Financial Issues in Fiction (Belles Lettres)
Dubravka Celinšek, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management, Slovenia
Financial issues, such as financial inequality and unfair business in general, have always helped to cause financial crises. Here we present two cases: one of a financial »success« and one of a financial failure described in fiction by American writers/playwrights: The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman. »Making money is a dirty game. That sentence might almost sum up the attitude of English literature towards (British) business« (Pollard 2009, 1). In addition to general financial crises, financial issues can cause personal crises. Both – general and personal financial crises – presented severe problems at the beginning of 20th century as well as they present severe threats at the present time, i.e. at the beginning of 21st century (the financial crisis of 2008). The present paper starts with presenting the two literary works. Then it presents some social factors that influenced the financial crisis in the early 20th century. The paper aims to compare the two extreme financial positions of the two individuals: the two protagonists in the novel/play (the two sides of the same coin, i.e. the two different stories or destinies) in the same historical epoch. Moreover, it focuses on financial terminology used in both literary works. The paper can also serve as a starting point for further research of the finance, financial issues and terminology used at the time these literary works were published, and for research of financial terminology used today. Moreover, it could be a stimulus for essay writing on the issues arising from these works of art.
Where English Matters: Teaching English at Class – the Romanian Higher Education Setting
Ioana Albu, University of Oradea, Romania
Teachers of English in Romania have to face several challenges. First and foremost, be it about undergraduate education or higher education, the teacher has to cope with large classes – i.e. in primary school, secondary school and high-school classes are made up of 30 pupils, whereas at the university the class may be as large as 50 or even 70 students – depending on the specialization. Thus large classes pose a big challenge. Then one must bring into discussion the issue of translation, as many teachers of large classes often speak their learners’ first language. This means translation is used not only for checking understanding, but also for language practice, writing and even speaking. Whole-class teaching often implies the teacher-fronted lessons by mainstream English teachers. Thirdly, activity based learning is seen a ‘local’ solution to large classes, though it is challenging with big classes. Last but not least, mixed-ability classes are the ones in the typical Romanian setting, wherein students’ levels of English range from beginners to proficient. Also, in the past few years, the intercultural mix of students has become commonplace. It is increasingly habitual to address students from both EU and non-EU countries, whose first language may not be English, but whose command of English well exceeds that of the Romanian students’.
The paper aims at addressing the issue of classroom teaching practice in the Romanian higher education setting, wherein for the students to study effectively and progress meaningfully, the teacher of English is confronted with considerable challenges and requires a lot of resourcefulness, creativity and in continuous search for their own solutions, looking to one’s own culture and history, while ‘importing’ ideas from classes of language teaching around the world.
Application and Combination of Different Foreign Language Teaching Methods in the ESP Classroom
Anna Tenieshvili, independent researcher, Georgia
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) being separate branch of the English Language requires specific approach during the process of teaching. Application of right methodology of teaching is very important for successful ESP teaching, therefore correct selection and combination of different foreign language teaching methods are crucial to ensure that the required results are achieved in the ESP classroom.
When working in the ESP classroom ESP teachers base their teaching approach on the principle: “English for Specialty” rather than on the principle: “Specialty in English” the approach characteristic of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL).
In our paper we are going to discuss the ways of efficient combination of Grammar-Translation method and Audio-Lingual method using ESP textbooks and materials and also development of listening and speaking skills of ESP learners through different subject videos selected on basis of linguistic abilities and knowledge of specific terminology by ESP learners. Some of these videos are available on www.youtube.com and other internet platforms.
Elements of CLIL approach that implies complete immersion into language and subject matter can be applied in the ESP classroom. Their combination with the above-mentioned foreign language teaching methods is possible, especially in those groups of ESP learners whose level of General English is B2 and higher. The parallel can be made between CLIL in ESP teaching environment and Direct method of foreign language teaching in General English teaching environment. In this way we compare partial application of CLIL approach in the ESP classroom to the Direct method of foreign language teaching when it refers to teaching of General English.
The main aim of our paper is to consider combination of the following foreign language teaching methods and the methodology of CLIL as the most suitable and efficient way of teaching English for Specific Purposes in the classroom:
1) Grammar-Translation method;
2) Audio-Lingual method;
3) Direct method with elements of CLIL approach when applied in the ESP classroom.
Symmetric and asymmetric communication in teaching English for medical purposes
Nataša Šelmić, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš, Serbia
The aim of this paper is to present the most important features of symmetric and asymmetric communication in the field of medicine as they are implemented in the Medical English course at the Faculty of Medicine University of Niš. Symmetric communication represents the form of communication between experts or equals, while asymmetric communication takes place between professionals and laypeople. Professionally oriented discourse and scientific discourse are examples of symmetric communication, while the doctor-patient encounter is an example of asymmetric communication. Professionally oriented discourse can be said to be practically oriented and includes a wide variety of tasks performed by health care professionals. Scientific discourse is characterized by specialized language to express scientific facts in a precise and formal way. The doctor-patient encounter is an example of asymmetric form of communication and enables practising the most relevant grammatical and semantic aspects of English.
ESP/LSP courses in current higher education context and their contribution to internationalization process.
Gabriela Chmelíková, Ľudmila Hurajová, Slovak University of
Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia
The internationalization of higher education and the globalization of the labour market have triggered pressure on HEIs around the world in all aspects and dimensions, not excluding ESP/LSP teachers. Shifts in the external environment have caused changes in the internal environment, including in the role of ESP teachers. ESP/LSP courses, where university students can learn not only how to use the appropriate register in simulated situations but also to express and structure their ideas, collaborate with their fellow students in teams when preparing a common project while listening to the opinions of others and discussing or evaluating possible differences, they are continuously suppressed at the expense of other core disciplinary courses.
The changes in higher education also concern disciplinary teachers, who are forced to teach their subjects in English, often without any experience.
This paper deals with ESP courses, their importance for the internationalization process. It also deals with the organization of ESP courses in modern higher education environment and their benefits for students and teachers in HEIs. ESP teachers and their role in this new context is described. All ideas, recommendations and opinions are based on findings from several projects implemented at the Faculty of Materials Science and Technology in Trnava in the field of internationalization of higher education.
TESTING CORPUS LINGUISTICS METHODS IN ESP VOCABULARY TEACHING
Zorica Đurović, Faculty of Maritime Studies Kotor, University of Montenegro
Sanja Bauk, Maritime Studies Department, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Durban University of Technology, South Africa
Corpus-based methods have been progressively popular and required in teaching language, especially as regards English for Specific Purposes. When it comes to practical application and testing of the e.g. corpus-derived vocabulary lists, the scarcity of the resulting experiences has also been evident. Our idea, therefore, was to conduct experimental research with our target language learners and test the efficiency and effectiveness of corpus linguistics methods by incorporating them in the course design, as opposed to the group of students that continued the semester as per the earlier designed course. The study was conducted with the students of Marine Engineering study programme during one academic semester. Their knowledge of both general and technical vocabulary was tested at the beginning and end of the semester. The conducted and presented statistical analysis was upgraded by semi-structured interviews for providing the students’ perceptions and feedback. The results generally point to a positive correlation with innovative teaching methods. Moreover, positive reactions of the students noted during and after the research period bring about the additional and better motivation of both the students and the teachers when it comes to introducing innovative corpus methods in language teaching. In addition, some limitations to the study have been pointed to, as well as recommendations for further and similar research endeavours.
FOSTERING CRITICAL READING AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS THROUGH TEACHING PRACTICES IN THE CONTEXT OF ADVANCED (EAP) ENGLISH COURSES
Elena Spirovska, South East European University, North Macedonia
The importance of critical thinking and critical reading skills in higher education and language courses is established and frequently explored, particularly with the shift from traditional to more contemporary teaching methods. The purpose of this study is to elaborate on the implementation of teaching practices with focus on development of critical reading and critical thinking. Both critical reading and critical thinking are considered to be essential parts of the ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and EAP (English for Academic Purposes) syllabi, including English language courses which target the students who are highly proficient in English. This study attempts to summarize and elaborate on the importance of critical reading and critical thinking skills and to provide further details regarding introducing and teaching these skills through various practices in the context of Advanced English / English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. In addition, the study will focus on students’ perceptions of their critical thinking and critical reading competencies, compared and contrasted with students’ performance and results when introducing activities and tasks which require critical reading and critical thinking. The research methodology is qualitative and includes a 5-point Likert scale survey targeting the student population in EAP courses. Finally, the study will suggest teaching practices and activities which can be used to foster critical reading and critical thinking skills in the context of EAP courses.
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE USE OF GOOGLE CLASSROOM IN LSP LEARNING AND ITS EFFECTS ON DEVELOPING LINGUSITIC COMPETENCES
Jelena Basta, Slavica Pejić, Faculty of Economics, University of Niš, Serbia
The use of digital technologies is an integral part of teaching and learning languages for specific purposes (LSP), as well as language in general. Google Classroom represents one of the most popular educational platforms and its application in teaching and learning LSP is inevitable. Since the pandemic of COVID-19 has brought about the shift of entire teaching to the digital realm, this platform seems to be an acceptable means of achieving intended learning outcomes. Yet, very little research on attitudes of students as end users of the Classroom to its usefulness has been done. The aim of the paper is to analyse the perceptions of the students who attend LSP classes at the Faculty of Economics, University of Niš. The research deals with three aspects – the ease of use, the usefulness of Google Classroom, and its effects on developing linguistic competences when learning LSP. The quantitative data were obtained by a survey containing 36 statements (with an application of the five-point Likert scale), while the qualitative aspect of the survey was accomplished by means of analysing answers to one open-ended question. The research results point to the fact that majority of respondents have positive attitudes in terms of the ease of use and usefulness of this platform. The study also revealed that the application of Google Classroom significantly improves all four LSP language skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking. It can be concluded that Google Classroom represents a very useful teaching and learning tool. It is up to the students to use their own motivation and self-regulation to do their best and reach the maximum of the teaching and learning potential of this platform.
CLIL as the Vehicle of Transition from Mono- to Bilingual Instruction at Slovak Universities
Elena Kováčiková, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia
Jana Luprichova, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia
The paper describes CLIL implementation in Slovakia, particularly throughout primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education. Evidently, the frequency of CLIL courses decreases at university level and this prevents university students and later their graduates from internationalization, networking, or professional placements when finding jobs. The only touch with foreign languages in non-philological faculties have been traditionally covered by the departments of languages that provide language courses most frequently on ESP basis. The only exceptions are the study programs that are instructed in foreign languages and thus they are labelled as bilingual programs. In this paper, CLIL is portrayed as a way of gradual and unforced transfer from instruction of professional courses in the mother tongue to the foreign language, i.e. bilingual instruction. Fortunately, four faculties preparing future English teachers in Slovakia have included CLIL courses within the teacher training courses, thus there is the chance that the more CLIL teachers are trained, the more CLIL is spread. Based on particular numbers and results from existing projects or studies as the evidence of current state of affairs in this field, the authors suggest several ways of how to improve or initiate CLIL paths at university levels in non-philological study programs.
The Requirement for Enhanced Listening Comprehension in Professional Settings
Bardha Gashi, Vocational Education and Training School, Peja, “Kosovo/Srbija”.
Despite its prominence as a lingua franca in science and technology, English remains a second-rate language among agricultural and environmental students in “Kosovo/Serbia”, who do not regard English as a subject-related subject. The topic of determining the language learning needs of agricultural and environmental engineering students and establishing a customized course that combines English into a variety of professional courses is addressed in this study. The primary objective of the study was to identify the challenges that students face when speaking English in a professional setting. A group of 40 current agricultural and environmental students, as well as 20 graduates, were part of the BUGI project workshops. The results from the observations and survey were conducted to find out what students expected from the sessions and to gather information on professional communication situations in which English was used. Graduate students were shown to have difficulty speaking, which is required for oral communication and presentation delivery, and also listening and comprehension skills.
Students’ motivation, challenges and experiences in designing video presentations vs delivering oral presentations in an ESP course for Social sciences
Neda Radosavlevikj, SEEU, North Macedonia
This paper has two primary goals: to help students understand the effectiveness of using videos and to promote students’ motivation, interactivity, creativity and communication by designing their own video. The study was conducted at SEEU with 14 students, Albanian students, between 18 and 20 years old, that come from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds all enrolled at ESP course for Social Sciences 1. Students were given a choice to select a topic that is professionally linked to their field of study and deliver an oral presentation in class according to established criteria from rubrics than produce the same presentation at home by using a video with self-evaluation rubrics. I conducted a survey comparing the motivation, experiences and challenges students faced while delivering an Oral presentation in class vs video-recorded presentations made at home.
The use of video-recording according to empirical research has been found as an effective technique for evaluating and improving students’ oral presentation skills (Hamilton, 2012; Guo, 2013; Nikolic, Stirling, & Ros, 2018). It can also help students obtain cognitive insights and identify their areas of improvement while students’ feedback helps teachers assess and enhance students’ communicative competence (Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Hamilton, 2012).
The preliminary research findings showed that most of the students were motivated to create their own videos because they were not limited by time or place, the asynchronous learning allows students to access materials, practice their skills at any time that works for them. Majority of the students found this pilot project very interesting and engaging because it helped them develop their communication skills as well as become more autonomous in learning English.
Developing a Scale for Assessing Communicative Competence of Students Learning English for Specific Purposes
Ivana Nešić, Toplica Academy of Professional Studies in Prokuplje, Department for Business Studies in Blace, Serbia
Kimeta Hamidović, International University of Novi Pazar, Department of Philological Studies, Serbia
The aim of this paper is to use models of communicative competence for designing a scale for assessing communicative competence. The first part of the paper defines communication, as well as communicative competence. Furthermore, models of communicative competence are presented, as well as the similarities and differences between them. Based on the presented models of communicative competence, the authors propose a scale for assessing students’ communicative competence. This scale encompasses all the components of communicative competence that are relevant for assessing communicative competence. Also, an example of an activity through which students can be tested is presented. Based on the research conducted earlier using this scale, the paper argues that this scale could be a reliable tool for testing communicative competence of students who are learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP).
Teaching English for Specific Purposes through Case Studies
Evgueniya Lyu, University Grenoble Alpes, France
Even though case studies are used to teach business, law, the sciences, psychology, archaeology, education, etc., their use remains rare in disciplines other than law (Lalancette, 2014). In the literature on languages for specific purposes, and that of English for specific purposes (ESP) in particular, there are not that many occasions when case studies are mentioned. However, this is regrettable given the advantages this approach represents. First, case studies are known to enable students to develop their language skills, and improve their critical and analytical thinking (Grosse, 1988). Second, case studies replicate target situations and are mostly based on authentic material (Brown & Menasche, 2005, cited in Tatsuki 2006; Woodrow, 2018). Third, they can be a solution for dealing with overcrowded and heterogenous groups. In practical terms, case studies are conceived on the basis of real situations or situations inspired by real events; they are presented in the form of a problem that students have to solve by proposing solutions to the problem orally or in a written form.
The purpose of the workshop is to familiarise the participants with the case study approach, to show how the work on a case study can be organised in the classroom, and to share practical tips on how to conceive case studies or to adapt existing ones.
For this workshop, we selected a case study we had conceived for teaching English to psychology students. The case addresses the issue of depression and its possible treatments that are available to patients in the United States. The objectives of this teaching module were to make students acquire the specialised vocabulary related to depression, to sensitise them to culture-specific elements associated with the treatment of depression in the US and to develop their language skills and transversal skills, as well as to promote collaborative work.
The work is divided into three steps. First, the participants of the workshop will learn how, based on descriptions in the DSM-IV, to distinguish the three types of depression depending on the symptoms manifested by a patient. Second, they will learn about six types of treatment, namely tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, St. John’s wort, cognitive behavioural therapy, and high-tech treatments. Third, they will watch a video with the patient. Then, the participants will be invited into several breakout rooms where they will discuss the patient’s case in order to determine the type of depression the patient is suffering from and to suggest the most appropriate treatment. Finally, the groups will present their suggestions, and we will try to analyse them together.
At the end of the workshop, we will describe precisely how this case study was conceived and how it was adapted to our students’ needs. Due to the constraints of the workshop (its duration, participants’ background knowledge in psychology, and the unknown number of the participants), the work on the case study was modified, so we will explain how this module was taught under real-life conditions. Finally, we will share the feedback we received from our students on this case study.
ESP Teaching – Challenges and Practical Solutions
Biljana Naumoska-Sarakinska, “Blaze Koneski” Faculty of Philology, Skopje, North Macedonia
Thanks to globalization and the ascent of the internet, the lingua franca status of English has been cemented, and knowing General English (GE) nowadays, for non-native speakers, is taken for granted, while the importance of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) is gaining in importance and necessity.
The need for ESP is vital in equipping non-native English speakers from all fields to be competitive in the work place, outside the academic context, regardless of where they see themselves in the future, and where they will pursue their professional ambitions; they now need to demonstrate their English proficiency in their chosen professional endeavors. As such, there is a need to incorporate ESP courses in the core curriculum for every Faculty, in addition to the core courses of the particular field of study. However, there are other issues that need to be addressed, such as the class load, the number of semesters they will be offered, and the level they will be taught at, among others. Furthermore, there are questions concerning the competencies the students will have been equipped with by the end of the course, as well as the expectations concerning the final aims and outcomes. In this context, an important issue that needs to be addressed is that of the choice of course books to be used in the realization of the syllabus, all with the aim to best meet the students’ needs. And finally, a relatively new issue to think about is the recent situation education was thrust into with the appearance of COVID-19, and that is the online world everyone found themselves, which brought about a series of unexpected advantages and disadvantages.
This presentation will take a closer look at all these issues, as well as possible strategies and solutions to alleviating and overcoming them, wherever possible.
Academic Writing Course for Russian Medical Students
Irina I. Torubarova, Anna O. Stebletsova, Burdenko Voronezh State Medical University, Voronezh, Russia
English for Academic Purposes is taught at different university levels – bachelor, master, postgraduate, – and for different specialties nowadays. Our talk is a practice-oriented presentation focused on the EAP course for Russian medical students, which was developed at Foreign Language Department and based on original medical research papers. Its ultimate outcome for students was to create an article/ paragraph/ graphical data description in English. This was a challenging issue: firstly, the level of language competence in some students was not appropriate to develop “research” skills and knowledge; secondly, some students demonstrated lack of research and analytical skills even in their native language. In addition, the key feature of the course was the idea to develop academic writing skills in the sphere of medical research. This means that all academic writing models, exercises, illustrations were designed in line with authentic open access medical research publications.
Theoretical and practical material was selected thoroughly. Primarily, it was necessary to supply students with grammar reference in order they had an opportunity to revise and practice grammar independently. Academic skills that students had to develop were search, evaluation, analysis and synthesis of information; presenting, comparing or contrasting ideas; interpreting graphical and tabular data; agreeing or disagreeing; asking various questions (to clarify, repeat, explain, give additional information etc.) considering the target audience and using the appropriate register.
Take-home message. Academic Writing being a mandatory discipline is a tailor-made course considering the previous learners’ experience and their real opportunities for practical application. It gives simple explanations, authentic examples and useful know-how which can be practiced in class or as a part of students’ independent learning. It provides students with the essentials in reading and writing for academic purposes to optimally present results of their learning and research.
THE IMPACT OF SERBIAN AS L1 ON ENGLISH AS L2 IN AN EFL UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM
Neda Vidanović Miletić, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Serbia
Marijana Matić, Faculty of Philology and Arts, University of Kragujevac, Serbia
Studying L2 is influenced by many factors, one of the most important being the first language of students. Since the influence of L1 on L2 is rather complex and abstract, there have been numerous studies in the last few decades reflecting on this issue in many language combinations. Modern education in Serbia cannot be imagined without the knowledge of English. In line with that, almost all university study programmes in Serbia offer English either as obligatory or elective course at all levels of study. This paper aims at investigating the impact of Serbian as native on English as a foreign language in students’ oral presentations. The qualitative study included about 100 students who studied English as obligatory course at the Bachelor level of studies at the Faculty of Philology and Arts and Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac. The results showed that, although students were from different study fields, they demonstrated almost the same types of mistakes in English oral presentations deriving from the negative transfer of Serbian as native. The mistakes were observed at various levels ranging from phonology to syntax. Contrastively, it was also observed that certain types of mistakes were typical for one, but not for the other study group. The results of this research may serve as a recommendation for corrective feedback in ESP teaching.
Facilitating Legal English teaching and learning through the SIOP Model
Veronika Kareva, Besa Bytyqi, SEEU, North Macedonia
Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) is an instructional model for lesson planning and delivery for making content in English more comprehensible for non-native English speakers. If applied to teaching Legal English (LE), it might be useful for both teachers and students. The aim of this paper is to propose a model for teaching LE based on the SIOP principles. The specificity of legal terminology, the differences among legal systems in the countries, students’ lack of knowledge from the legal field and English teachers’ lack of professional knowledge have been pointed out in the literature as some of the main challenges in teaching LE. However, it seems that no systematic approach has been identified to overcome these challenges. With this study we intended to contribute to that gap. It utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methodology. Conclusions were made based on the findings from two instruments: a questionnaire with forty (40) students of LE at the South East European University (SEEU) and their reflections after a model lesson. For the reflection activity, students were first delivered a LE lesson based on the SIOP principles and then they were asked to reflect on the experience and compare it to the regular language lessons. Findings revealed that students consider the SIOP lesson more comprehensible than the regular lesson with regard to the most challenging areas of the LE courses, identified from the literature review.
Cross Cultural Communicative Challenges in an East-Indian Class
Suneeta De, Dr B.C.Roy Engineering College Durgapur, Bengal, India
India is culturally heterogeneous. English is an official language of India. However, media of classroom -instruction vary, often including multiple languages. This contributes to challenges as well as opportunities. Historically, India has communicatively been a high-context culture with an abundance of politeness markers. Since the influence of globalization, there has been a shift in the way India communicates. Covid 19 lockdown created a dependence on technology. Digital communication platforms seek to homogenise and democratize the virtual communicative experience. This works counter -intuitively in East Indian Classrooms. Problems of patriarchy, accessibility and a traditional deference to the ‘teacher/guru’, makes it challenging to effectively teach Business Communication online.
This paper proposes to discuss the online English Communication teaching – learning experience in East Indian classrooms as well as look at the management of the road blocks.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CONFERENCE AS A MEANS OF DEVELOPING ACADEMIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Rudneva Maria, Ulanova Kapitolina, RUDN University, Moscow, Russia
In this talk we would like to share our 20-year experience of organizing international student conferences in foreign languages as a framework for holistic development of academic communication skills. Conventional ESP syllabi suggest passive learning strategies, which replicate those of general English courses. Students are offered pedagogic materials which aim at reiterating the knowledge that instructors and textbooks provide. However, there exists a substantial gap between reproducing academic knowledge and becoming an independent actor in the selected field of expertise. In this sense it seems crucial to outline a framework for active independent learning for budding professionals to achieve academic autonomy at a reasonable pace. To reach this objective, we have been organizing international student conference for the LSP students at RUDN university, which is not a standalone event, but a part of ESP curriculum. Conference preparations are designed as multiple interventions aimed at developing linguistic and extralinguistic skills alike. The course on conference preparation is scaffolded in line with the major subjects and overall academic competence of the participants. Every year Bachelor’s students write and present a research paper, which starts as a teamwork on a synopsis of studies on a given topic and eventually results in successful defense of a Bachelor’s thesis in a foreign language of the student’s choice.
This event has a major positive impact on students for a number of reasons. However, there are several challenges on the instructors’ side which those who are willing to follow this path should probably consider. The benefits and potential pitfalls we would like to discuss in more detail at the conference.
Implementation and Evaluation of ESP Courses to University Librarians in China and Kazakhstan
Božena Horváthová, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia
Eva Reid, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
ESP module for librarians was one of eight modules developed and implemented within the DIREKT Erasmus+ project funded by the European Commission through the Capacity Building in Higher Education Program. The aim was to improve, develop and modernise higher education systems in Asia through university cooperation. The idea behind teaching English to librarians was to equip them with an ability to provide support to academic staff and students concerning information resources, databases and research studies, which are available mainly in English. Librarians are the key link between academic activities of academic staff, students and the library, therefore there is a need for librarians to reach at least A2 level of the CEFR in English. The aim of the ESP module was to develop functional language of the library staff in authentic library situations, such as borrowing and returning books, using library jargon, providing assistance, guidance and advice in finding quality library sources and databases, referencing, citation and avoiding plagiarism, etc. The aim of this research study is to evaluate the implementation of the ESP module to librarians at five universities in China and Kazakhstan. Applied methods in this research were observation, students’ questionnaires and teachers’ evaluations. To summarize the findings, it was discovered that even though the taught module was the same, the differences were in teaching approaches, as well as in applied techniques and activities.
Digitalising ESP: Embracing progress, following the trends
Elis Kakoulli Constantinou, Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus
The rapid developments of technology brought about by the advent of the fourth industrial revolution have affected all fields including business, science, engineering, technology, health, and education, among others. The integration of technology and digitalisation of the language learning and teaching processes have been at the centre of research for decades. Based on learners’ specialised needs and drawing from language used in particular domains, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a field in which technology can play a major role in the language teaching and learning processes. This paper focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of an English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) course for students of Commerce, Finance and Shipping at the Cyprus University of Technology based on the latest theories of learning. More specifically, the paper elaborates on the principles on which the course curriculum was built following social constructivist and connectivist approaches. Furthermore, it presents the technologies and tools which were utilised during the course (Google Workspace for Education, Netflix, etc.) explaining the reasoning behind their choice. It also provides information on the teaching methodologies, materials, tasks and assessment processes used in the course. Finally, the paper sheds light on how students evaluated the course during the semester and upon its completion. The data related to the evaluation of the course were elicited through students’ reflections during the course and an electronic questionnaire administered to the students after the course was completed. The paper yields useful insights for stakeholders, course designers, language teachers, ESP practitioners or anyone interested in ESP or Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) in general.
ADAPTING THE CONTENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE TO THE LINGUISTIC NEEDS OF BEGINNER ENGINEERS
Simona Veronica Abrudan Caciora, Amalia Sturza, University of Oradea, Romania
This paper is going to present the view of 45 undergraduates and graduates from the University of Oradea, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, who are currently working in the field of electrical engineering and IT, on the efficiency of the English class they attended while being a student at the above-mentioned academic institution. It attempts to weigh the efficiency the English language course for the development of skills that might be useful to future engineers in the field of electrical engineering and IT. This study started from the authors’ preoccupation to improve the quality of the English language course they teach at the University of Oradea, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, so as to adapt it to the level of English language proficiency required by the companies hiring novice electrical engineers in Oradea and across Bihor County.
Planning and Development: A B2 Online Computer Science Writing Course
Paul Thomas Gahman, Friedrich-Alexander University Nuremberg-Erlangen, Germany
Paul Hobbs-Koch, Friedrich-Alexander University Nuremberg-Erlangen, Germany
Maryna Rebenko, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
An online English course for computer science students at the B2 level was conceptualized for the E-learning institution Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern between Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and the Technische Hochschule Nuremberg Georg Simon Ohm. The course is still being developed and is set to launch in March of 2023. The course consists of four separate modules that cumulatively target writing and language skills relevant to computer science students. Individual assessments at the end of each module serve as a review. Further, students write keystone pieces throughout the course that constitute a writing portfolio. The students’ written pieces are targeted assignments that encapsulate both the writing and language skills addressed in each module. For instructors, these provide insight into how well students acquired the requisite skills. The writing skills cover online writing tools (COCA, AntConc, OneLook, Quillbot), software documentation, expository text based on pseudocode and, finally, summarizing/paraphrasing tools. These are reinforced through language skills that either have greater prominence in the computer science field or are frequently used for the respective writing skill. Comma and hyphen rules, maintaining objectivity in writing, describing data in figures, and embedded clauses in English are some of the language skills covered. For materials development, a combination of corpus and AI writing tools was implemented to analyze and modify authentic scientific literature. Examples, keywords, and patterns of writing taken from authentic texts were modified to create exercises relevant to topics presented in the modules. Ultimately, the course provides strong didactic support for instructors whose aim is to facilitate a more natural set of writing tasks and ensure students’ ability to apply the learned skills beyond the classroom.
Assessing oracy in young adults’ vocational training
Iryna Liashenko, Sumy State University, Ukraine
In university education, modern instruction aims at developing the most vital skills of the 21st century key-centered for employability and successful work. Oracy, as a skill, takes an important place among basic communication skills for employability, and teaching and assessing it requires careful and responsible handling. Many researchers paid enough attention to oracy and its development mechanisms with young students, but still little is known about how oracy is built within the vocational context with the university students. That is, the teaching and assessment process of vocational oracy with university students may differ from the process involved in developing oracy for other categories of learners.
Grounding in that, the purpose of this analysis research in the field of oracy and its correlation with the vocational context is to answer the research questions:
1) What is oral competences/oracy/orality in vocational training?
2) What does the research say about assessing orality/oral skills in young adults’ vocational training?
The consequential validity of this research unfolds in a more profound and explicit role of vocational context in assessing oracy as a significant component for a future professional in the work market.
Consistent with recent research advocating the definition of oracy, our findings in this research indicate that oracy is vital in growing the professionals at the employability market complying with the highest standards of the 21st century essential skills.
As a benefit, the students may use this knowledge in building self and peer assessment in acquiring oracy, dwelling on the dimensions of the frameworks and developing individually fit strategies.
This research may be useful in building or testing the theoretical framework for assessing any special oracy. Also, it can be helpful for developing a further theory with new or other components regarding assessment oracy in the specific context.
Is the Action Learning Approach Suitable for Teaching ESP? The Main Prerequisites for Its Implementation in the Case of Agri-food Students
Anamaria Supuran, Amalia Ana Sturza, Simona Abrudan Caciora, University of Oradea, Romania
In the last decade, there has been a tendency toward embracing the “action learning” approach in the case of the students attending study programs such as agriculture, forestry, and food engineering.
The paper aims to establish if the methods and instruments specific to this approach can be transferred to the ESP lessons and check on the feasibility and limitations of this approach when teaching English for agriculture and food engineering.
For this reason, a questionnaire was applied to check both the student’s understanding of the “action learning” approach and their capacity to identify specific action-oriented methods and select a series of methods to be introduced when teaching English.
According to the obtained results, the study shows that most students have a general idea of the “action-learning” approach and can identify its most relevant specific methods. More than this, an analysis of the different categories of learning methods reveals that the students display a preference for those that develop skills such as observation, visioning, problem-solving, and co-learning.
Thus, future studies may explore topics related to the way ESP teaching can enhance the acquisition and development of specific skills (observation, visioning, reflection, dialogue, participation, co-learning, problem-solving, critical thinking) in the case of future professionals in agriculture and food engineering.
IMPLEMENTING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES IN THE ESP CLASSROOM
Solzica Popovska, Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Republic of Macedonia
Danica Piršl, University of Niš, Serbia
Speaking about the 21st century education, experts worldwide (Driscol s.a., Lee , 2016, Wrahatnolo.T and Munoto, 2018) agree that: a) competences needed for the challenges of the new era should foster the skills to choose, understand, share and use information properly and b) the concept of knowledge does not refer only to subject specific areas of studying, but also to knowledge and critical understanding of the self, the language and communication and the world in general (Council of Europe, 2017). In addition, during the last three years, due to the recent pandemic, the number of students who have been experiencing different aspects of a prolonged trauma such as depression and anxiety dramatically increased (Aristovnik at al. 2020, Cao at al. 2020, El-Monshed at al. 2021). Therefore, along with the pre-pandemic reasons for re-thinking education, the present conditions double the need for attention to the affective domain in the syllabi and curricula.
Hence, the crucial skills for the 21st century are identified as: creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, whose development inevitably depends on the application of humanistic approaches in education that foster emotional intelligence (EI) competences and contemplative skills (Morgan, 2013, Faerm, 2020). In particular, including emotional intelligence activities in the higher education classroom has proven to be of great help (Popovska, Stach-Peier, Szadovska –Pigulovska, Pagano, 2020, Popovska 2020). These activities that belong to the four EI domains: self awareness, self management, social awareness, social skills (or relationship management) prove also to be relevant for developing of competences for democratic culture as recognized by the Council of Europe and classified in four main categories: values, attitudes, skills and knowledge (Barrett, 2016).
Thus in this paper we shall dwell on several hands-on activities and their effect on the ESP students. Some of the activities are informal and foster contemplative skills whereas others combine EI activity and the language/content based environment (that is ESP for science and technology). They all aim at fostering competences from one of the four domains of EI.
The workshop we propose will be divided in two parts dealing with a) exercises about EI in general and b) EI activities implemented in an ESP classroom, that refer only to the domain of social skills, more particularly the listening skill. The choice for the listening skill results from the fact that in an ordinary communication, listening is not considered a strong competence for the majority of professionals (Drinko, C. 2021, Brownell, J. 1990 Kriz, D.T., Kluger,N.A., Lyddy, J. C. 2021), yet is quite important, especially for the teacher-learner and learner-learner cooperation. Thus, Part I of the workshop will include a quick EI test and an explanation of the basic EI concepts whereas Part II will consist of: a pair work activity for checking listening skills and a discussion about the way the participants felt during the exercise, followed by a short video presentation on a 60 seconds communication breakdown and a homework task.
Cleared for Take-off: from Authentic Aviation Tasks to Communicative Classroom Activities
Vanya Katsarska, Bulgarian Air Force Academy, Bulgaria
One of the primary functions of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is to prepare graduates for professional success. Unfortunately, ESP language is often taught in isolation and there is no strong connection between the real world professional tasks and the classroom learning tasks. This presentation will focus on a change of perspectives and the adoption of a methodology which addresses authentic communicative needs and a professional competence-based approach.
Aviation English is an ESP domain which is regulated by established rules and communicative functions. Using a qualitative research technique, i.e. naturalistic observation, the presentation reports on the findings of an aviation English research study. An answer to one question in particular is provided: Which task-types promote meaningful integration of the authentic tasks into the syllabus and the classroom?
The presentation will be structured as an interactive hands-on session. The audience will be offered to participate in some sample learning tasks which demonstrate how students need to focus on the meaning of the language, engage their speaking skills, rely on their professional competence, engage their intercultural and interactive competence in order to complete the tasks efficiently and successfully. The presentation will comprise a warm-up game which trains paraphrasing and giving definitions; a chair flight which practices the standardized aviation phraseology; and the instructions to a mini-meeting which helps students improve their listening comprehension, their fluency and accuracy, their interactive and critical thinking skills. These aviation activities can be tailored to the specific needs of most ESP teachers.
DIGITAL LITERACY AS A TOOL FOR FOSTERING ENGAGEMENT AND MOTIVATION IN ONLINE/HYBRID ESP CLASSES
Daniela Kjirovska-Simjanoska, SEEU, North Macedonia
Technology is inevitably connected to the teaching/learning process. It helps instructors but at the same time, technology transfers responsibility for learning to students. Students can guide their learning at their own pace, direct their progress and have access to course content by participating in online/hybrid learning. That is why digital skills are essential in today’s education and society.
But, what digital skills are needed to learn and thrive today? How about the skills needed to encourage engagement and motivation in learning? Digital literacy and confidence for everyone involved in education have become more vital than ever.
This paper describes the results of a one-semester English for Information Technology course at a South East European University in Macedonia to determine if the core curriculum items provide motivation for the students engaged in an online/hybrid class. Also, it determines whether the students have the capabilities and skills to participate entirely in the digital society.
The hybrid model discussed in this paper is the concurrent teaching-learning model. In this model, the author taught some students who were in person with her in the physical classroom, and at the same time, the teacher’s instruction was being streamed live through Google Meet with other students logged in at home. The teaching/learning process results will show why it is necessary to change our classroom practices in the modern education system.
The Key to Successful Teaching
Vesna Stanković, Foreign Language Institute Andreja, Niš, Serbia
Finding the right key is not an easy task, sometimes it takes a lot of time and patience in order to unlock the door of knowledge. In my twenty years of teaching experience, I have developed my own bunch of keys, all with equal importance, which helped me become the teacher that I am today. Firstly, it is imperative that a teacher has a clear concept of the class. This helps to guide the teacher and avoid the element of surprise if the students are able to complete the tasks sooner than expected. These tasks should be adjusted to the students, their interests, their generation, and they would most likely require new technologies or even less homework. One should always have some additional activities at hand, which can be altered in a creative process of teaching. Secondly, the teacher’s approach towards the students plays a big role in successful teaching. Namely, the teacher must find a perfect balance between having enough authority in order to attain respect and trust, but also a friendly approach which helps the students become more open to communication. If the feedback from the students is positive, then the teacher will know that this balance and proper approach have been achieved. Finally, a classroom should always be a safe place for both the teacher and the students. This can be attained by focusing on mutual respect between the teacher and the students and consequently leading to the perfect relationship, which can influence the growth of both parties.
Incorporating Crucial Transferrable Life-long Skills in an Undergraduate Advanced English Course at the South East European University
Marijana Marjanovikj-Apostolovski, SEEU, North Macedonia
This paper gives an insight into the practical experience of designing and implementing an Advanced English course offered to first year undergraduate students from all Faculties at South East European University which included a research project as a grading component and resulted in an undergraduate student mock conference. It elaborates on the rationale behind the need for incorporating crucial, transferable, life-long skills that students can put to an immediate use during their undergraduate studies but also skills they can use long after graduating and leaving SEEU. The paper also offers a detailed account of the practical day-to-day challenges faced by both language teachers and students. The peer- and self-evaluation completed at the end of the course reveal overlooked issues that require more attention, modifications and adaptations in the future.
Along the way students were made aware of the importance of choosing the most appropriate research method, meticulously citing every source used, distinguishing between editing (as a process that starts as soon as one starts writing) and proof reading (as the activity left for the very end of the writing process when one double or even triple checks that everything is the way it should be before the research report is handed in) and avoiding plagiarism by summarising, paraphrasing and quoting. The Academic skills and research conference offered students practice in giving a well-structured presentation whereas the follow-up self-evaluation helped them identify areas of possible improvements.
Hopefully, thanks to this long and challenging but also rewarding process, when asked to conduct a research on a certain issue, present the results, draw conclusions and recommend a possible course of action or offer possible solutions, the students’ immediate reaction will be: “A-ha, No problem! Been there-done that! I know exactly what I am supposed to do, and I know how to do it!”
ZERO WASTE POLICY: A MYTH OR A FACT
Danica Milošević, Academy of Applied Technical and Preschool Studies, Department in Niš
The bottom line of this ESP workshop, designed for students of Environmental Protection studies, and prepared as a class simulation for ESP practitioners, is to draw attention to current global environmental issues by analyzing waste disposal practices in different parts of the world. Primarily, the focus will be on the zero waste policy applied in the USA, and the e-waste policy enforced in Africa, which are two contradictory concepts of waste management, the first one being neat, clean and eco-friendly, and the second one being extremely harmful to humans and their surroundings. Apart from revealing the hypocrisy of the developed world towards the third world countries as far as the e-waste business is concerned, the workshop intends to promote useful practices such as recycling and composting, stressing the importance of their usage everywhere around the globe in view of helping preservation of the natural resources and saving the environment.
Two videos illustrating the said case scenarios in America and Africa will be seen. The first video on A Zero Waste City is about a municipal solid waste plant in San Francisco, and the second video is about a toxicity or the biggest scrap yard of e-waste in Africa, located in Ghana. After identifying all the key terms from both videos, the participants will be asked to do a fill- in -the- gap exercise, in order to complete the written exerpts taken out from the video materials. Then the lists of pros and cons for each of the two waste disposal methods will be generated, which should be a good foundation for an argumentative discussion about the topic, and hopefully a good preparation for writing opinion essays, whose outlines could be defined during the workshop session. To make this process easier, some academic language will be introduced as well, in the form of connectors and linking words, so as to assist participants organize their arguments and ideas in a cohesive and a logical way.
As a warm up activity, the participants will be asked to identify different types of waste and classify them into different categories. For this purpose, cards in envelopes will be prepared for participants to work with, and then the control check will be done on the whiteboard. The purpose of this activity is to make participants aware of different types of waste that is being generated, especially hazardous and e-waste that are not often talked about, but also to initiate discussion on how to make proper classifications of waste, which should create a challenging atmosphere in the workshop and prepare participants for the ensuing conversation. As it has been previously explained, the participants will give their comments, opinions, and critically assess the case studies through comparison and contrast after watching the videos. Therefore, one of the main linguistic goals of this workshop will be to expand vocabulary on the topic of waste management, but also to recycle this language in familiar contexts, so as to eventually use it creatively for authentic expression in the spoken and written communication.
DESIGN OF AN ESP COURSE FOR THE GROUPS CONSISTING OF STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS WITHIN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Darko Kovačević, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina
In today’s practice of teaching ESP at the university level, especially at the faculties with a great number of departments, it sometimes happens that the students from different departments are grouped together to attend the ESP lessons. Such a situation occurs due to different circumstances and conditions, such as disproportional number of students at individual departments, number of allocated lessons per week, classroom organization of the teaching process etc. The paper will present, elaborate and discuss the design of an ESP course for the groups consisting of students from different departments within humanities and social sciences in the duration of four semesters (four subjects, two academic years), with a special emphasis on the selection and creation of course materials. In doing that, both the relevant and current ESP literature and practical experiences will be used. The outcome of the paper will be the creation of a detailed course plan, containing all the components relevant to its practical application.
ELP/LE for the Judiciary: Instructional Design for Authentic Learning
Gordana Ignjatović, Faculty of Law, University of Niš, Serbia
The judiciary is one of the priorities in the EU accession process, particularly in terms of improving judicial cooperation with EU Member States and harmonizing judicial practices in candidate states with EU standards. In that context, English for Legal Purposes (ELP) or Legal English (LE) is an essential part of the judicial education and training. Given that ELP/LE courses for the judiciary are quite rare in Serbia, the presentation provides an insight into the instructional design of several tailor-made ELP/LE courses within the Judicial Academy Project: English for the Judiciary, aimed at providing an authentic law-and-language learning opportunity and improve learners’ performance in current and prospective real-world contexts. The ELP/LE courses were specifically designed for adult working professionals (judges, prosecutors, and related staff), organized at three different levels (A1-A2, B1-B2, B2-C1 CEFR) and held at the Judicial Academy in Niš in the period 2018-2020. The Project included the Faculty of Philosophy/English Language Department (project holder), Judicial Academy Belgrade/Niš (beneficiaries), the US State Department (sponsor), US Embassy Belgrade/Cultural Programs Office (coordinator), the Regional English Language Office/RELO Belgrade (support/supervision), and an ELT/ESP/ELP teachers’ team. The presentation outlines of the major stages in the ELP/LE instructional design process (Needs Analysis, Curriculum/Syllabus Design, Material Design/Development, Course Implementation, Assessment, and Course Evaluation), including the major challenges and benefits. Valuable experiences from this project may contribute to raising awareness about the importance of informal language education for professional purposes and urge relevant stakeholders to support the development of similar ELP/LE courses for a wider discourse community (practicing lawyers, administration, police officials).
EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS AS AN INVALUABLE TEACHING MATERIAL IN ESP FOR SPORTS
Danica Piršl, Faculty of Sport, University of Niš, Serbia
Tea Piršl, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš, Serbia
Solzica Popovska, Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Republic of Macedonia
Educational videos creating and utilizing enhances students’ learning by bringing benefits to the teachers and learners as well. Universities are always graded by learning outcomes achieved through offered courses prime performance, increased students’ motivation, boosted self-confidence and highly positive attitudes towards learning process itself. Students’ engagement is a must; therefore, this paper will focus on a video production as a part of an obligatory pre-exam assignment and the exam follow up at the basic academic studies 165 PE students’ subject sample and 57 master studies level subjects. The obtained results show widening participation, emotional engagement and an increased overall course engagement. It was also proven that video’s role in subjects’ specific knowledge acquisition and critical thinking enhancing is vital, and is a major benefit according to the “cognitive theory of multimedia learning” (Mayer 2014, Clark and Mayer, 2016, Gong, Kawasaki, Yeung, Zhang & Dobinson, 2019). The process of video creating showed students’ autonomy in choosing their favorite topics to cover (around 26 different sports), choosing individual or group work formats, taking pride in incorporating in videos their own elite results achieved in real tournaments. The pre-exam grades earned were discussed in class and the best videos were actually transferred to YouTube as tutorials. Students appear in videos as main instructors, or in a tandem venture alternatively as the narrators. Finally, at the exam students could elaborate on their videos by commenting their positive or negative impressions. Erasmus students from Nigeria, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey were specially intrigued by video-based grading since this is not a usual practice in their respective countries. It could be concluded that videos do contribute to domain specific knowledge advancement of PE students by using real life professional language of training and performing in sports thus justifying the use of videos as the valuable teaching material.
The Most Important Things I Have Learned During My First Year of Teaching
Nina Stanković, Foreign Language Institute Andreja, Niš, Serbia
Having been surrounded by the English Language since the earliest childhood, I have been highly influenced by it unknowingly, acquiring it as a student. However, only when I started teaching myself, did I notice how much effort was put into every single detail, in order for a child as small as I was to grow up with this kind of knowledge. In my first year of teaching, I have come to three conclusions on what I consider to be most important when it comes to teaching not only children, but also adults. Firstly, both children and adults learn through play. If a teacher introduces the topic as something close and familiar, through guessing games, movies, real-life conversations, they will not only learn faster, but also implement this new knowledge in their everyday life. Secondly, the greatest problem with a student acquiring a new language, from my experience, is the fear of failure. This negative mindset is the reason why so many people give up on learning a new language without even giving it a try. Thus, the second most important thing is that the teacher has the power to completely change someone’s perception of themselves, and through encouragement and understanding help the student reach their goal. The final argument that I would like to point out is that students will not remember you for the subject you have taught them, but for the atmosphere they felt when they entered the classroom. Often times teachers tend to forget that their students, both children and adults, have their own busy lives outside of the classroom. This is why when a student enters the classroom and feels that even if they make a mistake or if they are simply not on top of their game, the teacher is there to guide and support them.
JA Project: ELP/LE for the Judiciary: Classroom Practices for Authentic Learning
Gordana Ignjatović, Faculty of Law, University of Niš, Serbia
The JA Project: English for the Judiciary (2018-2020) included a series of tailor-made Legal English courses which were developed to cater for the authentic needs of adult legal professionals working in the judiciary (judges, prosecutors, and related staff), and organized at three different levels (A1-A2, B1-B2, B2-C1 CEFR), and held at the Judicial Academy in Niš in the period 2018-2020. The JA Project was aimed at facilitating an authentic language-and-law instruction, promoting learners’ communicative competences, improving the quality of their performance in current or prospective real-life situations, and ensuring a holistic learning experience based on the principles of authentic, integrated and communicative learning. In this context, the workshop offers a glimpse into the classroom practices in two tailor-made LE courses (at B2-B2+ and B2+/C1 levels), which were developed, organized and held by the workshop facilitator. As both courses were largely based on the principles of differentiated and negotiated learning, the presented classroom materials were developed in line with the initial Needs Analysis and periodic course evaluations. The workshop aims to present samples of integrated communicative task/content-based activities (warmers, contextualized reading/listening/speaking/writing and functional grammar activities, group projects, class assignments, role-play/moot court simulations, etc.), aimed at promoting integrated law-and-language learning in authentic contexts for real-world purposes, as well as profession-related digital competences. In view of presenting a wider range of “hands-on” activities from both LE courses, the workshop will be organized in the format of “learning stations”, enabling the participants to freely select an activity and later reflect on the experience. The workshop also provides an insight into different assessment tools and course evaluation results, with specific reference to observed challenges, hindrances, benefits and prospective potentials.