Apptivities for Business English Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett Contents Introduction Chapter one Speaking Chapter two Writing Chapter three Listening Chapter four Reading Chapter five Language Chapter six Business Acknowledgements
Introduction What is an app? App stands for application. An app is a small computer program that runs on mobile electronic devices such as smart phones and tablets. Most apps are designed to perform a single function. Some are entirely self- contained or provide ways for you to consume downloaded content such as e- books or digital audio. Others make use of your device s connection to the internet and your online accounts such as Facebook, Twitter and Google to provide a stream of up- to- the- minute information. Others make use of other in- built features of smart devices, for example, using GPS to locate you and your device geographically and provide information relevant to where you are. Many apps are free, some cost a small, almost nominal amount, while others can cost as much as a small piece of software for a computer. Apps can be downloaded and installed from websites, although it is more common to use a pre- installed app on your device to access these websites directly. The source of apps depends on the basic software of the device you have. If you have an Apple product such as an iphone or ipad, you can find apps on the Apps Store on itunes. http://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/ If you have an device running Android, go to Google Play. https://play.google.com/ If you have a device running Windows, visit the Windows Phone Marketplace. http://www.windowsphone.com/ Apps for the BlackBerry mobile devices are available from BlackBerry App World. http://us.blackberry.com/apps- software/appworld/ Note that not all the apps in this book are available on all these platforms. Why are apps useful for language teachers and students? Mobile phones and portable devices have long been an essential component of business life. Now, with the advent of the Smartphone and tablet PC, these devices are increasingly used to access, check, collect and organise information. There are a growing number of apps which language learners can install to help them do all these things. Some of these apps can be used in the classroom as part of a lesson. Many are tremendously useful to the autonomous business English student and can help them develop effective learning strategies that allow them to fit their independent language learning into their busy schedules. Part of the responsibility of today's business teacher is learner training, helping students locate and use apps for independent learning. The apps in this book fall into two loose categories: the smaller of the two contains apps created for language learners by established publishers and have a specific goal such as grammar practice or help with pronunciation. The second, larger category, contains apps originally designed with a purpose independent of language learning but could be successfully employed by students and teachers to improve language skills. These include apps for accessing, collecting, manipulating and displaying information, travel situations, games and business productivity tools, to name a few.
Who is this e- book for? This e- book is for business English teachers. It contains ideas for using apps with your student or students in- class in the classroom. Look for the business English Teacher symbol: This e- book also contains ideas for your business English students to do between classes, on the move. Look for this symbol: Plus: free Student's e- book All the ideas for students to use alone are available in a free e- book for students. During your business English course, please give the students the link to download their free ebook: Apptivities for business English students. (note: link will be available once both books are complete)
Chapter one: speaking App: Prezi viewer Presentation software Works with: ipad Description: A Prezi is presentation software which zooms in on each slide, be it text, a picture or a video clip. You do not have to deliver a Prezi presentation in a linear fashion, as is usual with a Power Point. The Prezi viewer app allows you to view and edit Prezis. Provide challenging presentation topics for your students to prepare, such as: Culture / The future / Green issues. Individual students can do the actual preparation stage of the Prezi at home. Groups use the Prezi viewer app to display their Prezi to the whole group, or students can work in pairs or small groups and use their mobile devices to show their Prezi. Comment: This app provides a great opportunity to do a last minute run- through of your presentation while travelling to a conference or business meeting. Preparing a Prezi may involve organising complex amounts of information. The convergence of the Prezi format and the ipad has been described as a marriage made in heaven!
Speaking App: QR code reader Works with: all systems and devices Description: QR codes are square symbols made up of a pattern of black and white block. This pattern can encode any type of text e.g. words, phrases, sentences, website addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers etc. A QR code reader app uses the phone / tablet s camera to capture an image of the QR code and decode the information. There are dozens of QR code reader apps available. You can create QR codes using an online service (eg, http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ ). Print the codes on individual pieces of paper and attach to the wall or display using a data projector or IWB. Students work in pairs of small groups. Each group has a device with a QR code reader app. The first part of the task is to read the QR codes to collect the information necessary to complete the entire task or one stage of it. QR Codes decode as: sentences which need to be organised into a chronological sequence, a paragraph of text, words that form collocations, or halves of an idiomatic expression. treasure hunt clues, each one leading to the next. web links leading to information necessary to complete a webquest, homework, a reading task, or a listening task (see: YouTube app). Begin a small action research project. You are going to collect as many QR codes as you can over a certain period (for example, a week). During the time period, every time you see a QR code scan it and make a note of - where the code was (on a poster, on a ticket, in a newspaper) - what the code linked to Compare your results with another student. How are QR codes being used in society?
App: Google Voice Search Works with: Android devices, iphone (now it s on itunes) Description: Search using the Google search engine by saying your search criteria instead of typing it. The voice search software learns by collecting the sounds it hears and the choices users make from the suggested search results. Set students a google voice search race. Prepare a series of questions, such as: 77 degrees farenheit in Celsius? Cost of a visit to the Smithsonian museum in Washington? Birth date of Barack Obama? (add more) Students have to formulate the proper question forms to get the answers, then say these into the app. The student who gets all the answers quickest wins. You can practise the pronunciation of individual words by saying them into Google Voice Search. If you see the word you said in the list of search results, your pronunciation of it is reasonably recognisable. Comment: If you need to hear a model of a word before you practise it, use a learner s dictionary app. (see: CALD, MED, OALD, LDCE dictionary apps).
Speaking / pronunciation / business skills App: Voice recorder Works with: All devices Description: Records and plays back audio using the device s microphone and speaker. Share recordings with other people (students and teachers) using Bluetooth, email, SMS or an online service such as social network or document sharing service. Make sure you install an app that saves the audio in a common file format such as mp3. Record models for your students to listen to. Record: - Pronunciation models. - Models of functional business phrases your students need to learn and use. - Key vocabulary your students need to learn. Ask your students to record a presentation for homework and share it with you before the next class. Record student presentations and role- plays. Share these recordings with your students to listen to alongside your written feedback on the their language. (There are apps which allow mobile devices to display office documents and pdfs.) Practise your presentation by recording yourself. Play back the recording and listen for: - Mistakes in grammar and vocabulary. - Pronunciation mistakes. - Phrases which need more emphasise or intonation in order to hold the audience s interest. If you are preparing to present with a colleague, share your recordings with each other. Practise your pronunciation of individual words by recording yourself and comparing the recording with the model pronunciation from a dictionary app or from your teacher.
Chapter two: Listening App: TED Business presentations Works with: ipad / iphone / Android version available Description: This is the app version of the well- known TED website. www.ted.com TED stands for Technology, Education Design and contains hundreds of excellent presentations. Many of these have an interactive transcript in English. Brainstorm a list of 'Ten golden rules' for a great presentation. Visit the TED.com website or use the TED app and choose a presentation using various criteria: length, topic, style (innovative, persuasive etc). Watch and decide which rules the presenters followed and which rules they broke. If rules were broken, why was the presentation successful? Go to tags and use the index to select a presentation of interest. Predict the content and make notes on. Listen first for global meaning - what is it about? Listen again and use the pause. Optional follow up: create a short PowerPoint with the key points to feedback to your teacher or fellow students Comment You have control over the number of times you listen to a section, using the pause control. A great feature is the opportunity to download the presentations onto your handheld device to listen to off- line.
Chapter three: Reading App: Kindle E- book reader Works with: All devices Description: Displays books in Kindle format. These can be bought from Amazon although there are many places to access free Kindle books. These are new texts and those out of copyright. Go to: - Project Guttenberg - http://www.gutenberg.org/ - Many Books - http://manybooks.net/ - Amazon Go to your local Amazon website and search for kindle free books Download a free book you would like your students to read (you may only want them to read a part of it). Share the Kindle file with your students or show them how to download it themselves. Set the reading for homework. Set comprehension questions; a target number of new, useful words or a discussion topic. Encourage your students to download and read books independently to help them expand their vocabulary. Download a book that you would like to read. When you read, don t worry if you don t understand every word. If a new word prevents you from understanding, look it up in a learner s dictionary. Make a note of any useful vocabulary you need and want to learn. After each chapter / section, try and summarise the main points to check your understanding of the story or the writer s argument. Share interesting and useful Kindle books with your colleagues.
Chapter five: Pronunciation App: Sounds Interactive phonemic chart Works with: ipad / iphone Description: This is the app version of the well- known phonemic chart, created by ELT author Adrian Underhill. Tap a symbol to hear the sound; tap and hold to hear the sound and an example word. Contains a wordlist of around 650 words. At the end of the lesson, write up a list of words which students have had problems pronouncing. Students use the app to work out the phonemic script of each word. They come up to the whiteboard and write it up. This app provides three ways to practise the sounds of English: read, write and listen. Read: presents the phonemic transcript of a word - students use the regular keyboard to tap in the word itself. Write: offers the reverse - student sees a word selected from the wordlist and then types in the phonemic transcript, using a special keyboard. Listen: click on an audio symbol to listen to a word and then type in the phonemic transcript. Comment The free version of the app is worth downloading as it offers the chart plus recording of the individual sounds and the example words.
This was a sample of Apptivities for Business English. What you get with the full version of this book: 1) The full bank of apptivities, providing a range of activities and ideas for 30 apps 2) a link for a FREE download of a book containing all student activities. Perfect if you want to incorporate an aspect of independent learning.