English for specific purpose

Types of Professional communicative skills and their application in ESP classes

J.N. Miliar

T.M. Nekrasova

Tomsk Polytechnic University

May 27, 2009

Introduction

• Communication and its benefits
• Criteria of communicative tasks
• Literature overview + student /content area teacher’s interviews

• Types of professional activities
• Types of professional activities

• List of language competencies
• Teaching aspects

• Presentation (example)
• Presentation (example)

Communication and its benefits

• Rehearsal;
• Feedback;
• Engagement;
• Real-life situations;
• Automation of declarative language knowledge

Criteria of communicative tasks

• Productivity Purposefulness Interactivity Challenge Authenticity
• Productivity
• Purposefulness
• Interactivity
• Challenge
• Authenticity

Types of professional speaking genres

• Presentations;
• Interviews;
• Conference talks;
• Brief reports;
• Project description;
• Conference talks;
• Brief reports;
• Project description (group, mini-research, literature-based);
• Seminars

Required competencies

• Introduce oneself and ask for other identification;
• Distinguish between formal and informal register;
• Form a statement or a question in accordance with grammatical, syntactic rules of a language;
• Request general or specific information;
• Asking nd answering techniques;
• Asking and expressng personal opinion;
• Reformulate/restate/repeat a question;
• Request additional informaton/details;
• Avoiding an answering technique or be able to avoid a direct response;
• Follow the rules of politeness and culturally embeded rules of social behavior;

Teaching aspects: Presentation

• Organising information into coherent structure;
• Speaking from notes;
• Using« signals» to facilitate task of listeners;
• Developing listeners awareness;
• Achieving phonological, gammatical and lexical accuracy;
• Operating with greater fluency;
• Sequencing;
• Delivery (speed/clarity);
• Visual aids;
• Body language;
• Signposting;
• To avoid answering techniques;
• Answering questions;
• Clarification;
• Concluding;
• To recap and summing up

Teaching aspects

• Scenario 1: provision of set-phrases

• Uncertainty and inevitebility of usage; Communication problems and difficulties; A badly run organisation leads to detrimental consequences; People feel disaffected; Destructive and maliciuos nature (innuendo, gossip, rumour) caused by students being excluded from communicational channels; General expression of dissatisfaction and alienation
• Uncertainty and inevitebility of usage;
• Communication problems and difficulties;
• A badly run organisation leads to detrimental consequences;
• People feel disaffected;
• Destructive and maliciuos nature (innuendo, gossip, rumour) caused by students being excluded from communicational channels;
• General expression of dissatisfaction and alienation

Teaching aspects

• Scenario 2: Semi-controlled productive and free production activities

• To raise students awareness of the underlined competences; To create context in which students are involved to practice these competences; Inclusive approach is to manage the situation; Interectional approach is to notice the essential components of a language; Tecniques to automize the second language acquisition by mismatching what the students can do and need to do; To become aware of specific linguistic forms avaluable in the input;
• To raise students awareness of the underlined competences;
• To create context in which students are involved to practice these competences;
• Inclusive approach is to manage the situation;
• Interectional approach is to notice the essential components of a language;
• Tecniques to automize the second language acquisition by mismatching what the students can do and need to do;
• To become aware of specific linguistic forms avaluable in the input;

Conclusion

• Reflective analysis
• Needs analysis: Peer evaluation and Self-evaluation or assessment

• To stress the value of communication between and among students; To draw attention to the necessity for non-native speakers; To get feedback for the speaker on what the audience has understood; To obtain a wide sample of options than just one, regarding oral assessment The use of questionnaire; Surveys ; Structured interviews; Observation in class; Monitoring; Case study; Final tests; Presentation self-evaluation;
• To stress the value of communication between and among students;
• To draw attention to the necessity for non-native speakers;
• To get feedback for the speaker on what the audience has understood;
• To obtain a wide sample of options than just one, regarding oral assessment
• The use of questionnaire;
• Surveys ;
• Structured interviews;
• Observation in class;
• Monitoring;
• Case study;
• Final tests;
• Presentation self-evaluation;

References

• Dramma Techniques in Language Learning. Alom Maley and Alon Duff. Cambridge, 1978, 1982,2001. Pages 2-16, 38, 186, 201.
• Communication and Language.N. Thompson. Palgrave Macmillan. Great Britain, 2003.Pages 9, 98, 123-132
• How to teach English.Jeremy Harmer. Pearson Education Limited, 2007.Pages 123-132.
• Dramma. Sarah Phillips, Oxford, 2001.Pages 5-9.
• How to teach English.Jeremy Harmer, Longman, 1998.

Pages 87-96.