Quick Guide
- Keywords: Tourism officer, communication skills
- Learner English Level: Beginner/elementary
- Learner Maturity Level: Elementary
- Preparation Time: 10 minutes
- Activity Time: 60-90 minutes
- Materials: Tablet computer, a box and some slips of paper, worksheets and rating sheet (see Appendices).
Japan is blessed with beautiful destinations, interesting festivals, and unique cuisines that attract tourists. Promoting Japan’s tourism industry can be an excellent springboard for English language learning. This activity asks students to act as tourism officers who will introduce a Japanese prefecture following specific criteria. Then, students will test their ability to judge each other based on these criteria.
Preparation
Step 1: On separate pieces of paper, write the names of each Japanese prefecture. Fold each piece up and place in a box to draw lots during the activity.
Step 2: Prepare Worksheet A (Appendix A) with the target language and Worksheet B (Appendix B) to be filled out after every group presentation of five members.
Step 3: Make a Rating Sheet to be used by the students to judge each presenter (Appendix C).
Step 4: Create a set of presentation slide templates (Appendix D) for students to use on their tablet computers.
Procedure
Step 1: Let students warm up by talking in pairs about Japan’s famous places, special delicacies, distinct events, and cultural celebrations. Let volunteers share their answers.
Step 2: Introduce the day’s lesson and emphasize that each student will act as the tourism officer of a prefecture. Have students select their prefecture by drawing a piece of paper from the box.
Step 3: Distribute Worksheet A and check understanding of the target language. Direct students to search online about famous beauty spots, food specialties, and festivities of their assigned prefecture and use the information to complete the worksheet. Remind them about writing mechanics, namely: capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
Step 4: After Worksheet A has been completed, let the students copy their answers onto the presentation slide templates provided on their tablet computers. Tell them to attach images found online into these templates.
Step 5: Explain important points when making presentations, such as speaking clearly and using hand gestures.
Step 6: Distribute the Rating Sheet and explain the criteria for rating.
Step 7: Allow students three to five minutes for individual and pair practice.
Step 8: Divide the class into groups of five.
Step 9: Ask Group 1 to present first. Ask the listeners to rate each presenter. Encourage them to write some remarks and choose one best presenter from the same group.
Step 10: After all members of Group 1 have presented, give the listeners time to fill out the first template on Worksheet B. Stress that answers must come from the presentations made by Group 1 members.
Step 11: After two minutes, let the listeners respond by asking where they want to go and why, as reflected on the first template of Worksheet B.
Step 12: Repeat steps 8 to 10 for the succeeding groups.
Step 13: Elicit feedback from the students focusing on the good points. Make a general summary of the presentation and provide suggestions on areas that need improvement.
Conclusion
Acting as tourism officers has multiple benefits for students. Not only does it increase their speaking skills and creativity, but also their knowledge of informative presentations. In addition, they will improve their research skills by using the internet and hone their objectivity by rating each other’s presentations. Finally, students can become more interested in their country by learning about different prefectures.
Appendices
The appendices are available below:
