Languages for specific purposes in medicine and healthcare in times of the Covid-19 pandemic: Reflections on usage-based teaching

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the weaknesses of didactic praxis in the field of teaching foreign languages for specific purposes (LSP) and propose more effective approaches that take into consideration both the learner profile and the conditions in which learners acquire a language as a tool in their job, training or education. Based on the example of the teaching of German for medical purposes in the target country to highly qualified healthcare staff that have immigrated for professional reasons, we recapitulate the didactic/methodological principles of the Berlin Didactics, draw upon a critique of the CEFR and, on this basis, we theoretically demonstrate specific implementation strategies for a usage-based model of the teaching of languages for specific purposes that can realistically be incorporated in the curricula of LSP courses, independent of the target language. The first strategy concerns a data-driven approach to the teaching of languages for specific purposes by making use of (parallel) language corpora in the classroom. The second is the design of a dual teaching model, based on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and promotes peer learning, while combining traditional LSP lessons and practical technical language training. The third proposed strategy concerns the role of mediation in the teaching of LSP. The paper concludes with a discussion of the benefits and limitations of the three didactic strategies that serves as a starting point for the design of relevant LSP policies, curricula and resources. © Nikolaos Katsaounis, Ulrich Steinmuller 2021.