English Training Excelliance,Shenzhen

	Q1 What is the best way for our staff to improve their English?
		This one is simple. It's practice. Practice, practice, practice. The training you buy for your staff should not be seen as the sole solution to their language problems. It is important, but it is only effective when it is balanced with lots of practice. If they don't practice, they won't remember very much at all. So when you talk to Business English Training Providers, you should ask them: How are you going to make sure our staff practice what you teach them? Call us at 0755 8300 2770 and we will tell you how we do it for our clients.

	Q2 How can we measure the improvements in our staff's English?
		Firstly, make sure that any language training you buy comes with a test BEFORE AND AFTER the training. Without these two tests, there is absolutely no way you can measure the value of the training with any accuracy. The second part is not so easy – you have to examine the test itself to make sure it's effective. Thankfully, you can save yourself some time by comparing it to existing tests which are frequently used in China and worldwide. Among the most respected are IELTS (International English Language Testing Service) and BULATS (Business Language Testing Service). BULATS is specifically for workplace English, so it's a good place to start. You can find out more about BULATS here: http://www.britishcouncil.org/china-exams-bulats-whatisbulats.htm When you're selecting a training partner, ask them about their testing services. Ask them if you can see (1) a sample copy of the test (2) the marking scheme and (3) an example of a completed test. You can then compare it to BULATS (or another test of your choice) and judge whether you think that it is effective. Whatever option you choose, it is certainly best to use a third party to measure the value. That means, use one company (or trainer) to provide the training, and another to test the students before and after. This will add slightly to the overall cost, but it's the only way to get a reliable result. Any company measuring the value of training it has delivered itself is likely to overestimate the results. A decent training provider should be happy to discuss third party testing.

	Q3 How much will our staff improve?
		Companies offering rapid, dramatic improvements in students' overall proficiency (overall level of English) will almost certainly disappoint you. Responsible providers of language training and testing services (eg the British Council) confirm that major improvements in overall level take many hours of study over extended periods of time. For example, IELTS examinations divide students into five levels – from elementary (level one) to advanced (level five). It is estimated that in order to progress ONE level (eg from level two to level three) takes two-hundred (200) hours of study. This can include a high proportion (say 50%) of self-study, but the overall study time required doesn't change. Experience teaching EAP (English for Academic Purposes) in accordance with IELTS guidelines confirms this. In order to accelerate the speed of learning, companies have to cut down the range of language taught. That means cutting down the range of situations which a student can deal with in English, in order to raise the competency of the student in dealing with those particular circumstances. A good example of this is a group of staff at a mobile telephone company learning to deal with customer-service telephone calls. At the end of an effective training course, they will not be much better at conversing with foreigners over dinner, but they will be much better at handling customer service issues on the phone. So by selecting only the possibilities which the student has to deal with at work, we can accelerate the student's progress in dealing with the selected tasks. A more detailed example involving a group we trained last year showed the following: In a class of around 10 students, focusing on three key areas of workplace communication (teleconferencing, meetings, describing technical processes), students were able to progress one grade in an examination similar to BULATS . The examination focused strictly on those three key areas. This progress took forty (40) hours of formal training.

	Q4 How long does each course last?
		Most courses are spread over 48 hours – However we can construct longer or shorter courses to suit your needs. Each lesson lasts 2 hours. So a typical course duration would be 24 x 2 hour sessions = 48 hours.

	Q5 What if staff are of different levels?
		Before each course commences we work closely with the HR / Training Department and course participants to conduct a series of diagnostic tests. The diagnostic consists of an oral interview with the trainer and a written test which determines the participants' writing ability in four key areas – vocabulary, grammar, style and structure. Participants are also asked to complete a questionnaire to enable us to determine their course expectations and areas they feel they need to improve on. This helps us to ensure their expectations match those of their managers' or HR / Training department. Once all the tests are completed, a report is sent to the HR / Training department which will grade each participant by ability. We also require samples of the participants' daily correspondence to ensure our training material suits their work requirements.

	Q6 How many people do you suggest for a class?
		For an oral course the ideal number is 12 as the trainer can spend more time with each participant and identify areas for improvement more easily. For a writing course the number can be larger. An ideal number is 16 but we often take classes of up to 20 participants.

	Q7 Who are the trainers?
		All Excelliance trainers possess at least a CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) Grade B or above. It is a professional teaching qualification issued by Cambridge University in England. Students are taught the most modern approaches to teaching including classroom management, student centered learning, grammar, using different resources as well as teaching real classes which are critiqued by fellow students, trainers and a member of Cambridge University's education department.

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