Types of Professional communicative skills and their

application in ESP classes.

J.N. MiliarT.M. Nekrasova

Tomsk Polytechnic UniversityMay 27, 2009

Introduction

Communication

Rehearsal;Feedback;

Engagement;Real-life situations;

Declarative language

knowledge

Benefits

Effective communicative tasks criteria

Reflective teaching;Survers; Needs

analysis

Suggested speaking activities(speech genres)

“Side-track” introduction

• Communication is a strong tendency;• ESP curriculum vitae, syllabus optimization;• Specific authentic contexts is dealt with;• International integration via enhancement and

versatile computerized techniques extension;

Types of professional speaking genres:

• Interviews;• Presentations;• Conference talks;• Brief reports;• Project description;• Conference talks;• Brief reports;• Project description (group, mini-research, literature-

based);• Seminars;

Required competencies:• Introduce oneself and ask for other identification;• Distinguish between formal and informal register;• Form a statement or a question in accordance with grammatical,

syntactic rules of a language; • Request general or specific information;• Asking nd answering techniques;• Asking and expressng personal opinion;• Reformulate/restate/repeat a question;• Request additional informaton/details;• Avoiding an answering technique or be able to avoid a direct response;• Follow the rules of politeness and culturally embeded rules of social

behavior;

More speaking suggestions“Speaking-as-a-skill” in ESP classes

• Information-gap activities;• Telling definitions,stories;• Instructions reconstruction;• Important parts;• Meetings and greetings;• Job application;• Surveys;• Situation interviews and Questionnaires ;• Famous peoples great contribution; • Balloon debates;• Role-play ;• Seminars;• Short talks;

Interviews and questionnaires projects

Interview analysis showed some difficulties:• Misunderstanding fluently spoken language;• Asking questions for appropriate purposes;• Taking an active part in;• To differenciate and distinguish between formal and nformal

registers;Pre-interviewing activity:• Interview listening and analysis;• Filling out worksheet and probing with questions;

Presentations

• Organising information into coherent structure;

• Speaking from notes;• Using« signals» to facilitate

task of listeners;• Developing listeners

awareness;• Achieving phonological,

gammatical and lexical accuracy;

• Operating with greater fluency;

• Sequencing;• Delivery (speed/clarity);• Visual aids;• Body language;• Signposting;• To avoid answering

techniques;• Answering questions;• Clarification;• Concluding;• To recap and summing up;

SeminarLanguage- seminar skills• Taking the floor;• Using notes; planning; b• Requesting;• Providing clarification/information;• Stating point of view;• Supporting view expressed by

another speaker;• Challengeng view expressed by

another speaker;• Report-and-discuss;• To ask questions and give new

information; …

Dificiulties• The publicness of the

performance;• The need to think on your feet;• The need to present the

logically ordered arguments;• Academic assessment;• The requirement to call up the

relevant subject knowledge; • It is not the use of appropriate

language;• Speed of reaction;

Simple context situations or semi-controlled productive and free-production situations

Relevant phrases are routinely used in different English contexts• Uncertainty and inevitebility of

usage;• Communication problems and

difficulties;• A badly run organisation leads to

detrimental consequences;• People feel disaffected;• Destructive and maliciuos nature

(innuendo, gossip, rumour) caused by students being excluded from communicational channels;

• General expression of dissatisfaction and alienation;

Semi-controlled productive and free production activities• To raise students awareness of the

underlined competences;• To create context in which students are

involved to practice these competences;• Inclusive approach is to manage the

situation;• Interectional approach is to notice the

essential components of a language;• Tecniques to automize the second

language acquisition by mismatching what the students can do and need to do;

• To become aware of specific linguistic forms avaluable in the input;

Reflective teaching, surveys and needs analysis

Peer evaluation• To stress the value of

communication between and among students;

• To draw attention to the necessity for non-native speakers;

• To get feedback for the speaker on what the audience has understood;

• To obtain a wide sample of options than just one, regarding oral assessment;

Self-evaluation or assessment• The use of questionnaire;• Surveys ;• Structured interviews;• Observation in class;• Monitoring;• Case study;• Final tests;• Presentation self-

evaluation;

Conclusion

1. Communication2. Types of Professional communication;3. Competences required;4. Semi-controlled productive activities and fee- production

activities necessary to provide and improve second language aquisition;

5. Interviews and questionnaires;6. Presentation;7. Seminar skills and difficulties;8. Reflective teaching and needs analysis;9. Self- assessment and evaluation;

References

1. Dramma Techniques in Language Learning. Alom Maley and Alon Duff. Cambridge, 1978, 1982,2001. Pages 2-16, 38, 186, 201.

2. Communication and Language.N. Thompson. Palgrave Macmillan. Great Britain, 2003.Pages 9, 98, 123-132

3. How to teach English.Jeremy Harmer. Pearson Education Limited, 2007.Pages 123-132.

4. Dramma. Sarah Phillips, Oxford, 2001.Pages 5-9.5. How to teach English.Jeremy Harmer, Longman, 1998. Pages 87-96.

Thank you for your attention!!!