ESOL Customer Service Training Curriculum - Department of Labor

451 Pages·2008·2.55 MB·English

ESOL
English for Speakers of Other Languages

Customer
Service
Training

Curriculum

Teacher Guide & Student Book

MontgomeryWorks
Sales & Service Learning Center
11160 Veirs Mill Road, Suite LLH-7
Wheaton, Maryland 20902
240-403-3600

A Montgomery College Partnership Project
2007
ESOL
Customer
Service
Training
This project was developed through funding from the US
Department of Education, Montgomery
College, and MontgomeryWorks. It was also funded in
part by Abt Associates Inc., under their Adult Education
Coordination and Planning Project that was funded by the
U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and
Adult Education.
Background and Acknowledgments

In Montgomery County, Maryland, sales and service is a high-growth industry that
employs a diverse workforce, including many immigrants. In response to this growth
trend in the county, the MontgomeryWorks Sales & Service Learning Center (SSLC) in
Wheaton, Maryland, working in partnership with Montgomery College, offered its first
Customer Service & Retail Sales ESOL course in 2005. Funding through the national
Adult Education Coordination and Planning (AECAP) project and the US Dept. of
Education provided resources to develop this partnership and explore strategies to
recruit, train, and connect participants with opportunities for employment.

During 2005-2007, the course and curriculum changed and evolved significantly to
meet the needs of students and instructors. The first curriculum to be utilized in the
course, the Equipped for the Future (EFF) Retail Sales Curriculum, was designed for
learners of English as a second language. While this curriculum was strong in customer
service skill content, students and instructors expressed a need for additional content
that met learners’ needs as language learners and job seekers. In response, instructors
began to change the structure and content of the course, creating and sharing additional
materials as the need arose.

The current course is the product of many people. Funding for the writing of the
curriculum was provided through the AECAP project, Montgomery College and
MontgomeryWorks. The former and current Directors of the SSLC, Rebecca Werley and
Mary Ngo, worked with Donna Kinerney, Ph.D., Instructional Dean, and Emma Wilson,
Program Administrator, of the Adult ESOL and Literacy-GED Program of
Montgomery College, to develop and sustain the innovative partnership that made this
course possible. The project also benefited from the support and expertise of Helen
Coupe, Workplace Specialist, and Karen Gianninoto, ESL Specialist and Program
Manager, of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

There is no single author of this curriculum. The basis for much of the customer service
skill content remains the EFF Retail Sales Curriculum. A significant revision of the
curriculum was made by instructor Keira Ballantyne in 2006, and much of her original
work appears here. Instructors Nicole Ring and Anna DeSimon contributed
significantly to the curriculum, in terms of activity design, pilot testing, and
consultation. Amber Gallup, the first instructor for the program, wrote this Instructor
Guide and Student Book, compiled and edited the instructional material, and wrote
many of the activities as well. Finally, much content from the Crisp Learning Series’
Retailing Smarts Workbooks appears in this curriculum by permission of the National
Retail Federation.

Thanks are due also to Judith Alamprese, Principal Associate of Abt Associates, for her
support and knowledgeable guidance of this project through the Adult Education
Coordination and Planning project.
Curriculum Overview
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Grammar & Pronunciation Skills • Use the modal construction would like to to indicate a wish. • Use an adverbial clause becausebeginning with to indicatreason. • Identify syllables and produce stresf multi-syllabic words. o •schwa Produce the sound. •would Use the modal construction like to to inquire about and state wishes. • Use an adverbial clause beginning becausewith to indicate reason. • Pronounce word-final [ng] clearly. • Articulate word endings to enhance comprehensibility. • Produce question intonation. • Produce stress of multi-syllabic words.
Training Curriculum Overview Job Readiness Skills • Listen to the goals and life plan of another person. • Write personal goals and personal dreams. • Plan to accomplish a personal goal. •. Identify customer service jobs • Identify and write own current job skills. • Identify at least 3 personal employment references.
ESOL Customer Service Customer Service Skills Identify main customer rvice/retails sales responsibilities and bs. Tell others about past customer rvice work and preferences. Describe and model a customer rvice attitude. List key components of greeting the stomer. Practice greeting the customer. Greet the customer. Role play: Greet the customer Use appropriate terms of address & titles. Determine customer needs. Ask general open-ended questions.
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Job Readiness Skills • List one’s ideal jobs. • List one’s goals for the future. •Introduction to the reference list • Role play: Ask someone for permission to use them as a job reference. • Introduction to the SSLC comput lab. • Begin to type the reference list.
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Customer Service Skills Express opinions and make ggestions in a workplace context. Observe the customer. Role Play: Observe The Customer Ask specific open-ended questions. Assign Mystery Shopper homework Fit the product to the customer. Talk about size. Listen actively to the customer. Read and summarize an article abou tening actively. Identify features and benefits. Describe products. Read and write an advertisement.
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Job Readiness Skills • Give constructive feedback to others. • Learn about interviews in the United States. • Role Play: Practice the handshake. REVIEW AND ASSESSMEDAY • Build interview skills. ( Sometime this unit: Take a tour the MontgomeryWorks One Stop)
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Customer Service Skill Present an advertisement. Identify features and benefits. Learn about the products you sell. Read a product label. Role play: Talking about size, atures, and benefits. Describe features. Compare products. Express preferences. Make suggestions. REVIEW AND ASSESSMENDAY Dress for success Offer choices
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Grammar & Pronunciation Skills • Use polite expressions. • Use comparatives and superlatives. • Use an adverbial clause becausebeginning with to indicat reason. • Articulate word endings to enhance comprehensibility. • Use polite expressions. • Identify focus words. • Identify thought groups and pause between them. • Demonstrate control of polite expressions. • Use simple expressions for offering suggestions and giving advice. • Demonstrate interrupting and turn-taking skills.
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Customer Service Skills • Learn about malls. • Identify types of retail stores and departments. • Identify the benefits of working in retail sales • Direct a customer to a department. • Find information in a retail sales environment. • Identify retail departments. • Suggest alternatives. • Identify characteristics of an invitinstore. • Make suggestions and recommendations. • Know when to refer a customer elsewhere. • Role play: Offer Alternatives • Promote safety on the job

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Grammar & Pronunciation Skills • Spell names clearly. • Ask for repetition and clarification. • Produce proper sentence and question intonation. • Use polite expressions. • Use idiomatic expressions. • Pronounce telephone numbers usinhunking, intonation, and pauses. c • Use polite expressions. • Use idiomatic expressions. • Interrupt someone politely. • Ask for repetition. • Ask for clarification with wh-question words. • Link words together. • Use polite expressions. • Use idiomatic expressions.
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Customer Service Skills • Identify workplace telephone skills and tasks. • Answer the telephone. • Transfer a call. • End a telephone call. • Use appropriate telephone terminology. • Leave a message. • Take a message. • Use appropriate telephone terminology. • Serve two customers at once. • Provide balanced service. • Role play: Serve two customers at once.• Give location information and directions ver the phone. o • Create a resource list. • Give product and store information over the phone. • End a telephone call. • Role Play: Telephone Skills & Ending the Call

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