In this post, I outline some reasons why teaching workplace English is so important. (And why I’m personally excited about Ellii’s new Career-Specific Pathway courses.)
1. Hope
For many years, I taught workplace ESOL to new Scots. My learners were mostly people from refugee backgrounds who had made Scotland their home. Many of them were skilled professionals—doctors, nurses, business owners, and engineers.
Imagine being forced to leave your country due to war, political unrest, or lack of safety. You find yourself in an unfamiliar place where you have to take a role below your skill level to survive. You’ve devoted years of your life to your career, but your qualifications aren’t accepted or have been destroyed. To add to that, your English language skills aren’t proficient enough.
Teaching workplace ESOL and providing learners access to self-study courses can give them hope. It can take years to learn English, but developing skills tailored to their chosen career path can help them get where they want to be much faster.
2. Motivation
One of the main reasons for learning another language is to enhance career opportunities. Having proficient language skills can increase confidence and open doors. If you ask your learners why they are learning English, employability will likely be one of their top reasons.
As teachers, we are constantly looking for content that students can get excited about, and tailoring lessons to students’ needs can help do this.
If a student is a pharmacy technician or is (re)training to be one, what could be more motivating than a whole course specifically designed with their needs in mind?
3. (Re)Training
One of the biggest barriers my learners faced when finding employment in Scotland was their qualifications. In many cases, their certificates had perished in fires or been abandoned in haste. This left them without evidence of having completed their training.
Another issue was that some qualifications had different equivalencies between countries. For example, four years at university in one country could be the equivalent to two levels below in another. This meant that many students had to re-train in order to practice. In some cases, this meant a conversion course while others had to start their training again from scratch.
Training or re-training is not simple, especially in a new language. Teaching workplace English can support learners to prepare for training courses or support them while they complete their professional development.
4. Opening closed doors
In order to be a teacher, lawyer, dentist, or other specialized trade, you need to speak the language of the country you are practicing in proficiently. Many of my learners were intermediate or below. This meant that the proverbial door was closed to them until their language skills were strong enough.
Learning a language can take years. However, this can be fast-tracked by targeted learning and by focusing on the interactions, skills, and vocabulary that each individual learner needs.
Ellii’s Career-Specific Pathway courses help dental assistants, nursing assistants, pharmacy assistants, phlebotomists, medical assistants, paraeducators, and custodians communicate confidently in their chosen profession. And don't worry! Ellii has plans to help nudge the doors open for many other occupations in 2025.
5. Client communication
Many learners may already be working in their chosen profession. They might already have developed their language skills, gotten the qualifications they need, and started working in their chosen role. Yet, now that they are working, they feel the need to polish their work-specific communication skills.
A South African friend of mine is a surgeon. He speaks English proficiently, but when he moved to Scotland, he found that he couldn’t understand his patients. Why? Because his patients are speaking Scots. My friend started taking notes of all the Scots terms he encountered and now uses them conversationally around other Scots speakers and with his patients. As with our learners, he needed to develop his workplace communication skills.
In this lesson on Communication during a Blood Draw from the English for Phlebotomists course, the student can read and listen to an example conversation during a blood draw. The phlebotomist describes the stages and what he is doing while distracting the patient by asking her to talk about her interests.
6. Career inspiration
Some learners may be exploring which career path they wish to take. Workplace English can be a great way for them to consider some aspects of the job roles that interest them.
For example, maybe they want to be a dental assistant. Giving them access to the English for Dental Assistants course can not only polish their English skills, but also help them understand the role more deeply.
If your students aren't sure what jobs they might be interested in, you could even start with an Ellii Poll or lesson on Career Pathways before assigning a full course.
7. Switching roles: Being a better patient!
Maybe your learners have other career interests or Ellii hasn’t yet had a chance to create the perfect course for them. You can still use them with your learners!
If a student is going into hospital, you could do this lesson on Patient Admission from the English for Nursing Assistants course.
If a student is getting a filling, try this lesson from the English for Dental Assistants course.
If a student needs to visit the pharmacy for medicine recommendations, you could use this lesson from English for Pharmacy Assistants.
When I first started teaching workplace English many years ago, there were limited resources. We had to create our own, so I was delighted to see that Eliii has created all these wonderful resources to make teachers and learners lives so much easier. I hope you enjoy them. For more ideas on how to teach Ellii's Career Pathways content, check out these tips.
Watch for my follow-up post on How to Teach Workplace English as well as an upcoming webinar focusing on Ellii's content for Allied Health industry.
Have you taught workplace English? What have you taught? In what ways do you think it is important for learners?
