Trialing project-based learning in a new EAP ESP course: A collaborative reflective practice of three college English teachers

Currently in many Chinese universities, the traditional College English course is facing the risk of being ‘marginalized’, replaced or even removed, and many hours previously allocated to the course are now being taken by EAP or ESP. At X University in northern China, a curriculum reform as such is taking place, as a result of which a new course has been created called ‘xue ke’ English. Despite the fact that ‘xue ke’ means subject literally, the course designer has made it clear that subject content is not the target, nor is the course the same as EAP or ESP. This curriculum initiative, while possibly having been justified with a rationale of some kind (e.g. to meet with changing social and/or academic needs of students and/or institutions), this is posing a great challenge for, as well as considerable pressure on, a number of College English teachers who have taught this single course for almost their entire teaching career. In such a context, three teachers formed a peer support group in Semester One this year, to work collaboratively co-tackling the challenge, and they chose Project-Based Learning (PBL) for the new course. This presentation will report on the implementation of this project, including the overall designing, operational procedure, and the teachers’ reflections. Based on discussion, pre-agreement was reached on the purpose and manner of collaboration as offering peer support for more effective teaching and learning and fulfilling and pleasant professional development. A WeChat group was set up as the chief platform for messaging, idea-sharing, and resource-exchanging. Physical meetings were supplementary, with sound agenda but flexible time, and venues. Mosoteach cloud class (lan mo yun ban ke) was established as a tool for virtual learning, employed both in and after class. Discussions were held at the beginning of the semester which determined only brief outlines for PBL implementation and allowed space for everyone to autonomously explore in their own way. Constant further discussions followed, which generated a great deal of opportunities for peer learning and lesson plan modifications. A reflective journal, in a greater or lesser detailed manner, was also kept by each teacher to record the journey of the collaboration. At the end of the semester, it was commonly recognized that, although challenges existed, the collaboration was overall a success and they were all willing to continue with it and endeavor to refine it to be a more professional and productive approach

Engineering enterprise through intellectual property education - pedagogic approaches

Engineering faculties, despite shrinking resources, are delivering to new enterprise agendas that must take account of the fuzzying of disciplinary boundaries. Learning and teaching, curriculum design and research strategies reflect these changes. Driven by changing expectations of how future graduates will contribute to the economy, academics in engineering and other innovative disciplines are finding it necessary to re-think undergraduate curricula to enhance students’ entrepreneurial skills, which includes their awareness and competence in respect of intellectual property rights [IPRs]. There is no well established pedagogy for educating engineers, scientists and innovators about intellectual property. This paper reviews some different approaches to facilitating non-law students’ learning about IP. Motivated by well designed ‘intended learning outcomes’ and assessment tasks, students can be encouraged to manage their learning... The skills involved in learning about intellectual property rights in this way can be applied to learning other key, but not core, subjects. At the same time, students develop the ability to acquire knowledge, rather than rely on receiving it, which is an essential competence for a ‘knowledge’ based worker

Pedagogy For Employability

This guide, produced by the HEA, constitutes a revised and updated version of the Pedagogy for Employability publication first published in 2006. The publication has been updated with the practitioner in mind – those teaching in the classroom and those engaging with policy and student interactions in other ways, such as careers guidance and learning development workers. Practitioners are our focus, as we discuss the policy and institutional context that frames the environment within which people work. The early sections of this publication are intended to illuminate the possibilities and constraints that operate in different national, institutional and departmental situations, having a direct impact on the way that teaching and learning takes place between practitioners and students. Case studies of learning and teaching that support the development of student employability, in the classroom, through distance and part-time learning and in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, are provided throughout the publication. In the later sections of the publication we focus particularly on the curriculum and learning and teaching practice

Integrating content-based language learning and intercultural learning online: An international eGrops collaboration

Learning language through content in the tertiary context presents a challenge in that language teachers, particularly in EAP/ESP contexts, are not necessarily experts in their students’ speciality subject areas, while subject experts might lack language teaching methodology. Furthermore, intercultural awareness, a key qualification in today’s global work environment, tends to take a back seat in a content-based approach. This paper reports on a didactic concept which integrates subject-based language learning with intercultural experience through online collaboration in an international eGroups set-up. The creation of a collaborative learning space aimed to bring together learners from different cultural contexts (New Zealand and Germany) and with different target languages (German and English) towards shared learning outcomes. Data from student interactions will help illustrate to what extent the eGroups model promoted interactive, communicative and intercultural competence through content-related bilingual collaboration

'Education, education, education' : legal, moral and clinical

This article brings together Professor Donald Nicolson's intellectual interest in professional legal ethics and his long-standing involvement with law clinics both as an advisor at the University of Cape Town and Director of the University of Bristol Law Clinic and the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic. In this article he looks at how legal education may help start this process of character development, arguing that the best means is through student involvement in voluntary law clinics. And here he builds upon his recent article which argues for voluntary, community service oriented law clinics over those which emphasise the education of students

IMPLEMENTASI KURIKULUM ENGLISH FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES DENGAN PENDEKATAN MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE DALAM MENINGKATKAN KOMPETENSI BERBAHASA : Studi evaluatif terhadap ESP keislaman di IAIN Palu dengan menggunakan model evaluasi CIPP

Penelitian ini didasari permasalahan pengajaran English for Islamic Studies (EIS) di IAIN Palu dalam mencapai kompetensi berbahasa mahasiswa. Penerapan Pendekatan Multiple Intelligence pada materi dan strategi pengajaran EIS menjadi fokus dalam penelitian ini. Untuk itu, maka perlu dilakukan evaluasi EIS secara menyeluruh untuk melihat sejauh mana keberhasilan program ini. Evaluasi ini dilaksanakan dengan menggunakan Model CIPP; mencakup evaluasi Context, Input, Process dan Product. Hasil evaluasi memberikan keputusan terhadap program EIS di IAIN Palu; apakah program dilanjutkan, dihentikan, atau dilanjutkan dengan beberapa perbaikan. Penelitian ini menggunakan Mixed Method. Sampel penelitian 97 mahasiswa dipilih melalui Penyamplingan Acak Bertingkat. Data Kuantitatif diperoleh melalui angket mahasiswa dan dosen; Data Kualitatif diperoleh dari wawancara dengan ketua prodi, perancang program dan pejabat berwenang serta observasi kelas dan analisa dokumen. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan evaluasi Komponen Konteks, Input, Proses dan Produk secara umum adalah efektif. Pencapain hasil belajar dan kompetensi empat keterampilan berbahasa menunjukkan keterampilan yang paling sulit adalah Listening and Writing, sekaligus membutuhkan lebih banyak latihan. Sedangkan keterampilan yang harus lebih diprioritaskan adalah Speaking and Reading. Temuan juga mengungkapkan bahwa dengan menerapkan Pendekatan Multiple Intelligence dalam materi ajar dan metode mengajar, maka kompetensi berbahasa mahasiswa meningkat. Disimpulkan bahwa implementasi EIS di IAIN Palu dapat dilanjutkan dengan beberapa perbaikan. Kata Kunci: ESP, EIS, Bahasa Inggris Keislaman, Evaluasi Kurikulum, Model CIPP, Kecerdasan Jamak, Kompetensi Berbahasa ABSTRACT Darwis Jauhari Bandu (NIM 1503300). The Implementation of English for Islamic Studies Curriculum with Multiple Intelligence Approach in Increasing Language Competency (An Evaluative Study on ESP Islam at IAIN Palu using CIPP Evaluation Model) The problems of ESP teaching at universities became background of this study. In this context focused on English for Islamic Studies (EIS) at IAIN Palu. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of EIS Program in increasing language competency by applying Multiple Intelligence approach. This study used Stufflebeam’s CIPP model evaluation covering Context, Input, Process and Product Evaluation. This study utilized quantitative and qualitative method. 97 students were chosen as sample through Stratified Random Sampling. Quantitative Data were obtained from questionnaires of students and lecturers. Interview with heads of departments, program designer and authorized official, class observation and document analysis were also conducted to elicit Qualitative Data. Results of the study showed that either Context, Input, Process or Product Evaluation were effective in general. The attainment of learning outcomes and competency in four language skills showed that the most difficult skills were Listening and Writing, accordingly, the skills need more practice. Whereas the skills which must be more prioritized were Speaking and Reading. The findings also revealed that by using Multiple Intelligence approach in learning materials and teaching strategy, the students’ language competency could enhance. It can be inferred that the implementation of EIS Program at IAIN Palu could be continued with revisions. Keywords: ESP, EIS, Curriculum Evaluation, CIPP Model, Multiple Intelligence, Language Competenc

DEVELOPING SPEAKING SECTION OF BUSINESS ENGLISH MATERIALS TO TEACH CULTURE IN INTEGRATED WAY

Teaching English Business skills does not merely teach the students to have administration and communication skills needed at the workplace for they will probably encounter and experience working together with people from different cultures and backgrounds as well. To minimize misunderstanding on those intercultural differences, they are expected not only to learn Business English skills but also gain basic knowledge of English culture through the course. This R&D research is a descriptive qualitative research which is intended to develop the Speaking Section of the existing teaching materials of Business English skills. Under the name of ESP I subject, they are taught to the 4th-semester students of Diploma Three in English Program of University of Merdeka Malang as a compulsory subject. In this study, the primary instruments are the researchers themselves and the preliminary questionnaires used serve as the secondary instrument. All the analyzed data are in the form of printed data (questionnaire’s results) and chosen videos taken from YouTube. The expected final results are in the form of written handouts consist of texts and links of selected videos appropriately related to the given topics. It is hoped that they are useful for the students as an alternative method to learn culture in an integrated way

Computer-assisted project-based learning in English for specific purposes

The aim of this project is to address the need for effective English learning and develop an English curriculum which practically meets learners\u27 needs. The project is for students who study business English in Korean community college. This project presents effectiveness of English learning in the content concerning with English for specific purposes, project-based learning, cooperative learning, computer-assisted language learning, and technological literacy. These ideas are incorporated into the project to develop the unit, Creating a Company, which consists of six lesson plans