general politeness.
6) Avoid “leading” questions.
▪ A leading question pushes respondents to a certain point of
view, such as “why is this class your favorite?” If it isn’t
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 110 of 131]
their favorite, the question is impossible to answer
honestly.
7) Closed-response questions should include all possible answers.
▪ Some respondents can’t answer honestly if you ask them
“how often do you drink coffee? (a) daily (b) weekly (c)
monthly”
8) Closed-response questions should label all response options.
▪ Respondents will get confused if you ask “From 1-5, how
much do you enjoy drinking tea?” without explaining what
1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 all mean. You also need these same labels
to correctly analyze the data yourself afterwards.
9) Always pilot the survey.
▪ Give the survey to a few members of your target population
and ask them to complete it for you as well as tell you
about it. Are the responses relevant and easy to
understand? Did they have any questions or problems in
filling it out?
10) Surveys are a way to collect data, so design the survey with your
data analysis in mind.
▪ We usually want closed-response items for easy analysis
but also open-response items for extra detail.
• You can add more pointers if you wish, but over 10 may be hard to teach.
Guided • GROUPS: Ask groups/pairs to discuss the following.
Practice: • Pretend that you work for an e-commerce company that is using a survey
Identifying for market research. They are investigating whether or not to offer a new
Common PREMIUM shopping app that costs more than other options but also has
Question better features. You have been asked to PILOT the survey. Read the
Issues (20) questions below and identify the problem with each one. How could they
each be rewritten?
1) Do you feel that shopping online is generally cheaper and more
convenient than shopping in person? Select one: Yes/No
2) Do you usually shop online with your phone or your computer?
Select one: 1 - - - 2 - - - 3 - - - 4 - - - 5
3) How often do you order food online?
Select one: less than 1 time per year / 1-10 times per year / 11-30
times per year / 30 – 50 times per year / 50 – 100 times per year /
more than 100 times per year
4) How important is price when selecting a product to order?
Select one: quite important / very important / seriously important
5) Given a situation that you could utilize a shopping app to
physically investigate many merchandise options, shoes in
different sizes, for instance, prior to committing to any specific one
of them, but that other shopping apps did not provide this feature,
would you be willing to pay slightly more for products on the app
with a “free try on” feature over its less-featured competitors?
Select one: Yes/No
• Answers:
1) This question is double-barreled, meaning that it asks two things at
once. Rewrite example: Do you feel that shopping online is
generally cheaper than shopping in person? Select one: Yes/No
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 111 of 131]
2) This question needs to label its response options. Rewrite example:
Do you prefer shopping online with your phone or your computer?
Select one: 1 (nearly always use phone) 2 (more often use phone) 3
(use them about equally) 4 (more often use computer) 5 (nearly
always use computer)
3) This question is irrelevant. Rewrite option: How often do you order
products online? Select one: less than 1 time per year / 1-10 times
per year / 11-30 times per year / 30 – 50 times per year / 50 – 100
times per year / more than 100 times per year
4) This question’s response options are insufficient. Rewrite example:
How important is price when selecting a product to order?
Select one: not important at all / a little important / moderately
important / very important / extremely important
5) This question is confusing. Rewrite example: Would you be willing
to pay slightly higher prices on a shopping app that lets you try
products before committing to them, such as ordering shoes in
several sizes but only keeping the ones that fit? Select one: Yes/No
Transition: • THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
Surveys in the → Who might IT businesses give surveys to, and what can they use
IT Business surveys to learn about?
(15) • Some possible answers:
o Customers
▪ Understand how consumers use their products
▪ Examine customer satisfaction
▪ Gather data on glitches/bugs
▪ Gather feedback on existing ideas for product
improvements
▪ Identify customer desire for new product features
▪ Identify customer desire for new products
▪ Understand how competing companies compare
o Employees
▪ Gather feedback on employee satisfaction
▪ Gather feedback on manager performance
▪ Gain insight into awareness of cybersecurity protocol
▪ Gain insight into motivations and interests
▪ Gather information on interest in trainings and events
New Content: • In a manner of your choosing, introduce students to the resource
Market Vocabulary List: Market Research from the end of this handbook unit.
Research (15) o Ask Ss to read and take notes on the resource Reading: The
Importance of Market Research Surveys in the IT Sector
• Minding the time (the project later will be most successful with enough
time for in-class preparation), lead a brief discussion on the most
important parts of this reading.
Take a 10-minute break
Consolidation • Remind Ss that the homework involved the following:
/ Reflection: o Think about the different industries related to IT that we learned
Discussing the about in week 1 of this course. You can also consider others that
Homework we did not specifically discuss together. Choose one industry that
(10) is especially interesting to you, a second industry that you think
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 112 of 131]
will change the most in the next ten years, and a third industry that
you think would be easiest to open your own small business in.
Write them down, research all three of them online a little, and be
prepared to explain each choice to your classmates next session.
• Ask PAIRS/GROUPS to discuss their ideas together.
Free • GROUPS: Put Ss in the same 5 groups that they worked in for their mini
Practice: presentations in session 10.1.
Designing Our o Remember: They will keep these groups until the end of our course.
Surveys (35) • Tell groups that our project this week will be giving surveys about an IT
business that we feel we could start or improve. Tell Ss that we will use
these same topics for projects in the next 3 weeks. Here are examples:
o Many online shopping apps compete for the lowest prices.
However, there is no option for people who would pay more to get
better products, be safe from fake products, and be able to easily
return things they purchase that don’t fit or don’t work. Our survey
can ask classmates whether they would pay higher prices for a
premium online shopping app.
o Many language learners feel that they don’t get enough practice
interacting with native speakers. Our survey could ask classmates
whether they would be willing to pay for online conversation
partners.
o Many people like to cook but don’t have time to shop and plan
meals. Our survey could ask whether classmates would pay for
groceries and a recipe to be delivered instead of restaurant food.
• Give Ss a few minutes alone to gather their thoughts and circulate to
provide support. Encourage them all to choose a specific business idea
before you move on to the next phase. If needed, you can encourage them
to choose (or modify) one of the provided examples.
• Tell Ss that our next project will include the following:
o Pretend that you want to start a new business. Before investing
any money, it’s important to do some market research.
o Use a tool such as SurveyPlanet (or another) to create a survey
that will be given to your classmates. Include the following:
▪ At least 1 demographic question to ask about age, area of
study, etc.
▪ At least 1 multiple choice question, such as “choose A, B,
C, or D.”
▪ At least 1 scale response question, such as “from 1-5, how
strongly do you…?”
▪ At least 1 open-response question, such as a WH- question.
▪ Between 6-10 questions total.
o Get at least 10 classmates to complete your survey.
o Prepare a brief talk about your results for us, including:
▪ An introduction to the topic and why you chose it
▪ An overview of the questions and results
▪ Charts of the data from your closed-response questions.
▪ A couple of highlights from open-response data that you
found interesting
▪ A conclusion
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 113 of 131]
o NOTE: We will discuss our results together next session. You do
not need to record a video of it as homework.
• Tell Ss that we will now have ____ minutes to begin developing our
surveys together. It is recommended that they begin by writing their
questions on paper or a program like MS Word before they try to use the
actual survey program.
Guided • If time allows, with about 15 minutes left in class, ask each group to trade
Practice: surveys with another group for PILOTING—this is not collecting data
Piloting the yet, it is just checking that the survey questions satisfy all 10 criteria for
Surveys (10) survey design learned earlier today.
• Circulate and provide support. Ss should be using our list of criteria from
earlier to check their partner’s survey.
• If time runs low, they can simply continue working on their own surveys.
Feedback • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
and Closure encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
(5) paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Prepare your survey, collect responses from at least 10 classmates,
analyze the data, and be prepared to tell us about it in the next session.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Week 10 Supplementary Materials
Vocabulary List: Discussing Charts and Graphs
Climb (v) To go up; increase; rise
Chart (n) A visual display of data
Data (n) Facts; pieces of information
Decline (v) To go down; decrease; fall
Graph (n) A chart that shows data on 2 axes (lines): an X-axis and a Y-axis
Indicate (v) To show something
Predict (v) To say what will happen in the future
Prove (v) To offer strong evidence of something
Recover (v) To get better after a difficult time
Suggest (v) To say what might be true without proving it
Trend (n/v) A pattern or meaning suggested by data
X-axis (n) The bottom line on a graph
Y-axis (n) The left line on a graph
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based on their own
(any other)
interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 114 of 131]
Vocabulary List: Market Research
Closed-response question (n) A question that can only be answered by choosing from a few
specific options, such as “do you prefer Apple or Android
phones?”
Demographics (n) Personal characteristics, such as age, sex, nationality, or field of
study/employment.
Double-barreled question (n) A question that asks more than one thing at once, such as “On a
scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with our product and our
customer support?” This should be split into a question about
product satisfaction and a question about customer support
satisfaction.
Leading question (n) A question that pushes respondents toward a certain perspective,
such as asking “what factors make AI so dangerous?” This
example pushes them to agree that AI is dangerous, which they
may or may not actually think is true.
Observer bias (n) A tendency for researchers to collect inaccurate data because they
write questions (and analyze data) in a way that favors their own
personal beliefs.
Open-response question (n) A question that can be answered freely in many ways, such as
“what factors make you prefer a certain phone brand?”
Participant (n) A person who participates, such as by answering a survey.
Reliable (adj) Research that is likely to produce the same results if repeated
many times in many different situations.
Response bias (n) A tendency for people to give inaccurate responses for a
predictable reason. For example, if we ask people whether they
have a positive quality like friendliness, generosity, or bravery,
most people will say “yes” whether or not it is really true.
Respondent (n) Somebody who responds, e.g. who responds to a survey.
Target population (n) The group of people intended for a survey, a product, a service, or
something else. They are identified by demographic data, e.g. the
target population for an app might be a specific age or might
speak a particular language.
Valid (adj) Research that correctly measures what it intends to measure.
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based on
(any other)
their own interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
Reading: The Importance of Market Research Surveys in the IT Sector
In the fast-paced world of Information Technology (IT), understanding consumer preferences and
industry trends is a key factor that determines which companies rise above their competition and
which ones sink to the bottom. One of the key methods that IT companies use to gather data about
consumer preferences and industry trends is surveying. Market research surveys play a pivotal role
in gathering vital insights and steering decision-making processes. Let’s delve deeper into these
surveys and the significance they hold in the ever-evolving IT landscape.
One of the fundamental components of market research surveys is the use of closed-response and
open-response questions. Closed-response questions offer predefined answer options, such as
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 115 of 131]
selecting from options labelled A-D or indicating preference along a numbered scale, often called
a “Likert scale.” An example of a Likert scale question could be “Do you prefer coffee or tea? 1 =
strongly prefer coffee, 5 = strongly prefer tea, and 3 = no preference.” Closed response questions
can be examined objectively and make it easier to analyze data swiftly. Conversely, open-response
questions allow participants to express opinions freely, providing a rich source of subjective
information that is hard to analyze but offers detail and possibly new ideas.
Respondent demographics, such as age, gender, location, and income, are essential aspects in these
surveys. They help businesses to understand the preferences of specific groups, ensuring that
products and services can target those groups as effectively as possible. The input of these
respondents can influence product developments, service enhancements, and overall business
strategies.
However, the responses are only useful if the survey has been designed carefully. To ensure
reliable survey results, efforts should be made to eliminate bias, which occurs when responses are
inaccurate due to a reason such as “leading questions,” which can occur when a question pushes
people to respond in a particular way. Another common pitfall is the “double-barreled question,”
which is when multiple questions are combined into one, making it impossible to interpret the
responses clearly.
Since the IT industry is undergoing constant innovation and change, market research tools such as
surveys are common and valuable to IT companies and to IT entrepreneurs. By utilizing valid
surveys that produce dependable and accurate data, companies gain a clearer understanding of
market needs. This knowledge fuels the development of cutting-edge products and services that
align with consumer demands. In this fast-evolving industry, leveraging the insights garnered from
these surveys is not merely an option but a necessity for businesses aiming for sustained growth
and success.
Notes and Further Reading
• Best Practices for Survey Research
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 116 of 131]
Week 11: Analyzing the Current Market
Overview
In Week 11, we will start to turn our attention to students’ final course project, and in doing so,
integrate skills and content learned in all past weeks. Compared to past lesson plans, these ones will
offer instructors a higher degree of freedom and a lower degree of support. This approach is intended
to facilitate the development of each instructor’s unique vision for their final weeks with the group.
In Lesson 11.1, students will learn some new terminology for making statements about certainty and
probability. They will also discuss the results of their survey results (from Week 10.2) and then apply
the new vocabulary terms to make predictions about the topics their surveys relate to.
In Lesson 11.2, students will learn more about the topics of target demographics, market segments,
and market analysis, and then they will work in groups to begin the background research for their
week 12 projects: Business Proposals. This is our only week in the course that does not end with a
real project of its own—this approach should lessen their homework burden and increase the quality
of their final projects next week, which will take a lot more time than our previous ones. Ending the
course with a final presentation they are proud of will help to build Ss’ confidence and abilities.
Lesson Plan 11.1
Topic: Connecting the Present to the Future
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Discuss an example chart and evaluate its relevance to market research;
2) Share the results of their homework surveys;
3) Learn some new vocabulary for discussing certainty and probability;
4) Apply the new vocabulary terms to making predictions about their survey topics.
Warmup: • Ask Ss to guess:
Discussing a o What % of the world population had internet access at least once
Chart (15) every 3 months in 2010?
o What % of the world population had internet access at least once
every 3 months in 2020?
• Share this link and ask Ss to look at the chart and discuss it in small
groups together. [Link]
using-the-internet
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 117 of 131]
• They should find that in 2010, 28.8% of the world had internet access in
the past 3 months. In 2020, 59.6% of the world did. Ask them:
1) Are these numbers surprising? Why or why not?
2) What do these numbers suggest about the global IT industry?
3) Would you consider accessing the internet once every 3 months
as actually having internet access?
• Tell Ss that this shows us the importance of market research: our
assumptions about the world are often incorrect. It may seem to us that
modern life is totally online, but in reality, over 40% of humans in 2020
did not even access the internet once in 3 months. Research helps us to
correct these assumptions.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Discussing a Chart
2) Sharing our Survey Results
3) Making Predictions
4) Modals and Probability
5) The Future of Specific IT Markets
6) HW Due Next Time
Consolidation/ • Transition: we have just reviewed why research is crucial for businesses,
Review: especially businesses that use new technology such as IT. Now, let’s look
Sharing our back at our own personal research.
Survey Results • GROUPS: Put Ss in small groups and ask them to take turns presenting
(30) their research. Remember—each presenter should have prepared:
o An introduction to the topic and why you chose it
o An overview of the questions and results
o Charts of the data from your closed-response questions.
o A couple of highlights from open-response data that you
found interesting
o A conclusion
• If any groups finish early, provide them a few discussion questions to
consolidate what they learned, such as “what did your group members
say that surprised or was interesting to you?”
• End with a synthesis discussion to highlight some common trends and
some especially interesting ideas.
New Content: • Display the terms from the resource Vocabulary: Terms for Modals and
Modals and Probability from the end of this chapter in a random order (not in the
Probability same order as our list provides them). As Ss to work in pairs or small
(15) groups to categorize each term into High Certainty, Moderate
Certainty, and Low Certainty. You may need to elicit definitions for
these categories first.
• Once groups have finished, discuss results and display our vocabulary list.
Guided • Provide a few relevant IT topics or fields and use a scaffolded activity
Practice: such as a Think, Pair, Share to have Ss write and share some predictions
Modals and about them with vocabulary from each of our list’s major categories: high
Probability certainty, moderate certainty, low certainty, and other modal verbs.
(20)
Take a 10-minute break!
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 118 of 131]
New Content: • Tell Ss that their final projects in this course will involve proposing a
Intro to Course new IT business of their own design. The full assignment description will
Final Project be given next week. For today, our focus are these simple questions:
(15) 1) Definition of Product or Service
▪ What will you research and talk about? This could be home
antivirus programs, tech support services, retail websites,
or any other specific IT-related product or service.
2) Competition in Market
▪ What companies already provide this market or service?
3) Market Trends
▪ Do statistics show sales in this market growing or
shrinking over time? Look at both the past and the future.
• Tell Ss that as an example, we could talk about starting a new antivirus
software company for personal computers. While Ss watch, bring up
Google and search for biggest personal antivirus software companies
in the world. Copy the statistics you see into a Word document, and also
copy the website URL for later revisiting. Make sure Ss observe this
research process and understand that we need to find relevant statistics
and ALWAYS record the source (website URL) that they came from.
Free Practice: • GROUPS: Place Ss in the same groups that they worked in for the survey
Researching projects in week 10. Support groups for the rest of class today in talking
Our Chosen and choosing a specific type of businesses that they will learn about
Markets (30) starting. For example, if they say “we will start a VR company,” you will
need to ask them whether they mean a VR hardware or software company.
If software, do they mean games, training simulators, or another kind of
VR software? The more specific they are, the better their project will be.
• Also support Ss in using Google (NOT ChatGPT) to come up with
answers to parts 2 and 3. While AI chatbots like ChatGPT are very useful
for generating discussion ideas, they are NOT trustworthy for research.
Feedback (10) • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final encouragement
that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Work with your group to complete your market research about the
company you could start someday. Write down these following points
and be prepared to discuss them with the class next session:
i. Definition of Product or Service
▪ What will you research and talk about? This could be home
antivirus programs, tech support services, retail websites,
or any other specific IT-related product or service.
ii. Competition in Market
▪ What companies already provide this market or service?
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 119 of 131]
iii. Market Trends
▪ Do statistics show sales in this market growing or
shrinking over time? Look at both the past and the future.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Lesson Plan 11.2
Topic: Market Analysis
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Discuss the concepts of target demographics and market segments;
2) Learn some new vocabulary terms related to market analysis;
3) Prepare group market analysis research notes to support their work in week 12.
Project: Market Analysis Research Notes
Warmup: •
Ask each group to share the results of their HW.
Discussing the o Record all groups’ topics—if any are problematic, such as being very
Homework unclear or too general (e.g. “we will start an IT company that offers
(25) many different products and services”), you will need to help them fix
it. Otherwise, they cannot possibly succeed on the Week 12 project.
• After, synthesize responses as a full class and highlight a few examples.
• It might be helpful to prepare a sample of your own to model first.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Discussing the Homework
2) Defining a Market Segment
3) Overview of Market Analysis
4) Preparing a Market Analysis Presentation
5) Homework Due Next Time
New Content: • Tell Ss that targeting a specific market segment is crucial for all businesses.
Defining a When you know your audience, you can give them what they need.
Market • Ask Ss to brainstorm some demographic characteristics that affect what
Segment (10) products and services people make use of. Some possible answers:
o Age
o Income
o Occupation
o Physical Health
o Country of Residence
o Urban/Rural home environment
o Internet Access
o Technical Skills
o Devices Owned/Used (e.g. mobile, laptop, tablet, TV)
o Interests
o Hobbies
o Nutrition
o Level of Physical Activity
o …etc.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 120 of 131]
• Explain that when choosing a market segment for our product or service,
we might target a broad segment or a narrow segment, but the more we
know about them, the better our chances of success.
Guided • Think, Pair, Share:
Practice: 1) Imagine that we are developing an app related to physical exercise.
Discussing How would our approach be different if we are targeting young
Market adults (age 18-30) vs. if we are targeting older adults (age 60+)?
Segments (20) 2) Imagine we are designing the user interface for a shopping website.
How would our approach be different if we are targeting a lower-
income demographic vs. a higher-income demographic?
3) Imagine we are programming an AI software that can
control/automate some basic applications on our customers’
computers for them. How would this be useful if our target
customers are university students vs. if our customers are small
business owners?
• Ss may require some coaching with an example before they are ready to
discuss the other questions independently. Try to encourage some diverse
interpretations, as this is a critical thinking activity, not a “right” vs.
“wrong” activity.
• Many Ss may already use (or plan to use) websites like Upwork for
freelance gigs—make sure to discuss that freelancers are their own
bosses. This means that just like business owners, identifying our market
segment and customizing our offerings to meet that segment’s needs
allows freelancers to become specialists and to “corner the market.”
New Content: • First, play the following video:
Overview of [Link]
Market • Second, ask Ss the following questions:
Analysis (30) 1) What kind of questions does the woman begin with before starting
her research?
2) How is the woman’s market segment / target demographic defined?
3) What marketing channel does she decide to focus on?
4) What pricing factors does she consider?
5) We see the woman giving a survey to a man. Does the video call this
“primary research” or “secondary research?”
• Display the questions and ask Ss to take notes on them while playing the
video again. Answers:
1) Do they want or need your product? Are other businesses already
meeting their needs? How much will they be willing to pay?
2) Women aged 30-45 who have children aged 1-10, want food without
preservatives, and earn a gross (total) family income of $100,000 or
more.
3) Farmers Markets
4) Competitor pricing and cost of production
5) Primary research
• Next, display the resource Vocabulary List: Terms for Market Research
from the end of this handbook unit. Explain each term and connect them
to the video for context.
Take a 10-minute break!
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 121 of 131]
Free • Remind Ss that next week, we will be discussing how to propose a new IT
Practice: business. Before we can do that, we need to analyze the existing market.
Preparing a Once we understand the market, we are ready to “break into” it.
Market • GROUPS: Put Ss back in their same work groups. Ask them to research
Analysis the following 5 items online. They have already drafted parts 1-3, though
Presentation depending on your feedback, they may need to improve them.
(40) 1) Definition of Product or Service
▪ What will you research and talk about? This could be home
antivirus programs, tech support services, retail websites,
or any other specific IT-related product or service.
2) Competition in Market
▪ What companies already provide this market or service?
3) Market Trends
▪ Do statistics show sales in this market growing or
shrinking over time? Look at both the past and the future.
4) Customer Demographics
▪ Who pays for this product or service? Look for statistics.
5) Possible Gap
▪ What do you think a new company could offer in this
market? Should they be cheaper than competitors? Should
they be higher quality? Should they target a specific
demographic who is currently being ignored?
• Circulate as groups work on these items and support them in their
research. Your major areas of focus should be:
a) Groups cannot succeed if they have not chosen a specific market.
Make sure nobody is stuck on a very general topic.
b) Groups should be looking for specific statistics online, writing
down the statistics, and also writing down the websites they used.
c) Groups may need support in making their identified gap specific
also. Make sure to emphasize the three easy options given in the
instructions above: the market might need a cheaper option, a
higher quality option, or an option for a narrow demographic. If
we take the example of Tech Support Services, a group could state
that there is a market gap for a cheaper tech support service, a
higher quality tech support service, or a tech support service that
specializes in a demographic such as the elderly.
Feedback (5- • Share your feedback from today’s discussions with the group. Start with
10) praise, and if possible, highlight a couple of errors that you noticed more
than once today—these could relate to ideas, pronunciation, grammar,
interaction style, or other focus areas.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final encouragement
that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Finish writing your group’s answers to the 5 parts of our Market
Analysis exercise. Bring them into class to discuss.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 122 of 131]
Week 11 Supplementary Materials
Vocabulary List: Certainty and Probability
Adverbs: Certainly, Definitely, Absolutely, Surely, Without a Doubt
Terms for High Certainty Future tense: Using the simple future “will” in English shows high
certainty, such as “AI will replace more jobs in the future.”
Terms for Moderate Adverbs: Probably, Likely, More Likely Than Not
Certainty
Adverbs: Maybe, Possibly
Modal Verbs: Could, May, Might
Terms for Low Certainty
A modal verb is added before another verb, such as “AI might replace
more jobs in the future.”
Can Shows ability, such as “I can program in Java.”
Must Shows necessity, such as “Unlike computers, all animals
must sleep sometimes.”
Other Modal Verbs
Ought To Shows that the speaker thinks something is important,
such as “People ought to sleep at least 8 hours per night.”
Should Used the same as “ought to.”
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based on their
(any other)
own interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 123 of 131]
Vocabulary List: Terms for Market Research
Channels (n) The methods through which companies deliver their products or services
to consumers. Also called “Marketing Channels” or “Distribution
Channels.” Examples are selling directly to consumers, selling to stores
(who then sell to consumers), using online platforms, or selling at events.
Competition (n) or Companies who compete for the same customers, such as Apple,
Competitors (n) Samsung, and Huawei all competing for people who buy smartphones.
Gap (n) Something missing, such as type of product or service that hasn’t been
invented yet (or hasn’t been customized for a certain demographic yet).
Guesswork (n) Research that is done with too little information and low certainty.
Market Research (n) Learning about the industry, companies, and consumers involved with
buying and selling a particular product or service.
Niche (n) A very specific target demographic. Also called a “niche market.”
Primary Research vs. Primary research (n): learning new information yourself, such as by
Secondary Research interviewing customers or sending out a survey.
Secondary research (n): learning from other people’s research, such as
looking at websites and articles.
Product vs. Service Product (n): Something that is paid for and can be owned, such as a
computer or an app.
Service (n): Something that is done for money but can’t be owned, such
as cybersecurity services or computer repair services.
Target Demographic The people that a particular company is trying to sell products and
(also “target segment” services to. They are defined by demographic factors such as age,
or “market segment”) nationality, occupation, income, and internet access.
Teachers should feel free to customize vocabulary lists based on their
(any other)
own interests/expertise as well as student ideas/needs.
Notes and Further Reading
• Our World in Data
o [Link]
• Statista
o [Link]
• Market Research: What It Is & How to Do It
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 124 of 131]
Week 12: Entrepreneurship
Overview
We’ve done it! In Week 12, our course will reach its conclusion, beginning with the discussion of our
Market Analyses and culminating in the presentation of our group Business Proposals. This week
will introduce little new content and focus instead on the synthesis of everything learned prior.
In Lesson 12.1, students will reflect on their Market Analysis presentations, make connections between
that work and their own professional futures, and then turn their attention to our final project of writing
Business Proposals. We will scaffold this effort by learning a bit about the concept of entrepreneurship
and the content of business proposals, but since students only have until week 12.2 to complete their
own business proposals, a large part of this session should be devoted to supporting them in their group
work. Most of the content in these proposals will draw on our past work together, as will the students’
skills in planning, producing, and presenting their work in small groups.
In Lesson 12.2, student groups will briefly review their work and then present their Business
Proposals to the class. It is strongly recommended that the teacher record these sessions to give
students a final major takeaway from the course. They can also be encouraged to rewatch their own
video recordings from week 1 and reflect on how much progress they’ve made. Last, we will hold a
brief review of what we’ve learned together in this course and a final celebration for a job well done.
Lesson Plan 12.1
Topic: Business Proposals
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Review their market analysis topics and takeaways;
2) Discuss some basic topics in entrepreneurship;
3) Learn some new vocabulary related to business proposals;
4) Edit a sample business proposal to make improvements;
5) Begin to plan and draft their own business proposal presentations.
Project: Group IT Business Proposal Presentations
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Market Analysis Review
2) Concepts in Entrepreneurship
3) Vocabulary Practice
4) Editing a Sample Business Proposal
5) Preparing Our Business Proposals
6) Homework Due Next Time
Warmup: • Ask S groups to each share their HW results with the class. Ensure once
Homework again that all topics are relevant, all research is reliable (using statistics
Review (25) from official websites), and students have a firm grasp on what they’ve
produced so far. At the end of today, we will be sharing the full
assignment sheet and expectations for the Business Proposals project.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 125 of 131]
New Content: • Introduce Ss to the general concept of Entrepreneurship using a brief
Concepts in (15-minute) activity of your own design. You might consider a short
Entrepreneurship video or some discussion questions.
(15) • Make sure to emphasize that entrepreneurship in IT is becoming more
and more common due to the growth of technology. People with the
right skills now have the tools they need to start a successful IT
business from their couch, especially when that business is online.
Guided • Use a short lecture or activity to review the concept of a Market Gap
Practice: and emphasize the importance of targeting a market gap when
Targeting a proposing a new business idea.
Market Gap • We can imagine our clear and specific business idea as an arrow and our
(15) clear and specific market gap as a target. If the arrow isn’t sharp and
straight, or we haven’t identified a target, we cannot achieve our goal.
A clearly-defined A poorly-
business idea defined business
with a specific idea with no target
target market market to aim for
• You might want to offer a few examples of useless products from one
of the websites below as examples of business ideas that do not have
any reasonable market gap to target:
o [Link]
o [Link]
Guided • Display the resource Sample Business Proposal Outline from the end of
Practice: this handbook unit.
Editing a • First, draw attention to its 7-part structure. Each element should be
Business familiar—the “challenges and solutions” component is similar to the
Proposal Outline “counterargument and response” part of arguments studied in week 6.
(30) • Tell Ss that the structure of this outline is good, but that all 7 parts of it
need to be improved.
• Elicit responses about how to improve point 1—the intro section.
Hopefully, Ss will notice that this intro does not actually state what the
topic is. See the full feedback list below for a suggested improvement.
• Once Ss have grasped the concept, ask them to talk in groups about
how to improve the rest of the outline. If they need more support, work
through point 2 as a class before setting them in groups for the rest.
• When enough time has elapsed (they may not be totally finished,
especially if they start researching things online), hold a synthesis
discussion to compare ideas.
• Here is some feedback to guide the synthesis discussion:
1) The actual topic needs to be clearer here—“Hello everyone, my
name is ____. Today we’ll be hearing about my new idea—an
online job portal specifically for IT internships.”
2) We should add data about the past and future—the same website
offers these statistics.
3) What about Egypt? What about the world? Check the same
website (Business Research Insights) for their list. You’ll need
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 126 of 131]
Google to find which of these on the list are biggest globally or
the biggest in Egypt.
4) How many IT grads are there every year in the world?
Remember to emphasize numbers.
5) This business name is highly unprofessional. The rest looks
great.
6) A reasonable challenge has been identified, but what’s the
solution?
7) Don’t forget to review the presentations earlier points! This
conclusion section should also ask if the audience has any
questions (Q + A).
Take a 10-minute break!
Free Practice: • Be careful with the rest of the lesson timing today to ensure that at least
Developing 40 minutes is devoted to beginning this project together. More is better.
Group Business • Put Ss in the same 5 groups they’ve been working with since week 10.
Proposals (50) • Display the resource Group IT Business Proposal Assignment Sheet
from the end of this handbook chapter.
• See if Ss have any questions about it, and then support them through
the rest of today’s session in making good progress on it together.
• As needed, remind Ss of the PPT design skills that we practiced in
Lesson 1.2.
Closure (5) • Always try to end with positivity: give the class some final
encouragement that they’ve done a good job and that their hard work is
paying off.
• Assign the homework:
1) Finish your Group IT Business Proposal presentation together. Do
not record a video—we will deliver these presentation live
together in our next session. Make sure to practice your
presentation at home to work on your timing and to practice
speaking without using notes too much.
• Say goodbye and remind students when you’ll see them next.
Lesson Plan 12.2
Topic: Final Presentations and Course Closure
Outcomes: Students will…
1) Finalize their Business Proposal Presentations;
2) Present their work to the class;
3) Reflect on our 12 weeks together.
Project: Group IT Business Proposal Presentations
Warmup: • Start class by allowing each group to talk together.
Group Check- • Circulate and check on their work—while some groups will be ready to
Ins (20) practice their presentation together, you might notice issues that other
groups need to correct before starting the presentations as a class together.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 127 of 131]
Although we are grading these presentations, we want every group to end
this course with a “win” that they can be proud of.
Outline Share our outline for the day with your class (0-5 min):
1) Group Check-Ins
2) Business Proposal Presentations
3) 12-Week Reflection and Review
4) Course Closure
Student • In this course, these groups have most often presented their work on video
Presentations before, rather than live, so it is recommended to preface the presentations
(60-90) with a brief review of expectations—smile, make eye contact, face the
audience, don’t read too much, and speak loudly, clearly, and at a natural
pace (not very fast or very slow).
• In an order of your choosing, have each group present to the class.
• Follow each presentation with a relevant (but brief) question or remark to
the audience to help keep them engaged.
• It is highly recommended to record these presentations and share the files
with students. This is their capstone achievement for the course!
Guided • The duration of your class’s presentations may be hard to predict,
Practice: especially when it comes to the turnover time between groups.
Term Review • Prepare an engaging review activity such as a game or Kahoot quiz to
(varies) recap the content of our 12 weeks together and help students make
connections between the earlier lessons and the present.
• Due to the challenge of predicting how long you will have for this, it is
recommended to either plan a flexible review activity or else to have
several different options prepared and use the one with the most
appropriate duration.
Consolidation • End with a final, quieter reflection on what has been learned in this class
/ Reflection: so far. You might ask Ss what their favorite units were, what they learned
(10) that will help them the most in the future, etc.
• If prepared, you might also ask them to rewatch their own videos from
week 1 in the course to see how far they’ve come.
Closure (5) • And so we’ve reached the end of our time together!
• Conclude the course in a manner of your choosing, but be sure that Ss
leave smiling and proud of what they’ve worked hard to accomplish
together in these past 12 weeks.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 128 of 131]
Week 12 Supplementary Materials
Sample Business Proposal Outline (all sections have problems to fix)
Feedback to
Section of PPT Notes for PPT Content
Improve This Work
E.g.: Don’t just say we’ll
1) Intro • Today we’ll hear about my new idea. hear about it—clearly
state what your topic is.
• According to BRI, the global Online Recruitment
2) Analysis of Services industry was worth $29 billion in 2023.
Industry [Link]
recruitment-services-market-103118
• Some major competitors in this market are Zhilian
in China and [Link] in France.
3) Analysis of • IT job ads are growing fast, with software
Existing developer jobs in the USA, for example,
Market projected to for 22% between 2019 and 2029,
according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics,
as cited by ED Tech.
[Link]
• Globally, there are many IT grads every year.
• Most jobs require experience, and getting the first
internship can be tough.
4) Market
• However, many businesses need cheap interns.
Gap
• The market needs a new website designed
specifically for matching recent grads to
businesses who need interns.
• Our business will develop a website that displays
a wide variety of IT internships all across Egypt.
5) Description • Since it is focused on Egypt, IT, and internships,
of Our our market segment is narrow, and young IT
Business graduates will know exactly what is offered.
• The business name will be “Cool and Fun Egypt
IT Interns 4 U.”
• The primary challenge facing our business will
6) Challenges be marketing. We will need to attract many
and businesses to post their ads on our site, and we
Solutions will also need to attract many young IT graduates
to use the website to apply to the postings.
7) Conclusion • Thanks for listening!
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 129 of 131]
Assignment Sheet: Group IT Business Proposal Presentations
Overview: In the digital era, it is becoming easier and easier to start our own businesses, and as
time goes on, more and more IT workers are becoming their own boss. What kind of business will
your group propose to start together, and how could you convince investors that it will succeed?
Prepare a 10-15-minute group IT Business Proposal Presentation that you can present to the class
in our final session together. Here are some examples of IT business ideas that could work:
a) Create and run a job advertising website that specializes in IT internships;
b) Program an AI chatbot app that can listen to lectures and write organized notes for you;
c) Write a program that automatically searches TV platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+
and compiles all of their movies and shows into a single interface.
Structure: Include each of the following parts:
1) Introduction
• Greetings, names, general idea of business to start
2) Analysis of Industry
• Size
• History and Future
3) Analysis of Existing Market
• Major Competitors
• Market Demographics
4) Market Gap
• What Our Business Can Do Differently (e.g. better price, better features, new
location, or new market segment)
5) Description of Business
• Details of what the new business will be and how it will target its market gap.
6) Challenges and Solutions
• What challenges might this new business face, and how can they be solved?
• This is similar to the “counterargument and response” part of arguments.
Discussing it shows we have seriously thought about this topic from many angles,
including both pros and cons.
7) Conclusion
• Review of major points, Q + A
Notes:
• We’ll present these proposals in class together—you don’t need to record a video at home.
• Your group will need a PPT to organize your information.
• Remember to emphasize numbers. Your PPT would benefit from statistics as well as one or
two charts/graphs.
• You can use notes, but don’t just read to us. Try to maintain professional eye contact.
Grading: Your teacher will provide marks and feedback on the following:
• Content—make sure your ideas are clear, relevant, and fully explained.
• Organization—make sure your proposal includes all of the parts mentioned above and
connects them together smoothly.
• Language—make sure to use professional-level vocabulary and grammar and avoid
making mistakes.
• Voice—make sure to speak clearly and with appropriate volume, speed, and intonation.
• Delivery—make sure to look and sound professional, confident, and engaging.
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 130 of 131]
Notes and Further Reading
1) 10 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs
o [Link]
2) Project Proposal Writing: How To Write A Winning Project Proposal
o [Link]
[Teacher Handbook - Business English for IT, Page 131 of 131]