Portfolio Snapshot: Business English

Welcome to the first look at my portfolio item on health education. The full portfolio will be available soon. Until then, I have provided a sample and explanations of its background, process, and a glimpse of the final product. To gain full access to the SCORM file, please contact me via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-rowan/.

Background

This portfolio consists of one lesson in a series provided to employees who have learned English as a second language and have recently moved to the United States for their work. The course is designed for a large technology corporation that frequently recruits employees lacking experience using English in a professional settings. In order to maximize employees ability to make use of the language and intercultural communication skills, they would ideally complete the training within their first 1-2 months at their new company.

Training Needs Analysis

Project Overview: Making English Work for You

Project Description:

Provide app based training to new employees who have learned English as a second language and who do not have experience in English speaking office settings.

Objectives:

Employees will be to comprehend and use English language constructions unique to professional settings while working and understand the cultural traits foundational to these language patterns.

Audience:

• English as a second (or additional) language learners working in a corporate setting.
• Language Level
  • Advanced English skills (approximately CEFR Level C1)
  • Little to no background in using English professionally
  • Typically more proficient in reading and writing skills, but lower in speaking and listening skills

Constraints:

• Lessons should be short to allow employees to complete lessons daily.
• Training should consist of realistic examples of speech at normal speeds.
• There should be a focus on listening over reading and writing.

Research Findings:

In the last 5 years, the corporation has increased recruitment of employees from non-English speaking countries by 15%. As this rate has increased, managers and the HR department have noted a gradual increase in the use of professional development funds for English courses, language apps/websites, and tutoring. While this is an acceptable use of these funds, creating an in-house solution would allow more of these funds to be directed toward professional development activities that directly link to employee productivity and advancement. Additionally, offering additional support would likely improve employee satisfaction and retention among this population.

Business English and cultural topics that employees currently struggle with according to manager surveys include the following:

• Inability to keep up with team discussions
• Hesitation to participate in team discussions
• Unintentional rudeness through use of overly direct or informal language
• Causing confusion during team communication due to the use of overly indirect language (less common)
• Reluctance to give presentations or lead product demos

Storyboard

Opening Section

The opening slides of the course consist of the following:

• A title page with a statement regarding the lesson objective
• A slide to explain additional navigation features
• An explanation of the cultural views of being overly direct in giving rejections or disagreeing in American English

Content Section

Each lesson in this course focuses on an aspect of professional and/or polite speech and their relationship with American work culture. Each lesson consists of the following:

• An introductory slide describing one topic building toward the learning objective
• Four phrases demonstrating the topic and audio examples
• A formative listening quiz on the topic and building upon previous topics in the lesson

Closing Section

Each lesson in this course concludes with the following components:

• A review of the topics and vocabulary used in the lesson
• A summative listening quiz requiring learners to demonstrate their understanding of the topics and vocabulary in the lesson

Final Product

The most recent iteration of the course was developed Articulate Storyline for its ability to design specifically for mobile devices, its robust interactive features, and its ability to generate natural sounding AI text-to-speech.