English for Cabin Crew Trainer's Guide - Heinle

UNIT
LEAD IN Speaking
5 Minor passenger problems
Write the following adjectives on the board: cold; hungry; thirsty;
noisy; nervous; worried; rude; troublesome; sick; angry. Tell
students that all these adjectives can describe passengers during
a fl ight. Ask if they can think of any other adjectives to describe
passengers. Then ask, What problems do each of these passenger
types have? What do they say? How do you respond?
Note that these adjectives come up in exercise 4, so you could do
this activity as a lead in to the listening later in the lesson.
Identifying passenger problems
EXERCISE 1 Speaking
Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to make a list of problems.
Get brief class feedback and build up a list on the board. Ask, Which are
the most common problems? How do you deal with them?
Pre-teaching vocabulary
Check the following key words: plugged in (connected to the electricity
supply); volume button (controls how loud a machine is).
EXERCISE 2 Listening
Give students time to read through the questions fi rst. Ask if they can
guess the problems from the questions. Play the recording. Let students
check their answers in pairs before getting feedback in open class.
Answers
1 get the sound to work on his headphones
2 no
3 Yes. He alters the volume.
4 A fi lm (movie) – The English Patient.
5 Yes. He selects the fi lm for her.
FINDING OUT THE PROBLEM Language focus
Give students time to read through the phrases in the box. Alternatively,
read out the phrases and ask students to read and follow.
Brainstorm any other similar expressions from students. (For example,
Do you need any help? Do you have a problem? Do you need a hand?)
Language notes
Note that What is ...? abbreviates to What’s in spoken English. Matter
means problem.
EXERCISE 3 Pronunciation
Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat. You can help
show the intonation pattern with a hand movement: hold your right
hand in front of you, horizontally, palm down, then move it up to show
rising intonation, or down to show falling intonation. A visual gesture
is a surprisingly useful aid to students attempting to learn intonation
patterns.
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Pronunciation notes
Note that the intonation pattern in questions is only a tendency – some
varieties of English tend to go up on both yes/no questions and open
questions. A rising intonation suggests hesitance and uncertainty as to
what the answer will be.
Pre-teaching vocabulary
Check the following key words: transit (going from one fl ight to another);
snack (light, cold food); high temperature (hot because you are ill);
paracetamol (medicine for pain such as headache).
EXERCISE 4 Listening
Give students time to read through the situations fi rst. (You could do
the lead in idea above if you didn’t do it at the start of the lesson.) Play
the recording. Let students check their answers in pairs before getting
feedback in open class.
Answers
1 i 2 e 3 d 4 a
EXERCISE 5 Speaking
Check students understand all the words. Ask students to discuss the
questions in pairs or small groups. You could get students to order the
roles in order of importance. Get feedback in open class.
Answers
1 information offi cer 2 waiter(ress) 3 nanny 4 nurse
EXERCISE 6 Speaking
Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Get
feedback in open class. Ask, Which roles best describe your job? Which are
the most diffi cult roles? What was the most unusual role you ever had to
play?
ROUND UP
Ask students to remember useful expressions that they have
learnt from the course so far and match them to the roles
discussed in exercise 5. For example, under waiter (What would
you like, sir?), under information offi cer (You can move around
the cabin now), under friend (Don’t worry. It’ll be all right).