ESP Instruction Design Based on Digital Literacy for Tourism English Learners

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the ESP instruction based on digital literacy for tourism English learners. In this study, digital literacy is defined as the ability to understand, synthesize, and use multiple forms of information from digital sources to create new information for one’s own purposes. To address the deficits of digital literacy of ESP learners, the study is conducted through design-based research, which is considered to be a problem-solving approach in education. Firstly, a total of 92 tourism English learners were asked to complete the Knowledge and Information Processing Competency (KIPC) survey to diagnose their digital literacy levels. Secondly, the study proposed the digital literacy related activities to facilitate the learners collecting, processing and using digital knowledge and information. The instruction was based on a coursebook-driven approach which added digital literacy activities to the traditional ESP instruction. Lastly, the reflective journals of learners were examined through frequent word analysis. In the findings, ESP learners showed competency in collecting rather than utilizing digital knowledge and information, thus the ESP instruction based on digital literacy was designed to facilitate learners to utilize more digital knowledge and information which helped them to develop teamwork, problem- solving and selfassessment.