AUDIO SCRIPTS
168
their eyes. And don’t post late at night,
when you are in a rush or feeling emotional
and might use inappropriate language. To
get the register right … and let me begin by
defining register. By register, I mean a way
of speaking or writing which you use when
you’re in a particular situation. That way of
speaking or writing could, for example, be
formal or informal or humorous or polite or
familiar. So, to get the register right, use the
right medium for the message. For example,
you might text or use instant messaging to a
tutor or business partner that you are
friendly with, using abbreviations and
textspeak to say thanks for a meeting. But in
a business situation with someone you’re
not close to, or when submitting an
assignment or asking for feedback, use
email or a forum and use more formal
language. So, for students, what I’m
basically saying is don’t transfer the
language you use with your close friends on
social media sites to the language you use
when you email your lecturers.
LESSON 4.4 RECORDING 4.6
C = Claire, F = Frances, S = Sophia
C:
OK, let’s talk about the directors and senior
staff first. After that, we’ve got to discuss
whether we want the training to focus on
British English or American English. And if
we have time, we’ll consider the needs of
our biggest group, the admin staff. OK? F/S:
Fine/Yeah.
C:
OK, the directors and senior staff. They’re
our top priority. How about sending some
of them, the weaker ones, on a crash course
to England or the US? It’d be a quick way to
improve their English. What do you think,
Frances?
F:
Mmm, I don’t know about that. Let’s think
this through.
C:
OK? What’s the problem?
F:
If we do that, what will happen? In my
opinion, it’ll have a bad effect on our work.
We don’t want to lose a lot of our top staff
just like that. Who’d run the charity?
S:
You know, Frances, I think you’re right. It’d
create a lot of problems for us. Why don’t
we send just one or two directors to Britain
or the US and a few senior staff? We can
offer the others one-to-one classes at Head
Office. What do you think, Claire?
C:
Mmm, one-to-one classes, in company
time? Some companies do it, but I’m told
the classes are quite difficult to organise.
Teachers always seem to want to give the
lessons at the wrong time. You know, when
staff are really busy, and at the moment
we’re all up to our ears in work.
S:
Mmm, maybe you’re right, Claire. Let’s do
some research. Find out a bit more about
one-to-one classes. I have some good
contacts I can ask.
C:
OK, good idea. Let’s move on. What about
British English or American English? Some
of our staff will probably prefer American
English, the ones working closely with our
US partners. Frances, what do you think?
F:
I think you’re right, Claire. Some staff will
want to learn American English. But, you
know, there’s an easy solution – we could
hire two teachers to teach classes at Head
Office, one English and one American.
S: That’s a great idea. What do you think,
Claire?
C:
Mmm, well, yes, if we do decide to have
English classes here, at Head Office,
because it’s a cheap option, then it’s
certainly worth considering. But I think most
staff will want British English. We need to
get more information about this. Do some
more research. I hope it won’t be a big
problem for us. OK, we need to think now
about the admin staff. There are a lot of
them and they’ll want to improve their
English. They’ll have to improve to do their
job properly. We’ll need to set up classes
for them pretty soon as well.
F:
I’m not sure about that, Claire. They’re not a
priority …
C:
Maybe, but think of the consequences if we
leave them out. It won’t help to create good
staff relations.
F:
That’s a good point. We’ll need to provide
some English classes for them, but keep the
cost down.
C/S:
Right.
LESSON 5.1 RECORDING 5.2
1
I remember a really eye-catching advert for
a particular car. It showed the car starting,
then being driven out of a car park and
through the city. And it started all the lights
in the surrounding buildings. In the country
it powered the overhead power lines and
the electricity seemed to follow the car
along the road. It really was an attention-
grabbing ad. It is difficult to be original with
car adverts but I thought this was quite
creative. It also had a catchy slogan: ‘Feel
the power.’ You could also see the
company’s logo. It must have been an
effective ad because I’ve actually
remembered the car. It was also quite
persuasive as I would consider buying that
car next time.
2
I normally like humorous ads. But the
ad that sticks in my mind was really
inspirational. The music was really lively
and it was set in different exotic locations.
Everyone was drinking this soft drink, but I
can’t remember which one it was, and the
camerawork was really creative. It made
you want to be there, drinking that soft
drink, having fun.
3
I saw this really dull advert for washing
powder on the television recently that I’d
really like to forget. But it had this really
catchy jingle that I can’t get out of my head.
It’s so irritating. It was informative – it gave
you lots of information about the product
but I can’t even remember what the brand
was.
LESSON 5.2 RECORDING 5.3
Y = Yusuf, D = Don, S = Simon
L:
OK. So, you are based in Cairns, and where
do you cover?
D:
Well, Yusuf, we cover all of North
Queensland so we can get stunning
wedding shots of the bride and groom
standing in front of vibrant, green rainforests
and white sandy beaches. We’ve got the
luscious rainforests of North Queensland
with all their waterfalls and rivers.
S:
And then we’ve got the amazing Great
Barrier Reef.
L:
As a web designer, can I just say that you’ve
got some excellent photos in some stunning
locations. In fact, we’re spoilt for choice.
Makes my job so much easier.
S:
I think we’ve got all the shots we need now,
haven’t we Don? Although, if we get an
invitation to a ceremony in Papua New
Guinea, we’ll go there right away for a great
shoot.
D:
Too right.
Y:
OK and why do you want a website now?
D:
Well, to be honest, we’d design the website
ourselves if we had enough time. But we
don’t and we think we are losing out to our
competitors who have websites.
Y:
Don’t worry. If we act quickly, we’ll limit
the damage and catch up with your
competitors. And your photos are stunning.
This is such a great shot. The bride is
beautiful and we won’t need to do any
airbrushing. And I love all the colours. If we
make the sea bluer, the picture will look
even better. If I were you, I’d use this photo
as your main image.
S:
Yes, we’re very proud of that shot. Actually,
if I had the couple’s number on me, I could
give them a call now to ask for permission
to use it, but I’ve left all my contact details
at home.
Y:
OK. We can get it tomorrow. Let’s look at
what you would ideally like and then look
at all the different options. So, what would
you do if you had an unlimited budget?
LESSON 5.4 RECORDING 5.4
A = Amy Chen, L = Larissa Klein
A:
There are several points I’d like your team
to cover in their presentation.
L:
OK.
A:
Well, for a start, we can’t agree on a name
for the drink. We’ve had lots of suggestions
but none of them have been very exciting,
so could you come up with some new ideas
for names, please?
L:
Certainly, no problem.
A:
We need a good slogan too, something
that’s easy to remember and original. One
of our staff wanted to call the drink
‘Krakkle’; she came up with the slogan
‘Kool kids drink Krakkle’, but no one really
liked that one. We’d also like your ideas for
the design of the packaging. Should it be a
can or bottle, or something different?
Nothing too detailed, just … oh I don’t know,
design, colour, shape – that sort of thing.
L:
OK, what else do you want us to look at?
A:
Well, we’ve talked quite a lot about the
kind of advertising we should use. Should
we have a TV commercial during children’s
television in the afternoon? Or maybe early
in the evening? How about advertising in
children’s magazines? Should we use the
internet as well? Another question is, do we
want just one TV commercial, with different
languages for the various markets, or should
we have a different one for each country?
L:
Interesting. What about radio spots?
A:
Ah yes, I forgot to mention that. Do you
think we should advertise on radio? If we
do, what time of the day should we choose
for a radio spot, and what sort of
programme could we sponsor?
L:
Is that everything?
A:
I think so. … Oh yes, one other thing, if
your team have any interesting ideas for
special promotions, let us have them.
I mean, would it be a good idea to give out
free cans in schools? Or offer cheap T-shirts
with the logo on them. That sort of thing.
