Learning Circle Task

Group members: Jack, Mustafa, Noelia, Tina (secretary)

We’ve discussed and completed the task on the last page of the Kennedy and Bolitho chapter. Generally speaking, learners who are involved in simultaneous/ post-experience or in-sessional classes tend to have clearer ideas about their own language needs due to the working or studying experience they’ve already possessed. Therefore, it is comparatively easier to define the language which is needed to place emphasis on. As for the pre-experience and pre-sessional programs, there’s a stronger dependency on ESP instructors to predict and provide the language that is considered to be essential in the learners’ following learning or working career. To better prepare the learners within a short time span, intensive, cost-effective courses are usually favored. However, some features appear to be common in both EOP and EAP classes such as learner use English to express things they already know and acquire new vocabulary during their studies.

With regard to the skills and knowledge an ESP instructor would need to teach a course on ‘English for Hotel Front Desk Staff’, the possession of full confidence and the capacity to identify the learner’s communicative needs are considered as crucial. Due to the fact that most ESP learners are adults who usually have limited time and higher expectation on learning, an instructor should be able to recognize and identify the lexical and structural features a hotel front desk staff needs in advance and present the linguistic points explicitly in the way which is easy to understand. Sufficient training and preparation on the subject discipline would give the language instructor confidence and ability to tackle the subject matter and deal with learners who are more likely to criticize than young learners. In addition, talking with experienced staffs could be considered as a form of cooperation which is helpful on the development of the course design as well.