1. Using Case stUdies
in teaChing engish
By Daniela Munca, PhD
For the ETRC Fall School,
November 2010

6. • unique, powerful and immediate resource
for teachers and students of Business
Studies
• constructed around a key element of the
business studies curriculum.
• uses real information from the sponsoring
companies
• helps students engage and learn

7. • lesson plans and worksheets
• Learning PowerPoint summaries of the
studies
• MP3 podcasts of the studies
• quizzes, crosswords and word searches
to make learning fun

8. The Times 100 is useful
because:
• It is produced by and with teachers to ensure it
is focused on the Business Studies curriculum
• the companies who take part understand the
value to students of real examples of business
practice
• the material is presented in different formats
designed to enable all students to make best
use of the material - from the printed page, to
pdf downloads, to the new MP3 podcasts.

9. For students
• revision quizzes,
• topical news alerts based on companies
making business headlines,
• background information on the companies
who are participating,
• and a glossary of business terms.

12. Team Work
• Team 1: How many types of essays do you know?
Name several types and give short examples.
• Team 2: How should a student plan writing an essay:
what should he / she start with, what steps should be
taken before the essay is laid on the paper, etc?
• Team 3: What is a paragraph? How many sentences
are there in a paragraph? How should the sentences be
structured?
• Team 4: How do you define a “thesis statement”? How
should a student formulate a thesis statement?
• Team 5: How does a good essay start? What would
make a strong introduction? How long should the
introductory paragraph be?
• Team 6: If you could draw a graph of an essay structure
– what would it look like? Think of a metaphor or a
symbol which would be easy for your students to
understand and memorize.

13. Sample Essay
Some people believe that
technology will replace
teachers in the future; others
argue that regular classes are
still the best method to teach

14. • Some people strongly believe that technology will replace teachers in future.
Technology by itself it’s[T1] a huge sphere that develops [T2] worldwide with[T3] the
highest speed. In many spheres of our everyday life technology has replaced the
humans.
• It goes without saying that technology has reached the top spot of the educational
system. Many teachers assess their students using various online test sites. A lot of
teachers use Internet as the main resource of inspiration. It was possible nowadays
[T4] to use audio, video, online tools, smart boards in their classes, that was [T5]
practically impossible to do 50 years ago[T6] .
• The progress is moving forward, but we still need somebody’s helping hand. As for
example, let’s take well[T7] known TOEFL exam preparation. The entire Internet is full
of different books and self guides of acquiring the TOEFL basics, but still many people
prefer regular classes. [T8] First of all, teacher[T9] is a person who can
psychologically influence a student, rising interest in him or completely make[T10] him
hate the subject. A teacher is a kind of God who slowly[T11] step by step[T12] leads
you to the top of knowledge. A teacher is a person of soul and flesh. If you remember
the film “Artificial Mind” when there was created a robot -boy who could feel as a
human being and at the end all the people died because of flood[T13] only he
survived and during the whole film the boy wanted to become a real boy. [T14]
Through this example we can conclude that even the artificial mind tends[T15] to
become a human being. Why do we tend to opposite[T16] ?
• In conclusion I’d like to say [T17] that hi-technologies are very useful and helpful in
teaching. That[T18] makes the teachers’ [T19] assessment much easier and more
exact also[T20] technologies make our boring classes more interactive, funny[T21]
and create cosier[T22] atmosphere helping students learn boring grammar through
online games. But the biggest disadvantage of no teacher participation for sure will
lead us to mental breakdown. We are humans[T23] we are not machines thus[T24]
we need human attention.

17. • Some people strongly believe that
technology will replace teachers
in future. Technology by itself it’s
[T1] a huge sphere that develops
[T2] worldwide with[T3] the
highest speed. In many spheres
of our everyday life technology
has replaced the humans.

18. • It goes without saying that technology
has reached the top spot of the
educational system. Many teachers
assess their students using various
online test sites. A lot of teachers use
Internet as the main resource of
inspiration. It was possible nowadays
[T4] to use audio, video, online tools,
smart boards in their classes, that
was [T5] practically impossible to do
50 years ago[T6] .

19. • The progress is moving forward, but we still need
somebody’s helping hand. As for example, let’s take well
[T7] known TOEFL exam preparation. The entire
Internet is full of different books and self guides of
acquiring the TOEFL basics, but still many people prefer
regular classes. [T8] First of all, teacher[T9] is a person
who can psychologically influence a student, rising
interest in him or completely make[T10] him hate the
subject. A teacher is a kind of God who slowly[T11] step
by step[T12] leads you to the top of knowledge. A
teacher is a person of soul and flesh. If you remember
the film “Artificial Mind” when there was created a robot
-boy who could feel as a human being and at the end all
the people died because of flood[T13] only he survived
and during the whole film the boy wanted to become a
real boy. [T14] Through this example we can conclude
that even the artificial mind tends[T15] to become a
human being. Why do we tend to opposite[T16] ?

20. • In conclusion I’d like to say [T17] that hi-
technologies are very useful and helpful in
teaching. That[T18] makes the teachers’
[T19] assessment much easier and more
exact also[T20] technologies make our
boring classes more interactive,
funny[T21] and create cosier[T22]
atmosphere helping students learn boring
grammar through online games. But the
biggest disadvantage of no teacher
participation for sure will lead us to mental
breakdown. We are humans[T23] we are
not machines thus[T24] we need human
attention.

21. State your opinion clearly in the
introduction: answer the main question
• Some people strongly believe that technology
will replace teachers in future. Technology by
itself it’s a huge sphere that develops
worldwide with the highest speed. In many
spheres of our everyday life technology has
replaced the humans.
• For example: I believe that despite this,
human influence on students can not be
replaced by a machine.

22. Structure your essay in a clear way and then, in
conclusion, simply summarize your main
ideas.
• Paragraph 1: Internet is a helping tool for
the teachers.
• Paragraph 2: Technology can not
replace the human approach.
• For example: Conclusion: Even
though the Internet is an important
resource for teachers, it can not have
the same effect on the students as
teachers.

23. To avoid repetition, build each
paragraph in a simple way.
It goes without saying that technology has
reached the top spot of the educational
system. Many teachers assess their
students using various online test sites.
A lot of teachers use Internet as the main
resource of inspiration. It was possible
nowadays to use audio, video, online
tools, smart boards in their classes, that
was practically impossible to do 50 years
ago.

24. It goes without saying that technology plays a crucial role
in today’s educational system. Teachers use online
resources to (1) test their students, (2) find ideas for their
lesson plans, (3) facilitate teaching and (4) develop
professionally. (This is the list of arguments. Next,
support each argument) (1)Online tests and quizzes
are very popular with students who like to spend their
time in front of the computer, rather than writing in their
notebooks. (2)For busy teachers, there are thousands of
websites with ready-made lesson plans and
photocopiable resources. (3)Using video and audio
materials would definitely make your classes more
enjoyable for your students. (4)Finally, if you want to
learn more teaching methodology, then the Internet has
a wide spectrum of resources for professional
development. All these arguments prove that technology,
especially the Internet, has already earned its place
among teacher’s best helpers.

25. Each paragraph could have the
following structure:
• Thesis 1 (technology plays a crucial role in today’s educational
system)
• Arguments (online resources to (1) test their students, (2) find
ideas for their lesson plans, (3) facilitate teaching and (4)
develop professionally)
• Supporting information ((1)Online tests and quizzes are very
popular with students who like to spend their time in front of
the computer, rather than writing in their notebooks. (2)For
busy teachers, there are thousands of websites with ready-
made lesson plans and photocopiable resources. (3)Using
video and audio materials would definitely make your classes
more enjoyable for your students. (4)Finally, if you want to
learn more teaching methodology, then the Internet has a wide
spectrum of resources for professional development.)
• Conclusion (All these arguments prove that technology,
especially the Internet, has already earned its place among
teacher’s best helpers.)

26. • Thesis (A teacher is a person who can
psychologically influence a student, rising interest in
him or completely make him hate the subject)
• Arguments ( (1) Some students still prefer regular
classes rather than study independently from books.
(2)A teacher is a kind of God who leads his students
to knowledge, (3) is a person of flesh and soul, no
machines can do that. )
• Supporting information ( (1) TOEFL can be more
effective or time efficient when studying with a tutor
than when studying on your own. (2) In “Artificial
Mind” a robot was trying to become a real human
being)
• Conclusion (Why should we use technology to
replace real teachers, who have such a huge positive
impact on their students?)

27. Do not introduce new ideas in
conclusion!!!
In conclusion I’d like to say that hi-technologies are
very useful and helpful in teaching. That
makes the teachers’ assessment much easier
and more exact also technologies make our
boring classes more interactive, funny and
create cosier atmosphere helping students
learn boring grammar through online games.
But the biggest disadvantage of no teacher
participation for sure will lead us to mental
breakdown. We are humans we are not
machines thus we need human attention.

28. • You didn’t talk about technology making
classes fun in the body, so try to avoid this
new idea in the conclusion.
• Your last paragraph should summarize all
the thesis topics in the body and it should
also answer the main question: “ Some
people believe that technology will replace
teachers in the future; others argue that
regular classes are still the best method to
teach.”
• Thesis 1 (Technology plays a crucial role in
today’s educational system)
• Thesis 2 (A teacher is a person who can
psychologically influence a student, rising
interest in him or completely make him hate
the subject)

29. (improved conclusion)
• In conclusion I could claim that hi-technologies
are very useful and helpful in teaching, and
therefore play a very important role in modern
education (summary of Thesis 1). However,
the biggest disadvantage of technology is that it
does not have a human touch, which is so
important for the psychological well being of
students. (summary of thesis 2) Therefore,
technology will never efficiently replace
teachers. (your last answer)

30. Basic Rules:
• State your opinion clearly in the introduction.
• Structure your essay in a clear way and then, in
conclusion, simply summarize your main ideas.
• To avoid repetition, build each paragraph in a
simple way.
• Thesis
• Arguments
• Supporting information for each argument
(examples, statistics, famous people, case studies,
news, proverbs, your personal experience, etc)
• Conclusion
• Do not introduce new ideas in conclusion!!!
• The conclusion could have the following structure:
• Summary of thesis 1
• Summary of thesis 2
• Your conclusion / deliberation / advice / motto /
quote / forecast, etc