myClass Teachers’ Notes

Pre-intermediate
Communicate with confidence in public 06

Discussing a project
Lesson description
In this lesson you will practise discussing projects. You will learn useful terms for describing different
stages and different elements of a work project. You will practise discussing how a project is going and
what is being done to make it a success.

Aim
Making and presenting a project report.

Language
*Language for describing a project.

Main task
Students will discuss two different project situations, asking questions and reporting on how they are
going.

Materials
Handout.
Audio 6.1.
Situation cards.

Suggested running order

Lead-in

1 Students order the stages. They then compare their answers in pairs before feeding back to the
class.
Answers
Have an idea. Bring together a team. Write a report.
Write a plan. Do the project.
2 These contain more difficult lexis and you might check / pre-teach meaning before students do
exercise or they can try it and you can deal with questions as they come up.
3 You could do this as a whole class activity and add the suggestions on the board.

1  myClass Pre-intermediate 06 PHOTOCOPIABLE © British Council 2014

Pre-intermediate
Communicate with confidence in public 06

Input

1 6.1 The audio contains some difficult terminology and you might consider pre-teaching some
items. Students then listen and answer the question.
Answer
Unrealistic budget
2 6.1 Before they listen again, students can see if they know the answers in pairs. Then play the
audio again so that they can check their answers.
Answers
1 A touch screen monitor.
2 Because it should last longer than usual. It is not ready at the moment, but will be soon.
3 They were behind schedule.
4 UniversalTECH are a new supplier. They gave them a really good price.
5 Yes, it will.

Language focus

1 Students do this individually and then check in pairs. Give the answers and check / clarify
meaning and form – the part of speech and also the pronunciation (model and drill).
Answers
1 lower the cost 4 supplier 7 as planned
2 behind schedule 5 action plan 8 consultant
3 postpone 6 budget limit 9 project team
2 Students do this individually and then check in pairs before feeding back to the class.
Answers
1 project team 4 behind schedule, consultant 7 postpone
2 action plan 5 lowered the cost 8 as planned
3 budget limits 6 supplier
3 Let students discuss these questions in pairs or groups of 3 and then open up the discussion
to the whole class. At this point you could see what direct experience students have of projects
and ask them questions to expand the discussion.

Task

1 Divide the class into As and Bs and hand out the relevant cards. The CEOs should plan their
questions (with their cards) while the project managers think about their situations. You could
have one CEO speaking to 2 project managers (a group of 3) or it could be one to one. Allow
time for students to read their cards and check they understand the situation. Give them 5
or 6 minutes to think about what they want to say. You may like to put the project managers
together and the CEOs together so that they can help each other to prepare for the role play.
2 Regroup the students so that the CEOs can interview the project managers. Circulate and
monitor.
3 Get feedback from CEOs and see who was able to answer the questions well.

2  myClass Pre-intermediate 06 PHOTOCOPIABLE © British Council 2014

Pre-intermediate
Communicate with confidence in public 06

Audioscript
6.1
M = Michelle, E = Edward
M Good morning Edward
E Good morning Michelle.
M How are things with the new computer project?
E Well Michelle, we had a very good start. We spent a few weeks planning and the project team had a
lot of new ideas, especially about the computer’s design. We want to add a touch screen monitor, not
a regular screen. This will make the computer very different from other laptops on the market.
M That’s great. Can you go through the action plan for this project?
E OK, the plan was to first contact possible suppliers of the touch screen technology, then second talk
to our technicians about the battery…
M Sorry Edward, but why did you need to talk about the battery?
E Well, we wanted the battery life to be longer than usual.
M I see…
E …and third we wanted to check and agree the final hardware needed to put the computer together.
We were a little worried about missing our budget limits. Our original budget was a bit unrealistic, but
it looks like we’ll spend only a few thousand above the limit.
M Are we behind schedule?
E We were, a little, but we brought in a consultant to help us change a few things and we will continue
as planned. We needed to keep under budget limits so we lowered the cost of the touch screen by
giving the contract to UniversalTECH. I know they are not our regular supplier, but they gave us a
really good price.
M OK Edward, that was a good idea, now what about the battery life? Is the battery ready?
E Well Michelle, our communication with the technicians was not the best. I apologize for that. The
battery is not ready yet, but the technicians are working very hard to fix a few last problems and
everything will be finished soon.
M So we will NOT have to postpone the promotion date, right?
E Not at all! Everything is going as planned. I am sure the promotion will be a success!
M I’m happy to hear that Edward! And now…

3  myClass Pre-intermediate 06 PHOTOCOPIABLE © British Council 2014