Teachers' Decision-Making Process When Designing ESP Materials in the Languages Without Borders Program

Abstract

The objective of this study is to explore teachers’ decision-making processes and the factors that influence their decisions when designing English for Specific Purposes (ESP) materials. We seek to analyze not only the decisions made by language teachers when designing materials, but also the reasons that support such decisions. This research focuses on teachers' perspectives regarding foreign language education and material design, and the motivations for their pedagogical choices. In this sense, this work may contribute to fill the gap in the literature pointed out by Tomlinson (2012) about the need for studies that investigate material development. The methodology of this study is qualitative and interpretative. Participants are teachers who work in the Languages without Program (LwB) at UFES. Data was collected through interviews with teachers who are also material developers. Based on the results of this study, we highlight the challenges involved in designing materials for teachers who are in an undergraduate course, and the implications of the findings for implementing appropriate ESP materials in the program LwB at UFES. The findings also help us reflect on the effectiveness of the program’s policy of teacher education in the context of ESP.