When most teachers sit down to plan out a term, they typically start at the beginning and work towards the end. This article challenges you to start at the end — but not the end of your course.

Start with the End Tasks — but Not Your End Tasks
When students leave an ESL program, they need to be able to complete specific academic tasks. We know they will need to read academic texts and understand lectures, but not many people explore the specific writing and speaking tasks their students will have to complete. If we don’t know exactly what types of assignments students will be faced with outside of ESL, how can we prepare them?

Talk Your Colleagues about Assignments — and Make Them Be Specific
Talk to your colleagues in the content areas at your institution and ask them what assignments their students have to complete. Make them be specific. If they say their students prepare a final presentation, ask them how the presentation is organized and what it is based on. If their students write responses to weekly readings, ask how long these responses are and how they are graded.

Then Work Back
Now that you know what your students will have to do when they are no longer your students, you can plan your term with these skills in mind. What sub-skills do they need to develop to be able to complete the tasks? What academic language do they need? By working backward, you can create a course with a clear path to success.

The Authors of Academic Connections Have Done the Leg Work for You
Each unit of Academic Connections ends with a final production task—either writing or speaking. The authors chose these tasks after examining online syllabi from college courses that students typically enroll in. The language and skills that students develop over the course of the unit prepare them for these final tasks. Talk to your Pearson Longman Rep for more information.