exams teacher s notes

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1 exams teacher s notes Overview: This lesson is designed to help you engage your students interest and understanding with Part 1 of the BULATS test. This part is Questions of the Standard Test and these tasks are included in the computer-based and online versions of BULATS. Timing: Timing is relatively flexible, depending on the level of your class and the amount of discussion you include, and will range from 45 to 70 minutes. Note that 9 and 10 can be included in this lesson (making it a little longer), or done as homework, or in the next lesson. Fully exploited, this material could extend to at least 100 minutes. Preparation: You will need these teacher s notes and to print one copy of each of Worksheets 1 3 for each student in the class. Stage 1: Engaging with areas of business communication 1 Tell students today s lesson is about dealing with business communication, in particular short texts, such as signs and s, graphs, and so on. Tell them that this lesson will help them to perform effectively in Part 1 of the BULATS test. Ask the class what short texts they deal with during the working day (or walking around the college). This applies to texts in any language. You can prompt them to think of signs, advertisements, s, and so on. Elicit a few answers. Once the students have got the idea, distribute Worksheet 1 and ask students to work in pairs. They should think of examples for each category in A on the worksheet: ~ signs and notices (e.g. warning signs, advertisements on noticeboards, etc.) ~ s / memos / letters (e.g. business correspondence) ~ items of business / economic news (e.g. articles from magazines, newspapers) ~ graphic information (e.g. company organagram, sales graph) This should not be a very detailed discussion, just a way to engage students focus at this point. 2 Now ask students to break up their pairs and to form small groups. They should use the questions in B on their worksheets to discuss the short texts they have mentioned in pairs in 1. a. When and how often do you see these texts? b. Where do you see these texts? c. Who writes these texts? d. What do you do as a result of seeing these texts? Monitor the discussions. Lower level classes may not be able to continue this discussion for more than a few minutes, while higher level groups may continue for some time. Have a brief whole-class discussion, in which you elicit an answer to each of the four questions. Stage 2: Engaging with BULATS texts 3 Distribute Worksheet 2. Ask students to work in the pairs they formed in 1. Tell students to put each text into one of the categories listed on Worksheet 1 in C. They should write the question numbers in. Now students should re-form the same groups they worked in for part 2 of Stage 1, and check their answers together. Monitor and then as a whole class deal with any queries or problems at this point. 4 Now you want the students to produce a sentence which represents the main meaning of each text. To establish the idea here, you might want to work with the class to produce an example for Question 51 perhaps: There is a competition for writing about management, with different types of entry. There is of course no right or wrong answer to any of these.

2 exams teacher s notes Depending on the level and energy of the students, and the amount of time you have available, you can either ask each group to produce sentences for all of the texts 51-57, or you can allocate two or three to each group, or only one per group. After their discussion, tell each group to copy down their idea for a gist sentence on Worksheet 1 point D. 5 As a whole class, discuss some of their sentences. Summarize the lesson at this point: students have considered the range of short texts that people deal with in their business lives, and the sorts of main meanings these different kinds of short text have. 6 Tell the students that these short texts are from the BULATS exam. Refer students to E on Worksheet 1. Tell them all the possible answers here are wrong. Ask students in their pairs or groups (whichever it seems will work better) to discuss why these answers are wrong. Monitor. As a whole class, go through these answers, briefly. 7 Distribute Worksheet 3. Refer students to F. Tell them that they now have one more wrong answer and also the correct answer for each question. Tell students, working in the same pairs or groups, to decide which is which in each case. You can make this activity shorter by allocating a different question to each group/pair. Monitor. 8 As a whole class, check their answers. (Key: 51. A, C; C; A; B; A; B.) Emphasize to the class the importance of not simply jumping at the first answer that contains the same word as something in the text. Ask students to compare the key answers here with the sentences they prepared earlier. Make the point that some of these BULATS exam questions test understanding of the gist message of short texts, while others test a certain aspect of the text. Note: 9 can be done as homework, and 10 in the next lesson. 9 Language focus. Tell students to go through the texts and the possible answers, and underline vocabulary words and phrases, including collocations and structures which they think it will be useful to remember. Tell them to copy these into G on Worksheet As a class, discuss what they have put in 9. Encourage effective recording techniques (including information such as part of speech, collocations, explanations of meanings in English where possible, and so on). 11 Summarize: there are different text types in BULATS Part 1; reading carefully is very important, for example wrong answers are not obvious.

3 TG BULATS: or WORKSHEET Part 1: Section 1 Title Author subject title exams worksheet 1 Worksheet 1 Stage 1 A ~ signs and notices ~ s / memos / letters ~ items of business / economic news ~ graphic information B a. b. c. d. When and how often do you see these texts? Where do you see these texts? Who writes these texts? What do you do as a result of seeing these texts? Stage 2 C ~ signs and notices... ~ s / memos / letters... ~ items of business / economic news... ~ graphic information... ~ any other... D E 51. Participants in the competition B will receive top quality publications on management if they win. According to the spokesman, the company B will invest profits it has made in increased production. A You can only attend the sessions in your free time. C You can make more money by getting a job here. A The number of temporary staff remained almost unchanged for three years. B A list of colleagues who attended the conference is required by the Marketing Manager. Which department will be located next to the Main Reception after the 19th June? A the Accounts Department

4 exams worksheet 2 Worksheet Management Writing Competition For excellence in management writing There are six prizes to be won in two sections: Best Management Book and Best Management Article. Websters Inc. The spokesman from Websters Inc. said that, in spite of a decline in general business confidence, the company was pleased with its improved profitability, resulting from gains in productivity. To: From: Subject: All Research Staff J Swann, Human Resources Job evaluation sessions This is just a reminder of the job evaluation sessions which take place next month. You should spare some time to be present at these sessions, as it is very much in your interest to attend. Make your money work for you. For free financial advice make an appointment to speak to our savings and loan staff. To: From: Subject: Marketing Department Staff Sonya Benson, Marketing Manager Last week s conference Please pass the attached notes on to any colleagues who were at the conference but for some reason are not on our current list. OFFICE RENOVATION PROGRAMME The Commercial Department, currently located next to the Main Reception, will transfer to the Accounts Department s offices on the first floor by 19th June. The HR Department will then transfer to the Commercial Department s old office.

5 exams worksheet 3 Worksheet 3 Stage 3 F 51. A may enter in different categories of management writing. C must have published several books or articles on management. A is confident it will generate significantly improved profits. C has increased its profits by producing goods more efficiently. B You must tell HR if you are interested in the sessions. C You will benefit from attending the sessions. A You can arrange to see someone about ways to save your money. B You can pay someone to help you organise a loan. B The number of full-time staff overtook part-time staff in year 2. C The number of part-time staff declined steadily during the three years. A There may be people who should receive information from the Marketing Department. C The Marketing Manager wants to contact colleagues at the conference for a number of reasons. B the HR Department C the Commercial Department G