Designing One-to-One Language Courses

Designing One-to-One Courses
Chris Moore, Managing Director, Specialist Language Courses

One-to-One Courses are…
specialistlanguagecourses.com
• Needs-driven – courses focus only on the language the student’s needs
• Personalised – courses reflect a student’s level and learning style and go at their pace
• Flexible – courses can change to reflect emergent needs
• Motivating – courses are designed for students to have a great learning experience
• Collaborative – you work with the student at all stages to ensure the course is on track
• Effective – courses waste no time as students progress towards their goals

Step 1. Needs Analysis
One-to-One courses start by clearly identifying the learner’s language needs.
These become the objectives of the course.
The learner’s needs may be
a. Highly focused, for example giving a company presentation in English
a. More varied, such as the many types of language required to pass an
English exam at school
Needs Analysis needs to be detailed.
It examines the specific scenarios the learner needs to use their target
language in. It identifies what language knowledge and skills they need to do
that effectively.

Needs Analysis
How do you do a Needs
Analysis with your
students?

Some Questions
How often
do you
need to use
English?
What accents
do you need
to
understand?
What kind
of writing
do you
do?
Who do
you use
English
with?
What words
do you need
to express
yourself?
Do you
workwith
native or non-
native
speakers?
Describe in detail
the key scenarios
you need to use
English in
What kind of
texts do you
read in English?

Step 2. Level Assessment
• Needs Analysis is combined with a language level assessment. This measures
how far the learner currently is from being able to achieve their objectives.
• This assessment should focus on the areas the learner will be using the
language in. It should be scenario-specific, and target the relevant skills the
learner will focus on during their course.
• The assessment results should be shared with the learner in order to manage
their expectations.
• If there is a wide gap between level and needs, but not much time allocated,
then course objectives will need to be scaled back to what is achievable.

Level Assessment
How do you assess what level
your students have?

Level Assessment
Remember!
Accurate assessment reflects what the student needs to do in English. Tests
should therefore contain an appropriate mix of
a. vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation
b. speaking, listening, reading, writing
And be careful!
Many tests on the market are grammatically based and this may not always
be relevant to what your student needs to do.
In practice, for example, your student may need a strong command of a few
common forms, but her vocabulary requirements may be much higher

Step 3. Learning Preferences

Learning Preferences
www.vark-learn.com
How do you discover your students’ learning
preferences?

Course Design Principles 1
Begin with the end in mind & work backwards
1. Objectives
What are you here?
What’s the point of this course?
What do you want to be able to do by the end of this course?
2. Language Skills required
What language skills are required to achieve the learner’s objective?
Better business vocabulary? Writing accurately? Speaking clearly and
confidently? Understanding native speaker conversations? Understanding
business reports? Summarising an argument? Ordering a beer?

Course Design Principles 2
3. Course Pathway
• How to best to introduce, practice and review the language skills identified
• Scaffolding learning – how are you developing more complex language
skills?
• Is the context appropriate? Learning has to be meaningful, to make sense
to the world outside the classroom
4. Lessons
• Identify discrete modules, activities and map them out so they match the
Course Pathway
• Share it with your student, elicit feedback – both you and the learner need
to know what’s happening
• Build in regular reviews and assessments

Course Planning Alignment
Objectives
Language
Required
Course
Pathway
Lessons

Course Design – sample 1
1. Objective:
“I need to write company reports in English”
2. Language Skills Required:
- Writing to your audience (shareholders, board of directors, staff)
- Using formal language correctly – register, style, passive voice, modal verbs
- Connecting ideas within and between sentences, different clause types
- Using an appropriate format – headings, paragraphing
- Expressing key ideas effectively, eg summary, problems, conclusions,
recommendations, forecasts
- Writing clear case studies and industry examples

3. Course Pathway needs to include:
Vocabulary
- Connectors.. Within sentences, between sentences
- Language to.. introduce ideas, describe cause and effect, state challenges, recommend solutions, conclude
- Formal language conventions – contractions, phrasal verbs, formulaic expressions. Impersonal style
- Relevant business and technical vocabulary
Grammar
- Reporting what happened, past tense
- Describing processes, focus on passive, present tense
- Using modal verbs, especially would
- Forecasting future, including 1st conditional
Report Writing
- Understanding the audience and writing appropriately
- Format, structure, paragraphing
- Writing an impactful executive summary
- Importance of clarity

4. Lesson Plan Objectives
Week 1:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Course
Programme
Arrival
Needs Analysis
& negotiation of
this week’s
Course
Programme
Describing
processes, using
present tense,
inc
passive voice
and impersonal
style
Focus on
connecting ideas
effectively –
sentence and
paragraph level
Describing the
past clearly and
accurately
Write an
effective
executive
summary
Review

4. Lesson
Plan
Activities
Week 1:
Please
Zoom!
Daily Record of
Lessons
Clarify needs –
language scenarios,
skills required,
student priorities
Language Analysis –
spoken, written
(contextualized to
reflect needs)
Learning
Preferences test
Map out
programme, agree
with student
Read text describing
relevant business
process. Check for
comprehension.
Analyse structure
and grammar used.
target present
forms and passive
Focus on present –
simple, continuous,
perfect
Practice on mixed
forms (gap-fill,
writing)
Focus on passive (in
present tense)
Apply to process
description –
student writes text
from pictures/notes
Review, look at
ways to improve
Intro different
connectors:
By type (within and
between sentences)
By meaning
(contrast, addition,
exemplification,
time, etc)
Practice – gap fill,
write examples
(relevant to report
subject matter)
Integrate with
relevant process
text
Take text from
yesterday and
improve with
connectors
Read past narrative
(relevant to student
needs, eg business
case study). Check
for comprehension
Look at examples of
grammar – past
simple, continuous,
perfect, modal
Analyse use and
balance in the text
Practice using
mixed forms
Write a case study
on a relevant topic.
Use notes/video to
introduce
Review, look at
ways to improve
Read 2 examples of
exec summaries – 1
good, 1 bad.
Analyse
- Subject
- Audience
- Structure
- Tone
- Impact
Practice – words
into sentences
Write an executive
summary (from a
report where the
summary has been
removed), review
and discuss,
compare with
original, look at
ways to improve
Review main
learnings from the
week, look forward
to week 2

1. Objective:
“I want to speak better English”
2. Language Skills Required:
- Key Skill 1: Speaking with clear pronunciation
- Key Skill 2: Understanding a variety of accents
- Scenario 1: Getting to know people, networking
- Scenario 2: Talking about your interests and preferences
- Scenario 3: Asking questions, responding appropriately
- Scenario 4: Travelling overseas – asking for info/directions, ordering food/drink, etc
- Scenario 5: Key functions - inviting, suggesting, requesting
- Scenario 6: Giving opinions

3. Course Pathway needs to cover:
Scenario-focused language development
• Introducing yourself and others, small talk,
• Discussing what you and others do in free time
• Getting to know people, asking questions
• Going places: Asking for info, making invitations and suggestions
• Travel – ordering food and drink, asking for directions, asking for help and info
Pronunciation focus
• Individual sounds
• Intonation – word & sentence level
• Connected speech
Listening skills development
• Listening for gist, listening for key information
• Different accents – native, non-native
• Dialogue practice

4. Lesson Plan Objectives
Week 1:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Course
Programme
Arrival
Needs Analysis &
negotiation of
the week’s
Course
Programme
Talking about
yourself – self,
family, job,
where you live
Pronunication
focus
Greetings, Asking
questions
Pron focus
Describing
preferences and
free time
activities
Making
invitations/
suggestions
Pron focus
Travelling
overseas
Ordering and
requesting
Asking for
information
Review

4. Lesson Plan
Activities
Week 1:
Please Zoom!
Daily Record of
Lessons
Clarify needs –
language scenarios,
skills required,
student priorities
Language Analysis
– spoken, written
(contextualized to
reflect needs)
Learning
Preferences test
Map out
programme, agree
with student
Listening to people
introduce
themselves
Note key phrases,
practice in context
(mini-dialogues)
Read transcript,
highlight (a) target
language (b)
common
grammatical
structures (b) new
vocab
Practice – student
introduces him/
herself (could be a
famous person –
teacher guesses
who)
Extend where
appropriate – note
vocabualry
Pron focus:
Highlight one area
of weakness &
review/ practice.
This should be
prepared
beforehand.
Include listening
practice.
Elicit greetings –
formal  informal
Elicit question
words,
contextualize with
simple questions
Focus on question
structures (a) qs
about the subject
(b) qs about the
object
Focus on
intonation for
questions (listening
ex)
Familiarisation
work: gap-fill /
words into
sentences
‘Meeting people’ st
writes qs to ask
when at a party
(review some
language from
yesterday)
Roleplay above,
using greetings,
Q&A with teacher,
review and
feedback
Pron focus:
Highlight one area
of weakness &
review/ practice.
Elicit free time
activities – sports,
hobbies
Personalise – Q&A
on favourite
activities, when
started, how often,
achievements, etc.
Note language as it
emerges – focus on
likes, dislikes,
preferences
Focus: language of
preference –
analyse, practice,
contextualize
Introduce
invitations and
suggestions in
context, eg through
listening /video
activity – highlight
and note down key
phrases.
Roleplay the above,
review, feedback –
look at question
forms used, note
common forms
Pron focus:
Highlight one area
of weakness &
review/ practice.
Elicit target vocab –
travel,
accommodation,
activities
Note key scenarios
and elicit language
needed – eg asking
for directions/help,
ordering
food/drink,
requesting a room.
Use listening/
video prompts
Roleplay the above,
note use of
relevant language
Note down key
expressions – check
understanding.
Practice again.
incorporate target
language from
previous lessons
where possible.
Review week’s
learning points (inc
pron), feedback on
student progress,
note areas of
improvement

Find out more
Specialist Language Courses organises outstanding 1:1 courses around the world.
Choose from:
• English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Arabic and many more
• Intensive immersion courses at language schools around the world
• Tailor-made in-company courses
• Specialist online courses
• A blend of the above
Contact us to find out more:
e: enquiries@specialistlanguagecourses.com
t: +44 1273 757535
w: www.specialistlanguagecourses.com

Designing One-to-One Language Courses

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