Current Developments in English for Academic Specific and Occupational Purposes

“Current Developments in English for Academic, Specific and Occupational Purposes” is a new book published in March 2007 by the ESP SIG & IATEFL.To obtain a copy of the e-book (which can be purchased electronically or as a deluxe DVD/CD edition) please write an email to [email protected] make enquiries about the book itself, and future titles like this which the IATEFL ESP SIG is going to publish later on this year, and next year, please email [email protected] or [email protected] hope that the ‘sneak preview’ of the book on Slideshare will raise awareness of the title in the global academic community while putting us in touch with like-minded ESP and EAP professionals.Mark KrzanowskiIATEFL ESP Co-ordinatorMay 2007

mailto:[email protected]


Contents Page

Introduction

Foreword from the Editor

Chapter 1

Enabling Interactive Teaching and Learning Methods in EAP Classes and Assessing Some Students' Views of Effective Learning Clare Anderson

Chapter 2

United Nations Security Council Resolutions: Narrative Patterns, Language Choice and Pedagogical ImplicationsMartin Solly

Chapter 3

Towards Understanding the Root Causes of Plagiarism among Non-Native Speaker StudentsNadezhda Yakovchuk

Chapter 4

Coaching in Academic Writing Hulya Gorur Atabas

Chapter 5

10 Steps to Better Academic WritingEdward de Chazal

Chapter 6

English Language Teaching and Policy-Makers of BangladeshMahmuda Nasrin

Chapter 7

Objectives, Realities and Outcomes: Communication Skills in English in Kenyan UniversitiesFrancis Owino Rew

Chapter 8

‘Sexing up’ ESP through ‘Global’ SimulationsManuela Reguzzoni

Chapter 9

Socio-Cultural Attitudes Towards EFL & EAP In PakistanRaja Nasim Akhtar

Chapter 10

Can Can-Dos Do Anything to Improve Tertiary Level ESP Curricula?Richard J. Alexander

Chapter 11

Not a Teacher but a Consciousness Raiser?Lindsay Morley

Chapter 12

Dialoguing with Students about their Marked WorkMarion Colledge

Chapter 13

Using Vocabulary Journals to Facilitate Academic Vocabulary LearningHelen Huntley and Peter Davidson

Chapter 14

An Analysis of Undergraduate Essay and Examination QuestionsKibiwott Peter Kurgat

Chapter 15

Developing Academic and Technical Writing Skills for Medical PurposesLourdes Albo Puentes

Chapter 16

No Word is an Island: Issues Related to IT Vocabulary Expansion and AcquisitionAndreja Kovacic

Chapter 17

Developing Students’ Academic Skills in a Russian ContextElena Velikaya

Chapter 18

Using Stories with Young LearnersPrithvi Narayan Shrestha

Chapter 19

ESP – Creator of a New RealityVesna Bulatovic

Chapter 20

Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy: A Case Study Karen Kow Yip Cheng

Chapter 21

Teaching Reading Comprehension to Large Classes Using African Literature in EnglishSunday I. Duruoha

Chapter 22

Linguistic Analysis of Freshman English CompositionsSu-Jen (Jane) Lai

Authors Notes about Contributors

Foreword‘Current Developments in English for Academic, Specific and Occupational

Purposes’ is a volume that offers twenty two topical articles written by ESP, EAP, applied linguistics, and teacher education practitioners from all the continents. The articles deal with an exceptionally wide range of topics and provide a unique review of current teaching and learning as well as scholarly activity and/or research practices in the subject.

For the purpose of this book it is assumed that EAP refers to English for Academic Purposes in university settings where it is taught to pre-university learners as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students, without venturing into the minutiae of academic sub-disciplines. Following this assumption, ESP would then be seen as English for Specific Purposes which can be delivered in a variety of contexts. If offered in a university environment, it would focus on the demands of particular academic areas (e.g. mathematics, business or medicine); if provided to business and industry, it would cater for a specific specialism which needs to be taught via English (e.g. English for Aviation or English for Specialist Translation). EOP, understood as English for Occupational Purposes, could be seen as either subsumed under ESP (for example, from the viewpoint of an academic lecturer preparing input sessions for students of medicine) or a sub-area in its own right (for instance, from the perspective of a graduate physician who has professional confidence in his expertise related to the propositional content of his academic studies, but who knows that his/her knowledge of English needs to be improved if they wish to be a successful doctor internationally).

English Language Teaching (ELT) has been evolving over the years, and the current coverage of EAP, ESP and EOP is very extensive. While it may be surprising for some readers to see here articles dealing with topics which may not, at first glance, be considered very ESP or EAP, it needs to be remembered that ‘specific purpose’ is the operative word, and that makes it possible for the book to embrace a large number of themes.

The book has been created as a result of the efforts of all the pro-active EAP, ESP and ESP practitioners who have joined forces in the ESP SIG of IATEFL, and who prepared conference papers for the last two Conferences: in Cardiff (April 2005) and in Harrogate (April 2006). The vast majority of the papers have been written up specifically for this publication. A couple of the articles were previously presented in an abridged form and under an amended title in IATEFL’s ‘Conference Selections’ or in other publications – this has been duly explained in relevant footnotes accompanying these articles. In addition, there are a couple of ‘guest’ submissions.

‘Current Developments in English for Academic, Specific and Occupational Purposes’ is likely to please relevant language specialists. The EAP strand provides a solid block of articles reflecting comments on relevant issues such as plagiarism (Chapter 3), acquisition of academic vocabulary (Chapter 13), techniques for answering examination questions (Chapter 14), principles of good academic writing (Chapter 5), effective learning (Chapter 1) or development of academic skills in students (Chapter 17).

EAP & ESP teacher trainers in particular will also be attracted to the articles dealing with academic coaching (Chapter 4), ‘consciousness raising’ (Chapter 11) and intercultural aspects of EAP (Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 9, Chapter 20, and Chapter 22).The ESP strand offers a menu of suitably differentiated articles which pay due homage to diverse aspects of ESP, e.g. the language of UN documents (Chapter 2), global simulations in rare and challenging ESP sub-areas (Chapter 8), academic and technical skills for medical professionals (Chapter 15), IT vocabulary acquisition (Chapter 16), using story-telling with young learners for better language learning (Chapter 18), using literature to improve students’ language skills (Chapter 20), involving students in discussions about their assessed work (Chapter 12) or the impact of English on other languages (Chapter 19).

The EOP ‘strand’ may be less overtly visible compared to the first two. Nevertheless, of the afore-mentioned chapters, EOP practitioners are bound to appreciate the following: 8, 13, 15, 16 and 19.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the book achieves the proverbial substance, textuality, cohesion and coherence that fellow academics seek in professional publications. Ultimately the judgement belongs to the reader to conclude if the ‘congruence factor’ is there at all times.

It needs to be noted that while aiming to standardise the written output on the editorial level, in exceptional cases some writers have been allowed to retain their autonomous pattern of organisation and/or presentation, as this has not, in any way, weakened the overall impact of this diverse publication.

‘Current Developments in English for Academic, Specific and Occupational Purposes’ is a collection of papers which reflect the diversity and multiplicity of strands that international EAP and ESP practitioners of the 21st century are engaged in across all the continents. I hope that the book proves a useful compendium for teachers, lecturers, teacher trainers, trainees and students of TESOL, ELT or Applied Linguistics. I wish to extend my gratitude to all my colleagues whose effort, support and perseverance have inspired me and led to the creation of this unique volume which we are proud to present experimentally to the international ELT community as an e-book. We await feedback as to whether this format meets approval and expectations of the international EAP/ESP readership, and will welcome suggestions for future publications, either as traditional hard-cover books or state-of-the-art e-books or both.

Mark KrzanowskiIATEFL ESP SIG Co-ordinator

March 2007

Contributors

Clare Anderson: London Metropolitan University, UKe-mail: [email protected] & [email protected] Anderson has been in ELT for over twenty years, and now specialises in ESP, with particular interest in Business and Academic English. Having ‘field-managed’ a Foundation course and taught TESOL, she now teaches EAP at London Metropolitan University, and is a Cambridge/UCLES Business English Certificate examiner. She is doing further work on the interactive activities and task-based learning approaches advocated in the article in this volume, and, on a freelance basis, preparing a lecture for teacher training purposes on teaching larger EAP classes and the implications for interactive approaches. She holds an MA in Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching, a Certificate in Teacher Training (International House), the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Certificate in Teaching English for Business, and is DELTA qualified. Clare's research interests, in addition to interactive teaching and learning, are: academic writing, especially the effects of targeted reading on writing; learner autonomy; humanistic teaching techniques, and their adaptation for the EAP context; and testing and assessment. Recent presentations include "A Vocabulary Course for Foundation Level?" for the British Association of English for Academic Purposes (2003) and "Interactivity in EAP groups and students' views of effective learning", given at the IATEFL Conference, Harrogate, 2006. Publications include two IATEFL presentation summaries: "Teaching Genre: can it be done?" Grundy, P (1998) (Ed.) Manchester Conference Selections, and "Interactivity in EAP groups and students' views of effective learning," Beaven, Briony (2007) (Ed.) Harrogate Conference Selections, and contributions to two textbooks.



Martin Solly: University of Florencee-mail: [email protected] Solly (MA Oxford, PGCE Cambridge, PhD Hertfordshire) is Associate Professor of English Language and Translation at the University of Florence. His PhD is in Applied Linguistics and his research interests and academic publications concern language learning in higher education and specialized discourse, especially the language of the law. He is currently investigating the lexico-grammatical and textual features of the discourse of insurance, including healthcare insurance, and that of contemporary educational reform.

Nadezhda Yakovchuk: University of Warwick, UKe-mail: [email protected] Yakovchuk is currently studying for a PhD and teaching EAP and sociolinguistics part-time at the Centre for English Language Teacher Education, University of Warwick, UK. Her research focuses on cultural factors and the incidence of plagiarism in the work of international students. Formerly she was an English language teacher at the Belarusian State Pedagogical University, Minsk, Belarus. She holds an MA in ELT from the University of Warwick. She also has a degree of Master of Education in ELT and a BA degree in applied psychology and ELT from the Belarusian State Pedagogical University.



Hulya GORUR ATABAS: Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] Gorur Atabas has been teaching EFL at institutes of higher education in Turkey. She has furthered her expertise in materials design, curriculum design and assessment, counseling, and teacher training at various academic institutions in Turkey, England and America. Academic writing and instructional technology represent her current research interests; she has delivered presentations and papers at different professional venues and collaborated on projects through the EU Socrates/Erasmus Program. The paper in this book is based on her presentation at the IATEFL Symposium on Academic Writing in Cardiff (2005). Currently she teaches on the Freshman English Program at Sabanci University, Istanbul.

Edward de Chazal: University College London, UKe-mail: [email protected] de Chazal has taught in a number of ESP and EAP contexts in Turkey, Kuwait and the UK. He has specialised in course and syllabus design, assessment and teacher training. Areas of particular research interest include grammar and academic writing. Currently he works at the University College London Language Centre where he coordinates the Diploma in English for Academic Purposes. This paper, 10 Steps to Better Academic Writing, is based on his introductory presentation to the IATEFL Symposium on Academic Writing in Cardiff in 2005 which he convened. Part of the material in step one has been published under the title “Does your writing pass the GAP test?” in Talking Point, the Trinity College London English language magazine (2005). He plans to convene a second symposium on academic writing at the 2006 IATEFL conference in Harrogate.



Mahmuda Nasrin: Khulna University, Bangladeshe-mail: [email protected] Nasrin is Associate Professor, English Discipline, Khulna University, Bangladesh. She was also the former Director of the Modern Language Center, Khulna University. She did her B.A.(Hons) and M.A. in English at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh. She did her second M.A. in TESOL at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia (having received the Australian government scholarship for this purpose). She presented her paper on 'Justification of using grammar-translation method in the ELT classrooms of Bangladesh' an the 39th IATEFL Conference, Cardiff (2005), U.K.

Francis Owino Rew: Maseno University College, Kenyae-mail: [email protected] Francis Rew Owino who is a co-editor for Language Teacher Research in Africa, received his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of the Western Cape, Republic of South Africa. He is past editor of Equator Quarterly (formerly Equator News), a publication of Maseno University College, and has published articles and chapters in books and periodicals such as Perspectives in Education and The Journal of Third World Studies. Prof. Owino is editor of the book Speaking African: The Development of African Languages for Education and Technology (CASAS: Cape Town, 2002).



MANUELA REGUZZONI: SSIS, UNIVERSITY OF GENOVA, ITALYe-mail: [email protected] Reguzzoni is the Head of the English Department at Istituto Tecnico Nautico ‘S. Giorgio’ – Genova, a teacher trainer at SSIS, University of Genova (Italy) and the representative in Genoa of the National Language Teacher Association LEND. After acquiring her Degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures at Genoa University, she has taught several ESP varieties in secondary schools (Business English, English for Tourism, Electricity, Radio Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Draughtsmanship, Dental Technology) and is an expert in teaching English for Maritime Studies (Deck Dept, Engine Dept, Skippers, Ship Designers/Naval Architects). She has run teacher training courses at all levels (GE, ESP and CALL) and has published four textbooks (including the Italian version of the Workbooks of Reward). She holds an Advanced Certificate in Principles of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (Aston University, Birmingham) and an Advanced Certificate in Education and Professional Development (University of East Anglia, Norwich) and is currently completing an MSc in TESP at Aston University (Birmingham).

Raja Nasim Akhtar: University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan email: [email protected]. Dr Raja Nasim Akhtar is Professor and Chair of the Department of English at the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. He obtained M.Litt. in Linguistics for the Teaching of English Language and Literature from Strathclyde University, Glasgow in 1992 and finished his Ph.D. in Language and Linguistics from the University of Essex in 1999. As well as being an experienced ELT/ESP teacher, he has extensively published his research in Semantics, Morphology and Syntax of Indo-Aryan languages and ESP, both nationally and internationally.



Richard J. Alexander: Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien)e-mail: [email protected] J. Alexander has been Full Professor of English for Business and Economics since 1 September 1994 at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria. He was born in Leicester, England and studied languages, linguistics and education at the universities of Cambridge and London. He has a degree in economics from the University of London. He has held many university appointments over the past three and a half decades in Finland, Italy, Germany, England and Austria, teaching EAP and ESP among other things. He researches on lexis and phraseology, the register of economics, verbal humour, the relation between language and ecology and the learning and teaching of business English. He has published widely on these and other topics. He also writes textbooks. New International Business English with co-author Leo Jones first published by Cambridge University Press in 1988 was updated in 2000 and 2003.

Lindsay Morley e-mail: [email protected] Morley has taught English to children in Russia, Japan and Germany and now works in a primary school in the UK. In addition to the other curriculum subjects, she teaches French and German. She has also worked as the Director of Studies at the Institute of International Education in London (2001 -2003) and taught EAP during the academic year at the London Language Centre (2003 -2005) and on summer programmes (University of Portsmouth, 2004; International University of Japan, 2005). She also set up a writing course at Oxford House College (2005).



Marion Colledge: London Metropolitan Universitye-mail: [email protected] Colledge has been involved in the teaching of EAP, ESOL, English Language Studies, and in Teacher Education and Development for more than thirty years in a variety of contexts in the UK and abroad. She has been an Associate Lecturer with the London Region of the Open University since 1996, teaching BA students on a variety of modules including Exploring Educational Issues, The English Language: Past, Present and Future, E300 The English Language, and Teaching English as a Second or Other Language, an MA in Education module. She has participated extensively in English Language workshops for the London Region of the Open University. In 2002 while an Associate Lecturer in EAP at Hertfordshire University, she participated in the BBC World Service Series The Active Learner. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Open Language Programme at London Metropolitan University, where she coordinates English Language support for international students, and is involved in a new BA English Language Studies degree. Her current research interests are the format of English Language Support for International Students, intercultural responses to literature for young children (the subject of her MPhil), and self-assessment among and feedback from students.

Helen Huntley: West Virginia University, USAe-mail: [email protected] Huntley holds a B.A. degree in French from Manchester University, England, and a Master’s degree in TESOL from West Virginia University, U.S.A. She has been teaching English for Academic Purposes for more than fifteen years at Ohio University and West Virginia University where she served as the Director of the Intensive English Program for 10 years. She is currently a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California in Mexico, where she is involved in teacher training, materials development, and curriculum design. She has published a number of articles on EAP topics and a textbook, Essential Academic Vocabulary (Publisher: Heinle & Heinle) in 2006. In addition, she has presented extensively at international conferences on topics ranging from academic vocabulary acquisition to technologies for pronunciation improvement.



Peter Davidson: Zayed University, UAE e-mail: [email protected] Davidson currently teaches composition at Zayed University in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, having previously taught in New Zealand, Japan, England and Turkey. Peter recently co-edited four books: "Teacher Education, Professional Development, and Evaluation: Insights from the Arabian Gulf"; "Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness in ESL/EFL Contexts"; "Teaching and Learning Vocabulary in Another Language"; and "Assessment in the Arab World". He is particularly interested in vocabulary teaching and learning, language testing, and teacher evaluation.

Kibiwott Peter Kurgat: United States International University (USIU), Nairobi, Kenyae-mail: [email protected] & [email protected] Kibiwott Peter Kurgatt holds a PhD in English Language Education from the Univeristy of Warwick, UK. He is currently an Assistant Professor of English and Communication at the United States International University (USIU) in Nairobi, Kenya. His interests are teaching and doing scholarly research in the general areas of English for Specific and Academic Purposes and communication, particularly in: intercultural, political and development communication, socio-linguistics, African Linguistics, linguistic diversity and multilingualism as a resource, language education and applied linguistics.




Lourdes Albo Puentes: ALC/GELI, Cubae-mail: [email protected] Albo holds an MA in TESOL and is an Associate Professor. She has taught English for Medical Purposes for 19 years. Her main current interests of research include teaching college composition and curriculum design. She is completing her doctorate into the teaching of technical and academic writing. She is the main author of the Multimedia Distance Learning Course for Medical Purpose. She has presented her results of her studies at international conferences and published articles in the Approach Journal and in the ESP /SIG Newsletter in Edinburgh.

Andreja Kovacic: Faculty of Organization and Informatics Varazdin, Croatiae-mail: [email protected] Kovacic has worked as a lecturer in English for Information Technology and Business English at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, for three years. Prior to becoming involved in EAP/ESP, she used to teach English and Spanish to students in all age groups and at a variety of levels. Since student days, her main interests have primarily included motivation, visual aids design and classification as well as the language of advertising. In her present job she has fully committed herself to syllabus design and material development for tertiary-level ESP courses and is currently doing research into students’ expectations and opinions regarding the link between language skills and technology. Recently she has been experimenting with implementing wikis in academic language courses. She has also translated several non-fiction titles into Croatian and is the author of a couple of poster exhibitions.



Elena Velikaya: State University-Higher School of Economics, Russiae-mail: [email protected] Velikaya is an Associate Professor at the Higher School of Economics, Moscow and also English Coordinator at the International College of Economics and Finance, which is part of the HSE. Her interests are ESP, Academic Skills development, General English. She has also been involved in research into phonostylistics for over 10 years (she also has many publications in Russian) and she is currently working on her doctorate thesis on this aspect.

Prithvi Narayan Shrestha: the Open University, UKe-mail: [email protected] & [email protected] Shrestha is a Lecturer in English Language Teaching at the Open University, UK. He is involved in the university-wide language policy group in the Open University. He has written an article on English language and other language education in Nepal. His current research interests include language policy, language assessment and distance teacher education.

Vesna Bulatovic: University of Montenegroe-mail: [email protected] Bulatovic is an English lecturer at the Institute of Foreign Languages, University of Montenegro. Her interests are both in ESP and linguistics. She currently teaches Legal English and English for Political Sciences, but has also been involved in research into lexical semantics for over ten years. She is currently working on her PhD thesis on a lexical aspect.




Karen Kow Yip Cheng: University of Malaya (UM), Malaysiae-mail: [email protected] Kow Yip Cheng is a lecturer in the University of Malaya. Her first degree is in English Literature, and she holds a Master Degree in Linguistics. Her PhD is in the area of Child Language. She has published widely in the areas of Child Language, Applied Linguistics, Gender, Children’s Literature and Bilingualism. Her other areas of research include Second Language Acquisition, intercultural communication, Malaysian English and sociolinguistics. Currently, she is Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics.

Sunday I. Duruoha: Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] Iheanyi Duruoha is a Senior Lecturer in English, specializing in teaching Academic, Scientific, Legal and Business English at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He holds a Ph.D in English and Applied Linguistics from the University of Paris: Sorbonne, and a Certificate in the Teaching of English for Specific Purposes from the University of Leeds, and Edinburgh in the U.K. A bilingual adept of structuralism, he is also interested in EFL for English- and French-speaking Africans, using the English novel. He has written two text books: ‘Essentials of Grammar in English’, ‘Elements of English Usage’ and a novel: ‘Eaters of Dust’ (Longman 2000). His second novel ‘Gods of Iron’ will be published soon.

Su-Jen (Jane) Lai: Chang Gung University, TaiwanEmail: [email protected], Su-Jen (Jane) is Assistant Professor of English, specializing in teaching Academic English and Business English, at Chang Gung University in Taiwan. She has an MA in English Language Teaching for Specific Purposes (ESP) from the University of Warwick, and an MA in Education as well as a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Lancaster in Britain. Her research interests include EFL literacy learning and teaching, and applied linguistics research methodology.

EditorMark Krzanowski e-mail: [email protected] Mark Krzanowski holds an MA in Applied Linguistics, the RSA/UCLES Dip TEFLA, a PG DMS, and is a Fellow of HEA (the Higher Education Academy). Since January 2006 Mark has switched to working semi-freelance. His primary academic base is now the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), University of London, where he lectures part-time in English for Academic & Specific Purposes to international postgraduate students. In addition, he is also involved in academic consultancies abroad, and in 2006 alone he worked on various EAP and ESP projects in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan & Kazakhstan), India, Pakistan and China. In the past Mark was Academic Co-ordinator for ELT in the Dept of PACE at Goldsmiths College, University of London (2002-2005). He was Senior Lecturer in EAP & Head of ELT Unit at the University of Hertfordshire (1997-1999-2002) and EAP Co-ordinator at UCL/University College London (1993-97).

Mark Krzanowski has acted as External Examiner in EAP for a number of UK universities: King's Alfred's University College/University of Winchester, London South Bank University, Luton University, and is now, for the fourth year, External Examiner for ELT postgraduate teacher training certificate and diploma courses (as well as a new MA in TESOL) in the ELT Centre/International Academy at the University of Essex. At present he is in charge of a distance learning ELT video-conferencing teacher-training project for Al-Quds Open University in Palestinian Territories. Mark is also involved in applied linguistics, and in March 2006 organised in London an international conference ‘Linguistic Diversity in Africa’ (www.mkuked.co.uk) for the LiA (Language in Africa) SIG at BAAL (the British Association of Applied Linguistics).