Widgets Inc.: Teach Outside the Box

Welcome to Widgets Inc.: A task-based course in workplace English!

Widgets is a business themed communication course using a task-based approach to language learning. It is designed for classes of 12 to 40 young adult or older students who are placed into teams in order to complete a series of connected projects.

• Great for mixed-ability classes: Students are engaged and challenged at their own level of achievement even while working together in mixed-level teams. Task situations provide useful language and excellent incidental practice for TOEIC speaking and writing components. • Integrated skill development: students develop fluency and confidence in speaking, listening, reading, and writing via discussions, presentations, self and team evaluations, report writing, viewing video instructions, and many more highly-contextualized tasks. • Meaningful assessment: students are assessed primarily by task outcome, in accordance with Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) principles; a secondary focus on the use of language forms is also possible.

Widgets is arranged by task complexity, not language complexity!

The course starts with fairly easy tasks, and quickly builds to more complex projects. This puts the focus and the challenge of the course on the practical use of English, rather than on passing language tests. It also encourages students to develop fluency and confidence in using English in ‘real world’ situations.

Widgets Project Sequence:

Stage 1 Interns join the company orientation Stage 2 Teams prepare new product proposals Stage 3 Teams discuss and evaluate product proposals Stage 4 Teams perform market research on the product Stage 5 Teams plan a multimedia advertising campaign Stage 6 Interns prepare a resume and interview for a job

Widgets also includes authentic videos to enhance the simulation.

The dream team