Requesting and Canceling Utilities by Phone

Objectives:

• The learner will define "utilities," "options," "existing service," "cancel," "current service."

• The learner will demonstrate 100% listening comprehension of a sample phone conversation between a customer and a utilities representative.

• The learner will write a dialogue or role play a telephone conversation with a utilities representative.

Duration:

    2 hours

Materials:

• Notebook paper

• Cassette recorder

• Standout 3, Standards-Based English, Staci Lyn Sabbagh and Rob Jenkins, Thomson and Heinle; 2002, pgs. 48-49

• Standout Audio Tape 3

• White board

Activities:

1. Teacher asks learners how many have requested or canceled utilities service over the telephone. Teacher asks learners to rate their nervousness over this on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the least nervous and 5 being the most nervous. 

2. Class listens completes Standout 3, section C and D, p. 48-49 as described. Class discusses responses.

3. Paired learners write their own dialogues modeled after the dialogue on page 48. Learners use their own current and new address, and different dates they are leaving their current address and moving into their new address. Learners have the option of role playing instead of writing a dialogue, as long as the role play asks and answers the same questions. 

4. Each pair of learners performs their dialogues or role play, facing away from each other. 

5. Following the dialogues and role plays, each learner pairs cuts its dialogue into sentence strips, mix them up and hands them to another learner pair; each pair puts sentences in proper sequence and shows the dialogue to the original writers.

Assessment:

Teacher monitors verbal responses and written answers to questions.