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WORKPLACE HAPPINESS AND MOTIVATION

SESSION 7

NOTE TO STUDENTS

Students from the below groups will receive PIN numbers via email weekly to access activities on my iDoceo Connect platform and submit their exercises for correction.

601, 607, 612, 615, 619, 624, 680, 681, 689, 690 and 691

The solutions to exercises in this session will be published when the above groups have submitted them.

DO YOU HAVE A BUSINESS TEAM ALREADY?
START BUILDING UP YOUR COMPANY!!

• Name and activity
• What do you produce/sell?
• Why do you need to hire somebody?

STRUCTURE

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Contents:

1. SITUATIONS AT WORK
1. Phrases and idioms in the professional world
2. What is happening?
2. MOTIVATION AT WORK
3. SPEAKING: Is happines important?
4. SPEAKING: Top 5 factors for happiness at work
5. WATCHING: Motivation at work
3. PRONUNCIATION
6. FALSE FRIENDS: Translating French into English

DRAFT YOUR PROJECT!!

You don't know where to start?
See some mixed-quality 2019-20 sample projects here:

Sample 1 with corrections
Sample 2 - Sample 3
Sample 4 - Sample 5
Sample 6 - Sample 7

I. SITUATIONS AT WORK

Source: freepik.com

A. Useful words and idioms in the professional world.

The words and phrases in bold will be useful to anyone learning English for work. Can you guess what they mean?

1. AT THE LAB

"Ladies and gentlemen, our experiment isn't working, I think we should call it a day."

a. Keep working by night

b. Stop working and go home

c. Name the experiment "A day"

d. Try the experiment again another day

2. AT A JOB INTERVIEW

"We are looking for a proactive laboratory technician for our new branch in Germany."

a. Somebody who can take the initiative

b. Somebody who is super active

c. Somebody who is a pro(fessional) and active

d. Somebody who can make other people be active

3. AT THE ENGINEERING LAB

"Our new device will never work if we keep cutting corners."

a. Making mistakes

b. Making it smaller

c. Making it fast and carelessly

d. Making it round and cornerless

4. AT THE DESIGN ROOM

"The boss said he does not like our project, so we'll have to go back to the drawing board."

a. Draw it again

b. Start from the beginning

c. Draw a board

d. Get somebody else on board

5. TO THE NEW GIRL/GUY IN THE LAB

"Don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us if you have any questions."

a. Stretch out

b. Ask for help

c. Grab by the arm

d. Contact

6. IN A PRESS REVIEW

"As of yet, Pfizer doesn't have any plans to develop a new vaccine."

a. Already

b. It is like this

c. Unfortunately

d. For the moment

7. AT A BOARD MEETING

"We chose to upskill a junior researcher rather than hire someone senior straight away."

a. Train

b. Upgrade

c. Update

d. Fire

8. AT A PRESS CONFERENCE

"Post-Brexit procedures will need to be streamlined. At present too many trucks are getting stuck on borders and drivers are getting angry."

a. Implemented

b. Accelerated

c. Simplified

d. Removed

AT A MEETING

"Changing our strategy will not make a difference now, but we may benefit from positive reviews down the line."

a. When the line graph is lower

b. In the future

c. If the production line is down

d. From other reviews

10. AT A BOARD MEETING

"Our chemical factory will have to be more respectful with the environment going forward."

a. It must change locations

b. From now on

c. Making progress

d. Not going backward

Check answers

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IN-CLASS

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Do this exercise on your own, and then discuss your answers with your nearest classmate.

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DISTANCE LEARNING

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Send your guesses to your teacher, using the dedicated iDoceo Connect platform (only for groups specified above).

REMEMBER!!

The marks obtained in the online exercises will NOT be taken into account for your final mark. So don't be scared to make mistakes and answer all questions even if you're not 100% sure that your answers are correct.

B. What is happening?

Source: slideshare.net

Listen to the following audio files and choose the word or expression that best matches them.

Situation #1

a. Pay rise

b. Promotion

c. Upgrade

d. Upscale

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Situation #2

a. A promotion

b. A long holiday

c. A leave

d. Some funding

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Situation #3

a. The day

b. A team project

c. The calendar

d. The deadline

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Situation #4

a. You have been fired

b. You have been hired

c. Congratulations on your new job at a different company

d. We accept your resignation

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Situation #5

a. Gifts

b. Commodities

c. Incentives

d. Improvements

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Check answers

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IN-CLASS

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Do this exercise on your own, and then discuss your answers with your nearest classmate.

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DISTANCE LEARNING

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Send your guesses to your teacher, using the dedicated iDoceo Connect platform (only for groups specified above).

II. MOTIVATION AT WORK

SPEAKING

1. Generalities

1. In pairs, discuss whether you think happiness at work is important or not. If you think it is, explain why to your partner and give concrete examples to back up your opinion.

2. Personal happiness

Which are for you the top 5 factors that make people happy at work. Discuss with your partner.

IN-CLASS ONLY

Do speaking sections 1 and 2 with your partner. Do you agree with each other?

WATCHING

C. Motivation at work

Watch the video and answer the following questions.

As you will see, the creator of the following video is not an English native speaker. His pronunciation is foreign and he makes language errors both in speaking and writing, but he's proof that communication does not have to be perfect, because we can understand everything he says.

Keep this idea in mind when you have to do presentations in English. No need to be perfect, just deliver a clear message.

Watch the video as many times as you need, then answer the following questions.

1. Complete: “Children possess that natural inner drive. They're (a) ...................., (b) .................... and urge for (c) ....................”

a.
b.
c.

2. True/False: Creative workers produce more when they are rewarded.

True

False

 

3. Answer: What kind of tasks should be rewarded?

a. Basic

b. Complex

4. Choose: Where does this reward theory come from?

a. City life

b. People flocking to cities

c. Higher salaries in cities

d. Heavy industry

5. Explain: The phrase “carrot and stick” means...

a. Threatening workers is a good motivation strategy

b. Rewarding workers is the best strategy

c. If you show something good to workers, they cannot see the punishment

d. Rewarding workers for achievements and punishing them for their errors

6. Choose:This mistaken principle is based on the fact that...

a. workers are greedy

b. workers are disobedient

c. workers are unmotivated

d. bosses are clueless

7. Interpret this expression: “To take the money issue off the table” means to...

a. take your salary home

b. never talk about salary

c. pay a decent salary

d. pay the salary under the table

 

8. Which one? Teams are more motivated if they are represented by...

a. team leaders

b. CEOs

c. managers

d. colleagues

9. Remember: Which companies are mentioned as an example of workplace happiness?

Check answers

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IN-CLASS

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Do this exercise on your own, and then discuss your answers with your nearest classmate.

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DISTANCE LEARNING

---

Send your guesses to your teacher, using the dedicated iDoceo Connect platform (only for groups specified above).

III. PRONUNCIATION

LISTENING AND SPEAKING

D. False friends

If we take into account the abundance of latinates in technical English, we may conclude that being a native speaker of French can be of great help. However, some words have different meanings in English.

Listen to the following short pieces of information in French. What do they refer to? Choose the best English words or expressions.

1.

a. Car situation

b. Car location

c. Car rental

d. Car dealer

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2.

a. Conservatives

b. Preservatives

c. Ingredients

d. Components

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3.

a. Demand

b. Command

c. Order

d. Apply

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4.

a. Conception

b. Disappointment

c. Deception

d. Illusion

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5.

a. Training

b. Upskill

c. Teaching

d. Formation

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6.

a. In the first time

b. In the first place

c. In the first location

d. At the first time

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7.

a. Family affairs

b. Family business

c. Family problems

d. Familiar affairs

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8.

a. Commodity

b. Acomplishment

c. Accommodation

d. Comfort

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9.

a. Committed

b. Engaged

c. Engorged

d. Satisfied

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10.

a. Normally

b. In theory

c. Maybe

d. At present

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Check answers

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IN-CLASS

---

Do this exercise on your own, and then discuss your answers with your nearest classmate.

---

DISTANCE LEARNING

---

Send your guesses to your teacher, using the dedicated iDoceo Connect platform (only for groups specified above).

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