SKILLS AND LEVEL IN EAP/ESP COURSE

SKILLS AND LEVEL IN EAP/ESP COURSE

1. LISTENING IN ACADEMIC CONTEXT

   • A multimodal experience where lectures are delivered as scripts and they include extension materials
     • VISUALS, LINKS TO EXTERNAL CONTENT,REALIA, UNPLANNED AUDIENCE CONTRIBUTIONS
   • Integrated- discrete listening events are part of a broader cycle of understanding
     • READING AS PART OF REFINING KNOWLEDGE
   • LISTENING CHALLENGES
     • Linguistic, Practical, Visual, Content, Cognitive, Academic, Contextual and knowledge-based
       • Phonological Input
       • Real life delivery, multi-textuality/multimodality
       • Accompanying visuals, handouts
       • Processing content of listening texts and relating it to known content
       • Dealing with potencially dense and complex information
       • Method and purpose of listening
       • Applying the content to the student's individual context
     • PRACTICAL SKILLS TO SUPPORT CHALLENGES
       • - Assimilate information and take effective notes. Take notes quickly, but include appropriate detail. Use extension materials to support understanding.
   • EAP TEACHERS MOTIVATION: - Reading a prelecture handout. - Listening for essential information. - Key language study. - Listening for association.- Reprocessing information from a lecture.
   • LISTENING GENRES
     • Lectures
     • Presentation/talk
     • Seminar/discussion
     • Tutorial
     • Group Project
     • Informal/social interaction

2. READING SKILLS FOR ACADEMIC STUDY

   • Understanding relationships in the text: structure, communicative sentence value, relations between the parts of a text through lexical and grammatical cohesion.
   • Understanding important points: distinguishing main ideas from supporting detail, recognising unsupported claims and supported ones by evidence, following and argument, reading critically.
   • Understanding meaning: deducing the meaning of unfamiliar words and word groups, relations within the sentence/complex sentences.
   • Reading efficiently: surveying the text, chapter/article; skimming for gist, scanning to locate required information, reading quickly.
   • ACADEMIC READING SKILLS
     • Reading for gist, skimming, scanning, identifying main thesis, jump around a text with confidence, recognizing organization of a text, inderstand grammar.
   • EFFICIENT READING SKILLS
     • PURPOSEFUL AND INTERACTIVE
       • - The way you read depends on the purpose - You construct the meaning using your knowledge of language, predicting and assessing.
         • Extratextual: using information outside the text.
         • Intratextual: making use of cues from the text.
         • Intertextual: making connections with other texts you are reading.
   • STRATEGIES FOR READING ACADEMIC TEXTS
     • BEFORE READING
       • Think about reasons to read, look at the title, headline or photos: think what you already know, write what you want to find, make notes of connected words to the topic.
     • AFTER READING
       • Make a list of new words to be useful in the future, evaluate what you have read.
     • READING
       • Survey the text, identify your purpose for reading, write down in 1 or 2 sentences, do a second more careful reading marking words.
         • DEALING WITH VOCABULARY AND WITH DIFFICULT SENTENCES
           • With new important words, try to guess the meaning using function, context and word form.
           • Sentences have to be divided where there are connectives or markers. Underline reference words, indentify complex noun phrases and expand them, find the subjects as well as verbs which go together.
   • APPROACHES TO ACADEMIC READING
     • Reading for comprehension: predicting the content, audience and purpose of text; activating schemata.
     • Reading to write: make notes on what you read; paraphrase, summarize, synthesize; cite what you read.

3. WRITING IN ACADEMIC CONTEXT

   • APPROACHES TO THE TEACHING OF WRITING
     • PRODUCT APPROACH
       • It involves the presentation of a model. Analysis of the model. Writing a similar or paralell text.
     • PROCESS APPROACH
       • It involves translating the plan into paragraphs and sentences. Reviewing the first draft and then revising the text to produce subsequent drafts.
     • SOCIAL APPROACH
       • Also known as constructionist approach. Writers have to be aware of the context in which they write. It's closely associated with the development of genre analysis as a key approach to text in ESP.
   • WRITING CONTENT
     • Research and using the library, using sources, writing descriptions of places, objects calssifying and categorising, comparing and constrasting; describing processes and developments.
     • Writing instructions, developing an argument, writing skills (different kinds of writing)
   • MAKING A GOOD WRITING TASK
     • It has to be motivating.
     • The text has to be specific to a genre and students can personalise the content.
     • A given has to be given and instructions have to be clear.

4. SPEAKING IN ACADEMIC CONTEXTS

   • It's important to involve more group work, joint projects and group marks. Aware of seminar or group activity. It's practiced through presentations and discussions on academic topics.
   • SPEAKING SKILLS
     • The purpose of seminars.
     • Making a presentation
     • Controlling the discussion
     • Participating in the discussion
     • Listening and note taking
   • SUCCESSFUL SPOKEN COMMUNICATION
     • It should be born by all speakers of English.

5. GRAMMAR IN ESP

   • It depends on the learners' level in English.
   • Grammatical accuracy or fluency in using the language
   • KEY GRAMMATICAL FORMS
     • Verb and tense. In EAP present simple, active and passive voice and the modal verbs. Present perfect may be very important in academic article.
     • Nominalisation and logical connectors
   • MISCONCEPTIONS: ESP teaching is not concerned with grammar.

6. VOCABULARY IN ESP

   • It follows similar general principles to those EGP.
   • Important to distinguish vocabulary needed for comprehension and that for production.
   • Comprehension: deducing meaning from context.
   • Production: storage and retrieval are signficant