International Negotiations

Extension activity

Trainees work in pairs to test each other on the phrases in exercise 4. One trainee uses 

one of the first negotiator’s prompts. The second trainee, whose book is closed, tries to 

respond as negotiator 2. Allow some flexibility in negotiator 2’s responses, but encourage 

them to use as many of the useful phrases in bold as possible. Afterwards, they swap roles 

and repeat the exercise.

If you have an odd number of trainees, you will need to have a group of three, where the 

third trainee also responds as negotiator 2, but using a different phrase from exercise 4.

6 

Distribute the feedback forms (see page 111 and 

www.cambridge.org/elt/

internationalnegotiations

) and go through them with the class to make sure everyone knows 

what to focus on during the negotiation. Pay particular attention to the terms distributive and 

integrative, which were explained in the commentary to exercise 9 of Module 6A. You could 

remind trainees of the four pictures: a distributive negotiating style was illustrated with a tug 

of war and a pie; an integrative style was illustrated with an x-ray and a jigsaw puzzle.

Go through the instructions with the class, making sure everyone fully understands the 

meaning of remuneration package (= salary and other benefits that an employee receives). 

Divide the class into pairs and allocate roles. Trainees then spend around ten minutes 

familiarising themselves with their roles on pages 92 and 106 and planning how they will 

negotiate. Monitor carefully to deal with any vocabulary problems. When everyone is ready, 

start the role plays. Allow around ten minutes for the negotiations. At the end, trainees use 

the forms to give each other feedback on the effectiveness of their techniques for exploring 

interests. After a few minutes, open up the discussion to include the whole class. Share any 

comments you have on the effectiveness of the trainees’ techniques.

If you have an odd number of trainees, use the spare trainee as a class monitor, to use the 

feedback form to take notes on the role plays. At the end, ask this trainee to provide feedback 

to the class on what went well and what opportunities were missed.