¡Descarga English for specific purposes unit 2 y más Apuntes en PDF de Idioma Inglés solo en Docsity! Unit 2: Introduction • Much of the workload of ESP teacher will be designing courses for groups of learners. • What does design course imply? - Keeping in mind that we have to meet very clear and identifiable needs of learners - Ask questions to have a basis for the whole process: syllabus design, material writing, classroom teaching and evaluation. • Why do students need to learn? • Who is going to be involved in the process? • Where will the learning take place? Any limitations? • When? How much time is available? How will it be distributed? • What do students need to learn? What will be covered and how will it be described? • How will the learning be achieved? What learning theory will be behind and what kind of methodology will be used? (The picture from the notes about ESP course) 2.1. Definition of needs analysis • It is the stage where course developers identify specific language and skills the group of learners will need. Such identification will be used in determining the content for the ESP course. • It can also be used to assess learners and learning at the end of the course. • This process has become increasingly sophisticated, as can be seen: 1. Chambers (1980): Needs analysis should be concerned with the establishment of communicative needs and their realizations, resulting from a target situation analysis. 2. Dudley-Evans and St John (1998): complex definition: (offer an expanded concept) a. Professional information about learners: Skills and situations (speaking on the phone..) learners will be using English for Target situation analysis and objective needs (destination). b. Personal information about learners: factors which may affect their learning such as previous learning experiences, reasons for attending the course and expectations of it, attitude to English Wants and subjective needs. c. English language information about learners: what their current skills and language use are. Present situation analysis (point of departure). d. The learners’ lacks: the gap between where we are (C) and where we want to be (A). e. Language learning information: effective ways of learning the skills and language considering who they are, why they are going to do the course and how they learn best. Learning needs (means of travel). f. Knowledge of how language and skills are used in the target situation (discourse analysis, genre analysis). g. Information about how the course will be run (where, when and what resources are available). Means analysis. Consider what the ESP course and teacher can offer realistically. • Over the years it’s become more sophisticated: - includes analysis of language use + skills in the target situation • Analysis of learner factors • Analysis of context factors • Difference between concepts: needs, lacks and wants • Needs: what the learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target situation. • Lacks: identifying needs is not enough. We need to know what the learner already knows, so you can decide what is really missing (In the learning process). • Wants: this is bringing the learner on stage, where they play an active role. Want and lacks coincide? Example: Karl Jensen: German engineer • His important need is to read texts in English (multinational company): to design prototypes • His level of English is intermediate • Occasionally he travels abroad for the annual Conference. Operating language is English. Half of the workers are native speakers of the language. • He is given the chance to join an English class. What do you feel he may be expecting out of the class? Focus on reading or speaking? • Example of a situation where there may be conflicting views: learner’s perceptions and employer’s perceptions.
