Practical considerations in EAP and ESP course …© David Hill 2012 - NEAS Conference, May 2012,...

© David Hill 2012 - NEAS Conference, May 2012, Sydney

Practical considerations in EAP

and ESP course design

David Hill Independent ELT writer / consultant

[email protected] [email protected]

0403 791 238

© David Hill 2012 NEAS Conference, May 2012, Sydney

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Outline

1. The ESP spectrum

2. Theory, in brief

3. Back to reality

4. Syllabus composition

5. Connections and balances

6. Walk-through

7. Summary and principles

What do I mean by ESP?


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Common thread to the definitions in the literature is:

English for any particular purpose

Examples

English for (General)

Academic Purposes (EGAP)

English for Specific Academic Purposes

(ESAP) Business English

IELTS Exam Preparation

English for High School

English for open pit copper mine engineers at

Chuquicamata mine, Chile


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Types of ESP

Wide-angled Narrow-angled


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Where do they go?


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Wide-angled Narrow-angled

EGAP

Biz Eng

Chilean mine

engineers ESAP


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Outline

1. The ESP spectrum

2. Theory, in brief

3. Back to reality



6. Walk-through


The triangle of inputs


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Course

Teacher (knowledge of

English)

Student (subject

knowledge)

Teacher/course designer (genre analysis skills)

Based on Frendo (2011)

The literature: ESP course design

Most descriptions:

•Narrow-angled

•Access to the stus and/or a well-defined context

•Focus on detail: materials


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Techniques

Investigation of text types

DIY corpus

Ethnographic approaches (observations, interviews etc)


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Outline

1. The ESP spectrum

2. Theory, in brief

3. Back to reality



6. Walk-through


But …


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Is that usually possible for NEAS courses?

Do we have the resources (esp time) to do this anyway?

Teacher experience and the result?

So …

Start from info already available (Basturkmen, 2010)


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Outline

1. The ESP spectrum

2. Theory, in brief

3. Back to reality



6. Walk-through


As NEAS says:

It is OK to base courses around coursebooks!!!


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Why are course books useful?

Less re-inventing the wheel

Ready-made syllabus

Sense of progression / continuity / direction

Ensure coverage

Everything Many things in one place


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But … they’re generic

Wide-ranging needs (prior experience, age, etc)

Multiple contexts

Avoid offence (no PARSNIPS!)

Currency (no recent / current events)

Skills balance


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Some suggestions to overcome this:

Localise: supplement with local materials

Re-balance the skills; fill the gaps

Provide options


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My approach …

Find a core text (or two) that fits the general needs of the students

Identify areas of mismatch between that text and student needs

Find supplementary materials that fill the gaps

Match units of all texts (core + supplementary) to weeks


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Outline

1. The ESP spectrum

2. Theory, in brief

3. Back to reality



6. Walk-through


The connected curriculum

Learner profile

Objectives and learning outcomes

Syllabus outcomes

Assessment types and processes

Level descriptors / assessment criteria

Professional development

Evaluation (eg survey questions)

Promotional material


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Balance

Prescription and

consistency

Teacher creativity /

response to ss


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Outline

1. The ESP spectrum

2. Theory, in brief

3. Back to reality



6. Walk-through


One approach

Main document ~25 pages

Syllabus overview ~6-8 pages

Core texts

Systematic supplementary materials, activities, projects

Assessment activities

Level syllabus (detailed) ~ 2 pages per week

Outcomes from core and supplementary texts

Assessment

Notes and suggestions


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One approach …

1 Rationale

2 The Students

3 Objectives

course objectives

learning outcomes

4 Curriculum design and content

Approach

Syllabus

Materials, timetables, teaching program


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One approach …

5 Assessment

Pre-arrival testing and placement

Monitoring student progress/achievement

Informing students

Student progress records, certificates etc

6 Review and evaluation

7 Specialist staff

8 Promotion


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Outline

1. The ESP spectrum

2. Theory, in brief

3. Back to reality



6. Walk-through


General suggestions …

Keep up-to-date with materials

Keep an eye on the literature to avoid re-inventing the wheel

Be specific but brief: Who? When? How?

Avoid teaching content

Keep everything linked

Don’t get bogged down in detail


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© David Hill 2012 - NEAS Conference, May 2012, Sydney

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Bibliography

Basturkmen, H (2006) Ideas and Options in English for Specific Purposes. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum

Basturkmen, H. (2010) Developing Courses in English for Specific Purposes. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Dudley-Evans, T & St John, M J (1998) Developments in English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge: CUP

Frendo, E (2011) Brighton Online: Interview with Evan Frendo. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011/sessions/2011-04-18/interview-evan-frendo

Hutchinson, T & Waters, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge: CUP

Practical considerations in EAP and ESP course …© David Hill 2012 - NEAS Conference, May 2012,...

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