Professor : Patricia Su Presenter : Ming-Jen Tsai (Pink) Number : Date : April 12 th, 2012

8.1 Aims Discussing the steps and the criteria for an integrated approach to course design.

8.2 Parameters of course design Intensive or extensive Assessed or non-assessed Immediate or delayed needs Teacher as provider or as facilitator/consultant Broad or narrow focus Pre-experience or in parallel with experience Common-core or specific material Homogeneous or heterogeneous groups and motivation Fixed course design or flexible negotiated course design

8.2.1 Intensive or extensive ESP courses, both EOP(Occupational) and EAP(Academic), are frequently intensive. Companies send their managers, secretaries or technicians on short intensive courses in the expectation that an exclusive concentration on certain skill or language for the period of the course will greatly enhance their performance in activities that require English. With extensive courses, however, they may be possible to incorporate some intensive elements into essentially extensive courses.

Advantage of intensive courses The students are totally focused on their purpose for learning English and, if the course is residential, they can be immersed in an English-language environment, even outside the actual class session. This total focus on the ESP course and the absence of other distractions can mean that the intensive and residential course makes the most effective use of time available for English and study/communication skills.

Disadvantages of intensive courses With longer courses the total concentration on English and the absence of academic or professional activity may become increasingly artificial. Students’ motivation seemed to decline, in some cases quite dramatically.

Advantages of extensive courses The course can run in parallel with the subject course or the professional activity. The learners’ experience or needs remain flexible. In EAP situations, the profile of ESP as a subject is raised, thereby increasing motivation.

Disadvantage of extensive courses The potential lake of continuity between classes, particularly if the classes are infrequent(Robinson, 1991). Each class and the material for it may have to be self- contained, it does not allow for carry-over between classes.

8.2.2 Assessed or non-assessed Assessed courses in EAP Assessednon-assessed (a)It raises the status of the subject. (b)It is taken seriously by both students and the department. (c)It brings responsibilities. (a)Different groups are taught by different teachers but take the same test. (b) Teachers lost their freedom in the choice of topics and material used on the course. (c) Teachers coordinate to ensure that the testing is valid and fair.

8.2.2 Assessed or non-assessed Assessed courses in EOP: Testing learners’ proficiency(X). → Various standardized tests: (a) proficiency in business (b)proficiency in business and professional communication → Passing examinations enhances learners’ career prospects.

8.2.3 Immediate or delayed needs Any pre-experience course, whether EAP or EOP, is by definition a course that deals with delayed needs. Many EAP courses fall on the continuum between these two points: (a)English course runs parallel with subject courses in the first or second years of students’ subject course. (b)But the students’ actual needs for English become more pressing in later years of the course, or once they have graduated.

8.2.4 Teacher as provider or as facilitator/consultant Teacher as provider of input: Teacher expects, or is expected, to control the class, to provide information about skills and language, to control the activities, possibly moving into pair or group work for part of the class, but always at the suggestion of the teacher.

8.2.4 Teacher as provider or as facilitator/consultant Teacher as facilitator or consultant: (a)The ESP teacher manages rather than controls. (b)S/he may not make decisions but will negotiate with the learners. Development: (a) Teacher knows relatively little about the content. (b) Proceeds by pulling together and organizing the information.

8.2.5 Broad or narrow focus Broad focus: Concentrate on a range of target events, such as study or professional skill, or a variety of genres. It allows us to deal with a number of skills even if the actual need is one skill. This may be especially useful if motivation is a problem.

8.2.5 Broad or narrow focus Narrow focus: By a narrow focus we mean that we concentrate on a few target event, for example just the listening skill, or just one or two genres. A narrow focus does not necessarily mean that we only use specific carrier content for teaching material. A narrow focus is appropriate where the needs are limited and the learners are convinced of the importance of concentrating just on those needs.

8.2.6 Pre-experience or in parallel with experience By pre-experience we mean that learners do not have experience of the target situation at the time of the ESP course. By parallel with experience we mean that the English course runs concurrently with the study course or professional activity.

8.2.7 Common-core or specific material By common-core material we mean material that uses carrier content which is either of a general academic nature or of a general professional nature. By specific material we mean that the material uses carrier content that is drawn directly from the learners’ academic or professional area.

8.2.8 Homogeneous or heterogeneous groups and motivation Homogeneous: The main question here is that of the motivation of learners. Heterogeneous: It is more appropriate to look for topics and activities that are common to the various interests in the group. The homogeneous/ heterogeneous question is the language level of the students.

8.2.9 Fixed course design or flexible negotiated course design A fixed course design is laid down in advance of the course and is rarely deviated from. A flexible and negotiated course design allows room for change based on feedback from learners. (Nunan, 1988)

8.3 Balancing the parameters In planning a course, ESP teachers should first be aware of the options and of the limitations arising from institutional and learner expectations. Initial revisions may be major, but therefore the details may only need fine-tuning.

8.4 Case Studies A case: An extensive, repeated, assessed EAP course for students at the Jordanian University of Science and Technology(JUST), Irbid, Jordan

Background Arabic is the main language in Jordan; English is a foreign language. At JUST (Jordanian University of Science and Technology), English is the official medium of course. There is a compulsory undergraduate course in English which all students must pass. The purpose is to raise their level of English language and to try and ensure that no student fails their subject studies.

Needs analysis procedure An initial Target Situation Analysis (TSA) was conducted using questionnaires with students and staff, plus structured interviews with subject lecturers. Formative evaluation during the next years refined the needs and provided valuable feedback on materials and method. Lesson record sheets, focus groups with students, staff discussions, questionnaires, test results and observation were all used for evaluation.

Broad results of Needs analysis procedure All faculties have prescribed reading and there are often handouts or laboratory instructions in English. Students did not read widely enough. The major area of difficulty was considered to be at the macro-level, understanding the conventions, rhetorical awareness and organization of ideas. Students have to listen to lectures, demonstrations and instruction and comprehension was generally considered acceptable.

Course framework Two courses are offered each semester: Course 1: -Compulsory for all new undergraduates. -Duration 12 weeks, total length 36 hours. - Units 1~5 Strategies for reading: topic sentences, paragraph organization, paragraph development, dealing with unknown words, finding information quickly. -Units 6~7 Writing laboratory reports. -Units 8~12 Explorations in reading, listening and writing.

Course framework Course 2: -Compulsory before graduating. - Duration 12 weeks, total length 36 hours. -The first units: cover skills for gathering information. -The second block: deals with organization, language and skills for the written version. -The third group of units: looks at editing for meaning, coherence and accuracy. -While the last three units cover oral presentations.

8.5 Develop a course outline With the range of ESP courses that have been taught around the world and the materials published, even for a new course, we should not have to start from scratch – to invent a wheel. As with needs analysis, an important part of the process is to learn from what else we and others have done. Evolution rather than revolution or invention may be the route for innovation.

8.5.1 Ordering: criteria for prioritizing (a) Beginning with target events and rhetorical awareness: - Our starting point is the macro-level- the target events in which the learners want to operate successfully and the necessary rhetorical awareness. -One criterion is according to when the target events are needed by the learners. -A second key criterion is that using or learning certain language or skill is dependent on others.

8.5.1 Ordering: criteria for prioritizing (b) From target events and rhetorical awareness to skill areas to: -At the course design stage these skill areas also have to be ordered and the same criteria apply: what is needed first, what is a building block, what increases confidence?

8.5.2 The role of materials We stressed in the chapter on needs analysis the process of discovering, through reading, analyzing texts, observing interactions, and asking questions of experts. Looking at existing materials, we can learn about skill areas and associated language from materials. The final choice of some features to be taught and the order they are taught in will come from the materials we select.

8.5.3 Timetabling In some circumstances – courses with few hours or little time for course design – this may be part of the initial juggling. Much discussion and information exchange went on in order to establish the course content because this was the first course of its kind (dual purpose / team- taught). When the course content was outlined, we began to think about how to teach it and how long different activities would require.

8.5.3 Timetabling The final order (the timetable) was also influenced by practical learning issues such as: (a) varying the kind of activities throughout the day (b) not having heavy input sessions at the end of the day (c) having interactive rather than “passive” immediately after lunch.

8.5.4 The role of assessment and evaluation Grading is achieved not through the course order / outline but through the materials and methodology. When the language learning will be difficult, the carrier content needs to be easy (but interesting and not trivial). The more difficult an area of language, the more guidance and support a learner needs in exercises and tasks as well as more practice.

Thank you for your attention.