Instructional Design of an Integrative Online Business English Course for Master’s Students of a Technical University
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Outcome 1: Comparative Analysis of Business English Online Courses
3.2. Outcome 2: Target Audience Analysis
3.3. Outcome 3: Needs Analysis
3.4. Outcome 4: The Course Design
3.4.1. Course Learning Objectives
3.4.2. Course Content and Structure
3.4.3. Course Learning Objectives
Motivational Design: How to Keep Learners Motivated within Integrated Learning
Formative Assessment and Course Learning Outcomes
3.5. Outcome 5: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Course
4. Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Part 1 Beginner-Elementary | Part 2 Pre-Intermediate | Part 3 Intermediate | Part 4 Upper Intermediate | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Objectives Upon completing Part 1, learners should be able to introduce themselves; carry out a small talk; prepare his/her CV and cover letter; take/give a job interview; maintain networking; present a company structure; understand office management and use the business and professional terminology learnt in this part. | Objectives Upon completing Part 2, learners should be able to assess and select the opportunities on their career ladder; write effective emails; make telephone calls; participate in teleconferences; write and deliver presentations; take part in and chair meetings; acquire, recognize and apply business etiquette and use the business and professional terminology learnt in this part. | Objectives Upon completing Part 3 of the course, learners should be able to implement leadership; organize a foreign partner’s visit; apply stress management and time management; apply project management rules; maintain customer care; take part in negotiations; communicate when on a business trip; communicate when working on-site and use the business and professional terminology learnt in this part. | Objectives Upon completing Part 4 of the course, learners should be able to analyze information; describe graphs; write documents; use financial, marketing, management terminology; conduct a SWOT analysis; read/listen to and comprehend business news; write and defend a thesis and use the business and professional terminology learnt in this part. | ||
Key activities: reading, writing, speaking, listening Motivational activities: short interactive videos; games/role-plays; jokes; case study; mobile applications | Beginner-elementary grammar module | Pre-intermediate grammar module | Intermediate grammar module | Upper intermediate grammar module | Assessment and evaluation activities: quizzes and quests; projects; reading reflections; community study; research paper. |
Key topics Introducing yourself, Small talk, CV and cover letter, Job interview, Networking, Company structure, Office management | Key topics Career ladder, Emailing, Telephoning, Teleconferencing, Presentations, Meetings, Business etiquette | Key topics Leadership, Foreign partner’s visit, Stress Management, Project management, Customer care, Negotiations, Business trips, Working on-site | Key topics Analyzing information, Describing graphs, Documentation, Finances, Marketing, Management, SWOT analysis, Business news, Research papers (master’s thesis) | ||
Terminology Module Business terminology Technical terminology; key terms in different specialties (pronunciation, definitions, and translation) | |||||
Outcomes Upon completing Part 1, learners are able to introduce him/herself as a specialist; carry out a small talk; write his/her CV and a cover letter; take/give a job interview; maintain networking (exchange contact information, ask and answer questions); present a company structure (departments and jobs); and know office equipment and understand office management. | Outcomes Upon completing Part 2, learners are able to make a list of the opportunities of their career ladder; write two effective emails (formal and informal); carry out a telephone talk and a teleconference; write and deliver a presentation; take part in and chair a meeting; and acquire, recognize and apply business etiquette. | Outcomes Upon completing Part 3 of the course, learners should be able to implement leadership; organize a foreign partner’s visit; apply stress management and time management; apply project management rules; maintain customer care; take part in negotiations; communicate when on a business trip; and communicate when working on-site. | Outcomes Upon completing Part 4, learners are able to analyze information; describe a graph; write documents; use financial, marketing, management terminology; conduct a SWOT analysis; and read/listen to and comprehend business news. | ||
Corrective activities: re-teaching; individual tutoring; peer tutoring; cooperative teams; alternative textbooks and materials, workbooks and study guides; learning kits; learning centres | |||||
Business English Competence |
Online Course | Offline Course | Distance Synchronous Learning |
---|---|---|
Watching short (interactive) videos/pre-recorded real world examples/illustrated lectures/interviews/field visits (pre-recorded real situations)/demonstrations (live or pre-recorded) | ||
Textbooks/workbooks/alternative textbooks/learning materials | ||
Games/quizzes/quests/humor (jokes)/interesting facts/memes/quotes | ||
Grammar and vocabulary exercises/training pronunciations (e. g. tongue twisters) including training via (mobile) apps | ||
Reading texts | Reading reflection | |
Role-play (drama)/business game | ||
Conversation simulator | Conversation (student–student dialogue)/team teaching/brainstorming individual/group activities (on channels for smaller groups) | |
Presentation (with a Q&A session or panel discussion)/mock-meeting/mock-conference | ||
Peer review tasks | Essays/mailing feedback/comments (with the teacher’s feedback) | |
Learners’ chats | Discussions/provocative questions/group discussions | |
Project work/community studies/case studies/problem approaches/learning through discoveries | ||
Research paper/master’s thesis | ||
Multiple-choice tests (automatically checked)/checkboxes/text input problems/dropdown problems/numerical inputs Mid-term and final (pass/fail) exams | ||
Study guides/learning kits/instructor’s feedback (if possible) | Re-teaching/individual tutoring/peer tutoring/cooperative teams/learning centres |
Rubrics/Points | Below Expectations (1–2 Points) | Meets Expectation (3–4 Points) | Above Expectations (5 Points) |
---|---|---|---|
Content and structure | No/unclear structure, no argumentation, no connection between the statements, no/sporadic examples, lack of research | Clear structure but no argumentation, not all the examples are relevant | Clear structure (introduction, the main part, conclusion), strong argumentation, all the examples are relevant, evidence of sufficient research |
Visual aids and hand-outs | No/irrelevant visual aids and/or hand-outs | Visual aids and/or hand-outs are well done but contain some irrelevant information or mistakes | Visual aids and/or hand-outs are well done to support the presentation and are useful for the audience |
Presenter’s behavior and voice | The presenter is not interested in the subject/reads the text of the presentation too nervously/speaks too fast (or slow)/is difficult to hear/has no eye contact/has no dress code awareness | The presenter reads some parts of the presentation, fails to maintain/is afraid of eye contact and feels nervous. | The presenter is confident, has a clear voice, maintains eye contact and is aware of dress code. |
Audience involvement | The presenter does not involve the audience or tries to involve the audience, but unsuccessfully. | The presenter tries to involve the audience but has some problems (e.g., nervousness/lack of proper preparation/does not know the strategies, etc.) | Presentation involves the audience by means of its clear structure and involving content, the presenter’s eye contact, attractive and useful hand-outs and visual aids, etc. |
Length of the presentation | Longer than 7 min. | Slightly exceeds 7 min (not more than 1–3 min) | Appropriate length (7 min. including a Q-and-A session) |
Q-and-A session | The presenter fails to answer the questions. | The presenter can answer the questions, but do not feel confident and/or make mistakes. | The presenter encourages the audience to ask/is ready to answer all the questions, gives examples and performs strong argumentation. |
Students | Students Who Did (Coded 2) and Did Not Do (Coded 1) Online Modules | Grades for the Key Skills Learned in the Modules | Grade Point Average (A Five-Point Academic Grading System) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Introduce Yourself | CV | Job Interview | Small Talk | Company Structure | Office | Networking | |||
1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4.00 |
2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4.14 |
3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.29 |
4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3.43 |
5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3.14 |
6 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4.57 |
7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4.57 |
8 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4.43 |
9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.57 |
10 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4.43 |
11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.14 |
12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4.86 |
13 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4.86 |
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Share and Cite
Varlakova, E.; Bugreeva, E.; Maevskaya, A.; Borisova, Y. Instructional Design of an Integrative Online Business English Course for Master’s Students of a Technical University. Educ. Sci. 2023, 13, 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13010041
Varlakova E, Bugreeva E, Maevskaya A, Borisova Y. Instructional Design of an Integrative Online Business English Course for Master’s Students of a Technical University. Education Sciences. 2023; 13(1):41. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13010041
Chicago/Turabian StyleVarlakova, Ekaterina, Elena Bugreeva, Anna Maevskaya, and Yulia Borisova. 2023. "Instructional Design of an Integrative Online Business English Course for Master’s Students of a Technical University" Education Sciences 13, no. 1: 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13010041
APA StyleVarlakova, E., Bugreeva, E., Maevskaya, A., & Borisova, Y. (2023). Instructional Design of an Integrative Online Business English Course for Master’s Students of a Technical University. Education Sciences, 13(1), 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13010041