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Vocabulary Development for Workplace

CommunicationsPresenter: Michelle Walker-Wade

New Haven Adult School, Union City CAhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/mwalkerwade

SCALE Read.Write.Act Virtual Conference 2012

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Today we will discuss techniques and instructional strategies for developing and delivering workplace vocabulary lessons in a way that is engaging and relevant.

We will look at methods for taking vocabulary lessons beyond the knowledge and comprehension levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and into the higher levels of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Overview of This Workplace Literacy Workshop

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Download the slides now or at the end

Respond to questions in the chat box or in

the polls

Raise your hand

Applaud or give a thumbs up

How to Participate

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Questions: Please Answer in the Chat Box

1. From what city and state are you joining us?

2. What type of clients, students, or learners do you currently work with (or plan to work with in the future)?

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Vocabulary is fundamental to every other literacy skill and for most communication skills.

Why Develop Vocabulary?

•Reading

•Writing

•Speaking

•Listening

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Workplace literacy includes all the basic skills needed to succeed in any workplace, such as:

The ability to read, write, and communicate The ability to communicate and follow

instructions, work on a team, and work within the culture of the workplace

The ability to gain he skills needed to keep up with technology

The overall ability to obtain, retain, and make progressive steps in the workplace

What is Workplace Literacy?

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Based on A 5-Point Scale

4.60 The ability to work in a team structure

4.59 The ability to verbally communicate with persons inside and outside the organization

4.46 The ability to obtain and process information

4.04 The ability to proficiently work with computer software

3.65 The ability to create and/or edit written reports

Source: www.naceweb.org/job_outlook_2012

What Employers WantAccording to the Job Outlook 2012 report produced by the National Association of Colleges and Employers

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Question: Please Answer in the Chat Box

How do these employer wants relate to the need to provide focused, in-depth workplace

literacy communication skills?

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How can educators and literacy advocates provide learning opportunities that:

Are relevant for today’s workforce?

Are engaging and appropriate for our population of learners?

Have enough breadth and depth to prepare them to meet their employer’s needs?

What’s Next?

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Two Major Steps

1.Select Relevant Content

2.Provide Instruction for Vocabulary Development in Conjunction with other Skills

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Identify the industry and job titles most applicable for your student demographic given the labor market needs in your area.

Look for realia.

◦Published textbooks are great IF they have what you need; but don’t just stick to published textbooks. Use real-life materials.

#1 - Select Relevant Content

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Question: Please Answer in the Chat Box

Where can you find realia?

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Example: We had several students looking to work in food services

◦I created a series of lessons covering communication skills for:

◦The waiter/waitress, host/hostess, and the Café Barista

We had similar needs for entry-level office work, healthcare, retail, hotel housekeeping, janitorial services, and a salt manufacturing plant.

#1 - Select Relevant Content

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Vocabulary development must go beyond basic knowledge and comprehension levels (referring to Bloom’s Taxonomy levels)

When vocabulary instruction and outcomes only require learners to memorize, recall, define, match, select, rephrase, or explain vocabulary, the learner is not yet ready to use the new words with fluidity and ease.

#2 – Provide Vocabulary Development Instruction in Conjunction with Other Skills

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Participate: Please Answer in the Chat Box

Share what you know about Bloom’s Taxonomy levels.

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Effective Vocabulary development instruction includes:

Defining, matching and explaining verbally and in writing

Discussing in the current context as well as in a different context

Using vocabulary in writing and in dialog

Associating vocabulary with images from real life

Examining vocabulary in “what-if” scenarios

And more…

#2 – Provide Vocabulary Development in Conjunction with Other Skills

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Lessons were created for higher-level ESL

Differentiation, wrap around lessons and activities were added as needed

Instructors took their time delivering instruction, stopping to add-in any resources and realia as needed

I’ve sited the source materials used to create these lessons right on the lessons themselves.

Let’s take a look at a lesson

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Click to open a pdf of the sample lesson

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Poll: Which vocabulary strategy stood-out the most to you?

1. Teaching words before they appear in a text

2. Discussing words in context

3. Reading and analyzing words in realia

4. Seeing words as used in word chunks

5. Post-reading activities with vocabulary use requirement

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Vocabulary Discovery Charts◦ Predict, define (in context), discover, and

associate

Flash cards with text and visuals◦ See & say, see & read, bingo, concentration,

other pair share activities

Dialog◦ Hear dialog, participate in dialog, repeat dialog,

write dialog, present dialog

Examples of Wrap-Around and Reinforcement Activities

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Word chunks (collocations)◦ Examine words as seen in common

phraseologies

Idioms◦ Discuss words as seen in common idioms

Regular review of past vocabulary◦ Post a running list, vocabulary wall of post-its –

you can do all kinds of warm-up, pair share, free writing, and internet research activities

Examples of Wrap-Around and Reinforcement Activities

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Teach or reinforce word groups ◦ Example: Pay, paying, paid | Help, helpful,

helping

◦ Example: tip and gratuity | barista and bartender

Teach prefixes

◦ Example: happy customer, unhappy customer

◦ Example: heat, reheat | sell, upsell

Examples of Wrap-Around and Reinforcement Activities

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EXAMPLE ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

Working independently, place your vocabulary words in the appropriate category.

After everyone has finished, examine the diagram. Ask other students for clarification about the placement of any vocabulary words they may not agree with.

Ask the student who placed the word to explain and defend the placement of the vocabulary word.

Collaborate with your group and decide if vocabulary word should be placed in a different category.

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JOB-RELATED VOCABULARY: HEALTH CARE – FOOD SERVICES – HOTEL SERVICES

Accommodations

Acute

Arriving

Prep

Chronic

Consumption

Cook

Customer

Diagnosis

Facilities

Guest

Beverage

Hospitality

Housekeeping

Inventory

Lodging

Menu

Nutrition

Patient

Recipes

Register

Reservation

Room

Safety

Service

Skin

Team

Therapeutic

Tips

Unit

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Food Services

Hotel Services

Job-Related Vocabulary

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Health Care

Food Services

Hotel Services

Job-Related Vocabulary

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“Communication works for those who work at it.”

-John Powell, British author & composer

Does this Sound Challenging?

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Final Poll / Workshop Evaluation

1. I gained SEVERAL strategies and ideas for teaching vocabulary that I can immediately put to use

2. I gained A FEW strategies and ideas for teaching vocabulary that I can immediately put to use.

3. I gained ONE strategy or ideas for teaching vocabulary that I can immediately put to use

4. I did not gain any strategies and ideas for teaching vocabulary that I can immediately put to use.

Which statement about strategies/ideas gained from this workshop is most true for you?

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Vocabulary Development for Workplace Communications

Presenter: Michelle Walker-WadeWhere to Find Me

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mwalkerwadeWordpress: workplacelit4adults.wordpress.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/mwalkerwade

SCALE Read.Write.Act Virtual Conference 2012

Thank You For Participating!