Feature Article

Take a Detour out of the Text into
Context

Caroline Bertorelli
Department of International Tourism Studies
Toyo University
Finding motivating, relevant materials and activities to engage university students is achallenge for any subject. Not all students are motivated to focus effort into furthering
their knowledge and skills to achieve the goals of a class or for self-development or future
career goals despite their choice of major. In this paper, practical suggestions are offeredregarding development of class and homework activities to address these issues, using theexample of a compulsory English class for students majoring in tourism. The activities are
based on original ideas developed and adapted from material presented in the textbook
Oxford English for Careers Tourism 1, an ESP text designed for English learners specializing
in tourism. How to prepare the students for the activities including materials or equipment
required, language activities to focus on and practice, and guidance on scheduling are
outlined. Although the activities are based around the theme of tourism, the basic conceptof lifting themes from a text and making them relevant to students’ learning motivations byconnecting to authentic experiences can be adapted and transferred to other subject areas.

Most Japanese universities have compulsory English classes for first- and secondyear students regardless of the major. Kubo (1997) reported that motivation in
Japanese university students studying English is enhanced by a sense of fulfillment
during training, and self-esteem garnered from reward. Irie (2003) suggests thatJapanese university students have a positive attitude to studying English forexams and career, instrumental orientation, as well as interaction with speakers of
the target language, which appear to be typical attributes of university students
in Asia in general compared with the rest of the world. In a survey of science
majors at a Japanese university, Kaneko (2012) found that exposure to relevant
101Bertorellirole models improved motivation to study English.
In my experience of teaching compulsory English classes for first- andsecond-year students in the Department of International Tourism, many firstyear students tend to display fairly high motivation, which for some drops off
by the second year. This presents a particular challenge for English instructors
to facilitate students’ accomplishment of the objectives of such courses. One
solution is to adapt material to be sufficiently goal-oriented while at the sametime providing an authentic communicative experience.
The compulsory English classes in the Department of International
Tourism to date have been streamed according to TOEIC scores. For the 20152016 academic year, a colleague and I were responsible for all the second-year
compulsory English classes, six classes in total with give or take 40 students ineach class (around 240 students in total). I was responsible for the class with thehighest-level TOEIC scores (555-950), the class with the lowest-level TOEIC
scores (150-350), and one of the middle range TOEIC score classes (445-490).
The wide range in the highest-level class reflects the fewer number of students
at the upper TOEIC level (for example, only one student with a TOEIC scoreabove 900, two within 801-900, and four within 701-800). While my colleague
and I used the same textbook, we determined organization, teaching, andassessment for the classes individually. The content in this paper refers specificallyto what I carried out in my classes. The instructions to the students in my classes
for all activities and tasks were the same for all the three levels, mainly owing totime constraints but also to ensure all students were clearly informed regardlessof their level.
To address the issue of motivation regarding these compulsory English
classes, a series of activities was devised based on and inspired by the main text
used, Oxford English for Careers Tourism I (Walker & Harding, 2006), to engage
the students and help them understand the relevance of what they were studying
in English classes to other areas of their tourism studies. Some of these activities
are highlighted below with suggestions on how to plan and execute them.

102

Take a Detour out of the Text into Context, OnCUE Journal, 10(2), pages 101-113

Background

Basturkmen (2010) stated that context is the essential element for any
ESP program. Moreover, students actively participating with each other incommunicative activities, namely, peer interaction, promote language learning
on a number of different levels including motivation and language acquisition(Philp, Adams, and Iwashita, 2014). Therefore, there is strong pedagogicalsupport for providing meaningful context and meaningful interaction topromote and motivate language acquisition among students.
The main theoretical basis supporting the promotion of the activities
outlined in this paper derives from a combination of motivation and task-basedlearning: essentially motivation through tasks and tasks engendering motivation.
Research on motivation and tasks or task-based learning appears to bear this out,
namely, that they are co-dependent on each other (Dörnyei & Tseng, 2009).
Extensive research has been carried out on motivation, commonly considered
one of the main determinants underpinning achievement in acquisition of asecond or foreign language. Dörnyei (1994) divides learner motivation into 3
components: (1) the language level, concerned with the learner language level;(2) the learner level, concerned with learner attitude such as personal motivation,
which includes self-confidence and personal goals; and (3) the learner situationlevel, concerned with the learning context. Motivation can be harnessed using
tasks. However, while tasks in themselves may stimulate motivation, it may be
the result rather of doing something different to break the monotony of learningfrom a text rather than owing to a specific task (Dörnyei, 2001).
One of the above three motivational components of Dörnyei (1994) relevantto the focus of this paper is the learning situation level. In this level, he expands
on how best to execute task-based learning with specific components led by the
instructor, which he calls “teacher-specific motivational components” (p. 277).
These components include three action steps on the part of the teacher, namely:(1) modeling; (2) presenting the task; and (3) feedback (p. 279). The framework
for the activities outlined is adapted from these three steps into 5 key stages: (1)using the textbook as an introduction to the task (“Text”); (2) preparation ordemonstration of the task using a template or scaffold, equivalent to Dörnyei’s103Bertorelli

modeling step (“Demonstration / Template”); (3) execution of the task by thestudents (“Task”); (4) a post-task activity (“Post-task activity”); and finally (5) afeedback activity, equivalent to Dörnyei’s feedback step (“Feedback”).
Dörnyei and Tseng (2009) provide a schematic representation for task
motivation incorporating: the task execution (the engagement of the learner inundertaking the task with explicit instructions from the teacher); task appraisal(the learners processing of input and output arising from stimuli deriving fromthe task); and action control (the learners applying the language learned bydoing the task). This construct is especially applicable to language learning tasks
involving communication such as role plays. The successful outcome of a task issuggested to be the result of a balanced interplay among the three elements.
In relation to task-based language learning, Nunan (2004) sets out sevenprinciples: (1) scaffolding, meaning clear provision and instruction of the tasks;(2) task dependency, meaning a framework of language tasks that can build oneach other; (3) recycling, using the same language repetitively in different tasks;(4) active learning, meaning that the students use the language learned; (5)integration, meaning that learners can make a connection between the language
they are learning and the learning context; (6) reproduction to creation, meaninglearners can adapt their learning to a new situation indicating mastery of thelanguage; and (7) reflection, whereby learners pause and consider what they havemastered.
Long (2015) also emphasizes that tasks should be clearly relevant to thecommunicative needs of the learner, be motivating, and incorporate samples as
close as possible to authentic language. This will ensure the tasks are dynamic
rather than static as in many texts. There are other benefits to using tasks apartfrom motivation in that task-based learning appears to promote retention of
language and vocabulary (Ajideh et al., 2013).
In summary, activities in context are a useful tool to promote motivation andlanguage acquisition in the language classroom. Focusing on the specific content
area of a class can help identify the appropriate context, which can then be used
to develop materials to engage students. For the best outcome, it is importantto provide clear instructions and clear materials, models, and examples that can104

Take a Detour out of the Text into Context, OnCUE Journal, 10(2), pages 101-113

be used for scaffolding. Moreover, developing a series of activities that build on
language from the previous activity can enhance learning and acquisition by
providing valuable recycling of language. Finally, a variety of communicative
speaking activities among students not only promotes learning but is fun andmotivating for the students, too. These findings were incorporated into a 5-stepframework as mentioned above for developing a range of activities to take adetour out of the text and into context for an ESP text to both complement andsupplement the text’s content with the aim of increasing student motivation andengagement in the class both inside and outside the classroom.

Activities

The textbook was the springboard for the ideas for the activities included here.
The text is divided into 12 units comprising various aspects of tourism and thetourism industry as follows: (1) What is tourism?, (2) World destinations, (3)Tour operators, (4) Tourist motivations, (5) Travel agencies, (6) Transport intourism, (7) Accommodation, (8) Marketing and promotion, (9) The airline
industry, (10) Holidays with a difference, (11) Reservations and sales, and (12)Airport departures.
Here activities for three of these units, namely, Unit 3 on tour operators,
Unit 4 on tourist motivations, and Unit 5 on travel agencies, are presented indetail. The activities are described below.
The activities were designed to cover a number of elements to harness the
motivation of the students in line with some of the recommended strategies for
motivating students interweaved with task-based learning, including but notlimited to: giving the students an opportunity to apply the content of the text
in a meaningful context that provided an authentic experience or a simulated
authentic experience, namely, as close as possible to an authentic experience;
allowing the students to do research on their own, in most cases with someelement of choice; providing students an opportunity of working together aspart of a team for some tasks; allowing the students to be creative; providing
meaningful speaking activities with specific language expressions related toauthentic or semi-authentic situations; and providing some element of critical105

Bertorelli

thinking in some cases. A degree of choice by students was included, forexample, choice of topic, place or person to interview, to incorporate an elementof student-centered learning, a feature considered important for successful taskbased learning (Long, 2015).
The basic pattern of the activities as explained above is: text, demonstration/ template, task, post-task activity, and feedback. The demonstration / template
step includes clear examples and guidelines to make sure students of all levels
could achieve the required outputs. Some steps may be merged into a single
multi-part task and executed together at the same time, such as the post-task
activity and feedback activity, as in some cases this seems the more logical way toproceed rather than separately.
Tour operators
The purpose of this activity is to provide context for the topic of tour operators by
simulating a tourism fair, where tour operators introduce their package tours totravel agents. This provides students with a hands-on experience of the role a tour
operator. The students prepare posters of package holidays and then take it inturns to role play the tour operators and travel agents. This provides a break fromthe text in a number of ways: The students need to do research for the poster,and the travel fair role play is a communicative activity using materials developed
outside the text.
Text: The relevant material for this activity in this unit of the text (pp. 2027) is the introduction to the role of tour operators through the concept of
package holidays and how tour operators are involved in developing and selling
the package holidays to customers via travel agents. One of the tasks in the
textbook is a speaking activity based around a tourism fair where tour operators
introduce their package tours to travel agents. The speaking activity includes
questions such as “Do you have any brochures of your tours?” and “Does theprice include transfers?” (p. 23). There is also a task on a package tour wherestudents are asked questions about the content of that package tour.
Demonstration / Template (preparation): The model for this activity is
the textbook content of the package holiday, and some examples of previous
106Take a Detour out of the Text into Context, OnCUE Journal, 10(2), pages 101-113

years’ students’ posters. Guidelines of the expected content for the posters are
additionally provided.
Task: The task is for students jointly prepare a poster for a 5-day, 10-day,or 15-day package tour on A3 paper in groups of two or three. Following
preparation of the poster, the students are given a question grid to prepare for the
tourism fair, so they have the language input and can ask and answer questions
with efficiency for their roles in the travel fair. The grid also serves as a form torecord the answers from the speaking activity.
Post-task activity: The post-task activity is the tourism fair itself. The groups
are spread about the class to mimic stalls at a fair. Students in each group take itin turns to play the role of tour operator (sitting down at their table and fielding
questions from the travel agents mingling around) and travel agent (wondering
around the tour operators and asking questions about the package tours).
Feedback: In addition to formal grading, peer feedback was used, andstudents voted for the best package tour, best content, and best poster design.
Furthermore, students were asked to reflect on their posters and consider what
they would do differently given a second chance.
Posters that received higher grades from the instructor had also received
more votes from the students, indicating that the students recognized andcomprehended the requirements of the task. Many students indicated that thatthey enjoyed making the posters and wanted to do better next time, for example,
include more content or more pictures. This may have been influenced by seeing
posters of other students as well as by the peer feedback.
While some students do make more effort preparing their posters thanothers, it was my observation that most students participated very actively
in their roles as the tour operator and travel agent in the simulated travel fair,some especially enjoying the selling roles. On the other hand, it was usually clear
which students did not contribute much to their group as they appeared to be
unfamiliar with the content of their posters, struggling at the beginning of thesession.
Overall, this task was successfully completed by a majority of students
at all levels with only one or two exceptions in the highest- and lowest-level107

Bertorelliclasses. I think that the success of the activity hinged on three main aspects: theengagement of the students by the instructor in monitoring both the creationof the product and the participation in the communicative activity of the tradefair, the level and nature of the engagement required between students, and theenjoyment of a creative pursuit.
Tourist motivations
The purpose of this activity is to provide authentic context to the students
regarding the study of tourism, which is the major for many of the students. For
this activity the students go out and interview in English foreign tourists visiting
a popular tourist attraction in the city to ask them why they are visiting. This
provides the students with an authentic experience to complement the content
of the text.
Text: The relevant material for this activity in this unit of the text (pp. 2835) is vocabulary related to reasons for travel and a listening activity of a surveyof passengers at an airport. The text provides language input related to asking
questions in a survey to travelers.
Demonstration / Template (preparation): Students are provided with ahandout featuring a short dialog based on the dialog in the text. Students createdtheir own foreign tourist characters from the examples provided and extend thequestions. The students then practiced, taking turns playing the role of a surveyor
conducting a survey (which included introducing themselves and the purpose of
the survey) and the role of a tourist. From this activity, students created theirown shortlist of questions to ask tourists. The students were also prepped on
how to handle potential problems, for example, communication problems, lackof interest, too much interest, and difficulty finding suitable candidates.
Task: Students, in groups of two or three, interviewed foreign visitors in
English at a famous tourist attraction. Although in pairs or small groups formoral support and safety, the students were each expected to undertake two or
three interviews.
To include some element of monitoring of the activity, it is advisable
beforehand to compile a list including students’ names and groups, where they108

Take a Detour out of the Text into Context, OnCUE Journal, 10(2), pages 101-113

intend to go, and on which day they would go. This also signals to the students
that this is a task required to be carried out in the context as instructed.
Post-task activity: Students participated in a speaking activity using
questions and answers in the third person to exchange the results of their surveys.
Feedback: Students were asked to write a paragraph to provide an opinion
on their experience of doing the survey.
Students generally reported being very nervous when they carry out theinterviews and commented on their lack of English communication skills.
However, student feedback indicated relative satisfaction from the experienceof undertaking the interview. For example, one student from my higherlevel class wrote “I enjoyed doing the survey. I went to Asakusa. There weremany foreigners and they were friendly. However, sometimes, some people
couldn’t understand me and I could not understand they said.” This feedback
demonstrates that even though the outcome was not completely successful,owing to communication breakdown, the student had a meaningful motivating
experience through carrying out the task. Some of the lowest-level students fromthe lower level class typically wrote comments such as “I was very nervous.” or “It
was difficult”, or in some cases “I can’t speak English.” On the other hand, over
50% of the students in the lower-level class reported that they had enjoyed theexperience even though they some reported some difficulty communicating in
English. This may have been because, as many reported, the foreign tourists they
approached were friendly, thus contributing to a positive experience in spite ofsome communication breakdown.
It should be noted that for this particular activity, I could not be sure thatall students actually went out to interview people. However, from the content
and quality of the work submitted by the students, it seemed that many of thestudents, across all class levels, did in fact complete the assigned task.
Travel agencies
The purpose of this activity was to provide context on the sales process role oftravel agents. Students went to an actual travel agent and ask about a travel plan.
This provided the student with an authentic experience of the selling process of109

Bertorelli

travel agent as well as the communication skills travel agents need to use withcustomers.
Text: The relevant material for this activity in this unit of the text (pp. 36-43)
is an overview of the language and content of the role of travel agents. There is areview of which travel agency products and services are free and which require
payment. There is also an outline of the six steps to successful selling by travel
agents: (1) raising awareness of their products (for example, through advertising),(2) establishing rapport with customers, (3) investigating customer needs, (4)presenting the products, (5) closing the sale, (6) after-sales service. Additionally,
there is a listening activity of a travel agent going through a number of these stages
with a customer. Open and closed questions are also presented in the text.
Demonstration / Template (preparation): Students role played thelistening activity of the travel agent and customer, taking turns to read the dialog
of the travel agent and the customer. Students then created their own idea fora travel plan and role played this activity, finishing with the phrase “I’ll think
about it”. This was to prepare students to be able to finish a visit to a travel agent
without feeling any obligation to purchase. Finally, students prepared theirtravel ideas for visiting a travel agent. Students were provided with a template ofquestions to report back on their visit to the travel agent.
Task: Students visited a travel agent and completed the report template.
There was no requirement to use English in their visit to the travel agent since
the focus is on the travel agent selling process, but the report had to be in English.
Post-task activity: Students participated in a speaking activity using thequestions from the report template.
Feedback: Students provided feedback on the activity.
For some students, this was the first time they have visited a travel agency inperson, as opposed to making travel plans online. More than 75% of students
had a positive experience and reported they were satisfied with the way in which
the travel agent conducted the exchange. Around 10% of students also reported
that they would use that same travel agent in future, while others would not. One
student wrote that it was the first time she had been to a travel agency but she wasimpressed by the knowledge and skill of the staff. Such feedback confirms that by110

Take a Detour out of the Text into Context, OnCUE Journal, 10(2), pages 101-113

engaging in a task related to a real experience, students not only experience anauthentic exchange related to their field, but they also gain a broader awarenessof the context including the communication skills and physical working
environment of those working in the field, enhancing both their knowledge
and understanding, in addition to their own communication skills. Although it
appeared that some students may have copied the model, from the content of thework handed in, it seemed that most students in all three classes did go to a travel
agency or reported on one they had visited in the past to complete the task.
In summary, the activities were fairly successful in terms of providing
engaging and motivating tasks that apply language and content from the text
into a meaningful context with a variety of communicative activities as well as
feedback and reflection. Furthermore, this activity, being carried out in the field,
provided a different learning experience than that by using a textbook solely in aclassroom setting.
Other projects
While I have outlined in detail only a limited number of the activities that I
carried out in my classes due to space constraints, there are many other activities
that I have used similarly successfully such as: interviewing foreigners living inJapan to complement a section in the text on cultural differences; a presentationon the cultural customs of another country, also related to the section in the text
on cultural differences; writing an A-Z diary of places as an extension activity fora task about describing places, A-Z meaning describing one place for each letterof the alphabet; and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
analysis of tourism promotion in a regional area not well promoted, related tomarketing and promotion.

Conclusion

It is often useful to use a textbook for teaching in the English language classroom
for a number of reasons: One reason is the instructor need not prepare materials
from scratch as there are already pre-prepared activities and materials covering
one or more of the four skills of listening, reading, writing, and speaking withadditional supporting activities, such as grammar review and practice, and a111

Bertorelli

ready-made syllabus. Another reason is that the students will have a collectionof the course material at the beginning of the course that they can readily accessto prepare for or use in class. However, through my experience and observation,
students often welcome the opportunity to apply what they have learned outside
the text. This could be because it is a break from the routine of using the text
rather than the task itself (Dörnyei, 2001). Consequently, for my compulsory
second-year English classes I try to include an “external” element for each unitof the text to provide a chance for students to use authentic language in real life
contexts. This not only provides useful context, but also adds an added elementof motivation for both motivated and less-motivated students studying English
in compulsory English classes.
Although for some activities it was not possible to verify that students
actually conducted the task activity, based upon the reports submitted by thestudents, it seems overall that more than 60% did for the lower-level class, morethan 75% for the higher-level class and close to 100% for the mid-level class. The
most successful application across all tasks was by the students in the mid-levelclass. Some students in the higher-level class and lower-level classes clearly did
not apply themselves, a common pattern I have observed among the compulsory
English classes taught at Toyo University.
Although this paper focused on tourism studies, the ideas of how to adapt,
expand, and lift the language and content out of a text and into context can beapplied to other ESP areas.

References

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Dörnyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language
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Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom.
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Author Bio

Caroline Bertorelli holds an MA in Linguistics and EFL. She is currently an
English instructor in the Department of International Tourism Studies at Toyo
University, Tokyo, where she teaches compulsory English classes to first- and secondyear students. Her research interests include developing student’s fluency. caroline@
toyo.jp
Received: January 12, 2017
Accepted: November 14, 2017113