Specific Purposes Courses Research Articles

Continuous Assessment in ESP Context

Due to the globalization process and scarcity of learning hours Ukrainian higher educational standards in terms of English for Specific Purposes course are being reconsidered currently to enable university graduates to be highly competitive in the world labour market. Under these conditions assessment as an integrated part of any process of learning has to be reviewed as well. Earlier assessment was used as a tool for increasing extrinsic motivation of students and measuring their success, but nowadays, when the learning hours have been decreased dramatically, we have researched, how to reduce possible demotivating effect of assessment and how to use assessment for enhancing intrinsic motivation of students. For that purpose we have used a variety of continuous assessment. Moreover, we have managed to contribute in the development of 21-st century skills of our students (critical thinking, creative thinking, collaborating, communicating) through self-assessment and peer-assessment while they were developing the criteria for assessment themselves. Furthermore, during the experiment that lasted from September, 2016 till June, 2017 students under our supervision have developed the lists of criteria for assessing such soft skills as presenation preparation and delivery, participation in discussions, etc. The results of the experiment were measured with the help of summative assessment at the end of the study year and questionnaires that students under experiment filled in January, 2017 and in June, 2017. The difference with the control group was tremendous.

English

English

A Multimodal Approach toward Teaching for Transfer: A Case of Team-Teaching in ESAP Writing Courses

This paper presents a detailed examination of learning transfer from an English for Specific Academic Purposes course to authentic discipline-specific writing tasks. To enhance transfer practices, a new approach in planning writing tasks and materials selection was developed. Concerning the conventions of studies in learning transfer that acknowledge different learning preferences, the instructional resources were designed to be multimodal to engage all participants in construing the principles of academic writing. To promote the relevance of writing practices and their transferability to future professional settings and to ensure the success of the multimodal presentations, a practice of team-teaching between the English Language and content lecturers was rigorously embraced. A sample population of 28 postgraduate medical students from Jondi Shapur University of Medical Sciences in Ahvaz participated in this research. The data were collected through interviews and writing samples throughout a whole semester and were subsequently analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively based on James' (2009) checklist of writing outcomes. The results indicated that the instruction did stimulate transfer from the course to the authentic tasks notably in the skills associated with organization and language accuracy; however, the transfer of some outcomes appeared to be constrained particularly the use of punctuation marks. Implications of the findings for theory, practice, and future research in discipline-specific writing practices are discussed.

Business Spanish in the Real World: A Task-Based Needs Analysis

The growing demand for Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) courses at universities in the United States in the last two decades (Klee, 2015) has brought to light the need for more theoretically driven research in this field, which can inform pedagogical decisions and materials design. The present study conceptually replicates Serafini and Torres (2015), adopting a Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approach to instructional design, and it aims to contribute to the under-researched field of SPP by a) performing a needs analysis (NA) of a university business Spanish course at two institutions, and b) creating a semester-long syllabus, which better equips non-expert instructors to teach their business Spanish courses. Results indicated that of the total 40 target tasks cited in the first phase of the NA, 21 were reported to be very commonly performed by at least 30% of the respondents in the second phase. These 21 tasks were regrouped and categorized into five more abstract, super-ordinate target task types that made up the objectives for the semester-long business Spanish syllabus informed by TBLT.

НЕОБХОДИМОСТЬ ИНТЕГРАЦИИ КРИТИЧЕСКОЙ МЕДИАГРАМОТНОСТИ В КУРС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА ДЛЯ ЖУРНАЛИСТОВ

Critical media literacy has gained much importance in Western educational curricula lately but still remains insufficiently explored and implemented in the English language education in Russian universities. This article explores the theoretical foundations of critical media literacy, discusses the necessity to focus on developing students’ critical thinking skills with regard to the proper use of media in the context of English for journalism and provides examples of practical applications. Most English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses that are designed for future journalists and specialists in media communications are focused solely on either theoretical knowledge about the profession or on general knowledge about the professional world and the language it uses, which is clearly not enough for a successful future activity.The rapid development of the mass media causes a need for journalists of a new type: creative professionals, people who are able to access, analyze, evaluate, distribute media messages and act using all forms of communication. On the basis of the works of leading Russian and international researchers in the field of media education, the author offers a rationale for incorporating critical media literacy into the process of English language acquisition. Therefore, strategies that can be used to strengthen critical thinking abilities are given as well as an in depth analysis outlining the benefits of media literacy for journalism students.

Students’ Perceptions of Using Facebook as a Learning Management System at a Thai Public University

Web 2.0 technologies have changed the manner in which people across the world communicate. Social media allows people to interact and share information. These technologies may be able to provide solutions to some of the issues currently faced in education. Facebook is a widely adopted and popular social media platform that could potentially enhance learning and increase course satisfaction levels. The purpose of this study was to examine students’ perceptions of using Facebook within a university course. A closed Facebook group was set up and used to post resources and course information. The group also acted as a communication channel between the course instructor and students. Data for this study was collected through questionnaires. The participants of this study were 2nd year hospitality major students taking an English for specific purposes course at a public university in Bangkok, Thailand. The results showed that students were positive towards the use of Facebook within the course. The findings of this study can provide data for educators considering using Facebook as a learning management system.

Developing a Spanish for Health Professions Course: A Preliminary Mixed-Methods Study

The mixed-methods pilot study described in this article traces the development of a Spanish for Specific Purposes: Health Professions course that was designed to help future health care professionals develop their linguistic proficiency and intercultural abilities. The study included nursing, medical, and dental students and was conducted at a large public university in an area of the southeastern United States that has experienced an increase in the Spanish-speaking Limited English Proficiency (LEP) population. The purpose of the study was to explore students’ perceptions of the course and its curricular design, as well as to investigate students’ perceptions with respect to a series of motivation constructs. The findings indicated that Language for Specific Purposes courses focused on health professions can have a positive impact on students’ perceptions, while preparing language-concordant providers to more effectively and sensitively meet the needs of LEP patients. Benefits were related to the context-specific nature of the course and tasks, while challenges included curricular constraints and schedule conflicts.

ESP TEACHER EDUCATION MODEL IN INDONESIAN CONTEXT

English for Specific Purpose (ESP) course has been taught over the years in many in Indonesia. However, the ESP teaching practice in nationalwide are confronting with several serious problems. One of the major problems lies on its teachers. This paper will attempt to first review the existing ESP schools in Indonesia, then will briefly explain certain theories underlying ESP. The next, the paper will analyze the existing and the practice of ESP schools in several countries and will finally propose ESP teacher education models

Best Practices in the English for Specific Purpose Classes at the Language Center

Abstract South East European University is an Institution, established in 2001 by few International Stakeholders with the aim of introducing new teaching techniques and approaches in education. Special curriculums and courses were designed as an innovation in higher education. Within these news curriculums, English for Specific Purpose course emerged, which was dedicated to advanced students in English Language. This course was introduced around 2005 for the first time and since then has been constantly part of every study program. Thus, with this research, we will describe in general the English for Specific Course (ESP) with its features and bring to light the best practices occurring in these courses. Learners in ESP course are interviewed and asked to rate some of the best and common practices in the course. The findings from the research are analyzed and introduced in the paper for our own benefit and also for sharing them with other teachers of ESP who take part in the conference. As regards the research methodology surveys and interviews were conducted. The questions were agreed in advance with students of ESP and through them we collected information about their attitudes and their general view of the best practices in ESP classes. Our hypothesis from the research was that students view ESP as a very useful course, which helps them reach higher communicative competence in their field of study and as a result higher job opportunities in the labor market of Macedonia, as a country aspiring for integration in international organizations such as NATO and EU. The outcome of the research strongly affirmed that, and students indicated that the course was effective.

Impact of Genre-Based Instruction on Development of Students’ Letter Writing Skills: The Case of Students of Textile Engineering

The current study investigated the effectiveness of genre-based instruction on the development of EFL learners’ writing skills. Participants were 34 undergraduate students majoring in textile engineering at an Iranian state university, and they had enrolled in the English for specific academic purposes course. Participants were taught how to write 4 types of business letters, highlighting the presentation of appropriate moves and lexicogrammatical features. Furthermore, a letter writing attitude questionnaire was administered to the participants at the end of the semester. Participants’ abilities in writing letters were measured across the 4 letter writing tasks. Results revealed that those who had been exposed to the genre-based instruction made great improvement in different aspects of writing letters such as content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. Correspondingly, raising the participants’ awareness of the genre-based features of the letters contributed to their positive attitudes and production of high-quality texts.

Some suggestions for modelling a contemporary medical English course design based on need analysis

In English for Specific Purposes course design is based on a thorough need analysis of language learners. This paper focuses on the linguistic needs of medical students and it also identifies the areas perceived as the most problematic and the most important for their future careers. English for Medical Purposes is content- and context-based and an interdisciplinary approach in cooperation with medical teachers may greatly contribute to the students’ professional development.The present study focuses on data obtained from questionnaires and interviews with 62 medical students, 43 medical doctors and 24 teaching assistants. In order to design a relevant course it is necessary not only to analyze the current students learning needs but also to determine what their future needs would be and that was done by including the medical doctors and the teaching staff.

Intercultural perceptions among undergraduate students in English for Business and Economics courses.

<p><em>The practice of intercultural communication should be a primary goal of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) courses in tertiary education, because, through language instruction, future professionals can become aware of intercultural differences and develop strategies to deal with them, thus equipping themselves with necessary skills for effective cross-cultural communication in a globalized work environment. In this study, the intercultural awareness of first and second year undergraduate students attending an English for Business and Economics course was examined in relation to their interest in the economy and culture of other countries as well as to their preferred sources of information about current economic issues. Their preferences and perceptions regarding the intercultural elements incorporated in the methods and material used in the English course were also explored. The analysis of the Likert-type questionnaire revealed that intercultural awareness needs to be further practiced in class and led to important implications for the teaching methods and tasks used in the LSP courses.</em></p><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p>

English for Specific Purposes: Proposing an Innovative Approach to Teaching English to Medical Students

Background: English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses should empower students to satisfy their language needs. However, at many Iranian universities, these courses are mostly taught based on the Grammar Translation Method focusing on teaching grammatical rules and reading comprehension. The present study aims at proposing an innovative approach for teaching English to Medical students that can improve students’ proficiency in different language skills. Methods: The design of this qualitative study was action research. The participants were 53 freshmen medical students studying at the Birjand University of Medical Sciences during the spring semester of 2015. A new syllabus including authentic medical materials (both visual and written) with a focus on all four language skills was designed and implemented to help the students learn English language as a whole and to become capable of producing the language on their own. During the term, learners were given the appropriate instruction on how to read, write, speak, and also watch English programs. Results: The results indicated that by implementing this new approach, the students’ proficiency in all language skills was improved. It was also revealed that they preferred this alternative approach since it was more in line with their language needs. Conclusions: Taking into consideration the benefits of this approach, it seems necessary for English language instructors to teach language as a whole by using authentic materials. Also, for a more effective language instruction, more multimedia devices should be provided and the class size should be reduced.

Troublesome English translations of Taiwanese dishes

Almost every Taiwanese university has some form of an English Department, some with straightforward names (e.g., Department of English) and some with ambiguous names (e.g., Department of Applied Languages). The so-called ‘Applied Courses’ are in fact English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses covering a range of Business and Tourism topics. While pursuing my doctorate I taught these courses as an adjunct lecturer in several universities. This experience continuously reaffirmed suspicions that one particular aspect of English language education was being neglected in Taiwanese secondary and tertiary education, that is, how to translate the names of the foods and dishes that make up the culturally laden Taiwanese cuisine.

Medical Students’ Challenges and Strategies in Producing Web TV Programs on YouTube

Cooperative learning occurs when students work together in small groups on an assigned project to achieve learning objectives. A classroom assignment given in an English for Specific Purposes course namely, Workplace Communication III, exposed medical students to this method. This assignment required students to produce a Web TV program and upload it to YouTube. In completing their assignment by employing cooperative learning method, the students applied several processes and faced challenges that eventually helped them to improve their communication skills in the English language. This study aimed to identify the challenges faced and the strategies the students employed to overcome those challenges. Seventeen first year medical undergraduates who enrolled in the Workplace Communication III course were involved in this study. Semi-structured focus group interviews and reflective notes were used to collect the data for this study. The challenges faced by students are time constraint, communication and technical difficulties, and a lack of creativity and confidence. The main strategies applied included brainstorming ideas, independent learning, and practices to overcome these challenges. This study could serve as a guideline for the course designers to improve the current course.

Exploring ESP syllabi: Some implications for further pedagogical considerations

The necessity of including syllabi research into current teaching practices is of utmost importance due to the fact that current job markets not only dictate the need for differentiated instruction but also call for novel approaches towards glottodidactic and pedagogical goals within the tertiary educational level. The main aim of this paper is to examine the current status of English for Specific Purposes courses at one of the tertiary educational institutions in order to see whether English for Specific Purposes? practices are really implemented in language classrooms or whether they exist only on paper. The paper focuses on researching selected points in all the syllabi related to teaching English for Specific Purposes in order to establish the types of syllabi used, possible practices used prior to the syllabi design, focus in the syllabi on General English or English for Specific Purposes and the implementation of practices aimed at integrated skills. The research results call for viable systematic changes in the home department curriculum in the form of introducing courses at the 1st and 2nd cycle of studies, as well as master programmes in English for Specific Purposes, which will enable the provision of competitive teachers and practitioners in the current job market.

Evaluating an English for Specific Purposes Course for Law Students

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>Este artículo presenta los resultados de la evaluación de la efectividad de un cur- </span><span>so de inglés con fines específicos para estudiantes de derecho. Dicho curso fue di</span><span>- </span><span>señado según los deseos y necesidades de la población, previamente identificados </span><span>por medio de encuestas a profesionales en el área, un examen de diagnóstico y un instrumento enfocado en averiguar los mayores intereses de la población al utili- </span><span>zar el inglés en su vida profesional. El curso constaba de tres unidades enfocadas en facilitarle a la población el uso del inglés en el ámbito laboral. La metodología </span><span>utilizada para impartir las clases fue </span><span>task-based instrucction </span><span>(instrucción basada en tareas), en la cual los estudiantes tenían que realizar tareas distintas con los </span><span>objetivos de participar en una entrevista de trabajo y comunicarse de manera oral y </span><span>escrita con clientes potenciales. Entre los resultados principales se pudo concluir que el curso fue muy efectivo en preparar a los alumnos para realizar las tareas meta </span></p></div></div></div>

A New Strategic Proposal of Change in the Conversation Program of the School of Modern Languages at the University of Costa Rica: English for Specific Purposes Courses

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>Este artículo es el resultado de una investigación sobre una propuesta de cambio en la gestión académica del Programa de Cursos de Conversación de la Escuela de Lenguas Modernas de la Universidad de Costa Rica. Este estudio comprende los resultados de un instrumento administrado a los estudiantes del último nivel en el idioma inglés y opiniones de diferentes personas involucradas en la enseñanza de este idioma. Por último, se hace una serie de recomendaciones a la administración del programa para llevar a cabo la propuesta de cambio en la institución. </span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

Teacherss Perceptions About the Process and Challenges of Designing an English for Specific Purposes Course in the Arabian Gulf

This paper discusses teachers’ perceptions about the process and challenges of course design in general, and ESP (English for Specific Purposes) courses in particular. The study involves the process of designing an ESP course for returning students from the work place in the continued education department at the Higher Colleges of Technology. the findings in this paper are based on a qualitative research that employed an interpretivist/ constructivist theory, in which qualitative data was gathered primarily through interviews with a view to clarifying teachers' perceptions and understanding the beliefs and practices behind them. The study attempted to answer mainly the following questions. How do teachers perceive the process of an ESP course design? And what are the challenges they might encounter while designing ESP courses in general? In the findings section, four major themes have emerged from the data analysis process; they consist of influence of 1- Culture, Ideology, and Politics 2- The controversy of Needs Analysis, 3- Challenges in producing adequate course materials, and 4- Theory versus practice. Finally, the study discusses the implications of the findings and presents some recommendations for further use.

The Advantages of the Network-based Electronic Teaching Package by the Implementation of English for Specific Purposes Course

The article analyses the advantages of English for Specific Purposes teaching of the fourth year students majoring in “Electrical and Power Engineering” at National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University by means of the network-based electronic teaching package. This paper analyzes the structural content of the network-based electronic teaching package, shows the key approaches used to develop this tool and focuses on the description of its main components. The conclusions made are based on the results obtained over a three year period (2012-2015) of the network-based electronic teaching package use.