Activity 1 Case studies Objective: to give students an opportunity to explore different cases for ESP
Time:
Materials: handouts 1a-d – one copy per group
Procedure:
Refer students to the session on ‘Needs analysis’ and say that dealing with students’ needs is particularly relevant for ESP, mostly because English for the students of other subjects or professionals is a secondary tool for their professional development. Say that you would like students to work with several case studies and to predict what the content and objectives of a course for each of the cases might be. On the board write: ‘What will the content and objective of a course be?’
Say that the case studies describe four groups of learners: a) a group of undergraduate university students of Economics; b) a group of medical students; c) a group of junior managers of a multinational company and d) a group of airline pilots.
☺☺☺ Put students in four groups and give each a copy of handout 1a-d with group profiles.Assign each group of participants only one casestudy. Monitor the group discussion and ask directing questions from the box belowwhere necessary.
After the discussion invite a spokesperson from each group to report to the whole group for 2-3 minutes. Invite comments from other groups. Support their reports with questions.
Suggested questions:
What is the main priority for these learners? What skills should the course focus on most of all? In what ways would you take students’ background into account? What kind of teaching resources / materials would you use and where would you get them?
After each report make your own comments where necessary.
Suggested comments:
1a. These students may benefit from a course that tackles all English language skills in their professional context. They will also need a build-up of their professional vocabulary. The availability of a wide resource in the library makes the choice of an appropriate textbook and supplementary materials relatively easy (e.g. Business Objectives). The course should aim at increasing students’ proficiency in English for general business purposes.
1b. The large size of the group, low proficiency level, scant resources and tight objectives (to pass the State Test) make it necessary to narrow down the objectives of the course to the development of professional reading and test-taking skills. The students will need to expand their professional vocabulary. Some instructions can be given in L1. The teacher will have to make good use of the professional texts available within the institute.
1c. There is no need to focus on professional vocabulary in this course. The teacher will have to stimulate learners to attend classes after work by including more communicative activities (probably dealing with such issues as presentation skills, social skills etc.) The course should focus on coherence and grammar. Another important objective will be the development of writing skills for business purposes (e-mails, faxes, memos, reports). The course should prepare the learners to be more effective interpreters of messages between their English-speaking line managers and non-English speaking subordinates. The learners may benefit from each other’s expertise in different professional areas. The teacher will have to choose the main textbook after a more detailed needs analysis and to use a wide range of supplementary materials.
1d. Given the limited time, the age and the level of learners, the course should address their immediate needs: to be able to receive and communicate professional data: e.g. course and altitude of a plane; time of landing and takeoff; various standard commands etc. Pilots will have to be exposed to different accents. The teacher will have to focus on listening and speaking for narrow professional purposes and will have to make the maximum use of the available professional materials. In this case learners themselves will be an invaluable teaching resource.
