Designing a learner-centered ESP course for adults based on evidence from a questionnaire and incorporating the learner’s aims into a situational-based syllabus

Abstract

This paper examines the organization of a six-week Conversational English ESPcourse design for the tweny-two adult administrative human resources staff working in the International Inlingua Language Learning Center in Istanbul. At thevery start of this course, a thorough needs analysis taking into account the language needs of the learners based on the essentials put forth by Hutchinson andWaters (1987) and Dudley-Evans and St.John (1998) established the core framework for the study and the findings from this analysis were used for the ESPcourse and syllabus design. In the final phase of my study for the ESP course designin question, the choice of the right syllabus was a major decision in language teaching, and it was made as consciously and with as much information as possible. After due consideration, I decided on the Situational-Based Syllabus asthe most appropriate syllabus from among the several distinct types of languageteaching syllabi and prepared the course content for the Conversational EnglishClass