Widgets Inc.

Welcome to Widgets Inc., a different kind of communication course!

What makes Widgets truly different from other language teaching textbooks is its focus on creating a believable, “real-life” English-speaking environment in the classroom. Students imagine that they are interns at an exciting technology startup company, Widgets Incorporated, where they must work together in small groups to perform various practical, yet fun, tasks. In this way, each classroom activity is realistically connected. All conversations, discussions, presentations, videos, and interviews have an authentic purpose.

This has several advantages:

• It recycles useful language: Relevant vocabulary and model sentences reappear again and again in inconspicuous ways. This not only implicitly reinforces language patterns, it also builds the confidence to use them in their appropriate contexts.

• It is easy to understand the purpose of activities: Because all tasks are realistic and connected, even less linguistically proficient students can always follow what is being asked of them, and indeed, can often predict what might come next.

• It is motivating: Students appreciate the practical aspect of tasks, because more than just practicing English, they are also applying real-world skills. In our experience, this has led to greater participation, less use of L1 in the classroom and a marked decrease in absenteeism.

Although the course is challenging, we have found that students invariably rise to the challenge and end up endorsing the approach with genuine enthusiasm.

We are sure you will also agree that Widgets is easy to use and fun to teach. However, it is extremely important that you consider the entire course as a whole before beginning. In particular, because much of the work is in the form of in-class discussions, project preparation and presentations, it is a good idea to think carefully about the timing of the full course. For example, a class of 40 students will take more than three times longer to give presentations than a class of 12.

Therefore, in order for you and your students to get the most out of Widgets, please do take some time to read over the wiki-based teacher's manual, and to familiarize yourself with the Widgets Inc. student book. We especially recommend that you consider in advance how the suggested lesson plans match up with your own schedule.

Widgets Inc.: A task-based course in workplace English is an ESL/EFL course employing a communicative language teaching approach called task-based learning. Widgets employs a 'strong' version of TBL, which makes it unlike other textbook courses you may have used before. For example, Widgets lessons are organized according to task complexity rather than language difficulty, and their primary goal is developing communicative competency rather than simply grammatical accuracy.

Widgets is a real-world-like workplace simulation course. Students imagine being interns working for a fictional start-up company. They are placed into small groups and follow an engaging product development cycle over six stages. The course is designed to be compatible with a wide range of English proficiency levels, including mixed-level classes. It works best in a class of 12-40 motivated adults who meet for a minimum of 30 ninety-minute sessions. This can be shortened or lengthened according to how large the class is, how fluent/confident the students are, and how flexible the teacher is about adapting the material. See Full Lesson Plans in the sidebar for sample lesson plans.

The print version (120 pp., A4 paperback, full color) is available from the following distributors: englishbooks.jp

Widgets is published by Atama-ii Books (2018) and was written by Marcos Benevides and Chris Valvona.

Stages

Stage 1 is the orientation stage. It introduces the company and a cast of fictional characters who interact with the class via authentic video scenes. At the end of Stage 1, students are put into project teams.

Stage 2 is the research and development stage in which students brainstorm product ideas. Working in teams, each student must produce a written product proposal and a video-recorded 'elevator pitch'.

Stage 3 is a management decision stage. Teams are given several product ideas and must select the best one to go into production. Each team then writes a short report and gives a poster presentation.

Stage 4 is the market research stage. Students are again given a new product under development, and must perform market research on it. They write a longer report and give a formal presentation.

Stage 5 is the advertising campaign stage. Students prepare a proposed marketing campaign for yet another product. They then prepare a handout and give a multimedia presentation outlining their campaign.

Stage 6 is the conclusion stage. Having completed their internship, teams are disbanded, and students must now prepare a resume and then interview for a promotion within the company.

Main Tasks

Each Widgets stage is punctuated by a main speaking and a main writing task which is related to that stage's topic. All tasks are sequentially connected, and increase in complexity as the students progress through the stages.