Abstract
The paper discusses the impact of English for Specific Academic Purposes teaching methodology on developing in-house materials for the course of English for Social Sciences taught at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences. The paper gives examples of the materials and provides results of their evaluation. The case study demonstrates efficiency of the approach to in-house materials development based on collaboration with faculty, teachers of English for Specific Academic Purposes in other disciplines, and students. The approach involves analysis of the materials designed at different stages of the educational process. Research results are assessed through the survey conducted among the students and interviews conducted with faculty members and teachers of English for Specific Academic Purposes. The efficiency of the employed approach makes it possible to use it as a model for developing in-house materials in similar academic contexts in non-linguistic universities.
Highlights
To succeed in academic studies and future career, students need to develop such academic literacies as the ability to read and analyze disciplinary specific texts, listen to disciplinary specific lectures, critically evaluate and interpret received information, participate in discussions that are typical for particular academic cultures and write research articles using disciplinary specific vocabulary
These courses are different from English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) courses, which concentrate on developing skills common to all disciplines, such as listening to lectures, participating in seminars, reading textbooks and writing essays, reports and exam papers [1]
While EGAP methodology is based on the idea of developing study skills, the methodology of English for Special Academic Purposes (ESAP) rests on the notion of academic literacy
Summary
To succeed in academic studies and future career, students need to develop such academic literacies as the ability to read and analyze disciplinary specific texts, listen to disciplinary specific lectures, critically evaluate and interpret received information, participate in discussions that are typical for particular academic cultures and write research articles using disciplinary specific vocabulary. ESAP courses are offered at modern universities for two main reasons: firstly, to help international students realize their full academic needs and potential [4]; secondly, to expose those students to the expectations and requirements of the faculties in terms of target situation needs and academic culture [5] These courses are different from English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) courses, which concentrate on developing skills common to all disciplines, such as listening to lectures, participating in seminars, reading textbooks and writing essays, reports and exam papers [1]. What is more crucial is that the suggested activities based on these sources should be in the format similar to the students’ main activities in their discipline (for example, seminar discussions or data presentation) These findings were used to develop the English for Social Sciences course materials. Its purpose was to identify whether the proposed materials were useful and effec-
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