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People at Work

An innovative whole-language program based on recorded interviews with 10 working people.
by: Edgar Sather, Catherine Sadow, and George Draper
Level: Intermediate to advanced, Secondary to Adult

Click here to Read what teachers say about People At Work:   People at Work has ten-units. There are 3 CDs with 3 1/2 hours of listening. The CDs are reasonably priced so that students can afford them. Each unit follows the same format: A. Pre-listening - a brief reading with the working person's photograph, and a vocabulary list. B. First Listening to the taped interview. "Generic" comprehension questions, and a taped idioms exercise. C. Second Listening to the interview. Specific comprehension questions (from the teacher's book) and a reconstruction exercise. D. The Dialogue - a taped dramatization of some significant incident mentioned in the interview. Discussion questions. A taped interactive listening exercise. E. Communicative Activities. Students choose from the following: 1. 5 to 7 projects for out-of-class experiential learning to be done either individually or in small groups and then reported on in class, 2. Readings related to the occupations being explored-they are not simplified. Various activities are suggested using the readings. Who are the people? A bank teller, a shopkeeper, a waiter, an elementary school teacher, a folk singer, a volunteer ombudsman, an industrial engineer, a student dean, a medical intern, and a building contractor. Each individual is successful and a good role model. Each has a compelling story to tell. What is the program's focus? The interviewer brings out more than information about the person's work and workplace. The people discuss issues that are important to them and that will be important to students learning about American culture.

Teachers who are using the program say:
EFL in Russia - Alyson Ewald
"I brought your wonderful People at Work books and tapes to Russia with me. I taught English to Russians who were studying at a teacher-training institute. People was very popular and useful for me, but what surprised me were the numerous letters I've received from other teachers at the institute who've used it after I left. They love it, and it's become the most-used set of tapes with the second-year students. Thank you."

Adult Ed. in Newton, Mass. - Faye Stylianopoulos
"Where can Iranian dentists, Guatemalan cleaning ladies, Taiwanese computer scientists, European au pairs, and Brazilian doctors become life-long friends? In my adult ed. ESL classroom, of course, and People at Work deserves much of the credit for this. Working in groups across ethnic and class lines, students have learned important new vocabulary and enjoyed the challenge of the clever interactive listening exercises. We videotape group presentations of the communicative activities found at the end of each People at Work lesson, thus allowing students to monitor their speaking progress."

Georgetown University, d.c. - Virginia Lezhnev
"People at Work has really worked for me. This text keeps the students interested and involved while giving them a solid foundation in understanding and using conversational English. A real plus is the list of out-of-class projects at the end of each unit. Introduce your students to People at Work, and they'll make all kinds of new friends-both in the book and in the real world.

University of Washington, Seattle - Kim Newcomer
"Finally, a good listening text with affordable student tapes! People at Work offers believable interviews and dialogues from an interesting array of people and professions. The material is long and complex enough to be challenging for more advanced students, while still being manageable for intermediate students. Best of all are the projects, which help get all types of learners out of the classroom and into the community."