Intermediate English Trainer - Mkalles

Background of the project

The majority of jobseekers in Lebanon face barriers to accessing employment and are offered few skills-building opportunities as an alternative. These youths need a safe learning space that will equip them with tools to tackle these challenges and eventually earn income, thereby helping them to rebuild their self-confidence. The IRC provides short-term Soft skills training to these jobseekers to increase their employability.

According to a Labor Market Assessment conducted in 2018, English language is an essential skill required for positions related to management and communication with customers. Based on the business surveys, 475 business owners search for employees with adequate communication skills. Furthermore, English for communication is one of the most desirable skills in Agriculture and Agro-food sectors, whereas in the Construction and Environment sectors, social skills and pro-active service attitude are required in the Market.

The UNDP assessment of Labour Needs in 2016 identified several gaps impeding the professional growth of workers and companies in Lebanon. Based on this study, 43% of professionals in the ICT sector and 70% of Professionals in the Agro-Food industry reported a lack of English skills. Furthermore, 76% of companies reported concerns about weak workplace competencies.

In Addition, a February 2016 IRC Overview on the SMEs in Mount Lebanon and Beirut determined that Customer Service is a key topic of interest to micro and small entrepreneurs within the above-cited areas. 

Scope of work

The IRC is currently looking for trainer to deliver a short-term Intermediate Business English training.

English is the most commonly used language among foreign language speakers. Throughout the world, when people with different languages come together they commonly use English to communicate on business or non business matters. In addition, English is nowadays being commonly used at the workplace whether to interact with customers and suppliers, use the business’ computer software, read labels on products, draft a product or service description or use social media for marketing among other needs. Knowing English will render the person bilingual and increases his/her employability chances, particularly in Lebanon.

Workplace Etiquette Skills refers to successful interaction with supervisors, customers, co-workers and guests in the office. In today’s competitive business world, those who master their business etiquette skills show greater professionalism, confidence, and competence.

The need for an Intermediate Business English training was equally requested by several jobseekers at the IRC’s livelihoods centre, and also by employers who see it as a requirement in the market and not as an option. Based on the above, this training is proposed for youth Lebanese residents and refugees living in the Mount Lebanon region.

1.Learning outcomes

By the end of the training, attendees should be able to:

• Engage in oral and written English communication at the workplace
• Acquire competence in grammatical structures
• Increase business vocabulary comprehensively
• Understand the main idea of a complex English text
• Present or share ideas in oral English more fluently
• Understand the proper etiquette and format in emails
• Follow proper telephone etiquette: professionalism and effectiveness in taking messages, re-directing and following up calls
• Handling difficult customers and callers
• Develop a positive attitude and interpersonal skills
• Acquire the essential soft skills needed in the workplace.

2.Training content

The below points serve as an indicative support to the development of the curriculum by the training provider. The training provider is not expected to exactly match the below contents, but rather work on developing a curriculum and a training methodology that will enable trainees to achieve the Learning Outcomes listed above.

The training will expand over a period of 84 hours covering the following topics:

• Introducing oneself and others
• Using a wide range of adjectives, plural of nouns, prepositions of time and place, possessions
• Describing workplace objects and activities
• Using a wide range of English verbs in the present simple and present continuous
• Reading English texts and answering questions
• Talking about past events and previous jobs using verbs in the past tenses
• Giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing politely
• Making plans and arrangements using future tense
• Writing paragraphs with well-structured sentences
• Expressing likes and dislikes
• Communicating effectively with superiors and colleagues at the workplace
• Writing basic formal email
• Differentiating between formal and informal telephone language
• Answering and leaving phone messages, redirecting calls

3.Target audience

The Intermediate Business English training targets mainly trainees who are in need of English language and soft skills in the workplace.

The target group will consist of 20 trainees both males and females registered at the livelihoods center. The training will be delivered to mixed groups in an attempt to promote social cohesion among the different communities, therefore attendees will be from various nationalities (all nationalities are welcome).

Trainees’ selection will be carried out by the livelihoods centre’s staff. The contractor should meet the participants before the training and verify the suitability of the selected candidate trainees. The selection criteria include:

• Age range between 16 and 45 years old
• The willingness and ability of the trainees to seek employment and/or self-employment opportunities
• Knowledge of basic English
• Interest and commitment to attend the whole training with an active participation
• Already registered at the Livelihoods Centre.

The trainees’ drop-out is to be taken into account. For this reason, the Contractor must make sure that trainees meet the basic requirements to meaningfully engage in the training.

Deliverables:

• The training calendar with session titles;
• Provide samples of Training books/material for distribution
• A Curriculum handout organized by training sessions describing:

§Session topic

§Learning objectives,

§Duration of the session,

§List of key contents and talking points,

§Sequence of steps to deliver the session,

§Required materials

• The pre and post-training test questionnaires, to verify level, competences and learning. The tests should be are the same and they are delivered before the start date of the training and after the last session.
• Delivery of the 24 training sessions of 3.5 hours each, over  a period of 12 weeks. In total, the Contractor will deliver 84 training hours over a period of 12 weeks.
• Attendance sheets of each training day
• Prepare drop quizzes to be done by trainees on a weekly basis
• Deliver a weekly report indicating topics completed, results of drop quizzes, evaluation on participants’ performance
• Provide certificate of attendance, based on attendance and learning (measured against pre and post- tests)
• A training report including the results of pre- and post-tests of each trainee with a baseline and an end-line score, and recommendations on areas for improvement. The template for the training report is in Annex 1.

Schedule:

The training should be over a period of maximum 12 consecutive weeks till February 08th, 2021.

The total length of training is84 hours. The training is divided into 24 sessions with each being 3.5 hours long.

The training will be delivered using a blended modality:

The first 8 sessions will be delivered at the Livelihoods Center in Mkalles

The following 14 sessions will be delivered online through a video chat application

The last 2 sessions will be delivered at the Livelihood Center in Mkalles for a recap

The training should be delivered 2-4 days per week, with 3.5 hours per day from 9:00AM till 4:00PM.

Training hours will be decided in consultation with interested trainees to maximize attendance and avoid drop outs. Based on previous experience, IRC anticipates that selected candidates will be available to attend the training during the morning.

The contractor will be expected to collect the data, to analyze the results of the pre and post-test questionnaires and to document them in a “Technical Training Report” to be submitted, as hard and soft copies, one week after the last training session to IRC. The template of the training report can be found in Annex 1.