CALLing ESP: The pedagogical dimensions of a blended ESAP programme
In the age of internationalisation of business and education and social and professional mobility, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), a long established field, is flourishing. Since its emergence, several definitions can be found in literature. Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) provide a list with ‘absolute’ and ‘variable’ characteristics of ESP, while Johnson and Johnson (1998, p.105) describe ESP as a ‘broad and diverse field of English language teaching’ that refers to ‘language programmes designed for groups or individuals who are learning with an identifiable purpose and clearly specified needs.’
One of the governing principles of ESP is needs analysis; for this reason, it has been observed that literature concentrates extensively on what to be taught in ESP programmes rather than how such programmes can be taught or implemented (Basturkmen, 2012; Watson Todd, 2003; Wu & Badger, 2009 ). With researchers focusing merely on issues of syllabus content such as specialist discourse, other important aspects of ESP such as ESP teaching methodology and ESP teacher education have been neglected.
This paper attempts to address the need for discussion of issues of ESP teaching methodology. Acknowledging the numerous educational advantages of using technology in language programmes (Blake, 2013), the paper focuses on the way technology can be integrated in an ESP programme (Arnó-Macià, 2014; Bloch, 2013) through a blended-learning approach in order to facilitate the outlined objectives of the programme. Discussion draws on the example of a 13-week English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) programme at the Cyprus University of Technology for 30 first-year students of Commerce Finance and Shipping, in the context of which online applications such as Google Sites and Google Drive were used. The researcher was also the instructor of the course. The purpose of the research study was the continuous investigation of the students’ and the teacher’s perceptions of various aspects of the programme to ensure quality maintenance, identify aspects that needed improvement and make sure that pedagogy was always in the core of the programme. More specifically, the study aimed at investigating the students’ and the teacher’s perceptions of the following:
References
In the age of internationalisation of business and education and social and professional mobility, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), a long established field, is flourishing. Since its emergence, several definitions can be found in literature. Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) provide a list with ‘absolute’ and ‘variable’ characteristics of ESP, while Johnson and Johnson (1998, p.105) describe ESP as a ‘broad and diverse field of English language teaching’ that refers to ‘language programmes designed for groups or individuals who are learning with an identifiable purpose and clearly specified needs.’
One of the governing principles of ESP is needs analysis; for this reason, it has been observed that literature concentrates extensively on what to be taught in ESP programmes rather than how such programmes can be taught or implemented (Basturkmen, 2012; Watson Todd, 2003; Wu & Badger, 2009 ). With researchers focusing merely on issues of syllabus content such as specialist discourse, other important aspects of ESP such as ESP teaching methodology and ESP teacher education have been neglected.
This paper attempts to address the need for discussion of issues of ESP teaching methodology. Acknowledging the numerous educational advantages of using technology in language programmes (Blake, 2013), the paper focuses on the way technology can be integrated in an ESP programme (Arnó-Macià, 2014; Bloch, 2013) through a blended-learning approach in order to facilitate the outlined objectives of the programme. Discussion draws on the example of a 13-week English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) programme at the Cyprus University of Technology for 30 first-year students of Commerce Finance and Shipping, in the context of which online applications such as Google Sites and Google Drive were used. The researcher was also the instructor of the course. The purpose of the research study was the continuous investigation of the students’ and the teacher’s perceptions of various aspects of the programme to ensure quality maintenance, identify aspects that needed improvement and make sure that pedagogy was always in the core of the programme. More specifically, the study aimed at investigating the students’ and the teacher’s perceptions of the following:
- fulfilment of their expectations from the course
- achievement of general learning outcomes set at the beginning of the course
- achievement of more specific learning outcomes set before each session
- content of the course
- teaching methodology
- technologies used
References
- Arnó-Macià, E. (2014). Information Technology and Languages for Specific Purposes in the EHEA: Options and Challenges for the Knowledge Society. In E. Bárcena, T. Read, & J. Arús (Eds.), Language for Specific Purposes in the Digital Era (pp. 3–25). Madrid: Springer.
- Basturkmen, H. (2012). Languages for Specific Purposes Curriculum Creation and Implementation in Australasia and Europe. The Modern Language Journal, 96, 59–70. Retrieved from http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2012.01297.x
- Blake, R. J. (2013). Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreing Language Learning (2nd ed.). Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
- Bloch, J. (2013). Technology and ESP. In B. Paltridge & S. Starfield (Eds.), The Handbook of English for Specific Purposes (pp. 385–401). Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
- Dudley-Evans, T., & St. John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Johnson, K., & Johnson, H. (1998). English for specific purposes (ESP). In Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistsics. Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
- Watson Todd, R. (2003). EAP or TEAP? Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2(2), 147–156. Retrieved from http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1475158503000146
- Wu, H., & Badger, R. G. (2009). In a strange and uncharted land: ESP teachers’ strategies for dealing with unpredicted problems in subject knowledge during class. English for Specific Purposes, 28(1), 19–32. Retrieved from http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0889490608000483