Introductory lesson to listening for key information during guest check-in

Aim: What do we need to listen for when a guest checks in?

Objective: SWBAT pay special attention to industry-specific vocabulary and decide what
information is vital (in the target language) to carry out a successful check-in transaction.

Language: English

Pragmatics: As seen in the clip from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, giving advice is very culture
specific. We see the front desk attendant (Mila Kunis character) rescue the guest (Jason Segel)
from an embarrassing social encounter. For many reasons, guests may be nervous or distressed
when checking into a hotel. By being attentive and listening to what the guest is willing to
divulge about their situation, a staff member can respond by being hospitable and comforting.

Procedures:
1. Discuss the check-in procedure required of the front-desk staff at students past
workplaces. Then, have the class call out what information is needed to pull up a pre-
booked reservation. Write this on the board. What about for a guest with no reservation?
2. Watch movie and TV show clips of individuals checking into a hotel. Listen for
keywords and pieces of information to successfully fill out a reservation form. (
Assessment: After completing the worksheet, the class will share their answers and state
whether they agree or disagree the presented answer. They must elaborate on their position and
refer back to dialogue.

Debriefing Statement: The check-in procedure can be very simple, such as when a guest has
already pre-booked their stay and only need to provide their name to complete the transaction.
But this is not always the case as we saw in the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas clip. Although
an ambiguous guest may not always be as extremely vague as Johnny Depps character, Raoul
Duke, there will be guests who will offer an excess of information that could convolute the
information needed to process the check-in. By sharpening our listening ability for particular
English words and becoming familiar with hotel vocabulary, we can avoid confusion and
misunderstanding and move towards a successful completion of the task.

Materials:
-Model hotel reservation form-print out of screenshot from an online form to be filled in by hand.
-Ugly Betty Checks In; Home Alone 2 (25:55-28:16); Forgetting Sarah Marshall (15:20-16:43);
Fear and Loathing Check-In*(for segueing into next lesson on speaking/asking probing questions
during check-in)



Developmental lesson following up to a speaking lesson for check-in task

Aim: How do we execute a successful check-out transaction and welcome guests to return?

Objective: SWBAT appropriately decide upon tones, speech registers, and choice of words to
use in varying guest situations.

Language: English

Pragmatics: Recognizing when and what types of information should be spoken quietly to
guests who value privacy.

Procedures:
1. First, talk about what greetings and questions are used when a guest approaches the front
desk to check out. What are the responsibilities involved (e.g. printing the bill, processing
deposit refund, arranging transportation, etc)? Call on students for answers.
2. Have students form equally divided groups to talk about their worst customer
experiences. After about five minutes of discussion, reconvene as a whole class and share
one story that each group found most interesting.
3. Watch check-out scene from Rat Race. Share thoughts on the scene. Split into groups
with different partners than from before and have students reconstruct the scene with how
they wouldve addressed the situation. How would their dialogues be different or similar
than from the clip? Have each group reenact their work.
4. While students reenact, pull out vocabulary words form their dialogue that set the tone of
the interaction and list them on the board. Go over the words.
Assessment: By demonstrating ability to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate
speech for the scenario (Rat Race) provided, it can be determined whether or not the lesson
objective has been reached.

Debriefing Statement: Checking out is the last interaction guests have with hotel staff after
completing their stay. This last impression is just as important as the first. It can often involve
more than collecting the room key. No matter the situation, using the appropriate language and
tone can help complete the task as efficiently as possible.

Materials: Rat Race Check Out Scene
Introductory lesson to writing descriptions and travel directions to offsite attractions or other
local points of interest recommended to guests by concierge.

Aim: How can we give clear and concise directions to help guests reach their desired
destinations?

Objective: SWBAT use proper vocabulary and written language structure knowledge so that
they can provide helpful written notes to assist guest using concierge services.

Language: English

Pragmatics: In academic language-learning settings, learners are used to writing in formal
registers and paying close attention to mechanical aspects. In this lesson, they will be able to
practice how to casually jot down notes for guests and possibly use abbreviations in the "giving
directions" exercise.

Procedures:
1. Define concierge services. Students should name things like booking a restaurant
reservation, procuring tickets to a theater show, arranging for local transportation,
recommending a tourist attraction, etc...
2. Hand out a reading excerpt from a David Sedaris's When You Are Engulfed in Flames.
Have students try to underline adjectives and words that help them visualize the setting.
Teacher will have a preselected set of words to review with students.
3. Lecture on what makes a good description of a place, person, or even an object.
4. Have students think of their favorite place to visit during free time. Then, they will
describe this place in detailed writing and create a basic set of directions on how to get
there from home, work, or any starting point of their choice.
5. Come together to share.
Assessment: After the last activity, see if students can understand each other's travel directions
to their favorite places. Descriptions and lists should contain simple language that is informative
and clear enough to be understood by individuals (guests) even with basic English proficiency.
Ask for verifying information about one student's set of directions to another student and see if
they can answer correctly.

Debriefing Statement: Descriptions are used in everyday conversation. We use an extensive
variety of adjectives to verbally portray visuals. When managing concierge services, this is
especially important because hotel guests count on the staff to guide them to unfamiliar places.
Being able to jot down a set of descriptions and directions will help them reach their destinations
as quickly and conveniently as possible, contributing to an overall positive stay experience.

Materials: Handout with excerpt from When You Are Engulfed in Flames, pages 164-165
describing the author's new apartment building and neighborhood.
Introductory lesson to reading comprehension of cancellation policies.

Aim: How do we handle the canceling a reservation while enforcing a policy?

Objective: SWBAT understand technical language found in cancellation policies and be able to
refer to appropriate policy terms in different situations.

Language: English

Pragmatics: Along with understanding the content in policies, students will also be able to hear
the type of voice and tone technical text conveys.

Procedures:
1. Define the purpose of a cancellation policy and how they may differ per venue. Talk
about the language structure used in writing these policies. Ask students to demonstrate
their understanding of a cancellation policy.
2. Group students together and have them create terms for a cancellation policy that they
deem is fair for both the hotel's business and guests. Have students write their policies on
the board. Include details such as cancellation fee amount, advanced-notice time,
excusable reasons for cancelling (e.g. delayed flights, medical reasons, natural disaster,
etc...)
3. Play a series of audio dialogue of guests calling in to cancel their reservations. Provide
details of time frame before reservation, reason for canceling, and other booking details.
Using the policies on the board call out which policy would be most beneficial to the
guest for each scenario and explain why.
Assessment: Through hearing students' reasoning for why they made the matching choices they
did in last activity, it will show whether or not they are interpreting and referencing the reading
material (cancellation policies) correctly. This will also show which areas of language need to be
addressed further in curriculum instruction.

Debriefing Statement: Being able to read and understand technical terms and phrasing such as
that seen in cancellation policies is important because this type of language exists in rules and
regulations in many other facilities outside of hotels as well. We also use reading sources as
references to determine how we should deal with certain situations when we're in doubt. We can
better navigate these sources of rules and knowledge if we can apply them to real-life scenarios,
such as in the activities we did today.

Materials:
-Audio samples with diversified dialogue of imaginary hotel guests canceling their reservations
-Sample cancellation policies
Resource List

Listening lesson links:

Ugly Betty Checks In
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn_jwn7ECOg

Home Alone 2 (25:55-28:16)
http://megashare.sh/watch-home-alone-2-lost-in-new-york-online-T1RNeg

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (15:20-16:43)
http://megashare.sh/watch-forgetting-sarah-marshall-online-T1RnNA

Fear and Loathing Check-In
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOmtVFQ3WF8

Additional listening sources from Table of Specifications:

Funny Ad - Couple try to check into Hotel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-lPb_RNiEM

A room with a view - Fawlty Towers - BBC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcliR8kAbzc

"Irate Caller" audio clip (accessed through paid subscription; transcript of audio provided for
reference), and cloze exercise worksheet.


Speaking lesson links:

Rat Race Check Out Scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9MdnktZlg4


Reading lesson links:

Sample dialogues of canceling a reservation (Ss will listen and make reference from reading)
http://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/hotel/hotel21.htm

*All other handouts and worksheets are attached behind corresponding lesson plan.