ESP Vocabulary and Texts
Student Teaching Assignment: Example of the Parts of the Assignment
Unit 1: Customers
1)Display the article and explain how it relates to the title of your Unit and why you chose it.
This article is about the importance of good customer service. I chose this article because I like the attitude that Richard Branson has about customer service. He gives two real life examples of customer service--one good and one that reflected a poor customer service attitude within management.
2)Provide a clear and accurate summary of the article. Include the key points of the article in your summary. Aim for 1/3 to 1/5 the length of the original article.
Richard Branson on Customer Service
A Sample Summary:
In an article he wrote for Entrepreneur.com, Richard Branson shows how the chain of quality customer service is only as strong as its weakest link. The Virgin Group founder describes two incidents—one in which an airline provided outstanding customer care by rushing a forgotten coat to a man across the Atlantic. Taking extreme measures, the coat is hand-delivered to the upset man by an airline employee as soon as he got off his flight in New York from London. The other example illustrates how the link of good customer service broke at the airline and involvedmanagement’s failure to recognize a job well doneby an employee for “going the extra mile”. A supervisor refused to reimburse the Virgin Airline employee who had calmed and reimbursed a disgruntled customer who had been forced to take a taxi after missing the pre-arranged limo pick-up by Virgin Airline. In both cases, the lesson learned is that an environment of good customer service must begin at the top and filter throughout an organization.171 words (Approx ¼ the article length)
3)Vocabulary of importance (show highlighted words in article on overhead):
• Going the extra mile: to do more than is expected of you
(“Going the extra mile” is an important expression to know because it refers to the highest form of customer service--the type of service that is not expected but is greatly appreciated and leaves a strong impression.)
• Shortfall: an amount that is less than what was expected or needed
(“Shortfall” is an important word in business because it relates to a situation which every business tries to avoid.)
• Reimbursement: the money that is paid back
(“Reimbursement” is a useful word to understand in the business world because it can affect a business’s or employee’s decision to pay out money with the faith that the money will be repaid.)
4)Discussion Questions to engage classmates:
• What might be an advantage of an organizational attitude of “catching people doing something right”?Do you think it can have as much (or more) impact as the more common practice of catching people doing something wrong?
• Give an example of how poor customer service made you decide to avoid a business or how good customer service encouraged you to support it. For example, how do you decide which restaurant you might bring close friends or family to, or which barber shop or hairdresser you might go back to?
Article was originally retrieved by Joe Ratermann from