English For Specific Purposes Course Research Articles

STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE OF LEARNING ESP: FINDINGS FROM A CASE STUDY IN LITHUANIA

This study explores undergraduate students’ experience of learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and aims to reveal their views regarding university teachers’ and peers’ feedback provided to them during the course of ESP as well as to establish the students’ views regarding their own learning ESP. The present article reports on the results of a case study from a Lithuanian university. The data were collected from feedback questionnaires of 111 students in 11 study programmes. To analyse the data, quantitative methodology was used. The main conclusion of the present study is that most study participants viewed their own learning ESP at the university as a positive experience, i.e. the students were satisfied with their engagement in learning this study subject and considered that learning was aligned with teaching and assessment. The results of the study also demonstrated that the study participants considered that collaboration and team work fostered meaningful learning, as well as that peer feedback helped them to understand how to improve in learning ESP. It was established that students valued their teachers’ patience and personal engagement and that the teachers’ feedback improved the ways of learning ESP, encouraged them to think and analyse the content of the study material, and helped them to clarify things they did not understand learning on their own.

Engineering Students’ Motivation to Learn Technical English in ESP Courses: Investigating Iranian Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions

Needs analysis is the key step to designing relevant and useful courses in English for Specific Purposes (ESP), but finding ways to deliver needs in a motivating and interesting way is also paramount. Therefore, investigating students’ motivation to learn ESP is central in needs analysis. Few studies have investigated needs from the perspective of ESP learners’ motivation. Focussing on engineering fields at three Iranian state universities, this study aimed to identify factors that affect engineering students’ motivation for learning technical English in ESP courses. Using a mixed method design, this study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, semi-structured interviews with 40 undergraduate students helped to identify motivational variables, select a theoretical framework and develop instruments for the second phase. In the second phase, a survey using a 28-item questionnaire with 152 students, semi-structured interviews with 60 students, in-depth interviews with eight ESP practitioners and non-participant observation in seven ESP classes were done in parallel. Principal Component Analysis on survey data resulted in five motivational components of main sources of engineering students’ motivation to learn technical English: 1) ideal-self, 2) ought-to self, 3) instrumentality promotion motivation, 4) learning conditions, and 5) learning experience. These components were in agreement with Dӧrnyei’s L2 Motivational Self-system. Further quantitative and qualitative data analyses revealed that long-term goals and the practicalities of using technical English in every day life promote motivation more than a sense of obligation to learn technical English. Moreover, the results showed that Engineering students had negative attitudes towards elements of ESP learning experience, which best explained the reasons for students’ low motivation. The findings also supported the significant effect of academic levels on motivation. The factors that motivated students call for modifications in ESP courses which are discussed as pedagogical implications.

(In)compatibility of CLIL and ESP courses at university

Author/s
 Joseba M. González ArdeoUniversidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Spain
 
 ABSTRACT
 This paper deals with the current coexistence of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) courses in tertiary educational settings in the Basque Country. The University of the Basque Country (UBC) is immersed in an ongoing process of internationalization and, consequently, its language teachers are witnessing an unstoppable process of Anglicization. At present, and presumably in the medium and long term, institutional decisions will continue to support CLIL in preference to ESP. In order to analyse this process within the UBC, quantitative data about these two linguistic approaches are gathered and compared with data from 2005. A questionnaire aimed at gathering the opinions of engineering students who currently take both types of courses is also used as a source of qualitative data. The main conclusion of this exploratory study is that both types of courses seem to be compatible. However, language teachers, English-medium content teachers and students are facing a tough challenge, since neither of the two types of course is a panacea.

ESP as a motivating stimulus for obtaining knowledge by students of non-linguistic university

The article deals with institutionally developed ESP (English for Specific Purposes) courses, one of the predominant and progressive language teaching approaches in tertiary education, as it is focused on the specific and profession-related needs of students. The paper studies the role of analysis and material selection needs, later adaptation according to particular specialty student requirements, changes of business environment and current demands for English language skills. The implication of the study results in that ESP courses should be more attuned to students’ needs targeting productive skills, specialised vocabulary, language functions and intercultural competency. The study alsodiscusses the ways and methods, which can increase professional competency development in the context of the multiprofessional environment of a modern economic university experiencing constant changes due to internationalisation.

Developing Presentation Skills in the ESP Course for Students Majoring in Control Systems and Robotics

Abstract This paper addresses the experience of implementing a presentation skills module in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course at ITMO University for students from the Faculty of Control Systems and Robotics. This work reveals the importance and relevance of presentation competency for the future professional careers of graduates. The paper thoroughly addresses the presentation mistakes inherent in the domain of control systems and robotics. The interdisciplinary approach to developing presentation skills discussed in the article is based on the fusion of English-language study, soft skills and professional content. The developed presentation skills module includes peer-based evaluation of presentations in order to teach students to provide feedback and take into account comments received from their colleagues.

The Role of an Ideal ESP Practitioner

This paper aims to reflect onthe role of an ideal ESP practitioner. There are a lot of challenges and problems which affect an ESP practitioner to teach ESP courses such as lack of modern use of technology and lack of learners’ motivation. The paper starts with key concepts about ESP. Then; it discusses the role of an ESP practitioner. Next, problems and challenges affect teaching ESP. Finally, the status of an ESP today is presented. The researcher followed a descriptive method to shed some lights on the variety of the topics to make clear distinction especially between a general English (GE) teacher and the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teacher and to what extent they are different. The findings of this paper showed that lack of training and lack of specialist knowledge were considered as the main obstacles. It is recommended for any educational institutions to train ESP practitioners in advance before starting to teach ESP courses/programs. It also recommended for educational institutions to establish ESP Units in order to overcome the challenges and problem.

E-Learn Platform to Teach Legal English for Law Professionals

Globalization of trade and economy led to a growing demand all over the world for English for Specific Purposes courses. Conscious of this fact, Algeria has incorporated English for Legal Purposes teaching into tertiary studies. In Algeria, Law students receive ELP course aimed to help them in their studies and future careers. However, at the end of their learning process these students still find linguistic and communication difficulties in situations where English is needed as the course received is no more than teaching specific words and phrases and translating some texts following the traditional Grammar Translation Method. Accordingly, this paper aims to presents the current ELP course situation and to measure students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the use of Blended ELP course based on Content Language Integrated Learning model. The course has twofold: to provide students with international legal knowledge and to compare them to the Algerian one, and to expose learners to intensive reading activities and overcome lack of teaching time activities. In this quantitative study, seven teachers were interviewed and fifty seven masters’ students were questioned. The results revealed that the students have comprehension difficulties because the time load for reading activities is not sufficient. Concerning informants readiness to use Blended approach, the teachers present negatively the usefulness of such an approach for their students; on the contrary, students show a positive attitude to have additional English reading comprehension activities online, and they demonstrate a high interest to the proposal to support their English course with extra home tasks.

Primena prediktivne analitike u engleskom za posebne namene na osnovu studentskih tekstova

Fierce competition of student admission to strong reputation higher education institutions as well as getting employment in respected companies has built the need to profile potential candidates and select those that best meet one's requirements. Our research aimed to predict students' success potential, i.e. grades achieved in their English for Specific Purposes courses. Total of 292 students studying at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology Osijek, Croatia and 150 students studying at the Faculty of Material Science and Technology in Trnava, Slovakia voluntarily participated in the research by submitting their short biographies. The biographies were analyzed with the software for computational analysis (LIWC) whose output, in the form of raw numbers, was entered in an application specifically designed for this purpose. Based on the input data, the application calculated students' grades in the aforementioned courses which were later compared to the students' actual grades. The research has proven the application's high efficiency since it correctly predicted students' grades in 75% of the cases and in additional 12%, the grades were approximately predicted, i.e. the predicted grade was one grade higher/lower than the actual grade.

The need for ESP in Burundi: What do tertiary English teachers say sbout it?

This study examines the views that tertiary English teachers hold on the need for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in Burundi higher education. To do so, it investigates the extent to which they are familiar with the theory and practice of ESP. For this study, 32 English teachers were contacted to participate in it. They were all requested to complete an online questionnaire, but only 17 proved willing to do so. The findings revealed that the majority of teachers are familiar with the practice of ESP. Although many of them reported to have high familiarity with the field of ESP, a few of them conduct a Needs Analysis (NA) before teaching ESP courses. Results also indicated that tertiary English teachers highly acknowledge the importance of teaching ESP in Burundi higher Education and, therefore, would encourage the ministry of education to fund an ESP project.

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AS A LINGUISTIC RESPONSE TO GLOBALIZATION

English for Specific Purposes is one of the most recent strains in English language teaching that appeared in the second half of the previous century following the wider societal trends subsumed under the term globalization. ESP is a narrowly, domain focused linguistic instruction in professional communication, the main goal being functional interaction. Language therefore becomes an instrument for achieving higher performativity. In such an educational setting, its core characteristic of being an ontology is disregarded. Thus, arguments will be presented here examining hidden cultural issues in the syllabus of English for Specific Purposes course. It will argue against the proposition that such syllabus is culturally void being supposedly focused on expert language only and for critical approaches to be integrated in this approach to English language instruction.

WRITING MATERIAL FOR OFFICE ADMINISTRATION STUDY PROGRAM IN VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL: STUDENTS’ NEED ANALYSIS

Vocational High School is course with aim to prepare the students to have specific skills by having practical activities based on its study program. It has the same purpose with English for specific purposes (ESP) course which aims to meet the students’ specific language need. ESP courses help students to use English appropriately as well as accurately to perform their jobs in a various situations where they encounter their English language function. ESP course often begins with the students’ need. Students’ need analysis is needed to be identified to be able to meet the effective learning material based on what the students really need. This study aims to investigate the writing materials needs of eleventh grade students of Office Administration study program in Vocational High School from viewpoints of students. This study used descriptive qualitative analysis with questionnaire and interview method to collect the data. The subjects of the research were eleventh grade of Office Administration students that consisted of 34 students by using purposive sampling. The result indicated that the students have several needs in terms of target needs and learning needs. Target needs are divided into necessities, wants, and lacks. Based on the result of target needs, the students are lack of component of writing skills including express ideas, write with correct organization, use correct grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling, and use appropriate vocabulary based on the context of the text. Thus, the students need and want to learn those components of writing skills. Meanwhile, learning needs are divided into input, procedure, setting, and accessibility. The input is divided into content of materials, activities, and design. The teachers should pay attention more on those aspects to fulfill the students’ need to help them transition successfully to their future careers after graduation.

Assessing Student Reflection in a Malaysian Classroom

Studies into reflective thinking in education have proposed a link between reflection and transformative learning. It is thus important for classroom practitioners to be able to identify whether students are reflecting on the subject matter of an academic course that they are undertaking. To this end, reflective journals can provide valuable information regarding the emotional and cognitive processes of the students. This study seeks to identify the level of reflective thinking attained by final year university students in Sabah, Malaysia, who have enrolled in an English for Specific Purposes course. As a preliminary study of the population, degree students from MARA University of Technology Malaysia were sampled and their reflective journals were analysed. The classification was done using a modified coding scheme proposed by past key researchers to classify students into the three categories of non-reflectors, reflectors, and critical reflectors. The results of this study can provide useful insights to course instructors.

A NEEDS ASSESSMENT APPROACH TO ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) BASED SYLLABUS DESIGN IN BANGLADESH VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (BVTE)

Abstract: This paper describes the initial phase of a needs analysis which is developed in the context of Bangladesh Vocational and Technical Education (BVTE) with the aim to identify the needs of a target group of learners and introduce English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course design. Although the compulsory English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses have been used at various programs of BVTE since 1996, they were not based on any systemic Needs Analysis nor have they been subjected to any evaluation. The paper also aims to conducts a Needs Analysis to obtain data which will be used to develop a meaningful, useful and beneficial, common core ESP programme for Bangladesh Vocational and Technical Board (BVTB) students. This process takes into account the needs of the various stakeholders involved including the policy makers, decision-makers, subject and language teachers and prospective employers. It mainly will make use of Hutchinson and Waters’ (1987) Learning-centred approach, Holliday and Nunan’s (1988) Needs Analysis description for conducting the Needs Analysis and specifying the content for a common-core ESP course. A mix method is adopted with questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document study being the main data gathering tools, in order to ensure triangulation of data.

Challenges of Grading in an ESP Course

This paper deals with the drawbacks of the existent grading system in the English for Specific Purposes course and the suggested solution to this problem. The main difficulty concerns the fact that in Ukraine the CEFR level is not mentioned in the transcript of the university diploma containing the list of the courses and their grades. This is the reason of impossibility to split students into groups according to their initial level of English language competency and give them an opportunity to develop at an appropriate pace and rate. Thus, we can not completely meet the needs of our students, although satisfying the learners’ needs is the key point in an ESP course. This discrepancy pushed us, ESP practitioners, to reconsider our approach to the grading system in an ESP course. We have suggested a system of level ratio that may be applied while calculating the final grades of the students. The introduction of this system may eliminate the outlined problem and enchance motivation of university students in an ESP classroom. In this paper we have described the mechanism of level ratio application, depicted the advantages of the suggested theory and outlined possible problems that can appear.

Academic literacy for science: a starting point for recurriculation

English for Specific Purposes courses are taught at many universities around the world and also play a critical role in the South African context. There is limited transparency and therefore little agreement regarding what the curricula of such courses should include. The aim of this study was to start a conversation about which academic abilities are essential for academic success by describing and evaluating the proposed outcomes of two academic literacy (AL) courses for science students at a South African university. The courses were examined by comparing the abilities addressed in each course to an extensive checklist of general AL abilities. The four year programme course was found to cover most of these AL abilities sufficiently, but the weight of several features warranted reassessment. The three-year programme course addressed fewer of these AL abilities and the weighting of several AL abilities also needed to be reassessed. The findings suggest that the four-year extended programme course curriculum offers the better AL foundation as it appears to be more successful in sufficiently addressing a variety of AL abilities. Should the learning outcomes of the two programmes be more closely aligned, students from both programmes entering second year would be equally prepared. However, it would seem that both courses would benefit from further analysis, for example feedback from various stakeholders, and consequent recurriculation. Keywords: English for science and technology, English for specific purposes, academic literacy, curriculum development

Issues Affecting Selection and Evaluation of ESP Teaching Materials

The paper will point out a range of obstacles and challenges English lecturers encounter when teaching English for Specific purposes (ESP) and when deciding which course book and teaching materials would best suit their students in tertiary education. Other issues relating to ESP will also be considered such as what exactly ESP means, main characteristics of ESP courses, their teachers and students. This paper will also include analysis of actions that need to be taken in the evaluation of ESP materials as suggested by various authors on the subject. There will be an example of the specific requirements of teaching materials in Maritime English and their evaluation. The aim is to give an overview of theoretical perspectives and methodologies for the evaluation of teaching materials and to encourage ESP teachers to design evaluation techniques for their type of ESP course.

A case study of evaluation and introduction of ‘An Ecomodernist Manifesto’ by John Asafu-Adjaye et al. in ESP classes

The paper presents the experience of the Department of Foreign Languages, Ecological Faculty, RUDN University, in teaching English for specific purposes (ESP). A case study of the introduction of ‘An Ecomodernist Manifesto’ in ESP classes is discussed in the article. ‘An Ecomodernist Manifesto’ is a 25-page essay written by 18 environmental scientists, activists and scholars. The present study is an attempt to consider the value of the manifesto for teaching English to upper-intermediate and advanced students of environmental studies faculties. It is found that the manifesto can serve this purpose in terms of its content and language. Implementation of the manifesto in ESP courses has positive aspects as well as challenges outlined in the conclusion. Taking into account the obtained results, the manifesto can be recommended for students with upper-intermediate and advanced levels of language proficiency. This study might be interesting for teachers of foreign languages and contribute to the field of didactics.Keywords: Teaching and studying foreign languages, English for specific purposes (ESP), teaching material, case study.

The Impact of Feedback in Facebook on Students’ Language Proficiency

Facebook is a wealth of knowledge, which allows group discussion, asking questions, exposing to different perspectives, observing new information, sharing experiences, discovering newness of life, and socio-pragmatic development. It is an open platform for knowledge exchange from scholars with minimum cost but maximum effectiveness. The idea of using Facebook as a learning tool was implemented in an English for Specific Purposes course at a private university. This study was conducted to find out the effects of online feedback in Facebook on students’ language proficiency and investigate their attitudes toward learning through Facebook. Forty participants were selected to take part in the experiment during the first semester of 2017 academic year. Two assignments were a requirement of the course comprising news writing and news reading. In each assignment, scores were given to students’ practice and real performance. The study employed feedback offered by teacher and peers in Facebook as a tool to develop students’ proficiency. The findings reveal that there were statistically significant improvements in the revised writing draft and news reading which were linked to peers and teacher feedback. An enormous decrease in making mistakes indicated that students used the comments to improve their performances. In addition, the replies from an open-ended questionnaire indicated positive attitudes toward the use of Facebook as a learning tool. However, several disadvantages along with suggestions are useful for future course development.

Students’ Needs and Vocabulary Development in English for Specific Purposes Course

<p><em>Vocabulary is very important for language learners. Limited knowledge of vocabulary can cause problems in language learning, especially in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Students’ needs on English vocabulary should be invested for learning achievement. The research study was conducted with all students registering in an ESP course, English for Food and Beverage Service. The total number was 54 students: 48 females and 6 males. Three instruments were employed: first and post-activity questionnaires, task assignment, and a vocabulary test. The food lists in the questionnaires fall into five groups: herbs, spices, and food seasonings; vegetables; fruits; meat and poultry; fish and shellfish. Vocabulary list with more than 50% chosen as needed in each food group from the first questionnaire distributed at the beginning of the course were used to create a test on students’ vocabulary knowledge. Two most chosen food groups for vocabulary knowledge development were herbs, spices, and food seasonings group (98.1%) and fish and shell fish group (96.3%). Fish and shellfish list was the only group indicated as a very great problem for the students (48.1%). Vocabulary test results showed the lowest score of 0/23 while the highest score is 22/23 from fish and shellfish group list. </em><em>Mean of the fish and shellfish food list is 10.80 which is the lowest mean among the five group lists on the vocabulary test.</em><em> 63% of the students admitted that task assignment responded to their needs of English food vocabulary development.</em><em></em></p>

NEEDS ANALYSIS ON DEVELOPING A SYLLABUS OF ENGLISH FOR THE STUDY PROGRAM OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS UNIVERSITAS BRAWIJAYA

Abstract : Needs analysis plays an important role in developing curriculum of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This study investigated the needs and views of Study Program of Development Economics (SPDE) students of ESP courses. There were three types of instruments used, a set of questionnaire for the students of SPDE, interview checklists for the English lecturer and the head of study program, and documents. The result of the study showed that the syllabus should facilitate the ability to communicate in English on academic, general, and vocational situation in the economics field. The English course should also focus the students on reading skill.