1. Interactive Webtools to
Integrate Case Studies in
Teaching Business English
Dr. Munca Daniela
ASEM, Department of Modern
Languages
November 2009

2. Topic: Customer Satisfaction
Textbook Approach
- Matching exercises
- Reading comprehension
- Grammar: modals in the past
- Homework: essay “How can companies
satisfy their loyal clientele?”

3. • How practical was the information?
• What real-life skills did my students
develop?
• Were they motivated to further explore the
topic of discussion?
• Was there a discussion?

4. Top Brandz 100
• Compare the
2008 and the
2009 lists
• Which brands
went up?
• Which brands
went down?
• Why?

5. My approach
• Theoretical + practical information
• Team work
• Problem solving
• Real-life situation
• Meaningful learning
• Challenging homework:
Create the 2009 Moldovan brands list

7. Step 1:
Motivating to
learn

8. Speaking of motivation …
• When the Harvard Business School was
started, the faculty quickly realized that
there were no textbooks suitable to a
graduate program in business.
• Their first solution to this problem was to
interview leading practitioners of business
and to write detailed accounts of what
these managers were doing.

9. Teaching in Moldovan
universities: too theoretical?
What ASEM students have to say:
“ In my opinion, ASEM professors should use more
practical information rather than just theory. For
example, it would be very interesting for
students to see real graphs, of specific
companies, organizations etc., similar to those
we do for a theoretical problem at the lesson
maybe some videos, projects presented to the
students by professors would really get their
attention and interest to their object”
(FB, freshman )

10. Step 2:
Engage

11. ?
• How many of your students spend an
average of 3-5 hours a day online?
• Haw many of them have a
Odnoklasniki / Facebook account?
• How many of them would rather
search the Web rather than go to
ASEM library to find information?

12. My FB students …
• Spend no less than 3 hours per day
online
• 100% have an Odnoklasniki account
• 98% have a Facebook account
• 99% use the Internet when preparing
for class (term papers, essays,
presentations, grammar, new
vocabulary, etc)
• %50 use the ASEM library

13. How?
• Business English ASEM Blog

14. Online tools to Connect the
Classroom the Outside World
• YouTube
• Slideshare
• Fortune
• CNN Money
• BBC Financial

15. PennState University:
Using cases in teaching
• Real-Word Scenario - Cases are generally based on real world
situations, although some facts may be changed to simplify the
scenario or "protect the innocent."
• Supporting Data and Documents - Effective cases assignments
typically provide real world artifacts for students to analyze. These
can be simple data tables, links to real U R L 's, quoted statements or
testimony, supporting documents, images, video, audio, or any
appropriate material.
• Open-Ended Problem - Most case assignments require students to
answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-
ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can
range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed group action
plan, proposal or decision.

16. The Benefits of Active Learning
The basic purpose of instituting the
case method as a teaching strategy
was "to transfer much of the
responsibility for learning from the
teacher on to the student, whose role,
as a result, shifts away from passive
absorption toward active
construction" (Boehrer 1990).

17. Students as Co-Administrators
of the Blog
• Give your students administrative rights
• They will be able to publish their own
content on the blog
• They will be encouraged to take
responsibility for the content they study
and extend their research outside the
classroom

18. Case Studies – Pedagogical
Tools
• Educational research has shown case
studies to be useful pedagogical
tools.
• Grant (1997): an interactive learning
strategy, shifting the emphasis from
teacher-centred to more student-
centred activities.

19. Raju and Sanker (1999):
• to expose students to real-world issues with which they
may be faced;
• allow the application of theoretical concepts to be
demonstrated, thus bridging the gap between theory and
practice,
• provide an opportunity for the development of key skills
such as communication, group working and problem
solving,
• increase the students’ enjoyment of the topic and hence
their desire to learn.

20. Integrating Blogging in Teaching
Business English
• Connect various online resources in one,
collaborative space
• Provide students with authentic English
(written/made for native speakers)
• Encourage students to exchange
comments, questions, ideas using the
“comment” feature and thus developing
their writing skills / critical thinking skills,
etc

21. Blogging Platforms for
Classroom Use
• Blogger (by Google)
• WordPress
• TypePad

22. HOW TO CHOOSE A CASE
STUDY?
Related to the material covered in class /
required by the curriculum / textbook
related
• Success stories (Sony, Apple)
• Best companies of the year (Google)
• Most influential business people (Steve
Jobbs, Henry Hord, Soichiro Honda)

23. Requesting students to develop
case studies based
on personal interests
Sample Task
- A company you would work for (local or
international) Mobias Bank, Moldova
Agroindbank
- An entrepreneur you consider your role
model in business
- A business success story which really
impressed you

24. Sample Task: Google
• Watch the YouTube video on Google.
• What makes Google Fortune’s Best
Company to work for?
• Present their major HR strategies;

25. Sample Task
• Moldova according
to Forbes
• Best Countries for
Business
• 2008 versus 2009
• From the 90th
to the
95th
place
• Why?

26. Developing a case study to replace
more traditional
teaching on the same topic
Read a text about IBM / Apple,
paraphrase or summarize the text,
vocabulary fill-in exercises
Compare Apple and IBM: illicit
similarities and differences, find
new vocabulary, draw a graph or a
chart which would summarize your
findings (Venn Diagram)
Read a text on the skills a good
manager should have and complete
several post-reading vocabulary
activities.
Read about various structure
patterns a company can adopt.
Explain each structure.
Read Forbes “Most powerful
Business people of all times” and
create a list of top strategies these
used to succeed in their own field
in form of a graph or list.
Team 1: Watch the video about
“Sony” and draw the diagram
which would represent the
company’s structure. Team 2 Do
the same thing for “Mars” –
compare and contrast your graphs.

27. Step 3:
Collaborate

28. Blogging – students’
collaboration
• students can learn from one another
"by engaging with each other and with
each other's ideas, by asserting
something and then having it
questioned, challenged and thrown
back at them so that they can reflect
on what they hear, and then refine
what they say" (Boehrer 1990)

29. USE OF CASE STUDIES TO DEVELOP
KEY SKILLS: Blogging
Group/Pair work:
• Ask students to work in teams or in pairs and prepare a
detailed case study of their favorite bank / entrepreneur /
business: Power Point
• Download the presentations on Slideshare and post
them on the blog
• Have your students comment on each others’
presentations on the blog
• Vote for the best presentations (most detailed, most
creative, best documented, etc.)

31. Presentation skills
Most of our case studies require students to present their
work in a variety of formats, thus developing various
linguistic skills (speaking, writing, listening, grammar):
- oral presentations,
- articles
- posters
- reports
- essays

32. Sample task
• Watch the two videos
on creative ways to
advertise a resume
• Make a list of
strategies used
• Which company has
the best advertising
ideas / strategies
• Post a 250-300 words
reply on the blog

33. Sample task:
a) ask two students to research one the
same topic using various resources
b) have them work in teams and compare
the data they had collected
c) put together ONE report which would
summarize the most important information
d) Present the report to the rest of the class
in pairs

34. Practical skills
Some of our case studies involve
practical work:
- Drawing graphs
- Calculating
- Collecting and interpreting data
- Contrast / compare

35. Sample task
Compare Forbes’
Best Companies
to Work for Lists
in 2008 and 2009;
Which companies
went up and
which ones went
down? Explain
why.

36. Last Step :
Enjoy your Teaching
Experience!!!

37. My latest Blog project …
• Create a Video Resume
• Post it on the Blog
• Watch all the other resumes
• If you opened your own business which of
your fellow students would you hire and
why?

38. Contact information
Daniela Munca
• American Councils for International
Education
danielamunca@gmail.com