Estudio de las necesidades de formación del profesorado experimentado de IFE en la universidad española

This paper presents findings from a study exploring the teacher education needs of experienced english for specific purposes (esp) instructors. It discusses data from interviews with 19 experienced in-service teachers of esp in two spanish universities. The interviews aimed to develop an understanding of the teachers’ views of esp teaching, the kinds of knowledge and skills they required and the forms of support that could be of benefit to them. Results suggested that the teachers perceived needs in five areas: course development, knowledge of the target discipline, knowledge of language use in the target discipline, peer collaboration, and professional development opportunities. It is hoped that findings from the present study are illuminating for the esp teaching profession and drawn on in future teacher development initiatives in the local context.en este trabajo se investigan las necesidades del profesorado de Inglés para Fines específicos (IFe) en el caso concreto de profesores experimentados. se presentan y estudian los hallazgos obtenidos a partir de las entrevistas realizadas a 19 profesores experimentados de IFe y actualmente en activo en dos universidades españolas. Las entrevistas tenían por objeto comprender la visión que tienen estos profesores sobre la enseñanza de IFe, ahondar en los conocimientos y las destrezas que asumen como necesarios en su quehacer docente, así como identificar el tipo de apoyo que podría resultarles beneficioso en el ejercicio de su profesión. Los resultados indican que los profesores experimentados de IFe perciben la existencia de necesidades en cinco ámbitos concretos: desarrollo curricular, conocimiento de la disciplina meta, conocimiento del lenguaje especializado propio de la disciplina meta, colaboración entre iguales y oportunidades para el desarrollo profesional. es de esperar que la metodología seguida y los resultados obtenidos en este estudio sirvan de guía para el ejercicio de la profesión docente en el área y para el desarrollo de iniciativas de formación del profesorado a nivel loca

The discourse of academic seminars:structures and strategies of interaction

Seminar discussion is an important mode of instruction in Higher Education. However, the discourse of discussion in academic seminars has been little investigated. Until now, there has existed only a limited amount of empirically based language description which could be used to inform those working in the field of English for Academic Purposes. The present study investigates discussion in seminars on a MBA programme and offers frameworks to account for central aspects of the verbal interaction: exchange patterns; acts and moves initiating exchanges and strategies. Three subgenres of seminar discussion are examined: the discussion following the presentation by an outside speaker; the discussion following the presentation by students and non-presentation tutorial discussion. Exchanges are found to be basically two-part structures of initiation and response. Some extended patterns are brought to light and it is argued that the major impetus prolonging exchanges in discussion is a third-part move registering dissatisfaction with the initial responses given. Exchanges are observed to be driven by moves functioning as elicitations although acts at initiation both ask for information and ideas and propose them. Initiation may be complex and involves a mixture of the acts. Textual signalling and attitudinal strategies used in seminars are explicated. The latter are accounted for in terms of the face concerns of the speakers. The features are examined across the three subgenres. Some quantitative variations were observed. These variations are discussed in the light of situational variables such as levels of participant status and knowledge. Theoretical implications are drawn and applications for syllabus and methodology in English for Academic Purposes are suggested

Between territories and domains: an ESP-oriented enquiry in the borders

L’article s’articule autour des trois axes qui sous-tendent la théorie et la recherche en anglais de spécialité figurant dans l’appel à communications du 34e colloque du GERAS, à savoir la didactique, le discours et la culture. Il passe en revue certains domaines de recherche traditionnels en anglais de spécialité selon ces axes ; cependant, l’objectif principal de l’article porte sur les frontières entre les axes. L’auteur présente trois études qu’elle a récemment menées et qui traitent des thèmes suivants : les processus de conception de cours, l’analyse de genre et les problèmes langagiers dans un enseignement disciplinaire. Cet article avance que chacune de ces trois études pourrait se situer à la frontière de la didactique, du discours et de la culture. L’appel à communications mettait l’accent sur le fait que le périmètre traditionnel d’analyse de l’anglais de spécialité s’élargit. Cet article suggère que la recherche aux frontières des thèmes traditionnels et que l’utilisation de méthodologies moins conventionnelles fournissent un moyen d’élargir le champ de recherche en anglais de spécialité.The paper focuses on the three areas of ESP theory and research that were identified in the call for papers for the 34th GERAS Conference, namely, teaching, discourse and culture. It reviews some conventional foci of ESP-oriented enquiry in these areas. However, the main focus of the paper is on the borders between individual areas. Three of the author’s recent research studies are introduced. These are studies on the topics of course development processes, genre analysis and language issues in disciplinary teaching. It is argued that each of these three studies could be situated in the borders between teaching, discourse and culture. The Call for Papers drew attention to the fact that the traditional study perimeters of ESP are being extended. This paper suggests that research in the borders between traditional topic areas and the use of less familiar methodologies are ways that the scope of ESP-oriented research can be extended

Focussing on form in the classroom

Current theories of second language acquisition emphasise the importance of learners' attending consciously to form. Similarly, current discussions of communicative language pedagogy stress the need for classroom language learners to focus on form as well as meaning. The study reported in this article is intended to contribute to both theory and practice. It examines the different ways in which teachers and students achieve a ‘focus-on-form' (i.e. attend to linguistic form in the context of activity that is primarily message-oriented). Based on an analysis of 12 hours of teaching English in a private language school, a coding system is developed to account for the general characteristics of ‘focus-on-form episodes' (FFEs). The system is then used to provide an account of focus-on-form in the classrooms studied, revealing that nearly half of the total FFEs were proactive rather than reactive and that more than half involved negotiating form rather than negotiating meaning (i.e. they were not triggered by any communicative problem). The paper concludes with proposals for future research. Key words: communicative pedagogy, focus-on-form, uptake [Jnl for Language Teaching Vol.37(2) 2003: 149-163

Review of "English as a Scientific and Research Language. Debates and Discourses: English in Europe, Volume 2"

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Developing courses in English for specific purpose

New Yorkxiv, 157 p.: bibl. ref., index; 23 c

LSP teacher education: Review of literature and suggestions for the research agenda

Given the varied roles Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) teachers typically play and the demanding nature of LSP teaching, the literature on teacher education for LSP is surprisingly limited. This paper examines the literature on LSP teacher education including literature on teacher education in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The Introduction discusses the needs of LSP teachers, whose work typically involves investigating needs and specialist discourse, developing courses and materials as well as classroom teaching. It is argued that teacher needs are an important basis for determining content for LSP teacher education programmes and that further research is needed to identify these needs. Section 2 identifies themes in the existing literature. It focuses on two themes in particular, the role of specialised knowledge and suggestions for the content of the teacher education programme. Section 3 discusses models of teacher education with particular reference to LSP in-service contexts. Section 4 identifies gaps in the literature and suggests topics for the research agenda to develop understanding of the nature of LSP teaching expertiseDado que los profesores de lenguas para fines específicos (LFE) suelen ejercer roles muy variados y la profesión docente es de por sí misma exigente, la bibliografía sobre formación del profesorado es sorprendentemente limitada. En este artículo se estudia la bibliografía existente sobre formación del profesorado de LFE, incluidas las referencias relativas a la formación del profesorado de inglés para fines específicos (IFE) e inglés para fines académicos (IFA). En la introducción se tratan las necesidades de los profesores de LFE, cuyo trabajo suele conllevar la investigación de necesidades y el discurso especializado, el desarrollo de cursos y materiales así como tareas de docencia en el aula. Las necesidades del profesor conforman una base importante gracias a la cual es posible establecer el contenido que han de tener los programas de formación del profesorado en LFE y es necesario investigar más para lograr identificar dichas necesidades. En la segunda parte de este trabajo se identifican los temas recurrentes en la bibliografía y se presta especial atención a dos asuntos: el papel que juega el conocimiento especializado y las sugerencias para dotar de contenido los programas de formación del profesorado. En la tercera parte se estudian los modelos de formación del profesorado haciendo hincapié en los contextos de formación permanente. En la cuarta parte se señalan las carencias existentes en la bibliografía y se sugieren temas para continuar la investigación y comprender mejor la naturaleza de la experiencia docente del profesorado de LF

Book review : "Academic listening encounters : listening, note-taking and discussion"

Book review of 'Academic listening encounters: listening, note-taking and discussion' by Espeseth, M. (1999). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.3 page(s