Unit 9: English for Tech Support

This unit includes common English vocabulary, dialogs, and practice activities focusing on Tech Support positions in a typical international IT company.

The following activities can be tailored to fit the needs of your students and the goals your study program.

Vocabulary Builder Activity

Students will learn the following key terms and phrases:

Reading Activity: Technical Support Dialogue

Students will be able to correctly answer true/false questions after reading and listening to topical short articles and dialogs featuring topical vocabulary.

Scene: A busy sales office in Michigan, USA. The Helpdesk team is overwhelmed after a storm caused power outages. A tech support staff member receives a call from a confused and somewhat distressed employee. Technician: Hello, this is Oliver Bleak speaking at Technical Support. Is this a new issue? Or do you have an existing support ticket in progress? Customer: Oh… Continue

Multiple Choice Activity

Students will be able to select the best match between unit terms and their definitions.

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Listening Comprehension Activity

Students will be able to listen to short audio clips in English and then spell them correctly.

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Spelling and Recognition

Students will be able to identify and spell a vocabulary term correctly given only the definition.

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Speaking Practice Activity

Students will be able to speak and record 5 example sentences from the unit vocabulary and then submit them for grading by the classroom teacher. If no teacher is available or desired, then the students will be shown good examples of other students' work.

Community forums are a great place to gain deep knowledge about things, and also to keep up-to-date with all the news, gossip, tips, tricks, and wildly contrasting opinions.

The website did not support PDF file uploads, so we used a JPEG screenshot as a workaround.

You should regularly check Windows Update, to download and install the latest security patches.

Tech support could not help resolve the issue, because the customer's device is out of warranty.

The user helped the support technician troubleshoot the computer's problem over the telephone.

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Writing Practice Activity

Students will write a short essay to be graded by the teacher. If no teacher is available or desired, then the student is shown previous examples of other writings by students.

Have you ever worked in a tech support position? If yes, what was it like? If not, do yiou think it would be fun or boring? Why?

Have you ever contacted tech support? Why? And for what purpose?

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