Using Authentic Chinese Doctor-Patient Consultations to Develop Patient-Centered Communication Skills

Researchers in Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) have suggested the importance and benefits of using authentic spoken workplace discourses as teaching materials to develop students’ communication skills in professional settings. However, LSP course designers are still facing the challenges of selecting and collecting authentic workplace conversations, as well as designing instruction to teach the occupational spoken discourses effectively. To address these challenges, this paper presents an innovative module for Chinese for Medical Purposes for pre-med college students at the intermediate-high level. The module uses authentic doctor-patient consultations and adopts the Patient-Centered Clinical Method (PCCM) of Stewart et al. (2014), a clinically validated model in healthcare communication research. The current module demonstrates the approach to determine the student learning objectives based on the PCCM model and the instruction design aiming at guiding students to notice and analyze the discourse features and communication strategies employed by physicians to achieve patient-centered care. The paper also examines learners’ pre- and post-instruction roleplay performances. The qualitative findings show that the learners improved in using patient-centered communication strategies after instruction.

Spanish for STEM in US Higher Education: A Historical Review and Future Perspectives

This article examines the long tradition of Spanish-language learning for scientific and technological purposes in the United States. It provides a review of some of the historical approaches for designing course offerings and programs of Spanish for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at the college level. These historical approaches help us better understand the unique challenges Spanish for STEM educators and scholars have faced at different times and the perspectives that have shaped the current state of the field. The author also describes current pedagogical models within the field of Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) but also International Engineering Education (IEE) and Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC). Finally, the author articulates future perspectives and possible directions of the field, including more emphasis on needs-analysis curriculum design and more active engagement with developments in other geographies, language traditions, and areas of LSP. This article seeks to encourage the growth of Spanish for STEM at institutions of higher education, whether in language departments or science and engineering programs.

Backward Design for LSP: Domain Analysis as a Consistent Research Framework for a Necessarily Decentralized Field

This conceptual article examines current approaches to languages for specific purposes (LSP) course design, including the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) backward design model and needs assessments, then explains domain analysis and its history before proceeding with a “how-to” for using domain analysis in backward design for LSP. The authors walk through the process of conducting research using the domain analysis framework that leads to the development of real-world proficiency targets that can be systematically assessed. Once summative proficiency tasks and tests are developed, evidence-centered curricular (re)design can take place. Throughout, the authors will provide illustrative examples from two larger research projects on Spanish for social work and legal Spanish.

Using Personalized Adaptive Learning to Promote Industry-Specific Language Skills in Support of Spanish Internship Students

This essay offers a response to the challenge of preparing student interns to successfully utilize Spanish professional terminology in legal and medical settings. The authors developed a personal adaptive learning (PAL) course to address vocabulary language deficits experienced by Spanish internship students. PAL technologies provide students of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) the opportunity to engage in vocabulary learning through personalized feedback and alternative learning content. Implementing Cavanagh et al.’s (2020) Framework for Adapting Learning Design, the authors designed Spanish language modules for legal and medical terminology using Realizeit, a PAL platform that allows instructors to create their own content and assessment items. PAL modules for both legal and medical terminology were added to the Canvas learning management system of the Spanish Internship course and students could select the Realizeit module that fit their internship placement (legal or medical). PAL holds enormous potential to help LSP learners build mastery of industry-specific terminology that will be attractive to potential employers.

Marketing French through a French for the Professions Course

This article details a team-based marketing capstone project in a French for the Professions course at the low-advanced level based on ACTFL proficiency guidelines. The capstone project focuses on marketing and branding strategies, advertising campaigns, teamwork skills, and presentational communication skills. Rather than marketing a traditional product or service, however, students in this fifth-semester course were tasked with developing a marketing campaign specifically for the French language. By capturing and applying market data about attitudes toward language learning, students applied their coursework to real-world issues and then learned to become advocates for the study of the French language. Overall, students and faculty members rated this project positively: Students noted its real-world applications and faculty members reported the utility of the project in assessing content knowledge. What we have learned from the implementation of the capstone project has ultimately informed departmental marketing strategies that may be useful for attracting students to language programs.

French for Professional Purposes in US Undergraduate Education: An Analysis of Course Offerings and Student Demand

In the past decade, there has been a significant decline in French language enrollments in US higher education institutions, despite a growing demand for French proficiency in the North American job market. These trends illustrate the need to offer French for Professional Purposes (FPP) courses, which allow students to develop language skills adapted to the professional environment. Our research aims to analyze the supply and demand for FPP courses. In this current study, we assessed the proportion of four-year colleges and universities that offer FPP courses, and we compiled the variety of their course offerings. We then conducted a survey of students enrolled in the FPP courses. Among the 545 institutions reviewed, a majority offered at least one FPP course, usually Business French. Institutions offering more than one course and a wider diversity of course topics were less common. Based on questionnaire responses, we found a significant mismatch between the supply of courses and students’ demand for FPP course offerings. We also found that, if given the possibility, most undergraduate students in the first through third years would like to enroll in another FPP course in the following academic year. These results call for further developments of FPP courses nationwide and greater diversification of course offerings.

The Intersection of Policy and Practice: Two Cases of English Language Programs in Southeast Asian Law Enforcement Academies

The emergence of English as a lingua franca in Southeast Asia has meant that government officials are increasingly required to use English. Law enforcement officers are no exception; police interact with international tourists, communicate across borders, attend international conferences, and participate in deployments overseas. The practical need for English is accompanied by national policies prioritizing English instruction across educational and governmental institutions. As a result, law enforcement academies increasingly prioritize English language programs to support the English proficiency of their cadets. This article describes case studies of English language programs at two law enforcement academies in Vietnam and Indonesia. Data was originally collected and analyzed as separate needs assessment evaluations designed for each institution. Findings were later compared and reinterpreted through a language policy and planning lens. Common to both cases was the demand to prepare cadets for the dual challenge of conducting specific police duties in English and of achieving high scores on academic English exams. Recommendations are provided for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in the field of Language for Specific Purposes.

Collaborating across organizational lines in Language for Specific Purposes

Since its inception in the 1970s, the field of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) in the United States has continually adapted to ever-changing real-world needs. Its evolution has contributed to its increasing relevance, though the field faces ongoing challenges presented by the gap between its interdisciplinary nature and a lack of instructor expertise in the LSP content area, and thus calls for collaborations among institutions and communities. Reviewing successful collaborations in LSP, this chapter proposes an interdisciplinary collaboration taxonomy that aims to describe, compare, and evaluate such collaborations. The taxonomy categorizes LSP interdisciplinary collaborations at resource, project, course, and program levels, through intra-institutional and extra-institutional partnership. Furthermore, this chapter showcases examples of such collaborations at two institutions in courses of business Chinese, business French, medical Spanish, and a minor in Latin American studies for technical applications. These successful experiences demonstrate how LSP instructors can conduct intra- and extra-institutional collaboration with varying degrees of interactivity and on various scales to align the course with discipline standards. Each example also reflects on challenges and share tips related to logistics for replication and future development.