«УДК 81'33 Marina A. Pirogova Amur State University Blagoveshchensk, Russian Federation Пирогова Марина Андреевна Амурский государственный университет г. Благовещенск, Российская Федерация e-mail: ...»

106 Теоретическая и прикладная лингвистика, 2017, 3 (1), 106–114

UDC 81'33

УДК 81'33

Marina A. Pirogova

Amur State University

Blagoveshchensk, Russian Federation

Пирогова Марина Андреевна

Амурский государственный университет

г. Благовещенск, Российская Федерация

e-mail: pirogova_marina@mail.ru

ESP COURSE DESIGN: EOP TOUR GUIDE

КУРС «АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ДЛЯ СПЕЦИАЛЬНЫХ ЦЕЛЕЙ»:

ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНАЯ ГРУППА «ТУРИЗМ»

Abstract This paper examines the English language needs in an ESP course at Amur State University, Russia. The course designed was based on a Target Situation Analysis (TSA), Present Situation Analysis (PSA) and Context Analysis taking into accounts some basic concepts forwarded by Kay Westerfield and Jennifer Rice through online teacher training course with University of Oregon, Linguistics Department, American English Institute (UO AEI) «English for Specific purposes, Best Practices» .

The author of the article completed the course administered by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Final project «ESP Course Design: EOP Tour Guide» now is a part of the curriculum of the target professional group of students .

Feedback from the ESP group (EOP: Tour Guide) indicated that the course content was tailored to suit their professional needs and wants and contributed to a positive EL experience for these learners who are adult students from a non-native English speaking background .

Аннотация В статье анализируются цели языкового курса «Английский для специальных целей», разработанного сотрудниками Амурского государственного университета. Курс составлен на основе трех видов анализа: анализ цели (TSA), анализ ситуации (PSA), анализ условий для реализации курса (Context Analysis). Указанные виды анализа отражены в он-лайн курсе для преподавателей английского языка как иностранного, организованного факультетом лингвистики университета Орегона «English for Specific purposes, Best Practices». Авторами курса являются профессор Университета Орегона Кей Уестерфилд и Дженнифер Райс, координатор и инструктор курсов по методике преподавания английского языка как иностранного .

Автор статьи прошел обучение в рамках указанного курса, организованного Государственным Департаментом США (Бюро образовательных и культурных программ) .

Проект «ESP Course Design: EOP Tour Guide» в настоящий момент апробирован и используется в практике преподавания языковых дисциплин учебного плана студентов бакалавриата, обучающихся по направлению подготовки «Туризм». Результаты внедрения полученных в ходе работы над проектом результатов показывают, что содержание курса было спланировано, исходя из профессиональных потребностей студентов, что Pirogova M. A. / ТиПЛ, 2017, 3 (1), 106–114 положительно сказалось на изучении английского языка данной группой студентов, не являющихся носителями английского языка .

Keywords: ESP, EOP, Target Situation Analysis (TSA), Present Situation Analysis (PSA), Context Analysis .

Ключевые слова: английский для специальных целей, английский для профессиональных целей, анализ цели, анализ ситуации, анализ условий для реализации курса .

doi: 10.22250/2410-7190_2017_3_1_106_114

1. Introduction English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a needs based concept to determine which language skills should be profitably developed for academic and professional success of students. It takes into account certain basic questions like: «who the learners are, what their linguistic background or level of competence is, what their view to language learning is, what their purpose and expectations are, what particular skill they will need in their actual, on- thejob situation etc.» [Singh, 2005 ] .

The ESP approach provides opportunities to the learners to acquire English naturally, by working with language in a context that they comprehend and find interesting. However, designing an ESP course is always challenging for the instructor. There are several reasons for that. Firstly, designing a relevant ESP course is often seen as a short-range activity as most institutions provide very limited planning time before instructors teach courses. Secondly, some teachers’ abilities to provide conducive, engaging and relevant lessons for their students are limited due to the lack of a professional (not in ELT!) background .

Finally, the classroom environment sometimes doesn’t meet the required standards (the lack of Internet access, etc.). What steps should be taken to overcome these problems in order to make an ESP course productive and beneficial for both the learners and instructors?

2. Issues in ESP Course design Traditionally, any ESP Course is aimed at developing language skills of a particular group of learners. Obviously, an ESP course should be considered as something specific for a particular group of students for their future job environment – EOP (English for Occupational Purposes). A study conducted by Martinez indicates that most EOP programs incorporate basic job skills such as «…job search, interviewing, preparing resumes, letters and filling out workrelated forms» [Martinez, 2001]. In EOP an instructor (teacher) is more interested in exposing the learners to workplace skills so that they will manage to succeed in that workplace .

The central issue of any ESP course is the starting point in materials and course design. This is important because practitioners have to be selective at specific content-based materials and in order to achieve their goal. A reliable 108 Pirogova M. A. / ТиПЛ, 2017, 3 (1), 106–114 Needs analysis (NA, examining various forms of methods and teaching tools have to be identified to provide information about learners, educational environment, materials, etc. Course design refers to the planning and structuring

of a course to achieve the needed goals. It includes the following elements:

Target Situation Analysis (TSA), Present Situation Analysis (PSA), Context Analysis. Moreover the course designer's approach to syllabus and methodology is also an important part of the process. In this article the target group of learners the ESP Course was designed is EOP Tour Guide .

3. Procedures The first step was the Target Situation Analysis (TSA). According to the definition provided by Kay Westerfield and her colleagues Target Situation Analysis (TSA) means «…what does the learner need to be able to do with the language in the future» [Friedenberg, Westerfield, 2003] .

T a b l e 1. Target Situation Analysis (TSA) Through the Present Situation Analysis (PSA) we described the group of potential learners .

What are the language strengths and weaknesses of a target group? What is their language experience? In other word PSA is «what can the learner do with the language now» [Friedenberg, Westerfield, 2003] .

Pirogova M. A. / ТиПЛ, 2017, 3 (1), 106–114 T a b l e 2. Present Situation Analysis (PSA)

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4. Conclusion Several conclusions can be drawn from the present study .

Firstly, it has been proved that designing any ESP (EOP) course needs clear goals and preliminary actions (TSA, PSA, Context Analysis). Providing such important information as learners’ professional needs and wants, assessing their language proficiency and eliminating time-consuming steps in EFL practice can definitely contribute to a successful ESP course .

Secondly, having both theoretical and practical approach to ESP course design can help EFL instructors avoid mismatch between the courses they develop and real needs of the students in their professional environment .

Finally, making ESP teaching learner-centered helps to provide positive experiences even though some students demonstrate «passive learning models»

in some classes. This study has attempted to identify and explain some issues for ESP course design and explain how effective planning contributes to 114 Pirogova M. A. / ТиПЛ, 2017, 3 (1), 106–114 positive results. By involving students in some elements of course design, ESP instructors can enhance their students English literacy development as an essential part of language acquisition .

References

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