Ronda+Zelezny-Green

Ronda Zelezny-Green Design Document 02/20/2010

**Developing E-mail Communication Skills: English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Training for the Colleagues of Terrawatu (Small Business and Tourism Industry) **
 * Course/Program Title: **

**Course goals: ** The Tanzanian colleagues of Terrawatu, a US and Tanzanian non-profit organization, will be able to write informative and cohesive e-mail messages in response to: inquiries for how to arrange a People-to-People safari, child sponsor update requests, inquiries for how to volunteer with Terrawatu, inquiries for how to perform research with Terrawatu, offers to donate goods to Terrawatu, and inquiries about how to purchase some of the products (such as Maasai leather handbags, Maasai herbal tea blends, beaded jewelry, and coffee) offered by Terrawatu’s Community Wealth Generation division.

//This course is intended for the Tanzanian colleagues of Terrawatu, who are employed in the small business and tourism industry, and want to improve their ability to become more effective at communicating with potential clients. Most all of the audience members are Gen Xers with at least one Baby Boomer present (based on the Lancaster & Stillman model as well as the Oblinger & Oblinger and the // Zem ke, Raines, //& Filipczak models). //
 * Intended audience: **

In part, the age of the audience results in the fact that the audience has __//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">basic //__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> comfort with sending e-mail responses in English, knows how to compose messages of a personal nature only and therefore has a general understanding of the components present in an e-mail message. Another factor that limits the audience's understanding and level of comfort with the emerging web technologies is that, like most of Africa, Terrawatu is still making progress toward diversifying their capabilities in web know-how. High-speed internet is still relatively new on the continent so that has prevented a lot of progress in that arena. Also internet can be unreliable and is greatly affected by storms. (It is possible to say that the analysis of learners by generation is not fully permissible or applicable here given the various limitations and challenges that are present for people living on the African continent as opposed to the North American continent). For example, most students know how to use Skype with voice only to telephone other people because they use this technology to telephone donors and potential clients. They also know how to use a webcam while typing to another person because of the wide availability of webcams in internet cafes in Tanzania. Despite this, the colleagues of Terrawatu have not yet demonstrated mastery of using both of these technologies simultaneously to have a telephone conversation while seeing the other person they are talking to.

Because English is a second official language of Tanzania, most of the learners can understand English on at least a high beginner level (can form simple sentence with some help). Prerequisite knowledge: high beginner English language skills, ability to use a computer, knowledge of how to use an e-mail program for e-mail message composition, revision, and sending, the ability to use an English/Swahili dictionary, and the ability to use a paper or computer-based calendar.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">The learners are not confident in their abilities to learn the content, as they have had prior experiences where their English language communication abilities have been criticized. However, they are all very eager to learn the requisite content to improve their ability to communicate through e-mail as part of their responsibilities with Terrawatu.

The learners are very much looking forward to the face-to-face delivery portion of the instruction, as it will enable them to communicate with a native English speaker who is a trained teacher for at least a week's time. They are a bit more apprehensive about the online delivery portion of the training module because they have not been online learners before.

The learners feel confident that the training will keep their <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">//<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">attention // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;"> because it is one of their few opportunities to receive formal training. The training module has <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">//<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">relevance // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;"> to their jobs because the income that is generated by tourists who book safaris has a direct financial incentive to the learners, who earn a percentage of every tour booked. The <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">//<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">confidence // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;"> of the learners is not so high due to prior experiences of criticism by individuals who stated that they could not understand the English language that the learners used or who simply never responded to their communication at all. Also, they have not composed many business e-mails before and so are not familiar with the stylistic devices they need to utilize on a consistent basis when composing business e-mail messages. <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">//<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">Satisfaction // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;"> from the ability to perform the goal was ranked high in the list of reasons why the learners wanted to participate in this particular training module. This is because they all felt it would be a great help to their friend and colleague, Dr. Pergola.

All of the learners have had at least the equivalent of a formal high school education and plenty of valuable lessons learned from life experience. All of the learners have the high intellectual ability to learn, with the proper support from the training instructor and the directors of Terrawatu.

All of the learners' previous learning experiences in Tanzania consisted of large classrooms with content delivered in a lecture style. While they have adapted to this style of learning, all of the learners commented that they are excited about the possibility of having more individualized attention. Also, a smaller class size, working with people they know very well, and a tangible motivation for learning are all preferences that the learners have not had before that they really appreciate the luxury of being able to have now. They had no preference for or against online learning, as they have never learned through online delivery before.

All of the learners have confidence in the ability of the trainer to deliver a training that will help them achieve the training goal. This is based on the positive response given to Dr. Pergola by the learners when they learned of the trainer's background experience in ESL/EFL education, with a focus on working with adult learners in Africa.

Heterogeneity: The learners are all adult citizens born and raised in Tanzania, they all work in the tourism industry in some way, and they all have a desire to connect indigenous cultures to modern development. Size: The size of the class will not exceed 10 students in the initial piloting of the program until it has proven to be successful with the first group and modified as necessary. Also, as it will be delivered partially in person and partially online, this will allow the trainer to work more closely with the learners one-on-one.

Overall impression: Instruction provided must be very flexible and sensitive to the family situations of the learners (sometimes work may not be completed due to problems that the learners' family members have). Also, accommodations will probably need to be made for those students who are more frequently out in the field giving tours, teaching, or doing other development projects for Terrawatu. Their attendance may not be as consistent as others once the delivery method shifts to being online.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The learners have a lot of motivation for successful completion of this course and acquisition of the knowledge contained within. As e-mail communication becomes more prevalent and complex in the course of doing business across international borders, especially with countries that are not easily or affordable to visit, it is imperative that the colleagues of Terrawatu become skilled in the art of e-mail communication with prospective tourists, donors, and business clients because this base of clientele will generate new business and revenue for the Terrawatu non-profit organization (NPO). It is believed that this will also produce a level of professional growth and ownership of the shared responsibilities in working for Terrawatu. All of these factors are of direct benefit to the learners/audience for this course.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px;">Instructor-led asynchronous course delivered via Moodle. Some optional synchronous sessions to be held via Wimba Live Classroom or Skype. An in-person, instructor-led adaptation/reinforcement/accentuation of this training will take place in July 2011. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Delivery method:

Skype video chat sessions, discussions, instructor-generated examples, demonstrations, e-mail exchanges, and individual project work. Learners will write and send business e-mails. This course will use internet communication when necessary to help convey points, Skype video chat sessions so learners can work one-on-one with the course instructor, and Moodle discussions.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Instructional approach/strategies/methods: **

Instructor-generated e-mails, realia in the form of e-mails from Terrawatu clients, a business writing textboook, video chats, web sites, thesaurusi, English/Swahili dictionary, calendar, personal paper notebooks, CMS.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Instructional materials: **

Here is my final Design Document for the course: [|INSDSG619 Design Document.docx].

· Write an informative e-mail that tries to anticipate every question that a sender inquiring about a tour with People-to-People Safaris might have, using a checklist for information to include in each e-mail
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Lesson content outline **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Topic ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Goal/Objectives ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Activities ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Media ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Readings/Resources ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Assessment ** ||
 * Lesson 1: Responding to initial tourist inquiries || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">**Upon completion, students will be able to:**

· Create an inviting e-mail that includes greetings and closings that are typically used in friendly business exchanges

· Identify and utilize language that encourages the e-mail recipient to reach out to the sender for further contact if they have more questions || <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> //**Activity 1:** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal;">The instructor will e-mail the learners an initial e-mail tourist inquiry for a People-to-People safari through/from an e-mail account that the instructor will have set-up prior to the start of training. This message will serve as an example of the type of e-mail the training will teach them how to respond to. Learners will access their work e-mail accounts and open the message the instructor sent from their pseudo e-mail account. The instructor will have the learners print out this e-mail so they can make notes, if they wish to do so.

This learning activity appeals to both the visual and solitary types of learners. For the visual learners, having a “real world” example of the types of e-mails they will be responding to will activate the learning process for them in a way that makes the proceeding activities more realistic and concrete. For solitary learners, the ability to have their own copy of the sample e-mail, sent directly to the learner’s e-mail address for the learner’s personal use, feels to them as though the proceeding learning will be more aligned with self-study since they must formulate their responses to this e-mail on an individual basis.


 * Activity 2:** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal;">The instructor will have the learners review the important information from the pseudo e-mail in Lesson 1. Instructor will ask the learners to say the dates the tourist requested out loud. Then the instructor will select one learner to come to the calendar and check to see if the dates the tourist requested for their tour are available. Upon seeing that the dates are available, the selected learner will write a “HOLD” onto the calendar to reserve those dates for the tourist. Learners will observe as the selected learner goes to the calendar to check the availability of dates and place a hold on the dates requested. The instructor will then give the learners a copy of the 12 month calendar with the same available/unavailable dates. Learners will place a “HOLD” on the appropriate dates of the calendar they have for the tourist.

This learning activity can appeal to either logical or verbal learners. By reading and identifying the dates the tourist has requested in their initial e-mail inquiry, the learner must then logically use a calendar to figure out if tour guides are available on the days that the tourist has requested. Given that there is more than one tour guide available and tours running at the same time, deducing who is available and is not available to work is a key component of this activity. Also, the learner would have become familiar with the words the tourist wrote to be sure that the learner understands the dates the tourist is requesting. //

· Write a detailed, descriptive message about the current status of a child that is being sponsored to attend school
 * Activity 3:** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal;">At the end of the lesson, the instructor will have the learners piece together an e-mail from cutouts of the different components (puzzle pieces with writing on them) required for an inviting, informative e-mail in response to a tourist inquiry. The learner must manipulate the pieces like a puzzle, putting them “together”, or in order, to arrange the pieces into the correct format for the e-mail they’ve learned to create during the lesson. This learning activity appeals to kinesthetic learners because it is hands-on through usage of the virtual puzzle pieces used to create the e-mail. Also, the process of actually physically building the e-mail with puzzle pieces connects their sense of touch with the desired ordering of the language in the e-mails. || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">Fictitious e-mail from tourist inquiring about a People-to-People Safari, a paper-based calendar, paper puzzle pieces with the different e-mail components written on them OR if possible to create in Moodle, an electronic puzzle where students can manipulate and fit the puzzle pieces together with their mouse and clicker to form the desired e-mail required for showing mastery of what was taught during the lesson || //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">Business E-mail Etiquette website article: "Business E-mail Etiquette: The One Thing That Matters". http://www.businessemailetiquette.com/business-e-mail-etiquette-the-one-thing-that-matters/.  // || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Another fictitious e-mail will be created and e-mailed to the learners and the learners will have to compose an e-mail without instructor support in response to the tourist inquiry, including all 10 components necessary to make the e-mail complete based on the e-mail standards delineated during the lesson ||
 * Lesson 2: Responding to child sponsor update requests || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Upon completion, students will be able to:

· Describe a general daily routine

· Perform information-gathering interviews with high school-aged students

· List the yearly goals of the child being sponsored || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any activities that support the objective(s)> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any media you will create or acquire for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><List any readings or resources for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><Explain the means of assessment to be used for the lesson> // || · Compose an e-mail thanking the inquirer for their interest in volunteering and stating whether or not a volunteer opportunity is available and what type
 * Lesson 3: Responding to volunteer inquiries || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Upon completion, students will be able to:

· Explain the different types of volunteer opportunities available with Terrawatu

· Assess the potential need for a volunteer given a date and the company calendar

· Read and interpret an inquirer’s qualifications for a particular volunteer position || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any activities that support the objective(s)> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any media you will create or acquire for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><List any readings or resources for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><Explain the means of assessment to be used for the lesson> // ||

· Compose an e-mail thanking the inquirer for their interest in performing research in Tanzania through or with Terrawatu
 * Lesson 4: Responding to research inquiries || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Upon completion, students will be able to:

· Identify whether or not the research the inquirer wants to perform is permitted in-country and feasible

· Create a list of Tanzanian contacts that the research inquirer can potentially network with while in-country based on the research subject

· State the required documents the inquirer will need to begin the process of obtaining a research visa || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any activities that support the objective(s)> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any media you will create or acquire for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><List any readings or resources for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><Explain the means of assessment to be used for the lesson> // || · Write an e-mail that thanks a donor for their generosity and instructs them as to how to make a donation to Terrawatu
 * Lesson 5: Responding to donation offers || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Upon completion, students will be able to:

· Identify the steps necessary for a donor to make a donation to Terrawatu

· List the various payment methods that a donor can use to make a donation

· Explain how Terrawatu will use a donation (if the donation is not made for a specific purpose [for example computers for a computer lab]) || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any activities that support the objective(s)> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any media you will create or acquire for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><List any readings or resources for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><Explain the means of assessment to be used for the lesson> // || · Compose an e-mail that provides information on the process of purchasing goods from Terrawatu’s various vendors
 * Lesson 6: Responding to product purchasing inquiries || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Upon completion, students will be able to:

· List all of the products that Terrawatu and its vendors has for sell

· List the general prices (based on monthly exchange rates) of the products that Terrawatu has for sell

· Describe the appearance of products that Terrawatu and/or its vendors has for sell OR provide a picture via a web link or a photo upload

· Know how to attempt a small up-sale (get the inquirer to buy something more than what they initially wrote about) to a potential buyer

· Know how to promote future new products || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any activities that support the objective(s)> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><list any media you will create or acquire for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><List any readings or resources for the lesson> // || //<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"><Explain the means of assessment to be used for the lesson> // ||