Exploiting Tagline Slogans as Authentic Materials in English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) Classroom

Tagline slogans are aggressively used in the marketing field to promote specific products or services to consumers. However, they are least used as authentic materials in the teaching and learning of English as a Second Language (ESL) class. The too-brief structure embodying tagline slogans makes them difficult to be exploited to be used as materials for teaching and learning processes. Studies on the use of tagline slogans in ESL speaking lessons are still scarce, making it inconclusive to fully comprehend why they are underutilized as opposed to the other authentic materials. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the reasons for such ill preference towards the employment of tagline slogans as authentic materials in speaking lessons from the view of English for occupational purposes (EOP) students. The qualitative data of this study was obtained from seven participants who had utilized tagline slogans in their class presentations. The findings show that tagline slogans are less preferable due to inappropriate words or sentence structures used, presenters’ inefficient explanation resulting in the audience’ misunderstanding and suitability issues with context. Even though there lie limitations in using tagline slogans as authentic materials, with the right selection, they could act as a platform to improve learners’ shared world knowledge in particular and their productive skills of the target language in the long run. This study has unearthed the case against the use of tagline slogans in speaking lessons from the lenses of EOP learners and at the same time has provided lessons learned on how tagline slogans could positively nurture learners’ speaking skills.

Aligning the Language Criteria of a Group Oral Test to the CEFR: The Case of a Formal Meeting Assessment in an English for Occupational Purposes Classroom

The Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB) 2015-2025 has set in motion efforts from all stages of education to align programs, courses, and syllabuses to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) benchmark. This exercise has brought on major revamps in all aspects of English language education in the nation. This study will present such an undertaking in a public university in Malaysia and detail how the language criteria for an oral group test of an English for Occupational Purposes course have been aligned to the stipulated CEFR level. The actual assessment task involved groups of four or five students conducting a meeting of their established company. Data for the study came from an analysis of the audio recordings of nine group meetings, along with post-assessment interviews and focus group discussions involving three EOP instructors. Based on the data analysis, this study recommends a revised set of language criteria for the assessment. Furthermore, it demonstrates how an alignment of the scoring criteria with the descriptors of the targeted CEFR scale can be achieved through a systematic comparison of the language functions (LFs) produced in the meeting task to the targeted CEFR descriptor scales. The revised language component for the meeting assessment could help ease instructors’ assessment of students interactional skills and allow them to gauge better their students’ attainment of the skills required in a formal meeting context.

Professional communication competence in English for occupational purposes (EOP) courses: A systematic literature review and proposal of a framework

This paper reports a systematic literature review that was conducted to explore the areas of research pertaining to English language workplace communication needs in order to design courses in English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) that can better meet the demands of the industry. Articles from Scopus, ScienceDirect and Emerald Insight were extracted following the five-step method of conducting a systematic literature review. In total, 133 articles were analysed. From the analysis, it was found that most studies focused on examining the needs of the learners, or the needs of the industry; very few studies triangulated the findings between different stakeholders to obtain a better picture of the needs, wants, and gaps between the target situation and the present situation. Additionally, most studies focused on language tasks required and did not pay due emphasis on the competencies required to perform the tasks well. Thus, the outcome of this review is a proposed theoretical model to develop professional communication competence among new graduates that is intended to be used in a future study to address the gaps found in this review. Practically, the review also sheds light on gaps that exist in current research that can be addressed in future research, especially for higher education institutions (HEIs) that are working to design and develop courses in EOP to improve English language communication skills for employability.

Teacher’s Preparation of Lesson Plans in English For Occupational Purposes (EOP) Through Google Classroom

In the application of online learning, there are several problems. One of the problems that are often found is the problem of learning facilities. Students have inadequate to carry out online learning facilities so that the impact on online learning does not run optimally. This study aims to measure EOP teachers' ability to prepare EOP students' lesson plans through Google Classroom in Vocational High Schools (SMK) and identify teacher problems and problems faced by students in EOP learning through Google Classroom. The type of research ii is qualitative. The research was conducted using an embedded mix-method design. The participants of this study were an English teacher of tenth-grade students and 76 students. The methods used to collect data are observation, interviews, and questionnaires. The technique used to analyze the data is qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis. The results of this study indicate that teachers are lacking and have problems in three aspects. The three aspects are the relevance of learning methods, evaluation and learning indicators' relevance, and instruments and evaluations' relevance. In addition, EOP students found problems in 6 aspects of EOP learning through Google Classrooms. This research implies that EOP learning through Google Classroom can be applied by teachers in online learning.

GOOGLE CLASSROOM-BASED LEARNING: LOOKING DEEPER INTO THE SENIOR VOCATIONAL SCHOOL EFL LEARNING IN THE PANDEMIC CONTEXT

The present research measured the teachers’ ability and identified the constraints in preparing and implementing lesson plans as well as the students’ constraints in learning English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) through Google Classroom during the pandemic Covid-19 in the Senior Vocational High School Denpasar. The design implemented was mixed method quantitatively and qualitatively. Data were collected by means of five instruments, namely teachers’ ability and constraints in preparing and implementing lesson plan, and students’ constrain in EOP through Google classroom. The research findings show that the teachers were less able in preparing and implementing lesson plans for EOP through Google Classroom. The constrain in EFL students of EOP through Google Classroom learning paradigm. The conclusion the teachers should improve their ability in developing learning indicators using operational and measurable words. It is suggested to understand of taxonomy bloom and both teachers and students should improve their motivation in online learning.

МОРСЬКА АНГЛІЙСЬКА МОВА В ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННІ БЕЗПЕКИ МОРЕПЛАВСТВА

Англійська мова за професійним спрямуванням має значний вплив на формування сучасного фахівця морського транспорту. На сьогодні вона є одним із найважливіших засобів професійного спілкування фахівців морської галузі та є досить специфічною. У статті характеризуються особливості викладання іноземної мови в морських закладах вищої освіти; аналізується зміст дисципліни «Англійська мова за професійним спрямуванням»; розглядається значення викладання цієї навчальної галузі з метою забезпечення безпеки мореплавства, дається визначення термінів «професійно орієнтована англійська мова» (ESP), «для навчальних/академічних цілей» (English for Academic Purposes) і «для професійних цілей» (English for Occupational Purposes). Ключові слова: професійно орієнтована англійська мова, англійська мова для навчальних/академічних цілей, безпека в мореплавстві, судноводіння, непорозуміння.

DEVELOPING ENGLISH MATERIAL FOR CRUISE LINE BARTENDER FOR STUDENTS OF INTERNATIONAL BALI INSTITUTE OF TOURISM

This study aims to develop English for Cruise Line Bartender materials needed by Cruise Line Bartender students of The International Bali Institute of Tourism, to explain how the materials were developed, and to analyze the quality of the developed materials. This study adopts the design proposed by Dick and Carey (2001). The model proposed by Dick and Carey consists of several stages; 1) conducting need analysis (problem determination), 2) designing the model, 3) developing the model, 4) validating the model by experts, and 5) trying out the model (dissemination). The object of this study was the English for cruise line bartender at the International Bali Institute of Tourism. In collecting the data, three instruments were used namely questionnaires, guided interviews, and document analysis. The study shows that eight topics are required to be developed. The topics are getting to know you, setting up a bar, kinds of drink, drink recipe, and taking beverage order, we are sorry, cruise vacationers, and job interview. The materials were designed by following the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) material design involving input, content focus, language focus, and task. Since English for cruise line bartender is part of ESP that is under English for Occupational Purposes, the steps of the interactive data analysis method consist of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results of expert judges' validation were analyzed descriptively by comparing the scores of two raters using Gregory's formula (2000). The quality of the developed materials was categorized as good material. Thus, it can be used as the source for learning by prospective the secretary of Cruise Line Bartender Program at The International Bali Institute of Tourism.Keywords: English Learning Materials, Cruise line, Bartender

SHOULD TRANSLATION TEACHING BE INCORPORATED INTO ‘REGULAR’ ENGLISH CLASSROOMS?

A survey conducted on four different groups of professionally active subjects from the Subcarpathian region, Poland, revealed that employees who work in multilingual settings are regularly entrusted with typical translation and/or interpreting tasks that arise in such settings. Simultaneously, as also evidenced from the answers they provided, none of the courses of English they attended have prepared them for acting in the role of, as they referred to themselves, ‘substitute translators’. The major stress in these classrooms the eighty participants were part of was typically placed on preparing a learner for situations in which one needs to express oneself in L2 and not for situations in which one is required to translate or interpret. This has resulted in some of the participants’ suggestion for a special form of language pedagogy that would take into account that translation outside the classroom seems to have become the norm in contemporary global economy. The study, which ends with a brief presentation of the subjects’ ideas, may be of interest to educationalists in the field of Translation Studies whose expertise may be exploited for the purpose of helping experts in ELT design suitable teaching materials. Keywords: teaching translation, English for Occupational Purposes, learners’ needs, TEFL, syllabus design

Needs Analysis of Medical Personnel’s English Communication Skills

Globalization brings new challenges for education and training program as it demands new skills, awareness, approaches, and training. This demands medical personnel to serve clients who come from other countries around the world with effective English communication skill. In a more specific purpose in a job setting, an employee will need specific English related to his job description. As far as medical profession is concerned, medical personnel need English language in their professional settings. The demand for English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) grows proportionally to the universal demand for employees, who can function in English, in their fields of specialization. It therefore demands medical personnel to acquire English competences to meet with their desired level of English proficiency skills. What English competences are needed and whether they need English training program will determine the urgency needs analysis on the medical personnel English communication skills. This study is aimed at investigating the communicative needs of medical personnel at professional level in survey-based research. The data were collected, analyzed and interpreted qualitatively by administering observational notes, interview, and questionnaire among medical representatives. Further, this study is expected to gain beneficial outputs such as research report, proceeding after having been presented in national or international conference, and could be further developed into learning module for training program.