ORAL ENGLIS

H: WEEK 1

2

EN

GL I S

H F

OR

TH

E W

OR

KP

L AC

E

• Gender Roles• Tone Choice• Making

Appointments• Telephone Skills• Customer Service

WARM-UP: GENDER ROLES IN JOBS

Make a list of 5 jobs that you associate with women and 5 jobs you associate with men.

1. What features of the job make you relate it to members of one sex? (i.e. Why is that a man’s job?)

Is it wrong for a woman to be strong?

What about a man who is gentle?

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Anything a man can do, a woman can do better.”

- Dr. Phil (American talk show host)

TONE C

HOICE

STRESS

THOUGHT GROUPS

PROMINENCE

→TONE CHOICE

R IS IN G T O N E ↗• Both the listener and

speaker have knowledge about what’s being said

• More friendly

• Uncertain

• Continuing

• Asking a question (sometimes)

FA L L I N G T O N E ↘

• New information

• More distant

• Certain

• Finishing

• Making a statement

So, remember that last class we talked about 1) PROminence (↗) / well, in today’s class we’re gonna talk about 2) TONE choice (↘).

*Note: The underlining is used to mark the prominent words.

LEVEL TONE →

• Routine knowledge

• Neutral speaker

• Continuing

• Reading aloud

The People’s Republic of China was founded in

1949 (→) / paving the way for the development of modern CHIna (↘).

Identify the prominent word in each question. Then take turns asking and answering the questions. What tone choice will you use to ask the questions? What tone choice will you use to answer the questions?

1.Do you like spicy food?

2.Do you have a part-time job?

3.Have you ever been to Beijing?

4.Can you drive a car?

5.Do you like to sing?

6.Do you enjoy sports?

7.Do you know how to

cook?

8.Do you like to study?

9.Can you play an instrument?

10.Do you know how to dance?

11.Have you ever been a leader?

12.Do you want to be a leader in the future?

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen 1 ( ) welcome to Xinzheng 2 ( ) as I mentioned yesterday 3 ( ), today we will be taking a tour of the city 4 ( ) and will visit several places of interest 5 ( ) first, we will visit the hometown of the Emperor Huang Di 6 ( ) after that we will stop at the Old City Wall 7 ( ) and have lunch at a traditional mutton soup restaurant 8 ( ) finally, in the afternoon 9 ( ) we will tour the Sias university campus 10 ( ) at the end of the day 11 ( ) we will return to our hotel in Zhengzhou 12 ( ) please be sure to be on the bus no later than five p.m. 13 ( ) does anyone have any questions 14 ( )? No 15 ( )? Ok, 16 ( ) then thank you for your attention 17 ( ) and I hope you enjoy today’s trip 18 ( ).

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen 1 ( ↗ ) welcome to Xinzheng 2 ( ↘ ) as I mentioned yesterday 3 ( ↗ ), today we will be taking a tour of the city 4 ( → ) and will visit several places of interest 5 ( ↘ ) first, we will visit the hometown of the Emperor Huang Di 6 ( ↘ ) after that we will stop at the Old City Wall 7 (→ ) and have lunch at a traditional mutton soup restaurant 8 ( ↘ ) finally, in the afternoon 9 ( → ) we will tour the Sias university campus 10 ( ↘ ) at the end of the day 11 ( ↗ ) we will return to our hotel in Zhengzhou 12 ( ↘ ) please be sure to be on the bus no later than five p.m. 13 ( ↘ ) does anyone have any questions 14 ( ↗ )? No 15 ( ↗ )? Ok, 16 ( ↘ ) then thank you for your attention 17 ( → ) and I hope you really enjoy today’s trip 18 ( ↘ ).

ENGLISH F

OR JOBS

CONGRATULATIONS!

You got the job!

Now what do you do???

What speaking skills do you need in the workplace?

CAN YOU…

• Schedule and cancel appointments?

• Make a professional phone call?

• Politely interact with customers?

• Talk through workplace conflicts?

MAKING A

PPOIN

TMENTS

,

CANCELLIN

G

APPOIN

TMENTS

, AND

TELE

PHONE S

KILLS

ROLEPL

AY

A: Your back and neck have been hurting you since a car accident you were in. Call Dr. Ben to schedule an appointment.

Ex. Hello, my name is Nancy Green. My back and neck have been hurting me since I was in a car accident. I would like to schedule a doctor’s appointment.

B: You are the receptionist at a doctor’s office. You schedule appointments for all the doctors.

Ex. Hello, this is Dr. Ben’s office. How can I help you?

A: You are Mrs. Lee.

Ex. Hello, this is Mrs. Lee.

B: You are a parent. You are scheduled to meet with your son’s teacher, Mrs. Lee, for a teacher conference. Your son is sick and you need to stay home. Call Mrs. Lee and cancel your meeting.

Ex. Hi Mrs. Lee. This is John Smith. We have a teacher conference scheduled for tomorrow at 3pm….

A: You are an energetic young student looking for an apprenticeship with Bill Gates. You call Microsoft to ask about this opportunity.

Ex. Hi Leslie, my name is George Straight. I am a student at Harvard University. I would like to speak to Bill Gates about the possibility of an apprenticeship.

B: First, you are the receptionist, Leslie. Put the call through to Bill Gates. Then act as Bill Gates.

Ex. Thank you for calling Microsoft. This is Leslie. How can I help you?

A: You submitted your resume to several companies and are waiting for them to contact you.

Ex. Hello? (This is Bella.)

B: You are a manager at Global Enterprises. You are looking to hire a sales assistant. You have reviewed A’s resume and would like to set up an interview.

Ex. Hello, this is Jason Harris from Global Enterprises. May I speak to Bella?

(I received your resume and would like to schedule an interview with you. Are you free…)

CUSTOMER S

ERVICE

What is customer service?

What is customer service?

When you are helping a customer, before, during, or after they make a purchase.

Most likely, you will have to provide someone with customer service at some point in your career.

“Your customers are responsible for your company’s reason for existing.” ― Marilyn Suttle

That makes customer service skills of the utmost importance.

Talk with your partner about a recent experience you’ve had when you were provided with customer service. ( This could have been at a store, a restaurant, or even at an office in Sias)

How were you treated?

How did your treatment make you feel about returning to that business?

What makes good customer service and what makes bad customer service?

6 CUSTOMER SERVICE TIPS

1. Be available in a timely manner

2. Greet customer in a friendly way“Hello, how may I help you?” Smile!

3. Appear eager to help

4. Help the customer by answering their request or solving their problem

Listen and offer your knowledge

5. Be cheerful, courteous, and respectful the whole time

6. Close the customer service interaction well

USEFUL PHRASES IN ENGLISH

• May I help you? (How can I help you?)

• Is there something special you’re looking for?

• Let me take care of that right away.

• I’m afraid we don’t have that right now, but we can order it for you.

• I’m so sorry to hear that. Can you tell me what the problem is?

• Thank you! I hope to see you again.

Work in groups of 3 or 4 to create a short skit that shows good customer service or bad customer service.

HOMEWORK

1 hour conversation

• Do a short drama (skit) with your conversation partner showing good or bad customer service skills.

Practice reading a textbook using tone choice.