At this point we have had a chance to mull over our gathered information. I would, at this stage, start to think about any "special" issues I may have in mind for my curriculum to be. By this I mean things like searching out and inviting guest speakers, any media issues, text and reading selections, and whatever else may come to mind.
Guest speakers could be any employment related speakers. For example, it might be great to invite someone who does job interviews or who writes employment/job descriptions. This would be a chance to have the students ask questions. This fits into both listening and speaking skills. Media can be almost anything, but specifically would include videos you might want to show. The internet is loaded with practice interviews and presentations about jobs and employment issues in general. These types of things are always works in process, so visit the web frequently. A good rule of thumb is to always pre-check your links at the beginning of any semester and always before each class. Technology is changing and links often disappear and change with little or no warning. Texts are a hard issue. I have not been fortunate to find many texts relating to specific ELL topics like employment and especially when the students are primarily adults. I doubt a search for an ELL-focused text solely on employment will 100% fruitful. However, there may be parts of texts that do address this topic and certainly there are some articles out there somewhere. Again, this takes a ton of prep time, but the payoff is certainly worth it in the end. The students will appreciate your hard work. As an aside, I have found that Adult ELL students are generally some of the most appreciative students I have ever found. Other items that may come to mind are things like gathering some real-world job applications (these are fun and informative to practice filling out), collect some links to a few job advertisement web sites (Monster.com being an obvious one), and perhaps collect a few resume templates.
The next step is perhaps one of the most difficult ones in this process; develop a class overview statement. In this statement you needs to address the end state of your course. Again, this can be a work in progress. However, this statement is what people will base their interest in your course upon. It is also a statement of what tools a typical student should leave your class with. Another word of caution; avoid using numbers in your statement. Numbers imply specific expectations, and if those exist, then it is imperative that you deliver exactly the numbers you promote. A better course of action is to try to make a specific, but all encompassing statement of purpose. An example for this course here might be something like my example below. As always, this is a fluid statement that will be revised as we go through the process.
Employment for ELLs can be a matter of the utmost importance. ELL105 will provide students with an overview of employment in the United States. Vocabulary will be focused on employment/job-related terms. Students will be exposed to many aspects of employment such as; resumes, job interviews, job descriptions, the application process, employment reviews, and job/salary negotiations. The course will include practical exercises to aid in the job search and the application process. Students completing the course will be better able to successfully seek out employment as well as understand the process as a whole.
So, now we have a course ready for its next step. Let's think a bit on what that step is and I will be back in a few days to give you my thoughts.
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