Rationale Our course utilizes five types of needs assessment: initial bio survey, initial writing sample, initial

speaking sample, written portfolio, and audio portfolio. The first three instruments strive to create an individual student profile based on students self-reported needs and wants, writing proficiency in EBP, general speaking proficiency, and other productive skill gaps or lacks. The latter instruments will track ongoing productive skill development based on different EBP subtasks in-line with our task-based approach. As will be seen in the final syllabus, our course aims to present EBP language tools through task-based instruction in as natural a setting as the classroom will allow. Therefore, our ongoing needs assessment tools needed to be flexible enough to compensate for students opinions and desires. The final decision was a two-part portfolio: a traditional written portfolio and a CALL-based audio portfolio. Students will submit their work to either portfolio, and each of those assignments will slowly build up to the final task assignment: a business proposal. The proposal is a fictional, but authentic, recreation of what our students expect to encounter in their real-life EBP environments. Examples might be a request for a bank loan, the organization of an annual meeting, the introduction of a new product line, and so forth. It will be up to our students, in consultation with the teachers, to decide the shape their proposal takes. Our course will also include two midterm conferences with each student to talk about their audio journal entries in order to give critical, individual feedback and allow students to reflect on their speaking ability, progress, and ideas for improvement. Students in our course were placed at this proficiency level based on their IELTS score, however, our needs assessment is designed to work in harmony with our task-based approach. The initial bio survey design was inspired by two research articles, Liu et al (2011) and Reid (1987). The former guided our definitions for necessities, wants, and lacks, as well as the need for establishing clear course objectives. Researchers found that despite course type (EGP or ESP/EAP) students come into a classroom with clear objectives and goals for language learning (Liu et. al. 2011). As such, we wanted to give students the opportunity to voice their opinions on skill types (productive and receptive), metaskill types (presentations, interviews), and business specific skills (emails, conference

calls). Questions were asked using open textbox and ranking so that students could feel free to answer as long and as detailed as they liked but also allow for teacher scaffolding with other questions to help students conceptualize course options. Reids article inspired our questions regarding learner style. although the range of learning styles and preferences is not fully applicable for all students or cultures (other researchers conducting the same survey have found mixed results, see: Hyland 1993, Psaltou-Joycey & Kantaridou 2011), we felt it was important to gauge learning style preferences, even on a small, informal level. The initial writing sample will give us an idea of our students writing ability and will hopefully reveal some of their needs and wants in EBP. Additionally, it will serve as a preview of the assignments to come. Our course will be built on quasi-natural methods to emulate real-world EBP situations. Tarnopolsky introduces 6 characteristics comprising the Quasi-Natural method: (1) Continuous simulation, (2) project work, (3) learners autonomy, (4) introduction of fictitious setting, (5) cooperative or team work, and (6) integrated-skills approach. These characteristics will guide our ongoing assessment. Keeping in mind Nathan Jones recommendation that teachers allow for student autonomy in finding and choosing their own learner style and strategy (Jones 1996), we intend that our ongoing assessment offers us the opportunity, as teachers, to change or alter our assignments to fall in line with our students self-professed learning style and preferred strategies. While we require a portfolio of fifteen assignments, each integrating a new skill, we accept them as either spoken or written and students are encouraged to make these assignments realistic. If, for example, one student writes mainly bank loan requests and budget reports in their job, and another organizes meetings and conferences, the skills they will need to learn will be different, though not mutually exclusive. In our one-on-one meetings with each student, we will be looking at their progress relative to their respective goals and evaluating them based on that. The audio portfolio was incorporated for several reasons. First, international business requires ample amount of technological savvy and we want our students to possess skills in this arena. Research conducted by Jones (1996) showed a resistance to new classroom teaching strategies (including technology use) unless old styles were incorporated with new styles. Therefore we devised the two-part portfolio, imagining our

students have experience with traditional classroom writing samples but would need tutorials and scaffolding in order to use the CALL technology. Screencast was chosen as the main application because it allows students to incorporate pictures, PowerPoint presentations, and other tools. Using the audio portfolio supports two cognitive learning theories: Paivio (1986) Dual-code Processing and Brnken et al (2004) Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. Paivio surmised that a student processing language with support of visual images leaves multiple memory traces and aids in language retrieval. Brnken et al studied audio narration with images to see whether they are processed in two separate parts of the brain and if it leads to cognitive load. The latter study found that, as long as students were not reading a separate text alongside the image and there was no background music, the students were able to recall vocabulary and details of the story better than just audio narration alone (Brnken et al 2004). The audio portfolio will also allow students to self-reflect on their language production. Rod Ellis (2003) states Output provides the learner with auto-inputthat is, learners can attend to the input provided by their own language production. Students can regularly check back to previous audio journal entries as well as the two midterm conferences with the instructor for reflection. We expect that as our task-based course unfolds, our students will run across new areas of weaknesses and needs in the field of EBP. Through our needs assessment tools and midterm conferences we hope to teach a course that responds to our students initial as well as on-going needs and wants. The idea of spiraling (Graves 2000) will be especially important to this course. In our midterm conferences we will be evaluating our students work based on its applicability towards the business proposal, and encouraging them to think of their coursework as part of this larger goal. While the portfolios double as needs assessment tools and as the core assignments, they will also create the material for each students final presentation of their business proposal. Students will decide the topic of their final project based on their EBP needs. The final business proposal and portfolios will be discussed in further detail in our next section on the course syllabus. Works Cited:

Brnken, R., Plass, J.L., & Leuter, D. (2004). Assessment of cognitive load in multimedia learning with dual-task methodology: Auditory load and modality effects. Instructional Science, 32, 115-132.

Ellis, Rod (2005). Principles of instructed language learning. The Asian EFL Journal, v7 issue 3. Jones, Nathan B. (1996). 33p.; Paper presented at the Malaysian International Conference on English Language Teaching (Rasa Sayang, Penang, Malaysia, May 21, 1996): Applying learning styles research to improve writing processes. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from JSTOR.

Graves, K. (2000). Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers (p. 138). Boston, MA: Heinle Cengage Learning. Paivio, A (1986). Mental representations: a dual coding approach. Oxford. England: Oxford University Press. Retrieved February 17, 2012, from JSTOR. Tarnopolsky, Oleg, & Kozhushko, Svitlana (2003). Acquiring business english in a quasi-natural business environment: A Method of teaching business English to students of business and economics. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, v18 n2 p.55-88 2003. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from JSTOR.