In the course of their work NNTs face certain disadvantages in comparison to NTs; however, courses can be structured to promote activities where these can be minimised. When helping students to improve their communication abilities ESP teachers find it necessary to surmount the obstacles of using a foreign language as the main tool in the class, and the lack of a defining knowlege in the students´ specialist field. The setting of simulation cases allows students to work in an autonomous manner in their field of expertise and, as the students are asked to present their final proposals in English, this setting also gives them the opportunity to improve their command of the language.
This article makes reference to the specific activities proposed to our students and reports on the results of applying simulation exercises in different fields. To our own experience as NNTs from the Polytechnic University we add the examples of simulation provided by our PhD students, NTs with whom we have been working in a methodology workshop. We all teach English at the university but do it in different fields ranging from Architecture to Law.
Our proposal is thought to serve a multipurpose as it has a dual aim: to provide relevant information in English to our students and also, to make them apply the knowledge acquired to their main field of study
