English for Specific Purposes in the Digital Age

Author(s):  
Lorena Clara Mihăeş

The information revolution has enhanced the role of English as the lingua franca of global communication and has dramatically increased the demand for academic English courses which focus on discipline-specific knowledge. The present chapter examines the current state of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course at the University of Bucharest, Romania. Against the wider background provided by language education policies and digital initiatives within the European Union, the chapter presents how technology-integrated teaching methods have begun to shape both the content and the delivery format of the specialised English class and to renew the task-based framework on which the course is developed. If, not long ago, the traditional assessment was considered the only reliable way of testing students' knowledge, the initially forced adoption of e-assessment following the global health crisis has shown that it can be an efficient tool, covering a relevant evaluation of both receptive and productive skills.

Author(s):  
Lorena Clara Mihăeş

The information revolution has enhanced the role of English as the lingua franca of global communication and has dramatically increased the demand for academic English courses which focus on discipline-specific knowledge. The present chapter examines the current state of teaching and assessing English for Specific Purposes at the University of Bucharest, Romania. Against the wider background provided by language education policies and digital initiatives within the European Union, the chapter presents how technology-integrated teaching methods have begun to shape both the content and the delivery format of the specialised English class and to renew the task-based framework on which the course is developed. The assessment, however, is more indebted to the traditional type of evaluation. The undergraduate English for History course will be given as an example in point.


Author(s):  
Jens Haugan

Norwegian and Scandinavian languages in general have grown quite popular among Polish students in recent years and more and more Polish universities are trying to offer Bachelor’s and even Master’s programmes in a Scandinavian language. Based on experience as a teacher of a Norwegian grammar course at the University of Szczecin and as a teacher of grammar at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences which in 2016/2017 hosted around twenty Erasmus+ students from Szczecin, some of the challenges for Polish students of academic Norwegian will be reflected upon, as well as some of the challenges for a teacher of Norwegian who has very little knowledge of Polish. The main purpose of this paper will be to argue for the importance of grammar skills in language education and especially in language teacher education. This study is a contribution to the Educational Role of Language network.


2021 ◽  
pp. 65-74
Author(s):  
Christelle HOPPE

This article presents the highlights of the learning experience within the teaching-learning scheme of French as an additional language as it was proposed to international students at the university to ensure pedagogical continuity during the health crisis between April and June 2020. Through vignettes that give an overview of the course, it proposes, on the one hand, to reflect on the pedagogical choices that were made in order to measure their effects effectively. On the other hand, it looks at the role of the tasks and the way in which they stimulate interaction, articulate or organise the cognitive, conative and socio-affective presence at a distance in this particular context. What emerges from the experience is that the flexible articulation of a set of tasks creates an organising framework that helps learners to shape their own curriculum while supporting their engagement. Overall, the pedagogical organisation of the device has led to potentially beneficial creative and socio-interactive use.


Author(s):  
Gary Motteram ◽  
Susan Brown

Web 2.0 offers potentially powerful tools for the field of language education. As language teacher tutors exploring Web 2.0 with participants on an MA in Educational Technology and TESOL at the University of Manchester, UK, we see that the potential of Web 2.0 is intimately linked with teachers’ perceptions of their teaching contexts. This chapter will describe a “context-based” approach to the exploration of Web 2.0 on a module focusing on the potential role of distributed courseware in language education. It will begin by giving an overall picture of where and how the exploration of Web 2.0 tools fits into the MA program. It will then describe the main aims and aspects of the module and discuss in some detail our context-based approach in relation to participants as well as Web 2.0 in existing literature. The chapter will conclude with two case studies concerning how teachers incorporate Web 2.0 technologies in courseware for their contexts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 01185
Author(s):  
Marina Krapivina ◽  
Vitaly Tomin ◽  
Natalia Eremina

Teaching English for specific purposes to non-linguistic students presents some challenges due to several factors. They are determined by the growing demands of the global economy towards the level of professional competence, diversification of the employers ‘demands to the employees and the need to account for the cultural peculiarities of regional economies. The authors present a study of organizing the process of English for specific purposes teaching considering linguacultural features. The authors assess the role of English in the modern world and the global economy. English continues to change the language behaviour of people around the globe and is currently the primary tool for large-scale bilingualism. The article analyses the main linguacultural features of different regional business communities’ representatives. The article outlines the primary courses design requirements: the communicative orientation and integrating the linguacultural features of professional communication. The authors substantiate the need to develop a methodological, theoretical and practical basis for the implementation of the linguacultural component of the course for the university students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 482-506
Author(s):  
Joelle Grogan

Abstract Building on two global Symposia hosted by the Verfassungsblog and convened by the author, the 2020 “COVID-19 and States of Emergency” and the 2021 “Power and the COVID-19 Pandemic”, in addition to the findings of the Democracy Reporting International ‘Rule of Law Stress Test’ which surveyed EU Member States’ responses to the pandemic, this article investigates the impact of the pandemic on governance and legal systems within the EU, and evaluates the actions taken by EU institutions and national governments in response to the health crisis against the standards of the rule of law.


1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
Evariste Manirakiza ◽  
Innocent Hakizimana

In the current trends of communication and globalization, the knowledge of vocabulary is of paramount importance. With a vocabulary package, people can read any texts and understand them. Additionally, it is easy to communicate when people have enough vocabulary. The present study is a class enquiry. It involved 30 students doing English for Specific Purposes at the University of Rwanda, College of Business and Economics, Business Administration option. Facing the challenge of getting students to effectively communicate in English and understand reading materials, the purpose of the study was to investigate into the role of vocabulary to the understanding of reading texts, speaking and writing activities. Data collection tools were individual evaluations, debates, a questionnaire and class observations. Findings revealed that vocabulary activities prior to reading provide students with many benefits. As students reported, vocabulary increased their understanding of the text and helps them exchange ideas and increase language skills while discussing vocabulary related exercises. Findings also indicated that the vocabulary activities helped students write in an effective way, applying new terms and writing freely. Therefore, it is recommended that vocabulary should be worked on thoroughly in order to foster reading comprehension, speaking and writing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Peláez ◽  
Jaime Usma

Drawing on the concept of policy appropriation, this study investigates how different education stakeholders in a rural region of Colombia perceive foreign language education policies, and how these perceptions shape the way they recreate these reforms at the ground level. Contributing to the field of language policy analysis in Colombia and abroad, findings in this study not only provide knowledge on foreign language policymaking processes in rural areas in Colombia, but also shed light on the active role played by different stakeholders in the continuous recreation and appropriation of language education reforms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Martín ◽  
Concepción Román

During March and April 2020, the European Union (EU) was the center of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many national governments imposed severe lockdown policies to mitigate the health crisis, but the citizens’ support to these policies was unknown. The aim of this paper was to analyze empirically how citizens in the EU have reacted towards the measures taken by the national governments. To this end, a microeconometric model (ordered probit) that explains the citizens’ satisfaction by a number of attitudes and sociodemographic factors was estimated using a wide database formed by 21,804 European citizens in 21 EU countries who responded a survey between 23 April and 1 May 2020. Our results revealed that Spaniards were the least satisfied citizens in comparison with Danes, Irelanders, Greeks, and Croats, who were the most satisfied nationals. The years of education and the social class also played a determinant role. We also found that the most important determinant was the political support to the government, and that those who were more worried by the economy and the protection of individual rights were usually more critical of the measures than those who were more worried by the health consequences.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ribut Wahyudi

Context awareness in tertiary education is a crucial aspect. This awareness should be perceived by university students to maximize their academic potentials. In so doing, this mini research employs context analysis about: text, the purpose of text, the setting of text, the audience of text, the relationship between reader and writer, the expectations and conventions and the requirements of texts, shared values, background knowledge and understanding of text, intertextuality, the tone of text, assessment criteria followed by intercommunication of discourse community as proposed by Johns (1997). The context analysis on the disciplinary assignment through the active role of students as researcher is necessary. This would sensitize students what to do and what not to do in the learning activities. Furthermore, being well-informed on ethnographic writing, the study of academic practices in the university, is salient. This can be done, one of them, through the interview with the lecturer of a specific course as well as to some extent negotiate the academic practices. This positions the students as an active agent in learning.<br />Keywords: Student as Researcher, Context Analysis, Ethnographic Writing, Genre<br /><br />


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