Chapter 2: Personal Management
11 Speaking
Pronunciation
Task 1
Listen to the pronunciation of the words and phrases in the audio for Task 1. Repeat the words and phrases to practise.
| all of a sudden | kiosk | personal management | to address something |
| an accident waiting to happen | maintenance | safety cone | to get in touch with someone |
| can-do attitude | nominate | solution-oriented | to handle something |
| criteria | nomination | submitted | to report something |
| effective | nominator | tile | to retire |
| hard skills | optimistically | to chat | valued |
| incident report | outstanding |
Task 2
Listen to the audio for Task 2. Content words receive more stress or emphasis in a sentence. Pay close attention to the content words in the sentences and how they are stressed. Identify the stressed words as you are listening.
Practise reading along with the audio, stressing the words that the reader stresses.
Excerpt 1:
In order for a company to run smoothly and effectively, all members of the team need to work together, follow their set work schedules, and meet deadlines. Arrive on time for work and after breaks. Check with your supervisor if you need to make a change in your schedule, and ensure that your co-workers are aware of any changes.
Excerpt 2:
Show that you take pride in your job by working with a positive attitude. A positive, can-do attitude shows your employer that you enjoy what you do, and it makes the workplace a more pleasant place to be. Face challenges optimistically and be solution-oriented. Work cooperatively with your co-workers. Positive employees are the kind of employees who employers like to retain.
Speaking practice
Summarizing
Summarizing is restating information in a shorter way that is more to the point and focuses on the key points. It is not retelling the information exactly as you read it or heard it. It is a useful skill to have when you need to share information or describe something you have learned. Summaries can be done orally or in writing. We will look at oral summaries.
Here is an example of a summary of Excerpt 2 from the pronunciation activity. Compare it to Excerpt 2 on the previous page.
Summary of Excerpt 2: Demonstrate a positive attitude
It is important to show a positive attitude at work. Employers like to keep employees who are positive about their work, look for solutions to problems, and work well with others.
Complete the following:
- Read Article Excerpt A or B. If you are working with a classmate, do not share your article. Read your article carefully.
- Identify the main idea and key points in the article.
- Put the article away. Summarize the article for a classmate or your instructor in three to five sentences.
- If you are working with a classmate, your classmate should ask you three questions about what you summarized. Answer the questions.
- Repeat the activity with the other article excerpt.
Article Excerpt A
Keeping your job
The way you approach your work will help you ke