ESP Context Research Articles

Correlation of ESP Learners’ Cognitive, Metacognitive Strategies and Academic Achievement

There have been many studies dealing with the interconnections between the utilization of language learning strategies and the overall academic achievement of EFL learners. Our research aims to investigate whether there is some correlation between the implementation of cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, and academic achievement in an ESP context. The study sample incorporated 170 undergraduates studying in business administration programs at the university where we are teaching. We used the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning Strategies (SILL) put together by R. Oxford to examine the implementation of CSs and MCSs by the learners. We generated the results with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics. We compared the data received with the students’ GPAs by using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The findings revealed that students make use of both CSs and MCSs fairly highly. MCSs are used more than CSs. There is a remarkably useful correlation between GPA and most of the CSs and MCSs examined. The findings and recommendations of this research will contribute to the ongoing literature and they will help in updating ESP syllabi and teaching techniques of vocational and practical programs that require ESP.

Needs Analysis in English for Moroccan Applied Mathematics Graduate Students at Ibn Zohr University

This study examined the English academic needs of students in the Applied Mathematics in the Science of Engineering (AMSE) master program at the Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Morocco. It aimed at determining the gap between students' language needs and their actual competencies and identifying learners’ perceptions of their linguistic needs and their linguistic difficulties. The study was conducted based on a mixed-methods design approach with multiple data collection instruments. As a research framework, the Dudley-Evans and St John's (1998) needs analysis model was used. The results showed that participants attach different values to the importance and competence of macro- and micro-language skills. Students and teachers placed a high value on grammatical knowledge. Students valued grammar, speaking, and writing highly, while subject matter teachers valued grammar, speaking, and writing highly, but listening and pronunciation skills were valued as less important. The study showed that learners' English proficiency level is average. Their average English levels then influenced their academic achievement. Based on the aforementioned results, the researchers proposed that syllabus designers should address the macro- and micro-skills regarding academic studies when developing and redesigning course syllabus and its objectives in the ESP context.

Practicing Speaking Skills in the ESP Context to Prepare Students for Their Careers

Practicing Speaking Skills in the ESP Context to Prepare Students for Their Careers

Towards Technical Fluency: Assessing the English Language Needs of Mechanical Engineering Students in a University ESP Context

This study investigates the English language needs of Mechanical Engineering students in a university ESP class. Through a questionnaire distributed to 21 students, the findings reveal that 81% recognize the crucial role of English proficiency in their academic and professional pursuits. Specific language skills such as vocabulary and grammar practice are considered important, emphasizing the overall significance of language proficiency. The research underscores the importance of reading tasks, with technical documents, textbooks, and instructions deemed essential. However, a lack of emphasis on oral communication skills is evident, as tasks related to speaking are generally considered non-essential by the majority of students. While specific listening skills in certain contexts are valued, the study also points to a need for curriculum development in oral communication. Writing tasks, particularly SOPs and technical reports, are highly valued, but other forms of writing receive less emphasis. The study provides valuable insights into the linguistic needs of Mechanical Engineering students, offering guidance for curriculum development and instructional strategies to enhance their language skills for academic and professional success.

TEACHING TECHNICAL VOCABULARY: ARE MATCHING EXERCISES THE THING OF THE PAST?

TEACHING TECHNICAL VOCABULARY: ARE MATCHING EXERCISES THE THING OF THE PAST?

Widening the Circle: Teaching English for Specific Purposes in the Light of Content-Based Instruction

Language instruction based on content is not a new idea; it originated in English-speaking countries such as the USA, Canada, and many European countries that study content subjects in English. Accordingly, it has become a widely adopted pedagogical approach to English for Academic Purposes. The teaching of English to speakers of other languages, including Algeria, however, abounds with multiple acronyms, causing teachers to become confused, and even disoriented when considering English for Specific Purposes, English for Academic Purposes, and Content-Based Instruction. The rationale of this purely theoretical-based article is to understand the current pedagogical practices in language across the curriculum and strive to unearth and uncover how English for Specific Purpose courses can be taught by implementing Content-based Instruction as a syllabus, by reviewing some linguistic, and pedagogical rationales as well as principles for the application of this framework for foreign language learners in higher education, more precisely in the ESP context. Besides, the study suggests some teaching models that are meant to help English language instructors to be content teachers in some circumstances and language-competent teachers in other contexts.
 Keywords: Content-Based Instruction; teacher; Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Linguistic effect of focus projection in the ESP classroom: some pedagogical implications

Placing emphasis on words, which in turn spread this emphasis to the preceding word, is a phenomenon typical of English. This is technically known as focus projection, or projection. Since projection as defined above is realised in and through speaking, the relation between projection and speaking is studied in the context of ESP. Due to the lack of enough practice, speaking appears to constitute a challenge for most ESP students. Although practice remains the best solution, the question is how to practice, or how to encourage students, in an artificial environment. I define artificial environment as an environment where learners of English are not surrounded by native speakers, so the former do not have the opportunity to practice, i.e. to speak, English on a regular everyday basis. Hence, a research question emerges naturally, namely can projection be used to facilitate speaking? This paper studies the relevance of focus projection in the ESP classroom. The introductory section exemplifies the concept of projection, sets the objectives of the study, and briefly describes the methods that are used. The main objective is to study if awareness of focus projection on the part of the teacher can serve as a tool to facilitate learning, especially speaking, in an ESP context. The second section deals with theoretical and practical, including pedagogical, implications, and is followed by empirical data on the basis of which these implications are further discussed.The concluding section continues the discussion by lending weight to the constraints the teacher faces if they apply the above presented ideas but also reinforces the practical benefit of encouraging students to attach emphasis to particular words in the sentence. / Keywords: linguistic affect, emphasis, focus projection, ESP, pedagogical implications

E-PORTFOLIO IN STUDENTS' LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Enhancing technical education by connecting sustainable development goals within the English for Specific Purposes framework requires motivating the professional advancement of students. Therefore, choosing an engaging active learning tool becomes one of the most crucial components of this process. Our understanding of ePortfolio as an all-inclusive and sustainable toolkit to provide non-native English speakers with new sources of professional growth and self-esteem has evolved into the current study's didactic and research scenario. The monitoring of 18 experimental group members while compiling individual electronic portfolios in English helped us explore their progress in terms of both linguistic and professional proficiencies. For this, qualitative and quantitative tools gathered learners` perceptions that were later analysed by statistic and sentiment analysis software. As a result, a visible improvement in B2 mediation, B2 reading and B2 writing communicative competences was detected; a collective awareness of a quality professional background presentation is another outcome of the study. A few technological means in the ESP and research context supported those achievements. The blended focus of this exploration might interest L2 practitioners and educators who are hesitant about involving measurements and analysis tools in their practice. By embracing the two-fold paradigm described above, we now understand that research happens while we are teaching. The study's results show how a method for teaching and researching English backed by technology may be applied in real-world settings. We expect this experience will motivate future efforts to combine the SDGs and ESP in higher education. Quality language instruction may serve as the cornerstone of future professional success while addressing the pressing demand for long-term adaptation to meet engineering specifications.

Google classroom for emergency remote learning: the students’ perceptions

This study aimed at finding out college students’ point of view on the use of Google Classroom for Emergency Remote Learning during COVID-19 outbreak. A survey research design was employed by the researcher for this research. The respondents were 209 students of Poltekkes Kemenkes Malang, Indonesia, coming from various departments, namely: nursing, midwifery, occupational health and safety, and blood bank technology. The online questionnaire consisted of 31 items was distributed to the respondents as the research instrument to collect the primary data. Once all the data were collected, then they were explained in descriptive manner, tabulated, and analyzed. The results showed that the students of Poltekkes Kemenkes Malang got positive perspectives on the use of Google Classroom in all aspects during the emergency online learning and only a very small percentage of students (below 10%) showed negative response regarding the use of Google Classroom. According to them, Google Classroom did not help them mastering the English materials and improving their achievement. Based on the findings it can be concluded that Google Classroom for ermergency remote learning gained positive perceptions from the students but there are still few constraints dealing with the use of Google Classroom for emergency remote learning, so the teachers need to evaluate the utilization of this platform to get more benefits and minimize the drawbacks, particularly for ESP context.

Student Perceptions of E-Portfolio-Based Formative Assessment in ESP Context

Student Perceptions of E-Portfolio-Based Formative Assessment in ESP Context

The Correlation of Speaking Self-Efficacy, Speaking Proficiency and Gender in ESP Context

The Correlation of Speaking Self-Efficacy, Speaking Proficiency and Gender in ESP Context

An analysis of curriculum renewal in ESP context

This article is devoted to the research of the foreign language curriculum set by the department of language training. Specifically, it proposes some changes to the current curriculum of the module “English for lawyers”. In fact, the data were collected from second-year learners and the curriculum of this module. The current curriculum for this module partially meets the standards of the university. The research entails several steps prior to the drawn conclusion. The first step was carried out through needs analysis in order to gather sufficient data about the learners and their preferences. Secondly, the existing curriculum was researched and its advantages and disadvantages were found out. Some drawbacks contain inappropriate teaching materials, lack of legal writing and not well-explained assessment criteria. The gathered outcomes helped to provide some suggestions which include changes regarding the syllabus, textbooks, and methods of the teachers. All these suggestions are based on the drawbacks and advantages of the curriculum. The suggested curriculum includes the integration of all skills; content, skill and task-based syllabus; reading novels related to their profession and succinct explanation of the tasks as well as the assessment criteria. All of these suggestions would be effective for the further development of future lawyers.

The Role of Two-way Information-Gap Tasks on Students’ Motivation in Speaking Lessons in an ESP Context

Speaking is one of the most important skills in language education. However, it becomes more challenging when it is taught in second or foreign language classrooms. For that reason, the present study aims to investigate the role of two-way information gap tasks in students’ motivation in a speaking lesson in an ESP context. The participants are students in a two-year civil aviation program. The program aims to educate students to become qualified employees in the aviation sector. Therefore, students are taught how to communicate with foreign passengers in various situations, from providing a comfortable flight to dealing with flight emergencies using English. To that end, an open-ended motivation questionnaire adapted from Wallace and Leong (2020) was given to the students. The questionnaire inquired about the students’ feelings towards English and their perceptions about whether tasks motivated them or prepared them for their professions. Following the initial examination of the answers in the questionnaire, interview questions were formulated to enrich the data, and one-on-one interviews were conducted with the students on a voluntary basis. The data were analyzed, and the emerging themes were discussed in relation to the research questions formulated for the purposes of this study. The results revealed positive feelings and perceptions toward tasks. Most of the students found tasks motivating and fun. The most salient finding was the students’ perception of tasks as preparatory work for the future due to their instrumental motivation.

The leading methodology for researching ideal methods in an ESP classroom

Studying ESP involves more than simply learning a collection of technical linguistic words; it is about learning how to use English in a particular situation while also including the necessary skills and language learning objectives. The current study aimed to examine the rationale for employing the translation method to teach ESP to third-year computer science students at the University of Tlemcen. This study employed a case study approach. A questionnaire was administered to ESP the teachers in the department of Science and Technology, and classroom observations on third-year students of computer science were conducted. The study's findings indicated that students pursuing third-year computer science courses at Tlemcen University experience a range of difficulties while interacting with professional resources. The proposed translation method in ESP may be incorporated and adapted as an effective technique for ESP teachers and students to improve learners’ language skills related to their academic field. Keywords: Content-based approach; ESP Context; ESP courses; ESP Students.

Evaluating the Vocabulary Coverage of EFL Textbooks and Teachers’ Generated Materials in an Indonesian Islamic Universities:A Corpus-Informed Materials Evaluation

The importance of vocabulary in the learning of EFL has been an indisputable matter in ELT. The inclusion of vocabulary in ELT materials is often accompanied with questions such as what type of vocabulary and how many words to be taught for students in diverse ELT contexts. Hence, evaluating the kinds of vocabulary in ELT materials is similarly important. This study demonstrates a considerably unconventional corpus -informed materials evaluation to assess the suitability of the vocabulary content of ELT course books taught at the State Islamic Institute in Manado with its ESP context. Four ELT course books taught at the four schools of the State Islamic Institute were analysed using the corpus-based methods. A special software designed for corpus linguistics studies called e Antwordprofiler was used to count the coverage/frequency of occurrence of three types of Nation’ vocabulary classification. The results showed that the examined course books contain sufficient coverage of English high frequency words as required by theory that they contain a total coverage of 84.14 % of high frequency English word enlisted in the General Service List (GSL). However, in terms of the coverage of academic and technical vocabulary, these course books content were still considered under the theoretically acceptable coverage of at least 12,4 % and 5 % respectively. It is recommended that for ELT course books that are used in ESP teaching such as in a field-specific Islamic studies programs, the course books should fulfil the minimum coverage threshold of high frequency, academic and technical vocabulary.

PROMOTING THE VOCATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPETENCES OF STUDENTS IN AN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CONTEXT: A NEEDS ASSESSMENT

he purpose of this study is to examine the vocational English language needs of students in an ESP context in the Accommodation and Travel Service department at a vocational and technical Anatolian high school. The study is a partially mixed sequential equal status design. While convenient sampling method was employed to select students, criterion sampling method was utilized to select teachers and supervisors as participants. As a result, 25 ATS students, two vocational course teachers, two English teachers and three supervisors contributed to this research. A survey, semi-structured interview forms and open ended questions in the open interview were employed respectively to collect data from students, teachers and supervisors. In the analysis of the survey data both qualitative and quantitative methods were put into effect. On the other hand, the interview data were analysed through systematic content analysis, inductive coding and thematizing. The result of the analysis of the data revealed that students in this specific context were in need of improving particularly their speaking and listening skills. Low self-confidence of students, negative attitude toward speaking the language, lack of use of appropriate materials; strategies and methods during instruction emerged as issues of consideration in order to reach a resolution. Finally, lack of an appropriate curriculum, lack of strong school-enterprise relationships and inadequate professional qualifications of teachers emerged as issues to be considered by decision makers.

Engaging students in multimodal literacy practices in a university ESP context: towards understanding identity and ideology in government debates

Abstract This paper focuses on issues of multimodal literacy practices in ESP higher education settings. In particular, the research explores how students become engaged in various literacy activities aimed at enhancing their critical-thinking skills and interpretation of images. For this purpose, two datasets consisting of video clips were extracted from a larger multimodal corpus and developed for teaching applications: one involved a UK live parliament debate and the other a US House of Representatives debate. The main objective is to identify the key verbal strategies reflecting persuasive, argumentative rhetoric and the non-verbal features accompanying these verbal utterances such as prosodic stress, body/head movements, gaze, gesture. Thus, the focus of the analysis is on how different semiotic modes of communication construct meaning, especially in terms of how they reinforce the construction of identity and ideological stance. The results were systematically categorized and applied on a practical level to a teaching unit on ‘identity and ideology’.

PhD data collection challenges due to the Covid-19 crisis – a report

The following report depicts the challenges I have faced in the process of collecting the necessary data for my PhD thesis titled Vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) used by university students in an ESP context due to Covid-19 pandemics and switching to online teaching. In order to test the functionality of the VLSs qualitatively, and indicate which of them is responsible for acquisition of larger vocabulary quantities, my mentor (prof. Svetlana Dimitrova - Gyuzeleva) and I have designed an experiment which was originally intended to be fully implemented during the second semester of 2019/2020 (February to June). This experiment would provide a more detailed outline on the efficiency of different strategies use at the same time tackling maybe even a more important issue – raising learners’ awareness about their importance for individual language development. The respondents were students of Law and Finance. However, the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the implementation of the experiment in the middle (in March) because the government introduced special measures and we were forced to convert to online teaching. Even though the teaching process was not dramatically challenged, since we were able to smoothly transfer to teaching via the platform Microsoft Teams, the experiment, or rather the results that were to be obtained with it, were significantly affected.

The Correlation Between Students’ Reading Anxiety and Their Reading Comprehension in ESP Context

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between reading anxiety and reading comprehension of ESP students in Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang. The participants in this study were 50 first-year Governmental Science students who took intensive reading I. This study used correlational design to analyze the relationship between two variables (Reading anxiety and Reading comprehension). In collecting the data, the English Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Inventory (EFLRAI) questionnaire was used to investigate the level and potential causes of reading anxiety. Moreover, in assembling students' reading comprehension data, the researcher constructed a reading comprehension test specifically for governmental science students. Based on the study results, the non-English department students belong to moderate a level of reading anxiety. Specifically, reading anxiety is divided into three main aspects; top-down reading anxiety, bottom-up reading anxiety, and classroom reading anxiety. It was found out that the most potent sources of reading anxiety were in bottom-up reading anxiety, namely unclear-meaning vocabulary in English written text. Regarding students reading comprehension level, the ESP students have a low reading comprehension score. Besides, the research findings illustrated that there is a negative moderate-strong relationship between reading anxiety and Comprehension of ESP students. In means, the higher anxiety the students have, the lower their comprehension score they obtained. Thus, by knowing this, the teacher should select a carefully teaching method in their ESP classroom to decrease their reading anxiety and encourage them to improve their reading comprehension and deal with their anxiety.

Needs analysis in ESP context: A case study of People’s Police University Students

This paper investigates the learning needs of students enrolled in an ESP course at the People’s Police University. A qualitative case study research design was employed through in-depth interviews with 20 undergraduate students. The findings show that the students perceived reading and writing as critical English skills needed for their future profession. The need to thoroughly understand the specialized subject matter in both English and Vietnamese was also reported. Also, the students wished to gain access to extra resources to assist their studying of ESP courses. The students experienced difficulties in mastering technical terms and specialization and comprehending online resources in English. Implications are made based on the findings. The study results would serve as a reference for language program managers, course designers, and English language instructors to enhance ESP courses’ quality in Vietnamese universities.