This document discusses the use of case studies in teaching English. It explains that case studies were instituted at Harvard Business School in the 1950s as a primary teaching method. Case studies encourage students to analyze problems, develop their own solutions, and apply theory to real-life scenarios. This helps students develop skills in analytical thinking and reflective judgment. The document provides basic rules for using case studies, such as starting with a real-life example, designing tasks for pair or team work, fostering creativity, and debriefing to get student feedback.

1. Using Case Studies
in teaching Engish
By Daniela Munca, PhD
For the ETRC Fall School,
November 2010

2. Team Work
• “Ionel” has recently invested in a mega
project to create new designs and to focus
on a much wider market share – from
young adults to elderly people.
• Several boutiques with the new designs
will be placed in the most visited shopping
places in Chisinau.
• Write a list of 5 shopping sites you would
recommend Ionel and justify your choice.

3. Include information regarding:
• Location / availability
• Price ranges
• Reputation
• Notoriety among shoppers
from Chisinau
• Any other important details

4. How well do YOU know the
Modovan market?
Which, in your opinion, is the most frequently
visited mall in Chisinau?
Metro
Sun City
Jumbo
Megapolis Mall
Elat
MallDova
Unic
Gemeni

5. According to Magenta …

6. What influences Moldovan
consumers’ choice most of all?
(2 factors)

7. • Why is Jumbo visited so rarely, even
though it placed on the second place in
the awareness top?
• Moldovan consumers rely heavily on (1)
peer recommendations
• Unic (known in the past as the Central
Department Store) and Gemeni (known as
the soviet brand „Детский Мир”) are well
known by local consumers as stores with a
tradition coming from the old days

8. The prices of products sold in
commercial centers (2)
• Moldovan consumers perceive the prices
in MallDova as high (42%), and accessible
only during sales (24%).
• On the second place in the „expensive
top” is the center Elat: 39% consider its
prices high and 11% believe that they are
only accessible during sales.

13. Design a contest
• Zorile is planning to launch several new
shoe lines on the Moldovan market.
• You are on the marketing team
• Design a competition which:
• - would increase the company’s
awareness on the local market
• - attract younger clients
• - make the brand stronger in Moldova

14. How do you evaluate the following
advertising campaign?
• Compania Zorile lansează pentru tine un concurs neobişnuit! Tot ce
trebuie să faci, e să trimiţi la adresa electronicăinfo@zorile.md o
fotografie cît mai interesantă cu încălţăminte.

15. Resources for Teachers

18. • The level of trust in means of information
• Soviet brands of ice-cream are still
preferred by Moldavian consumers
• The internet vs. The elevator... or the
evolution of public attitude towards
advertising channels in Moldova
• How do the Moldovan people fight stress?
• Reading habits and intellectual health in
Moldova
• 64% of Moldovans declare themselves
happy and only 3% unhappy

20. • unique, powerful and immediate resource
for teachers and students of Business
Studies
• constructed around a key element of the
business studies curriculum.
• uses real information from the sponsoring
companies
• helps students engage and learn

21. • lesson plans and worksheets
• Learning PowerPoint summaries of the
studies
• MP3 podcasts of the studies
• quizzes, crosswords and word searches
to make learning fun

22. The Times 100 is useful
because:
• It is produced by and with teachers to ensure it
is focused on the Business Studies curriculum
• the companies who take part understand the
value to students of real examples of business
practice
• the material is presented in different formats
designed to enable all students to make best
use of the material - from the printed page, to
pdf downloads, to the new MP3 podcasts.

23. For students
• revision quizzes,
• topical news alerts based on companies
making business headlines,
• background information on the companies
who are participating,
• and a glossary of business terms.

26. Case studies …
• refer to the collection and presentation of detailed
information about a particular participant or small group,
company, organization, brand, phenomenon, etc.
• form of qualitative descriptive research
• look intensely at a sample, drawing conclusions in that
specific context
• do not focus on the discovery of a
universal, generalizable truth, nor do they typically look
for cause-effect relationships;
• instead, emphasis is placed on exploration and
description

27. (Armisted 1984)
Instituted at Harvard Business School
in the 1950s as a primary method of
teaching, cases have since been
used in classrooms and lecture halls
alike, either as part of a course of
study or as the main focus of the
course to which other teaching
material is added.

28. “ In addition, students are
encouraged to "generate their
own analysis of the problems
under consideration, to develop
their own solutions, and to
practically apply their own
knowledge of theory to these
problems" (Boyce 1993).

29. • Along the way, students also develop "the
power to analyze and to master a tangled
circumstance by identifying and delineatng
important factors; the ability to utilize
ideas, to test them against facts, and to
throw them into fresh combinations…"
(Merseth 1991).

30. Case-based Teaching
students develop skills in analytical thinking
and reflective judgment by reading and
discussing complex, real-life scenarios
• Task based learning
• Active learning
• Project based learning

31. Basic Rules of using Case
Studies:
• Start with a real life example using various
resources
• Design a task –ideally pair work or team work
• Foster innovation and creativity
• Integrate such elements as poster making / Venn
diagrams / oral presentations / role playing / etc
• Contrast and Compare using the original case study
• Debriefing: let students express their opinion