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Module: Assessment, Technology and ESP

Evaluation of a TESOL test

By: Jason GeyserIntroduction:

Language testing practices have historically undergone many changes followingdevelopments in language teaching trends and methodologies. Brown (2001) describesthe 1950s as an era of behaviorism which witnessed a specific focus on contrastiveanalysis and attention on the phonological, grammatical and lexical differences betweentwo languages. This era was followed by an upsurge in the communicative theories oflanguage in the 1970s and 1980s. There was a more integrative view of testing during thisperiod. This movement, with its pursuit of authentic, learner-centered, real-worldinteraction, still poses unique challenges for test designers today.

This historical perspective brings us to the question of, ‘what is a test?’ A test couldsimply be defined as a method of measuring a learner’s ability or knowledge in anyparticular domain. So, a test is firstly a method which consists of a number of techniquesand procedures which require the person taking the test to perform some sort of activity.Another essential component of a test is that it measures something. Informalassessment which occurs in the classroom everyday is difficult to quantify and is usuallyrendered in global terms. Formal tests, on the other hand, are used to quantify individualperformance and are also used as a useful point of comparison between other individualsor a group of individuals. Tests not only measure a person’s ability or knowledge within agiven domain, but also measure a person’s competence. The TOEFL test for example,measures a sample of an individual’s language performance. This language test infers theindividual’s general ability in the English language and general competence to undertakefurther study at various English medium educational institutions. A test also measuresperformance in a given domain. It is therefore important that the test measure the desiredcriteria such as a sampling of skills in a language in order to ascertain languageproficiency.

Having briefly considered the historical background to language testing and a descriptionof what a test is, we will now focus on those aspects and components which are essentialin the evaluation of a TESOL test. We will review the basic concepts and constructs inwhat we traditionally think of as a ‘test’ giving special attention to and considering:reasons for testing; different kinds of tests; characteristics of a good test; types of testitems; writing and marking tests and the ethical issues which surround language testing.

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Reasons for testing

Testing is important to both student and teacher and may be administered at either thestart of a course; end of a course or at the end of a specific area of work such as at the endof a unit in a course book. There are various reasons for testing and we will consider thereasons for both the teacher and the learner:

For the teacher It shows the effectiveness of the teaching / learning It suggests what needs to be taught / learnt / revised It assists in placing the learner in the institution’s grading system It is usually required by the school / educational institution

For the learner It provides an indication of own progress which is motivating Revision / consolidation Good for class dynamic Shows learners that that there is something to learn or problem areas to sort out Surprisingly, perhaps a high percentage of learners either like or expect tests

Different kinds of tests

Now that we understand what a test is and the various reasons for implementing tests, wewill review the various different kinds of tests that are available. Each of these tests has aspecific purpose and is measured using certain criteria. It is important to have anunderstanding of these different kinds of tests and their criteria so that we can effectivelyevaluate these TESOL tests thereby establishing and identifying those characteristicswhich are indicative of a good test. We will look at placement tests, diagnostic tests,progress or achievement tests, proficiency tests and aptitude tests.

A placement test is the test which is administered to new students entering a school oreducational institution. This test allows the new student to be placed in the correct classaccording to his or her level. A placement test may include a sample of the materialwhich will be covered in the curriculum, such as grammar, vocabulary and productiveand receptive skills. Certain proficiency tests or diagnostic tests can be used as aplacement test. One method of placing students into applicable levels according to theEnglish proficiency is through the use of the Oxford Quick Placement Test, produced incollaboration with the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (formerly UCLES).There are two versions of the Quick Placement Test. There is an electronic version and apen and paper version. The electronic test is quick, reliable and easy to administer. Ittakes approximately fifteen minutes to complete and students answer about twenty fivemultiple choice questions. The test covers listening, reading and grammar. The computerpresents a question and then assesses the student’s response. The results are instant andno marking is required. The results are presented in terms of the ALTE (Association ofLanguage Testers in Europe) framework and the Common European Framework, which

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relate the different language examinations taken across Europe to each other and to acommon descriptive system. A paper and pen version of the test is also available,consisting of sixty questions and taking approximately thirty minutes to complete.Answer sheets can be marked quickly using the overlays provided.

A diagnostic test is simply a test that a teacher may initially give to a class or individualto determine what it is that they already know and to further assist in determining whatthe syllabus should contain. This kind of test is often accompanied by a checklist offeatures which assist the teacher or test administrator in pinpointing difficulties andproblem areas that learners may experience. It is important that diagnostic tests arespecifically designed to portray information on particular learner needs and requirementsthat can be addressed immediately.

A progress or achievement test may be administered either at the end of a particularunit, week, month, term or year. This type of test is usually prepared or set by the classteacher or someone else in the school in order to take into account the overall syllabus ofthe school. These tests may also assist students and teachers to measure progress in aspecific textbook series. A teacher may include all four skills and systems whenpreparing a progress or achievement test. Most tests seem to focus on reading, writing,vocabulary and grammar. Some textbooks present their own progress or unit tests. Thesetests serve to indicate those areas which students need to focus on in future. The primaryaim of such tests however, is to determine whether the students have fulfilled the courseobjectives after a certain period of instruction. It is important to note that progress orachievement tests must contain familiar items and task types that they have covered inclass. If a test of this type does contain completely new and unseen materials and items, itwill in fact be testing general language proficiency and will not be measuring the learningthat has taken place in a given course over a particular time period. Progress orachievement tests should also aim to reinforce the learning that has taken place asopposed to attempting to expose learner weaknesses.

A proficiency test differs from a progress or achievement test in that it provides ageneral indication of a student’s language ability or knowledge. A proficiency test is notlimited to any independent skill or curriculum. These tests often share content validityweaknesses which will be discussed further in the next section of this essay. Proficiencytests have traditionally consisted of multiple choice questions, vocabulary, grammar,reading comprehension, listening comprehension and writing. We have alreadymentioned the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) which is a proficiencytest produced by the Educational Testing Service. This test shows if a person is ready forcertain kinds of schooling or to undertake academic work. Scoring of the TOEFL isextremely complicated. Most universities around the world recognize this exam as anindication of English proficiency, and increasingly employers, too, are using this test.Different universities will stipulate different scores for entry purposes, depending on thetype of course and the status of the institution. Proficiency testing can help students in atleast two ways. Firstly, such tests can help create positive attitudes and motivation withinthe language classroom. Students experience a sense of accomplishment and thiscontributes to a positive tone. Secondly, these tests assist students in mastering the

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language. They are helped when they study for exams and benefit when these exams arereturned to them and discussed. These tests also confirm areas that each student hasmastered and those requiring further attention. At present, designers of large scalelanguage proficiency tests have to balance the issue of testing multitudes using real-worldtasks and at the same time allowing for quick scoring at a marketable cost. Anotherpressing issue is that of large-scale oral proficiency testing as it still remains extremelyexpensive to both administer and score. It has been challenging to construct practical,reliable and valid tests of oral production. The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) utilizes aseries of structured tasks in order to elicit pronunciation, fluency, sociolinguisticknowledge, grammar and vocabulary. Performance is assessed through a detailedchecklist ranging from level zero (cannot perform in the language) to level five(proficiency of educated native speaker). This OPI has however come under harshcriticism which has prompted a great deal of research into designing better oralproficiency testing methods.

A language aptitude test aims to predict an individual’s future success in a language.Standardized aptitude tests are seldom used today, as any test which attempts to predictfuture success in a second language will be flawed as almost anyone can experiencesuccess.

What makes a good test?

In the previous discussion, we looked at the various kinds of tests that we may encounter.How does one determine whether a test is good or not? In order to decide whether a testis effective one needs to consider certain criteria such as practicality, reliability andvalidity against which a test can be measured.

Brown (2001) describes a good test as one which should be practical in so far as it is costeffective, easy to administer, no too difficult to mark and not too long. A test which isquick for students to complete yet takes hours to mark and evaluate can hardly bedescribed as practical. Brown refers to norm-referenced tests which are practical innature, such as standardized tests (e.g. TOEFL) and are assessed in relation to astandardized deviation or in terms of a percentage. Theses tests are usually administeredto large groups of people and deliver quick results. Criterion-referenced tests, such asclassroom or progress tests, which are administered to smaller groups, require more effortwhen it comes to feedback. In terms of this test, practicality is not considered as apriority.

Another important criterion in determining whether a test is good or not, is that ofreliability. A good test should provide results which are both consistent and dependable.An indication of reliability can be shown if a test is administered to the same group ofindividuals on two separate occasions (without feedback), yielding similar results on bothoccasions. Harmer (2001) reveals that reliability can be improved if the test instructionsare both clear and the results are not dependable on whoever is marking the test.Reliability therefore concerns the extend to which test results are stable, consistent and

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accurate and also the extent to which they can be depended on for making decisionsabout the student.

The most complex criterion in determining whether a test is good or not, is that ofvalidity. A test is considered to be valid if it actually tests what it is supposed to test ormeasure. A valid test of reading ability is a test which sets out to measure an individual’sreading ability and not their scientific knowledge for example or some other variable oflittle relevance. Validity is normally taken to be the extent to which a test can be shownto produce scores which are an accurate reflection of the candidate’s true level oflanguage skills. There is however no absolute and objective measure of validity whichmay only be established by observation by teachers and peers. Brown (2001) notes thatthe validity of a good score in a language test may be substantiated by the ‘actual’proficiency in the language. Brown offers three different types of validation whichattempt to assure teachers or test administrators whether a standardized test or progresstest is indeed valid. We will consider these three types of validation: content validity,face validity and construct validity and their role in the evaluation of a TESOL test.

A test which requires a particular performance which is being measured from the persontaking the test can be considered to have content validity. If a test samples the subjectmatter of the domain which is being measured and this can be observed, then one canclaim content validity. A test of reading ability which requires a person to solve a numberof mathematical equations clearly lacks content validity. A test which requires the learnerto show their general understanding of the text does have content validity. Proficiencytests often do not have high content validity.

Another kind of validity which is of particular concern to test designers is face validity.This means that a test should appear on the ‘face’ of it (from the learner’s perspective) totest what it was designed to test and therefore appear as though it is valid. Face validity isusually perceived in terms of content and if the test samples the content of what thelearner expects to appear in the test, then the test will be considered to have face validity.Harmer (2001) cites an example of a test consisting of only three multiple choice itemsand comments that learners would not be convinced of the face validity of such a test nomatter how reliable or practical teachers considered such a test to be.

The final kind of validity is that of construct validity. Brown (2001) mentions thatpractically every issue in language teaching and learning consists of theoretical constructssuch as ‘proficiency’ and ‘communicative competence.’ A test which satisfies a particularconstruct which it has been designed to, can be said to have construct validity. A test canin most cases be adequately validated through content. A test with low content validity asin the case of proficiency tests, are usually redeemed through their construct validity.Brown (2001) refers to the standardized TOEFL as it typically suffers from poor contentvalidity, yet is redeemed through construct validation. Although the TOEFL does notsample oral production, research does however show a close positive correlation betweenthose samples tested (listening, reading, grammar and writing) and oral production.

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A teacher or test administrator who attempts to apply the issues of practicality, reliabilityand validity to their tests of language will be well on the path to making accuratedecisions about the language competence of their learners. Our discussion of these threeconcepts and their practical application are indispensable in the evaluation of a TESOLtest.

Types of test item

Irrespective of the kind of test and what it aims to accomplish, the effectiveness andsuccess of a test will ultimately be determined by the various types of items which itincludes. These include either direct or indirect test items. Direct test items testcommunicative skills, attempting to use real-life language where possible. Indirect testitems attempt to ascertain a learner’s language knowledge by utilizing controlled itemssuch as multiple choice questions or cloze procedures. These are easier and quicker todesign and mark. They also produce better scorer reliability. It is at this juncture that it isnecessary to make a distinction between discrete-point testing and integrative testing.Discrete item questions test specific individual language points. Discrete items areusually marked objectively, where there is clearly a correct answer and the same markswould be awarded by whoever was marking the question. Integrative tests may test anumber of items or skills in the same question and tend to be marked more subjectively.Proficiency tests usually include a mixture of direct and indirect items as well as discrete-point and integrative testing. We will now look at a number of the most commonly usedindirect test items.

Indirect test items

Multiple choiceE.g. Decide which word (A, B, C or D) best fits each space.

The elephant has some………….relatives called mammoths, which lived in theStone Age.

A. far B. distant C. remote D. distinct

Answer: B. distant

Multiple choice questions have been historically considered as ideal test items,especially for testing both grammar and vocabulary as they are easy to mark.They are however, difficult to write when one considers the incorrect choiceswhich may distract students. This then raises the issue of whether multiple choicequestions in fact improve a learner’s English as they may be well versed inapplying techniques in answering the questions successfully. Harmer (2001) notesthat although multiple choice questions may be practical, they score low in termsof validity and reliability.

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Matching Pictures and Wordse.g. Write the correct word under each picture.

[Pictures of various forms of transport]

car taxi train aeroplane ship

Matching Definitionse.g. Match the word in A with the definition in B (draw a line to join them asshown in the example).

Cloze procedures

e.g. Fill in the space with one word only.

People have been diving without mechanical aids………….ancient times.

Answer: since

Cloze is the deletion of say the fifth or tenth word in a text. These procedures canbe designed quickly and are a cheap way of testing a learner’s overall knowledge.One of the failings of this seemingly random procedure, as research has shown, isthat a learner’s score depends on the word deleted and not the learner’s actualEnglish Knowledge. Harmer (2001) adds that cloze procedures may suffer fromproblems of reliability but that a learner, who applies the correct word, shows anunderstanding of context. It has been suggested by Alderson (1996) that‘modified’ cloze procedures be used ensuring that those words that have beendeleted can in fact be recovered from the context.

Changing form and keeping meaning / Transformation and paraphrasee.g. For each question, complete the second sentence so that it has a similarmeaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the wordgiven. You must use between two and five words, including the word given.

You must do exactly what the manager tells you.

carryYou must …………………………………………..instructions exactly.

Answer: carry out the manager’s

For a learner to be able to complete the above item successfully, the learner willhave to be able to understand the initial sentence and then be able to complete anequivalent sentence.

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Sentence Correctione.g. Read the lines below. Some of the lines are correct and some have a wordwhich should not be there. If a line is correct, put a tick by the number on theanswer sheet. If a line has a word which should not be there, write the word on theanswer sheet.

1. When I was young, I lived in a place called Durban in

2. South Africa. I was taken there by my parents when I was young.

Answer: 1. ٧2. been

Changing a given worde.g. Read the text. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form aword that fits in the space in the same line.

I’m a great (1)……….of bread. Whenever I smell freshly baked LOVEbread, it reminds me of my early (2)…….. when I used to visit CHILDthe little bakery that my grandfather owned.

Answer: 1. lover

2. childhood

True or Falsee.g. This kind of question may be incorporated in a reading exercise.

Jason left the building on Wednesday evening? True / false?

Direct test items

In order for direct test items to be considered as being both valid and reliable, anumber of requirements will need to be satisfied by the test designers. Theseinclude the following:

Creating a fair environment

A test which unfairly favours learners with a particular specialist knowledge basewould not be seen as fair as all the learners should be ensured of equal success. Atest which aims at testing a learner's reading ability, but at the same time requires

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that learner to perform well in writing is clearly not only measuring readingability.

Creating true-to-life interaction

As already mentioned, direct test items test communicative skills, attempting touse real-life language and interaction where possible. Tests should, wherepossible, aim to be as realistic as possible, replicating those situations which maybe encountered in true-to-life interaction.

Harmer (2001) outlines a few direct test items, associated with the four skills,which attempt to fulfill the aforementioned criteria:

Speaking An interviewer asking a candidate personal questions about themselves Making us of various pictures for candidates to compare or contrast. This can be

done with individuals or pairs of students. A role-play activity simulating a real-life situation e.g. making a hotel reservation.

Writing Students write a short story Students write a letter of complaint or a job application letter Students write a newspaper article or a holiday brochure

Reading Multiple choice questions to test understanding of a particular text Sorting appropriate headings with the correct paragraphs Choosing an appropriate summary of the text

Listening Transferring information onto a form from a listening text Identify the moods / tones of the various speakers Follow directions on a map from instructions in a listening text

Writing and marking tests

So far, we have looked at the various kinds of tests, the criteria which determine whethera test is effective or not and the different types of test items. It is careful consideration ofthese aspects which will assist us in the effective evaluation of a TESOL test. As we willno doubt be involved in writing and marking tests for our students at some point in ourcareers, it is important that we review a number of further pertinent requirements in thepreparation process of a test. These will help us design an effective TESOL test for ourlearners.

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Firstly, when designing a test we should take into consideration how much time shouldbe allocated for the learners to take the test, where the test will in fact take place and howmuch time one will require for marking the test. Secondly, it is important to decide whatitems or skill sets we are going to include in our test, as well as learner appropriate topics.By including a representative sample of what has been taught over a particular timeperiod, the results will be a good indicator of the language the students have learned.Ensure that the language used in the test is as natural and authentic as possible and thatthe students have practiced and encountered these language items. It is not a good idea tointroduce new language tasks in the test. Furthermore, we should balance the variousitems we wish to include in our test such as direct and indirect test items and how muchtime and space we should assign in terms of their relative importance. Moreover, thesuccess of our students will be determined to a certain degree by how many marks areallocated to the different sections of the test. Lastly, it is vital that we administer our testto our colleagues before we administer it to our learners. This will ensure that we havetime to deal with any possible problems that we have not noticed or anticipated andtherefore avoid any potentially disastrous situations. At this stage it is important to workthrough the test asking a number of important questions. Brown (2001) offers thefollowing test revision list:

1. Are the instructions both clear and unambiguous?2. Does each section provide an example item for the students?3. Are the questions asked in clear and simple language?4. Do the multiple choice questions have appropriate distracters?5. Does the test as a whole reflect the learning objectives?6. Is the difficulty of the various items appropriate for your students?7. Does each item attempt to measure a certain objective?

One of the major problems associated with the marking of tests by different markers, isthat of scorer subjectivity. Harmer (2001) suggests a number of solutions which can beapplied to the issue of scorer subjectivity. To begin with, scorers could attend trainingsessions or courses involving discussion of the scripts and the allocation of marks. Thiswould ensure that scorers have a clear idea of what is expected of them. Oral examinersfor the Cambridge International General Certificate in Secondary Education (ESL) arerequired to watch a video of oral examination samples as part of their training. Theseexaminers are then required to mark a number of these samples according to various pre-defined criteria and submit them to Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). Amoderator then considers the trainee examiner’s assessment and makes a decision as towhether their marking is both accurate and consistent with the requirements. In additionto adequate training, reliability can be further improved if more than one scorer looks ateach script to ensure consistency. With the Cambridge IGCSE examination, as previouslymentioned, oral examinations are recorded by the examiner and a copy of the tape andmarks allocated are sent to a moderator in the United Kingdom to check that the marksconform to the pre-defined descriptions of performance. These global assessment scalesor pre-defined descriptions of performance are another means of specifying what studentsneed to be capable of in order to gain the required marks. There are however problemsassociated with global assessment scales as not all descriptions will match all students

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and not all examiners will agree on the meaning of these descriptors. Refer to theexample below of some oral assessment criteria (Geyser 1996).

GRADE ORAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

1 Pronunciation is good and only slightly influenced by the learner’s firstlanguage. Very slight grammatical errors. Sometimes searches for wordsbut the pauses are not too long. General meaning very clear. No effortrequired by examiner to understand.

2 Pronunciation is clearly influenced by first language. Pronunciation andgrammatical errors causing minor confusion. Longer pauses to search forword or meaning. Fairly limited expression. Much can be understoodalthough some effort needed for some parts. Some interpretation may benecessary.

3 Several serious pronunciation errors. Basic grammar errors. Unnaturallylong pauses. Limited expression. Requires some effort to understandmeaning. Interpretation is necessary and the learner has difficulty inexplaining or making meaning clear.

4 A lot of serious pronunciation errors. Grave basic grammar errors.Unnaturally long pauses. Very halting delivery. Extremely limitedexpression. Learner finds it difficult to make meaning clear.

5 Learner is unable to answer. Almost impossible to understand. Cannotexplain or make meaning comprehensible.

The marking of oral test, for example, can be further improved and will be more reliableif performance is analysed in more detail. If we consider the oral assessment criteria inthe table above, we could further improve these profiles by judging a student’s speakingin terms of vocabulary, fluency and structure. Combining both global and analyticscoring provides for more reliable marking. In addition to the use of both global andanalytic scoring, separation of the role of the examiner and the interlocutor will assist inscorer reliability in oral tests. This may however not always be practical.

Ethical issues in language testing

The design and writing of standardized tests raises ethical issues concerning the ‘gate-keeping’ nature of these tests. These tests and the organizations which develop andmarket them are seen as extremely influential. These tests often determine the future ofindividuals by indicating whether they are ready for certain levels of academic work andwhether they are able to gain acceptance to certain academic institutions.

Elana Shohamy (1997) refers to the ethics of testing as critical language testingclaiming that standardized testing is not an unbiased process. This process is seen as

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being influenced and shaped by cultural, social, political, educational and ideologicalagendas and ultimately determining the lives of individuals. In recent years there hasbeen increased debate surrounding questions about ethics in language testing. Harmer(2001) cites an important problem of critical language testing concerning the acceptedview that certain standardized tests, such as the TOEFL, are infallible in their predictivevalidity. Students will often be denied admission to universities if their TOEFL scorefalls below a certain requisite score. This may not seem fair if one considers that if thestudent were offered other measures of language ability, they might show that they havethe necessary language abilities to succeed in a university programme. Shohamy (1997)further refers to the use of tests which are utilized in some countries to deny citizenship.As most tests are by design – culturally biased, they may therefore serve todisenfranchise those individuals from a non-mainstream value system. Harmer (2001)further states that standardized tests uphold the perception that there are onlyunambiguous right and wrong answers to real-world problems with no uncertain answersin between. As a consequence of this, test-takers must abide by a particular system ofbeliefs in order to be successful. When selecting a test, it is important to choose onewhich has the least degree of culture bias and one which uses multiple measures ofperformance (including oral and written production). A further suggestion may be toapply less emphasis on standardized tests, opting for an ongoing process of formativeevaluation, thereby giving educational opportunities to those who may otherwise beexcluded.

Conclusion

During the course of this essay, we have examined those aspects which describe a test aswell as the components which are essential in the evaluation of a TESOL test. Wereviewed the various test types and discussed these tests further in terms of themeasurement criteria of practicality, reliability and validity. It was these criteria (whichallowed for accurate decisions to be formulated regarding the language competence oflearners) combined with a mixture of direct and indirect, discrete-point and integrativetesting which provided a good and balanced overall picture of student ability. Havingconsidered these criteria and test items, and their relevance in the evaluation of a TESOLtest, we looked at further requirements in the preparation process and marking of a test.Test have become an important institution in the passage to educational success.Although many learners view tests as an event of impending doom, they can serve tobring out the best in students creating both a positive and motivating atmosphere in thesecond language classroom. Test designers are constantly attempting to improve anddevelop more authentic, content-valid, reliable and practical tests in the context ofCommunicative Language Teaching. Further developments and advances in teaching andlearning methodologies and constant evaluations of TESOL tests will no doubt lead tofuture improvements in the testing process.

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References

Alderson, J. 1996. The testing of reading. In Nuttall, C.

Brown, H. Douglas. 2001. Teaching by Principles: An interactive Approach to LanguagePedagogy. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc – second edition.

Geyser, J. Peter. 2006. English to the World: Teaching Methodology Made Easy. AugustPublishing.

Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson EducationLimited.

Shohamy, Elana. 1997. Critical language testing and beyond. Paper delivered at theAmerican Association of Applied Linguistics, Orlando, FL, March.

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The Internet as a Teaching and Learning Tool in the ESL Classroom

A basic definition of the Internet and how it works is necessary to begin setting theframework for which it can be used as an educational tool for language learning. Flavellin an interview with the BBC world service states that the Internet "has got twocomponent parts - 'Inter', meaning between and 'net', short for network. So the Internet isa network of computers - connected computers." (BBC). Each computer is capable ofcontributing or accessing available information from the Internet. Computers usetelephone lines transfer information to and from one another. Information can exist in anarray of forms the following are just a few (databases, library services, graphs, maps,electronic journals, etc.). The Internet has often been described as the most massiveunorganised library ever imaginable. Because of the unorganised nature of theinformation on the Internet, software programs such as Netscape and search engineswithin Netscape have been constructed to retrieve information requested by the user.Through the Internet there are various mediums in which information can be sent orreceived the following are just a few of these mediums used; the World Wide Web(WWW), electronic mail (E-mail), newsgroups (USENET, listservs, professional on-linediscussion groups.

Over the last decade the amount of information compiled on the Internet has grown atabsolutely phenomenal rates. Rough figures estimate that the amount of information onthe Internet has double every three months since it conception over a decade ago.Information on education and specifically TESL has also grown at similar rates, andtoday the Internet provides both teachers and students with an invaluable resource at thefingertips of a personal computer. Because the information available on the Internet isalmost entirely written in English, students learning ESL must really be at anintermediate level if they are expected to effectively utilize this resource. The range ofactivities and skills which can be improved by using the Internet as an educational tool insecond language learning is impressive to say the least. Many of these activities and skillswhich can be used and improved upon on the Internet are not used in the normal ESLclassroom, and hence, the Internet is becoming and integral part of many educationallanguage programs. With the advantages of such a resource there are inevitablydisadvantages which must also be considered. The following body of this essay willpresent a range of activities which can be used in the ESL classroom via the Internet, andthe language skills these activities aim to develop.

A brief description of the term meta-site is necessary at this stage as it is these sites whichare probably the most useful resource locations available to ESL users on the Internet. "Ameta-site may be most simply defined as a site which consists of (links to) othersites"(Harvey, 1998). Meta-sites are constructed buy individuals or groups interested incertain topics. "Finding a good meta-site is akin to finding a helpful, personal librarian,and saves the user untold hours of "surfing" the Web in search of applicable websites"(Harvey, 1998, Review of ESL meta-sites). From these meta-sites exists access to anarray of established ESL communication mediums. The following meta-sites a just a few

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of the many that exist. For a more detailed review of some meta-sites consult. Daves ESLCafé , TESL journal, Yamada Language Centre

The use of E-mail in the ESL classroom was one of the earliest and still one of the mostsuccessful means to establish communication links between ESL students. There arenumerous examples where by entire ESL classes have established keypals (penpals via E-mail) with other ESL classes from other countries. Liao (link provided in next paragraph)an English teacher in Taiwan has established E-mail links with various countries acrossthe world with her class and comments on the benefits and difficulties with such anexercise. Various other ESL teachers have written on this topic all of which tend toexperience similar benefits and difficulties. After the initial establishment of keypals foreach student within the class (an exercise which has been made easier in recent time withthe development of TESL meta-sites), students proceed to communicate on a regularbasis to there keypal as part of there on going studies. Reading and writing skills areexercised with the written English used in an authentic matter (not necessarilygrammatically correct, but commonly used). Intercultural communication is an importantskill which is learnt in combination with the technical use of the communication tool (E-mail program), both of which will be extremely important in the effective languagedevelopment on any ESL student. Pillemer, 1997 (link in next paragraph) details hisexperience with individual and class E-mail projects offering tips for anyone planning toundertake such a task. Both Liao and Pillemer highlight motivation and the attention todetail shown by their students when performing these tasks. Again both authors commenton the fact that there are numerous technical and communication difficulties that must beovercome if the project is to be successful, here are main hitches associated with such aprogram:

Outdated computer equipment Limited computer terminals and E-mail accounts

Organization and goals of such a program must be clearly identifiedand adhered to

Some students may not have an individual keypal

Communication with the keypal is not personal and motivation soondecreases

The following two articles ‘Internet Teaching Learning Tool’ (Pillemer, 1997) an ‘E-mailing to Improve EFL Learners' Reading and Writing Abilities: Taiwan Experience’(Liao, 1999) provide detailed accounts of two E-mail projects and are essential reads foranyone planning to undertake such a program. As part of my research on keypals Idecided that I would post my name and details on one of the USENET notice boardsfound on one of the most popular ESL meta-sites. Within one week I had received E-mails from students studying TESL in Spain, Argentina, Germany, Poland and Taiwan.

USENET is like a large notice board. Users can both post notices on the board or reply tonotices already on the board. This differs from E-mail in that E-mail sends a message to

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specified address’s and hence only those receiving the message can read and reply.USENET notices can be read by anyone browsing that particular page. Most ESL meta-sites will have a USENET link which may be used for variety of purposes. Teachers ofESL programs will find such pages particularly useful. Teachers can request or offerinformation to/from other teachers on anything associated with teaching programs.Individual and class keypal notices are popular topics found on these sites.

Chatrooms are another form electronic communication used by ESL students andteachers. Chatrooms are real-time sites in which two or more individuals can talk onlineabout various topics. The computer screen displays the users name, the names of otherparticipants in the discussion are also visible. As participants type in messages from therekeyboard the information appears on the screen and is visible to all involved in thediscussion. Many ESL meta-sites have an online discussion group which can be enteredat anytime by anyone. Entire ESL class discussions allow two classes to connect in aprivate online discussion group in which certain topics can be discussed between the twoclasses. Although this may sound confusing it is not that difficult to achieve. Because thediscussion is held in real time the greatest difficulties are associated with arranging exacttimes for which groups will connect. Whether the discussion groups take place on anindividual basis in ‘out of class’ time or in an ‘in class’ organized setting there arenumerous benefits to the user. The experience…. "stimulates authentic communicationand assists students in developing specific communication skills such as arguing,persuading, or defending a particular point." (Singhal, 1997). Dave ESL Café meta-sitehas a discussion room from which students and teachers can simply enter and ‘talk’ toothers in the chatroom or use private chatrooms rooms if two or more individuals wishtheir discussion to unobservable by others. Many believe that this type of medium usedfor communicating across the Internet is particularly good for those students who arereserved and tend not to practice aloud or volunteer to speak out in front of groups ofpeople (traditional classroom). It also requires students to read, write and respondimmediately to others in the chatroom and hence develops active communication skills. Itis currently possible to connect via video conferencing watch and listen in real time to alecture. When in the near future this type of technology decreases in price and becomeswidely available to the masses, chatrooms will have a visual and oral aspect and hencethe spoken English can be practiced as well as the written form.

Some of today’s courses in ESL for teachers and students are conducted via distanceeducation through ‘virtual universities’ in private discussion rooms. Lecture material isread by students or presented via video link prior to entering the chatroom for a formaltutorial with their lecturer. In an article by Grosse and Leto titled "Virtual Communitiesand Networking in Distance Education" it was highlighted that distance education via theInternet this was an ideal way of undertaking a University degree for many people. Thosewith jobs, families and other commitments were particularly excited about being able toundertake studies at prestigious US institutes without leaving their home or country."Similarly, TESOL's proposed on-line academies and workshops would be able to reachnew populations of ESL/EFL professionals and students who could not leave their workand families to attend a traditional TESOL convention or academy." (Grosse & Leto,1998). Clearly with the development of organized courses and programs in TESL

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everybody involved (teachers, students, other professionals) stand to benefittremendously from such technological developments.

The WWW provides an enormous, up-to-date reference library for studies in ESL. Meta-sites such as the TESL journal and Yeronga Institute of TAFE Virtual Library provideaccess to mass of free journal articles, activities, lesson plans and tests. The informationavailable is of a creditable nature with articles being written and reviewed by leadingauthors before being added. Many of the articles used as references in this paper weresourced from the TESL Journal. Many meta-sites possess their own search engines whichmakes searching for articles of interest much easier and quicker than using a wider searchengine such as Alta Vista which often return useless hits. The Internet also has ESL meta-sites in which one must subscribe to in order to have access to the information, studentsusing this meta-sites receive detailed making from teachers and may also receive a morepersonalised ESL program to suit their needs. The task of searching, locating andassessing the quality of articles on the Internet utilizes many skills necessary not only forlanguage studies but also all other academic facets and future job opportunities. Theseskills include general computer skills with the programs associated with the Internet(Eudora, Netscape, chatrooms, USENet…..etc). There are numerous web pages in whichteacher tips and suggestions are provided for each of the functions associated with theInternet and how best to integrate these into classroom educational programs. Teachersare therefore able to avoid making the same mistakes that those who have gone beforethem have.

There are a variety of activities and teaching programs suggested for use on the Internet.One that seems to have be well documented is that of the discipline-based studies."Students can effectively expand their linguistic, rhetorical, and research skills through afocus discipline study." Students select a particular discipline from a range of say 10choices (biology, psychology, geography….), students then begin intensive research onthis particular topic completing assignments for assessment. Students choosing the samediscipline may form discipline-based study groups, these groups cooperatively researchtheir particular discipline sharing information gathered. The discipline-based studies areused in many non-ESL classrooms but it has be suggested that benefits of the discipline-based studies are "especially valuable for college ESL students because it engages themin extended practice with both language and discipline-based concepts, enabling them tobecome "content experts" in a subject area of their own choosing." (Kasper, 1998).Additional texts specifically written to assist with discipline-based studies arecommercially available to provide teachers with a wide range of activities and assessmenttechniques for numerous disciplines. Again the Internet provides a medium whichimmerses the students in authentic English language. Because the students are required tosample a diverse range of articles on particular issues within the discipline, the Internet…" provides a wonderful opportunity to teach students the discourses ofcomparison/contrast and argumentation in which they describe and evaluate differingviewpoints in an essay."(Kasper, 1998). Kasper goes on to highlight numerous otherbenefits associated with the discipline based studies. "As they carry out this Internetsearch activity, ESL students become actively engaged in the linguistic tasks of readingEnglish, developing vocabulary, and interpreting language structures used in the Internet

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text and in the research tasks of searching for, accessing, and evaluating information.They then are asked to articulate this newly gained knowledge in an oral and a writtenformat."…. "Thus, Internet research becomes a highly motivating vehicle to developinglanguage and content knowledge, as students actively practice the linguistic, criticalthinking, and analytical skills necessary for college-level work." (Kasper, 1998).

Treasure hunts are another particularly good activity that can be undertaken by studentsof varying language competencies. Students are required to follow instructions searchingthe WWW for the answers to set questions. There are a multitude of treasure huntsavailable for free on the Internet for both ESL and non-ESL students with levels rangingfrom beginner/intermediate to expert. A good sample of Treasure hunts can be found onthe TESL Internet Journal treasure hunt page. Students begin their Treasure hunts at aparticular address from which hyperlinks allow the students to proceed to access the nextweb page in order to answer the next question in the Treasure hunt. To maximise thebenefits of such an activity students are often grouped in pairs or threes in order todevelop oral communication skills that would not be used if the students were workingalone at a computer terminal. For particularly creative teachers or those not satisfied withthe available Treasure hunts there is an option to create your own Internet Treasure huntrelatively easily. This maybe extremely useful if a teacher wants a Treasure hunt to bemore detailed or focused on a particular topic. The following address is a guide to helpwith the construction of Treasure hunts for those interested in making there own.Treasure hunts primarily focus on the development of the reading skills of the student.Students must learn to selectively identify relevant information and hence must learn toquickly scan through large amounts of information in search for the answer to thequestion. Again exposure to such a large authentic sample of the English language willincrease both the vocabulary and the ability of the student to use the language in anauthentic manner. In addition to the linguistic benefits associated with this activitystudents develop a range of computer skills that will become essential to theirprofessional development.

Dave Sperling’s Workbook presents a commercially available supplement to any ESLeducational program. The program consists of 2 components; the workbook itself (text)and the accompanying Internet sites. There are 30 theme-based topics in which studentswork through various activities recording information and performing exercises in theworkbook and on the Internet. Activities include keypal correspondence with otherparticipants of Sperlings Workbook, role plays, group discussions, writing activities andmuch more. The 30 themes cover a wide range of topics both of educational value andgeneral interests to keep the Workbook stimulating for learners. Sperlings Internetworkbook companion web page can be found at the following URL,http://www.prenhall.com/sperling/. For a review of Sperlings Internet Wookbook consultBradley, 1999.

The Internet also provides a range of online grammatical exercises and activities thatprovide immediate feedback for the ESL student. Most of these pages are part of a meta-site such as TESL Internet Journal and The English Institute, they also cover a range ofother components of the English language such as Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, Slang and

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Vocabulary. Students can therefore continue to improve on the technical aspect oflanguage learning whilst also interacting in the activities already mentioned. Theimmediate feedback provided by the commuter programs although not as comprehensiveas personally hand marked feedback by a teacher, allows students to undertakeindependent learning. There are numerous issues that a teacher must consider whensuggesting a URL for grammatical practice, Lin, 1997 provides teachers with anoverview of the various issues that need to be addressed before advocating specificgrammatical URL’s.

Finally the Internet provides an invaluable resource for those planning to undertakelanguage proficiency test. There is an abundant amount of information, exercises andpractice tests which will no doubt improve the results of individuals who take theseinternationally recognised tests such as the IELTS and the TOEFL. The results of suchtests can dramatically influence the life’s of those involved and thus additional practiceand information on the tests is of vital importance. These sites are therefore possibly themost important available to students of ESL.

To successfully implement the Internet into the classroom teachers must consider amultitude of factors. Warschauer, 1997 details five key considerations for teachers tosuccessfully integrate the Internet into the classroom;

Carefully consider your Goals Think integration

Don’t underestimate complexity

Provide the necessary support

Involve students in decisions

The Internet is a wonderful medium for learners of the English language to develop theirskills, but there are numerous practical and technical difficulties that will have to beovercome before the Internet can operate as a wonderful medium. Each school will havedifferent technical facilities which will ultimately determine the ability to integrate theInternet in any educational program. Many schools particular those in developingcountries will have outdated computers capable of accessing the Internet but at very slowspeeds with continual technical difficulties. Clearly if the teacher has any technicalexperience with the computers or the school has staff to detail with such problems theserestrictions will be dramatically reduced, but the simple fact the equipment is outdatedmay make it difficult to use the Internet with large numbers of students. Connection feesand equipment costs are expensive and often a schools budget may not stretch far enoughto cover such a program. Censorship is another topic of discussion that must beconsidered when students are operating on the WWW, but ultimately this is controlled byhigher levels of government and shouldn’t be considered as a legitimate reason fordenying children access to such an invaluable resource. Provided classroom rules areestablished and adhered to censorship should no pose a major problem.

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It is important to highlight some of the advantages that using the Internet as teaching toolhas over traditional classroom methods. Possibly one of the biggest attractions theInternet has in the classroom is its ability intrinsically motivate students to learn English.It has been suggested by Fox, 1998 that the three factors that make the Internet sointrinsically motivating are;

1. Its trendy2. Provides essential job skills3. Provides a real life language experience

Hyper text (coloured text, linking to other pages) allows one to move between articles tocarry out further reading where they are interested. This can lead to never ending articlethat continual stimulates its readers interests as well as being instantaneous. Compare thisto say a normal text book which suggests further reading on a particular topic of interest.In my experience one doesn’t follow up leads and hence does not expand his/herknowledge on a particular topic. The Internet is presented in a multimedia fashion. Notall students learn in the same way and increasing the diversity of options as to thepresentation of learning material can only increase the chance of all students to learn. TheInternet is also an excellent medium for learning about other cultures and the worldaround us. It enables people to communicate with people from other countries sharing lifeexperiences, cultural values and a range of other experiences previous unavailablethrough traditional mediums of communication. Students are empowered by the Internetin the sense that they are able to undertake independent, self paced learning in whichfeedback is provided almost immediately. The information available on the Internetprovided it is sourced from creditable meta-sites is upto date, reliable and easilyaccessible.

Traditional Language Learning Web-based Language LearningLinear presentation Hypertext, MultimediaNot motivating High motivationReceptive learning Self-paced, Self-accessHigh teacher control High learner controlOne-to-many (teacher to students) Individual + many to manyLimited resources Unlimited, update information(Brown, 1997)

"The Net has broken down the walls of time and space, giving every individual the abilityto be a lifelong learner." (Lin, 1997). "In the end though, each teacher will have to findher or his own way, based on the goals of the teacher and the program, the needs of thestudents, and the materials and technology available. It is hoped that the guidelinesoutlined in this paper can provide some assistance to teachers attempting to optimallycombine their own goals, their students' needs, and the power of the technology-enhancedclassroom". Internet is a teaching and learning resource that will be most effectivelyutilized by students that are of an intermediate to experienced level. This is not to say thatthe Internet does not provide activities for students at a beginner level, it does but, the

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ability of beginners to navigate within the Internet medium is severely restricted due tothe almost exclusive use of authentic (complex) English across the Internet. It isimportant that all involved in TESL be willing and motivated to embrace this newtechnology with the knowledge that ESL students will benefit greatly from the experiencein many ways. The Internet is an exciting learning medium which is developing in bothsize and complexity at an alarming rate. It is by no means to late for those who have nocomputer experience to grasp all of the technologies discussed in this report. In myexperience time spent at the computer terminal itself and a friend or someone that maybeconsulted if troubleshooting occurs are the two most valuable contributors to the personaldevelopment of computers skills. Current and future developments in language learningwill no doubt focus on speaking and listening skills more intensively. Speech recognitionand real audio technologies will allow students to practice pronunciation, sentencestructure, listening comprehension skills and real communication (audio and video),opening the door to a range of new applications for language learning. The Internet is amust for all involved in TESL and should not be passed of as to complex or difficult. Thistechnology should be embraced and not considered in anyway a replacement for theclassroom teacher but instead and additional educational tool that teachers must integrateinto a normal classroom setting.

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References

BBC World Service- Learning English, Date Unknown, Interview with Dr ElmarBorgmann about the integration of Internet in English education, Retrieved 22nd April1999.http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/network/interv12.htm

BBC World Service- Learning English, Date Unknown, Interview with Dr. Roger Flavellabout the Internet and its Future in Education, Retrieved 22nd April 1999.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/network/interv01.htm

Bradley. L, 1999, A Review of Dave Sperling’s Internet Activity Workbook, The InternetTESL Journal, March, Vol. V, No. 3. Retrieved 22nd April 1999.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Reviews/Bradley-SperlingsWorkbook.html

Brown. I, 1999, Internet Treasure Hunts - A Treasure of an Activity for StudentsLearning English, The Internet TESL Journal, March, Vol. V, No. 3, Retrieved 22nd April1999.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Lesson/Brown-TreasureHunts.html

Dryden. M, 1999, A Book Review of Untangling the Web: Nonce’s Guide to Languageand Culture on the Internet, The Internet TESL Journal, March, Vol. V, No. 3, Retrieved22nd April 1999.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/Reviews/Dryden-NounceGuide.html

Fox. G, 1998, The Internet: Making it Work in the ESL Classroom, The Internet TESLJournal, September, Vol. IV, No. 9, Retrieved 21st April 1999.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Articles/Fox-Internet.html

Grosse. C, and Leto. L, 1999, Virtual Communities and Networking in DistanceLearning, TESOL Matters, Feb/Mar, 1999, Retrieved 22nd April 1999.http://www.tesol.edu/pubs/articles/tm9902-01.html

Harvey. J, 1998, Meta-Sites on the Internet: A Review, March, Vol. 3, No. 2, Retrieved21st April 1999http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej10/m1.html

Holliday. L, 1995, Literacy and networked computers: empowering language learners inthe next decade. Paper presented at the Asian Reading Congress, "Literacy and Biliteracyin Asia: Problems and Issues in the Next Decade", 1995, Retrieved 22nd April.http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/education/lh/sing.htm

Kasper. L, 1998, ESL and the Internet: Content, Rhetoric, and Research, Paper presentedat Rhetoric and Technology in the Next Millennium: An Asynchronous OnlineConference, June 15-30, 1998, Retrieved 21st April 1999.http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon98/paper/kasper.html

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Lessard-Clouston. M, 1997, Towards an Understanding of Culture in L2/FL Education,The Internet TESL Journal, May, Vol. III, No. 5, Retrieved 22nd April.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Articles/Lessard-Clouston-Culture.html

Liao. C, 1999, E-mailing to Improve EFL Learners’ Reading and Writing Abilities:Taiwan Experience, The TESL Internet Journal, March, Vol. V, No. 3, Retrieved 22nd

April 1999http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Articles/Liao-Emailing.html

Lin. C, 1997, Teacher’s Tips: Online Grammar Teaching and Learning, The TESLInternet Journal, December, Vol. III, No. 12, Retrieved 21st April.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/

Muehleisen. V, 1997, Projects Using the Internet in College English Classes, The TESLInternet Journal, June, Vol. III, No. 6, Retrieved 22nd April 1999.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Lessons/Muehleisen-Projects.html

Sperling. D, 1999, Dave’s ESL CaféRetrived 19th May, 1999http://eslcafe.com/

Sperling. D, 1999, Internet Activity Workbook, PrenticehallRetrived 19th May, 1999http://cw.prenhall.com/sperling/

Singhal. M, 1997, The Internet and Foreign Language Education: Benefits andChallenges, The TESL Journal, June, Vol. III, No. 6, Retrieved 21st April 1999http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Articles/Singhal-Internet.html

TESL JournalRetrived 19th May 1999http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/

TOEFL OnlineRetrived 19th May 1999http://www.toefl.org/l

The English Institute, 1995, An Elementary Grammar,Retrived 24th April, 1999.http://www.hiway.co.uk/~ei/intro.html

The Internet TESL Journal’s Self Study Quizzes for ESL Students, 1995-1999, GrammarQuizzes, The Internet TESL Journal, Retrieved 21st April 1999.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/grammar.html

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Warschauer. M, 1997, The Internet for English Teaching: Guidelines for Teachers, TheInternet TESL Journal, October, Vol. III, No.10, Retrieved 21st April 1999.http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Articles/Warschauer-Internet.html

Yamada Language CenterRetrived 19th Mayhttp://babel.uoregon.edu/

Yeronga Institute of TAFE Virtual Library Guide to Community EducationRetrived 19th May 1999http://www.yertafe.qld.edu.au/library/ylibce.htm

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The Internet for English Teaching: Guidelines for Teachers

Mark Warschauermarkw [at] hawaii.edu

http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/markwUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa

P. Fawn Whittakerwhittakf [at] byuh.edu

Brigham Young University - Hawaii

Originally published in the TESL Reporter 30,1 (1997), pp. 27-33

Teachers have been using online communication in the language classroom for more thanten years now. From an investigation of the experiences of dozens of teachers around theworld who have used the Internet in language teaching (Warschauer, l995a; l995b;1996c; 1996d), a few common guidelines emerge that can assist teachers in successfullyplanning and implementing network-based learning projects.

Guidelines

Readers will note that these guidelines are independent of the particular technologicaltools being used. As has been noted elsewhere, "technology is developing so rapidly thatit can often be difficult or even overwhelming to harness, somewhat like trying to get adrink of water from a gushing fire hydrant" (Warschauer, l995b. p. xv). In order to makeeffective use of new technologies, teachers must thus take a step back and focus on somebasic pedagogical requirements. The following guidelines are designed to help teachersimplement computer network-based activities into the second language classroom.

#1: Consider Carefully Your Goals

There are several possible reasons for using the Internet in language teaching. Onerationale is found in the belief that the linguistic nature of online communication isdesirable for promoting language learning. It has been found, for example, that electronicdiscourse tends to be more lexically and syntactically more complex than oral discourse(Warschauer, 1996a) and features a broad range of linguistic functions beneficial forlanguage learning (Chun, 1994; Kern, 1995; Wang, 1993). Another possible reason forusing the Internet is that it creates optimal conditions for learning to write, since itprovides an authentic audience for written communication (see, for example Janda,1995). A third possible reason is that it can increase students' motivation (Warschauer,1996c). A fourth possible reason is the belief that learning computer skills is essential tostudents' future success; this reason suggests that it is not only a matter of using theInternet to learn English but also of learning English to be able to function well on theInternet.

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None of these reasons are more or less legitimate than any of the others. However, sincethere are so many ways to integrate the Internet into classroom instruction, it is importantfor the teacher to clarify his or her goals. If, for example, one of the teacher's goals is toteach students new computer skills, the teacher may want to choose Internet applicationswhich will be most useful to them outside of the classroom, with activities structured sothat students steadily gain mastery of more skills. If the immediate goal is to create acertain kind of linguistic environment for students, once again, the teacher shouldconsider what types of language experiences would be beneficial and structure computeractivities accordingly. If the goal is to teach writing, Internet activities should bestructured so that they steadily bring about an increase in the types of writing processesand relationships essential to becoming a better writer (see, for example, seven activitiesby Janda in Warschauer, 1995b).

As will be discussed further below, little is usually gained by just adding random onlineactivities into a classroom. Clarifying course goals is, thus, an important first step towardsuccessful use of the Internet.

#2: Think Integration

Most teachers who have used the Internet have started out with some kind of simple keypal (computer pen pal) exchanges. And most teachers who have used these exchangeshave felt something lacking. Simply put, there is no more reason to except a significanteducational outcome from simply creating a pen pal connection than there is from simplybringing two students into a room and asking them to talk. Over time, greaterinvolvement on the teacher's part in creating learning activities that create sufficientlinguistic and cognitive demands on the student is needed to get maximum benefit fromInternet exchanges. And, as a number of people have noted, this teacher intervention ismost successful when it brings about activities and projects that are well-integrated intothe course curriculum as a whole.

Bruce Roberts, the coordinator of the Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections(IECC) program, explained this point well:

There is a significant difference in educational outcome depending on whether a teacherchooses to incorporate e-mail classroom connections as (1) an ADD-ON process, like onewould include a guest speaker, or (2) an INTEGRATED process, in the way one wouldinclude a new textbook. The e-mail classroom connections seems sufficiently complexand time-consuming that if there are goals beyond merely having each student send aletter to a person at a distant school, the ADD-ON approach can lead to frustration andexpected academic results‹the necessary time and resources come from other things thatalso need to be done. On the other hand, when the e-mail classroom connection processesare truly integrated into the ongoing structure of homework and classroom interaction,then the results can be educationally transforming (in Warschauer, 1995a, p. 95)

Of course there are many ways that Internet activities can be integrated into the overalldesign and goals of a course (see Sayers, 1993 for a good overview). The teacher can

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work with students to create research questions which are then investigated incollaboration with foreign partners. Students and long-distant partners can workcollaboratively on publications. Or students can use exchange partners as experts tosupply information on vocabulary, grammar, or cultural points which emerge in the class.Again, the choice has to be made by the classroom teacher, preferably in ongoingconsultation with the students. Nevertheless, as Roberts suggests above, it does behoovethe teacher to think about how to integrate online connections into the class rather thanadding these connections on top of the rest of the classroom activities in a disconnectedfashion.

#3: Don't Underestimate the Complexity

Most English teachers, even those who consider themselves computer novices, haveseveral relative advantages when learning to use the Internet. They are, in most cases,skilled at English, experienced at typing or keyboarding, and have some basic computerliteracy (i.e., they probably have at least used a computer for word processing). ESLstudents, on the other hand, at least in some cases, may lack these basic prerequisites.Though we have had students who are quite experienced with computers, we have alsohad students who had seldom used a computer; lacked basic knowledge such as how tooperate a mouse or open a folder; and lacked the vocabulary, reading, and listening skillsto follow instructions for using the computer

Beyond these issues of learner preparation, there are a number of other complexities inintroducing Internet-based activities in the ESL classroom. Activities in a single classmay be dependent on scheduling the computer lab, and on students finding computersoutside the class time to continue their activities. Hardware and software can malfunctionand computer systems can be down. Students' schedules might not permit them to returnto the computer lab at a time when computers are available to complete theirassignments.

Exchanges between classes are even more complex. The partner class might have absentstudents, or might not meet in a particular week due to holidays or other activities in thatlocation. The partner teacher might not have the same understanding of the nature of theexchange, and working through differences can cause further delays. The students mighthave differences in background, language, and experience which can cause furthercomplications.

None of these potential problems mean that Internet based activities shouldn't be used.But in attempting to integrate online teaching, it is best not to be overly ambitious in thebeginning. A situation which overwhelms both students and teacher in technicaldifficulties is not likely to bring about the desired results. It is better to start small and tocreate the kinds of activities which have a direct purpose and are well-integrated intoclassroom goals. If these activities prove successful, you can build from there and attempta more ambitious plan the following semester.

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#4: Provide Necessary Support

Mindful of the complexities which can arise in Internet usage, teachers need to providesupport sufficient to prevent students from being overwhelmed by difficulties. This kindof support can take numerous forms: creating detailed handouts that students can refer towhen class is finished and the teacher's personal help is not accessible; buildingtechnology training sessions into the class schedule, not only in the beginning but on anongoing basis; working with the computer center to set up log-on systems and otherprocedures which are as simple and intuitive as possible; assigning students to work inpairs or groups, both in and out of the lab, so that they can provide assistance to eachother; providing details to the students about how and when they can get assistance fromtechnology specialists or others on campus outside of class; and being available to helpstudents at times when they are most likely to need it.

#5: Involve Students in Decisions

The concept of a learner-centered curriculum (Nunan, 1987) predates, and has broadersignificance, than the Internet enhanced classroom. However, this concept seemsparticularly important when considering network-based teaching.

First of all, as indicated above, network-based teaching involves a number of specialcomplexities. It will be difficult, indeed, for a teacher to be fully aware of the impact ofthese complexities without regular consultation with students. This might involveanonymous surveys, class discussions, or similar means of involving students inexpressing their opinions about the process of implementing technologies.

Notably favorable is that the nature of computer-mediated communication createsopportunities for more decentered interaction (for summaries, see Warschauer, 1996b;Warschauer, Turbee, & Roberts, 1996). To fully exploit these opportunities, the teachermust learn to become a "guide on the side" rather than a "sage on the stage". A situationwhich is based on communication between students but in which the students have littlesay over the topics or outcomes of that communication is not likely to lead to the kind ofatmosphere optimal for language learning.

As pointed out elsewhere (Warschauer, Turbee, & Roberts, 1996), involving students indetermining the class direction does not imply a passive role for teachers. Teachers'contributions in a learner-centered, network-enhanced classroom include coordinatinggroup planning, focusing students' attention on linguistic aspects of computer mediatedtexts, helping students gain meta-linguistic awareness of genres and discourses, andassisting students in developing appropriate learning strategies.

Conclusion

A paper of this length can not completely cover the topic of network-based languageteaching. Further information on this topic is available in books (see for exampleWarschauer, 1995a; Warschauer, 1995b) and on the Internet itself (see for example

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NETEACH-L at http://thecity.sfsu.edu/~funweb/neteach.htm). In the end though, eachteacher will have to find her or his own way, based on the goals of the teacher and theprogram, the needs of the students, and the materials and technology available. It ishoped that the guidelines outlined in this paper can provide some assistance to teachersattempting to optimally combine their own goals, their students' needs, and the power ofthe technology-enhanced classroom.

References

Chun, D. (1994). Using computer networking to facilitate the acquisition of interactivecompetence. System, 22(1), 17-31.

Janda, T. (1995). Breaking the ice: E-mail dialogue journal introductions and responses.In M. Warschauer (Eds.), Virtual Connections: Online Activities and Projects ForNetworking Language Learners (pp. 57- 58). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i SecondLanguage Teaching and Curriculum Center.

Kern, R. (1995). Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers: Effectson quantity and quality of language production. Modern Language Journal, 79(4), 457-476.

Nunan, D. (1987). The Learner Centered Curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Sayers, D. (1993). Distance team teaching and computer learning networks. TESOLJournal, 3(1), 19-23.

Wang, Y.M. (1993). E-mail Dialogue Journaling in an ESL Reading and WritingClassroom. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oregon at Eugene.

Warschauer, M. (1995a). E-mail For English Teaching. Alexandria, VA: TESOLPublications.

Warschauer, M. (1995b). Virtual Connections: Online Activities and Projects ForNetworking Language Learners. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Second LanguageTeaching and Curriculum Center.

Warschauer, M. (1996a). Comparing face-to- face and electronic communication in thesecond language classroom. CALICO Journal, 13(2), 7-26.

Warschauer, M. (1996b). Computer-Mediated Collaborative Learning: Theory andPractice (Research Note No. 17). University of Hawai'i, Second Language Teaching andCurriculum Center.

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Warschauer, M. (1996c). Motivational aspects of using computers for writing andcommunication. In M. Warschauer (Eds.), Telecollaboration in Foreign LanguageLearning: Proceedings of the Hawai'i Symposium. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i,Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.

Warschauer, M. (1996d). Telecollaboration in Foreign Language Learning: Proceedingsof the Hawai'i Symposium. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i, Second LanguageTeaching and Curriculum Center.

Warschauer, M., Turbee, L., & Roberts, B. (1996). Computer learning networks andstudent empowerment. System, 14(1), 1-14.

About the Authors

Mark Warschauer is a researcher at the University of Hawaii investigating newtechnologies in language learning. He has trained teachers in computer assistedlanguage learning in Europe, Asia, and the United States. His published booksinclude E-Mail for English Teaching, Virtual Connections, and Telecollaborationin Foreign Language Learning.

P. Fawn Whittaker is Language Center Director and ESL Instructor at BrighamYoung University-Hawaii Campus. She has integrated ESL reading and writingstudies with computer and accompanying internet support in several of herintermediate and advanced ESL courses. She advises Center (http://lc.byuh.edu)and student web page development(http://lc.byuh.edu/EIL_WORLD/EILW.html).

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. III, No. 10, October 1997http://iteslj.org/

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Warschauer-Internet.html

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Key Issues in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Curriculum Development

Kristen Gatehousekhoey [at] khae-service.com

www.khae-service.com

Based on insights gained from developing the curriculum for Language Preparation forEmployment in the Health Sciences and a review of the literature on ESP, this paper isintended to offer theoretical support for ESL instructors developing ESP curricula forESL contexts.

Background Information and Statement of Purpose

In late 1999, I was asked to develop a content-based curriculum for a ten-week course fora select group of immigrants living in Ottawa, Canada. The course was held at AlgonquinCollege of Applied Arts and Technology and was funded by the Language forEmployment Related Needs Project (LERN). The curriculum consisted of two distinctphases: language delivery and employment awareness. Although the employmentawareness phase (independently developed and delivered by Local Agencies ServingImmigrants) was an integral component of the program, the focus of this paper is oninsights gained from the language-delivery phase.

Dudley Evans and St. John (1998) identify five key roles for the ESP practitioner:

teacher course designer and materials provider collaborator researcher evaluator.

It is the role of ESP practitioner as course designer and materials provider that this paperaddresses. The premise of this paper is based on David Nunan's observations about theteacher as a curriculum developer.It seems fairly obvious that if teachers are to be the ones responsible for developing thecurriculum, they need the time, the skills and the support to do so. Support may includecurriculum models and guidelines · and may include support from individuals acting in acurriculum advisory position. The provision of such support cannot be removed and mustnot be seen in isolation, from the curriculum (Nunan, 1987, p. 75).Nunan recognized that issues of time, skills and support are key for teachers faced withthe very real task of developing curricula. The intent of this paper is to provide the ESLinstructor as ESP course designer and materials provider with theoretical support. Thispaper begins with a discussion of the origins of ESP. Some key notions about ESP arethen addressed:

absolute and variable characteristics types of ESP

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characteristics of ESP courses the meaning of the word 'special' in ESP

Key issues in ESP curriculum design are suggested: a) abilities required for successfulcommunication in occupational settings; b)content language aquisition versus generallanguage aquisition; c) heterogeneous versus homogenous learner group; and d) materialsdevelopment.

The Origins of ESP

Certainly, a great deal about the origins of ESP could be written. Notably, there are threereasons common to the emergence of all ESP: the demands of a Brave New World, arevolution in linguistics, and focus on the learner (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987).

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) note that two key historical periods breathed life into ESP.First, the end of the Second World War brought with it an " ... age of enormous andunprecedented expansion in scientific, technical and economic activity on aninternational scale · for various reasons, most notably the economic power of the UnitedStates in the post-war world, the role [of international language] fell to English" (p. 6).Second, the Oil Crisis of the early 1970s resulted in Western money and knowledgeflowing into the oil-rich countries. The language of this knowledge became English.

The general effect of all this development was to exert pressure on the language teachingprofession to deliver the required goods. Whereas English had previously decided its owndestiny, it now became subject to the wishes, needs and demands of people other thanlanguage teachers (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p.7).

The second key reason cited as having a tremendous impact on the emergence of ESPwas a revolution in linguistics. Whereas traditional linguists set out to describe thefeatures of language, revolutionary pioneers in linguistics began to focus on the ways inwhich language is used in real communication. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) point outthat one significant discovery was in the ways that spoken and written English vary. Inother words, given the particular context in which English is used, the variant of Englishwill change. This idea was taken one step farther. If language in different situationsvaries, then tailoring language instruction to meet the needs of learners in specificcontexts is also possible. Hence, in the late 1960s and the early 1970s there were manyattempts to describe English for Science and Technology (EST). Hutchinson and Waters(1987) identify Ewer and Latorre, Swales, Selinker and Trimble as a few of theprominent descriptive EST pioneers.

The final reason Hutchinson and Waters (1987) cite as having influenced the emergenceof ESP has less to do with linguistics and everything to do psychology. Rather thansimply focus on the method of language delivery, more attention was given to the ways inwhich learners acquire language and the differences in the ways language is acquired.Learners were seen to employ different learning strategies, use different skills, enter withdifferent learning schemata, and be motivated by different needs and interests. Therefore,

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focus on the learners' needs became equally paramount as the methods employed todisseminate linguistic knowledge. Designing specific courses to better meet theseindividual needs was a natural extension of this thinking. To this day, the catchword inESL circles is learner-centered or learning-centered.

Key Notions About ESP

In this discussion, four key notions will be discussed. They are as follows: a) thedistinctions between the absolute and variable characteristics of ESP, b) types of ESP, c)characteristics of ESP courses, and d) the meaning of the word 'special' in ESP.

Absolute and Variable Characteristics of ESP

Ten years later, theorists Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) modified Strevens' originaldefinition of ESP to form their own. Let us begin with Strevens. He defined ESP byidentifying its absolute and variable characteristics. Strevens' (1988) definition makes adistinction between four absolute and two variable characteristics:I. Absolute characteristics:

ESP consists of English language teaching which is:

designed to meet specified needs of the learner; related in content (i.e. in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines,

occupations and activities; centred on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse,

semantics, etc., and analysis of this discourse; in contrast with General English.

II. Variable characteristics:

ESP may be, but is not necessarily:

restricted as to the language skills to be learned (e.g. reading only); not taught according to any pre-ordained methodology (pp.1-2).

Anthony (1997) notes that there has been considerable recent debate about what ESPmeans despite the fact that it is an approach which has been widely used over the lastthree decades. At a 1997 Japan Conference on ESP, Dudley-Evans offered a modifieddefinition. The revised definition he and St. John postulate is as follows:I. Absolute Characteristics

ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learner; ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it

serves; ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and

genres appropriate to these activities.

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II. Variable Characteristics

ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines; ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of

general English; ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution

or in a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondaryschool level;

ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students; Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language system, but it

can be used with beginners (1998, pp. 4-5).

Dudley-Evans and St. John have removed the absolute characteristic that 'ESP is incontrast with General English' and added more variable characteristics. They assert thatESP is not necessarily related to a specific discipline. Furthermore, ESP is likely to beused with adult learners although it could be used with young adults in a secondaryschool setting.

As for a broader definition of ESP, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) theorize, "ESP is anapproach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are basedon the learner's reason for learning" (p. 19). Anthony (1997) notes that, it is not clearwhere ESP courses end and general English courses begin; numerous non-specialist ESLinstructors use an ESP approach in that their syllabi are based on analysis of learnerneeds and their own personal specialist knowledge of using English for realcommunication.

Types of ESP

David Carter (1983) identifies three types of ESP:

English as a restricted language English for Academic and Occupational Purposes English with specific topics.

The language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters are examples of English as arestricted language. Mackay and Mountford (1978) clearly illustrate the differencebetween restricted language and language with this statement:... the language of international air-traffic control could be regarded as 'special', in thesense that the repertoire required by the controller is strictly limited and can be accuratelydetermined situationally, as might be the linguistic needs of a dining-room waiter or air-hostess. However, such restricted repertoires are not languages, just as a tourist phrasebook is not grammar. Knowing a restricted 'language' would not allow the speaker tocommunicate effectively in novel situation, or in contexts outside the vocationalenvironment (pp. 4-5).The second type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English for Academic andOccupational Purposes. In the 'Tree of ELT' (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), ESP is broken

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down into three branches: a) English for Science and Technology (EST), b) English forBusiness and Economics (EBE), and c) English for Social Studies (ESS). Each of thesesubject areas is further divided into two branches: English for Academic Purposes (EAP)and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). An example of EOP for the EST branch is'English for Technicians' whereas an example of EAP for the EST branch is 'English forMedical Studies'.

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) do note that there is not a clear-cut distinction betweenEAP and EOP: "· people can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in manycases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used laterwhen the student takes up, or returns to, a job" (p. 16). Perhaps this explains Carter'srationale for categorizing EAP and EOP under the same type of ESP. It appears thatCarter is implying that the end purpose of both EAP and EOP are one in the same:employment. However, despite the end purpose being identical, the means taken toachieve the end is very different indeed. I contend that EAP and EOP are different interms of focus on Cummins' (1979) notions of cognitive academic proficiency versusbasic interpersonal skills. This is examined in further detail below.

The third and final type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English with specific topics.Carter notes that it is only here where emphasis shifts from purpose to topic. This type ofESP is uniquely concerned with anticipated future English needs of, for example,scientists requiring English for postgraduate reading studies, attending conferences orworking in foreign institutions. However, I argue that this is not a separate type of ESP.Rather it is an integral component of ESP courses or programs which focus on situationallanguage. This situational language has been determined based on the interpretation ofresults from needs analysis of authentic language used in target workplace settings.

Characteristics of ESP Courses

The characteristics of ESP courses identified by Carter (1983) are discussed here. Hestates that there are three features common to ESP courses: a) authentic material, b)purpose-related orientation, and c) self-direction.

If we revisit Dudley-Evans' (1997) claim that ESP should be offered at an intermediate oradvanced level, use of authentic learning materials is entirely feasible. Closerexamination of ESP materials will follow; suffice it to say at this juncture that use ofauthentic content materials, modified or unmodified in form, are indeed a feature of ESP,particularly in self-directed study and research tasks. For Language Preparation forEmployment in the Health Sciences, a large component of the student evaluation wasbased on an independent study assignment in which the learners were required toinvestigate and present an area of interest. The students were encouraged to conductresearch using a variety of different resources, including the Internet.

Purpose-related orientation refers to the simulation of communicative tasks required ofthe target setting. Carter (1983) cites student simulation of a conference, involving thepreparation of papers, reading, notetaking, and writing. At Algonquin College, English

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for business courses have involved students in the design and presentation of a uniquebusiness venture, including market research, pamphlets and logo creation. The studentshave presented all final products to invited ESL classes during a poster presentationsession. For our health science program, students attended a seminar on improving yourlistening skills. They practiced listening skills, such as listening with empathy, and thenemployed their newly acquired skills during a fieldtrip to a local community centre wherethey were partnered up with English-speaking residents.

Finally, self-direction is characteristic of ESP courses in that the " ... point of includingself-direction ... is that ESP is concerned with turning learners into users" (Carter, 1983,p. 134). In order for self-direction to occur, the learners must have a certain degree offreedom to decide when, what, and how they will study. Carter (1983) also adds thatthere must be a systematic attempt by teachers to teach the learners how to learn byteaching them about learning strategies. Is it necessary, though, to teach high-abilitylearners such as those enrolled in the health science program about learning strategies? Iargue that it is not. Rather, what is essential for these learners is learning how to accessinformation in a new culture.

The Meaning of the Word 'Special' in ESP

One simple clarification will be made here: special language and specialized aim are twoentirely different notions. It was Perren (1974) who noted that confusion arises over thesetwo notions. If we revisit Mackay and Mountford's restricted repertoire, we can betterunderstand the idea of a special language. Mackay and Mountford (1978) state:The only practical way in which we can understand the notion of special language is as arestricted repertoire of words and expressions selected from the whole language becausethat restricted repertoire covers every requirement within a well-defined context, task orvocation (p. 4).On the other hand, a specialized aim refers to the purpose for which learners learn alanguage, not the nature of the language they learn (Mackay & Mountford, 1978).Consequently, the focus of the word 'special' in ESP ought to be on the purpose for whichlearners learn and not on the specific jargon or registers they learn.

Key Issues in ESP Curriculum Design

In this section, key issues in ESP curriculum design for ESL contexts are examined. Theissues explored here are a product of my professional experience developing thecurriculum for Language Preparation for Employment in the Health Sciences. Thisexperience has been supported with a review of the literature on ESP.

Abilities Required for Successful Communication in Occupational Settings

Cummins (1979) theorized a dichotomy between basic interpersonal communicationskills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). The former refers tothe language skills used in the everyday informal language used with friends, family andco-workers. The latter refers to a language proficiency required to make sense of and use

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academic language. Situations in which individuals use BICS are characterized bycontexts that provide relatively easy access to meaning. However, CALP use occurs incontexts that offer fewer contextual clues.

After having developed and taught the curriculum for Language Preparation forEmployment in the Health Sciences, I have reached the conclusion that there are threeabilities necessary for successful communication in a professional target setting. I haveadded a third skill or ability to Cummins' theory in order to complete the ESP picture.

The first ability required in order to successfully communicate in an occupational settingis the ability to use the particular jargon characteristic of that specific occupationalcontext. The second is the ability to use a more generalized set of academic skills, such asconducting research and responding to memoranda. With the health science group, thiswas largely related to understanding a new culture. The third is the ability to use thelanguage of everyday informal talk to communicate effectively, regardless ofoccupational context. Examples of this include chatting over coffee with a colleague orresponding to an informal email message.

The task for the ESP developer is to ensure that all three of these abilities are integratedinto and integrated in the curriculum. This is a difficult task due to the incredible amountof research required. Close collaboration between content experts and the curriculumdeveloper was not possible during the development stages for the health sciencecurriculum. In retrospect, the experience and knowledge of health science faculty wouldhave lessened the workload in this area tremendously. Fortunately, there does exist awealth of information on academic and general language skills. The trick involved in theinterweaving process is to develop a model that best integrates the restricted repertoirewith the academic and general for the learners in question.

In the case of Language Preparation for Employment in the Health Sciences, there wereso many possible potential future occupational settings to research and I had to cope withlimited development time. I simply opted to identify academic skills that weretransferable to most health science occupational settings. This required an inventory of allpossible health science occupations, identification of the past occupational experiences ofthe learners in the pilot program, and identification of academic language skills. All ofthis information was then cross-referenced with the general language objectives for theidentified group of learners.

It is my opinion that because ESP requires comprehensive needs analysis and because thelearning-centred curriculum is not static, it is impossible to expect that the developer bein a position to identify the perfect balance of the abilities noted above for any particulargroup of learners. In reality, a large part of this responsibility is that of the instructors; itis the instructors who are in the best position to identify changing learner needs and whoare in the best position to ensure that all students receive a balanced diet of language.

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Content Language Acquisition Versus General Language Acquisition

When I first received the proposal for the health science pilot program, the ratio ofcontent to language instruction had already been identified: 2 hours of content lecture forevery 23 hours of language/content instruction. Given this starting point, one of thecentral questions that needed to be answered was how much time would be devoted tovocabulary and content knowledge acquisition, as opposed to the time spent developinggeneral and academic language skills.

Although a tentative balance was drafted prior to classroom delivery, the balance shiftedon a daily basis. In the end, it was determined by both instructors that more time need beallotted for pure content and more time need be created for team-taught activities. Thefinal weekly breakdown of 25 hours consisted of the following:

o 8 hours of Integrated Language Learning (ESL instructor)o 6 hours of Health Science Lectures (content instructor)o 4 hours of Workplace Communication (jointly facilitated)o 3 hours of Medical terminology (content instructor)o 2 hours of Pathophysiology (content instructor)o 2 hours of Applied Computer Skills (ESL instructor)

The first thing that is apparent from this breakdown, is that time devoted to developinggeneral language and academic skills far outweighs the time devoted to the acquisition ofcontent knowledge. However, it was recommended that the content instructor be presentfor a considerable more amount of time; it was observed that there was such an overlapbetween content knowledge, academic proficiency, and general language that we couldbetter interweave many of the activities as a team.

The learners indicated that they desired more opportunity to interact with the contentinstructor, in addition to attending the old-style lecture format. Indeed, both instructorsnoted that the students were highly motivated to attend the content lectures and yetadditional support from the ESL instructor was required because, in order to meet thelearners' needs, we could not teach the restricted repertoire in isolation. What is more, itwas highly unreasonable to assume that the content instructor would take on the role ofESL instructor.

Finally, it was observed that the majority of the students with post-secondary training inthe health sciences possessed a basic knowledge of Greco-Latino terminology.Consequently, we determined that less time would be devoted to learning terminology inorder to follow the content lectures. Most of the students could already recognizemeaning, but not produce it. It was determined that more time should be allotted for workon pronunciation and learning the spelling of health science terminology. Moreover,much more time would be spent on communication for the workplace; in this way, theystudents would be afforded ample opportunity to integrate and practice the restrictedrepertoire acquired in content lectures and the everyday language acquired in thelanguage classes.

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Heterogeneous Learner Group Versus Homogeneous Learner Group

There are a number of variables which characterize a heterogeneous learner group. Iargue that variations in language level, prior education and work experience can beaccommodated only to a certain extent. Minimum entrance standards must be establishedin the areas of language level, motivation, and prior education and experience. Mostimportantly, these standards must be strictly enforced at the time of placement.

Due to the limited time frame for the development of the health science pilot programcurriculum and the fact that the program was scheduled to begin in the middle of theacademic term, the minimum general language entrance requirement was dropped fromhigh to low intermediate in order to generate a large enough pool of suitable candidates.Although no pre or post-test was to be administered by evaluation team, I was required torecruit twice the number of students to be admitted to the program: 20 students would bein the pilot group and 20 would be in the control group. In the end, 16 students formedeach group. The result was that there were some genuinely intermediate students mixedin with a majority of high intermediate, and a few advanced students.

Based on observations of a four-week English for Business course, Yogman and Kaylani(1996) conclude that there appears to be a minimum proficiency level that is required forstudents to participate in predominately content-related activities. This supports myfinding that those students who were struggling to catch up with general languageproficiency simply found the content activities to be overwhelming.

One student in the health science program commented that she had to learn both thelanguage and the content at the time. This particular student was at such a disadvantagebecause, whereas the other students were doctors and dentists, she had no prior educationor work experience in health science. Another student was an experienced doctor, butpossessed a very low level of language proficiency. Either case would have beenfrustrating for anyone. One strategy we began to employ was to have the intermediatestudents focus on developing their listening skills during the content lecture. Thosestudents without the background knowledge, who possessed the language skills, were toask for clarification from their peers or instructors. The advanced students wereencouraged to record as much detail as possible, carry out supplemental reading thatpertained to the lecture topics and to assist their peers whenever possible.

Materials Development

Do ESP textbooks really exist? This is central question Johns (1990) addresses. One ofthe core dilemmas he presents is that "ESP teachers find themselves in a situation wherethey are expected to produce a course that exactly matches the needs of a group oflearners, but are expected to do so with no, or very limited, preparation time" (Johns,1990, p. 91).

In the real world, many ESL instructors/ESP developers are not provided with ample timefor needs analysis, materials research and materials development. There are many texts

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which claim to meet the needs of ESP courses. Johns (1990) comments that no one ESPtext can live up to its name. He suggests that the only real solution is that a resource bankof pooled materials be made available to all ESP instructors (Johns, 1990). The onlydifference between this resource bank and the one that is available in every educationalsetting -- teachers' filing cabinets -- is that this one is to include cross-indexed doable,workable content-based (amongst other) resources.

It is my experience that this suggestion is not doable. If teachers are so pressed for time,will they have the time to submit and cross-index resources? Rather, I believe that there isvalue in all texts - some more than others. Familiarizing oneself with useful instructionalmaterials is part of growing as a teacher, regardless of the nature of purpose for learning.Given that ESP is an approach and not a subject to be taught, curricular materials willunavoidably be pieced together, some borrowed and others designed specially. Resourceswill include authentic materials, ESL materials, ESP materials, and teacher-generatedmaterials.

Note that an excellent point of departure for novice ESP curriculum developers is withlists of ESL publishers which have been made publicly available on-line. Browsingpublishers' sites takes a few minutes, review copies can be requested immediately andcopies can be sent express.

Concluding Remarks

This paper has discussed the origins of ESP, addressed key notions about ESP andexamined issues in ESP curriculum design. The content of the paper was determined by aneed identified based on my professional experience as an ESL instructor designing anddelivering the content-based language program - Language Preparation for Employmentin the Health Sciences. These issues, where possible, have been supported by current andpertinent academic literature. It is my sincerest hope that these observations will lendinsight into the challenges facing the ESL instructor acting as ESP curriculum developer.

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Selected References

Anderson, R., & Ausubel, D. (Eds.). (1965). Readings in the Psychology ofCognition. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Anthony, L. (1997). ESP: What does it mean? ON CUE.http://interserver.miyazaki-med.ac.jp/~cue/pc/anthony.htm Retreived April 6,2000, from the World Wide Web.

Betts, G. (1985). Autonomous Learner Model for the gifted and talented.Greeley, CO: Autonomous Learning Publications and Specialists. (ERICDocument Reproduction Service No. ED 268 708)

Carver, D. (1983). Some propositions about ESP. The ESP Journal, 2, 131-137. Crandall, J. (Ed.). (1987). ESL through content-area instruction:

Mathematics, science, social studies. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Regents. Cummins, J. (1979). Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic

interdependence, the optimum age question and some other matters. WorkingPapers on Bilingualism, 19, 121-129.

Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. (1998). Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Echevarria, J., & Graves, A. (1998). Sheltered content instruction: TeachingEnglish-language learners with diverse abilities. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. NewYork, NY: Basic Books.

Huang, S., & Shanmao, C. (1996). Self-efficacy of English as a second languagelearner: An example of four learners. Bloomington, IN: Language EducationDepartment, School of Education, Indiana University. (ERIC DocumentReproduction Service No. ED 396 536)

Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: Alearning-centered approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Johns, A., & Dudley-Evans, T. (1991). English for Specific Purposes:International in scope, specific in purpose. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 297-314.

Johnson, D., & Johnson, R. (1975). Learning together and alone: Cooperation,competition and individualization. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Johnson, R. (Ed.). (1989). The second language curriculum. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Jones, G. (1990). ESP textbooks: Do they really exist? English for SpecificPurposes, 9, 89-93.

Lomperis, A. (1998). Best practices in EOP/EPP: Steps in providing a program.http://my.voyager.net/azure/programI.html Retreived May 8, 2001, from theWorld Wide Web.

Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition.Oxford: Pergamon.

Mackay, R., & Mountford, A. (Eds.). (1978). English for Specific Purposes: Acase study approach. London: Longman.

Mackay, R., & Palmer, J. (Eds.). (1981). Languages for Specific Purposes:Program design and evaluation. London: Newbury House.

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McDonough, J. (1984). ESP in perspective: A practical guide. London: CollinsELT.

Nunan, D. (1987). The teacher as curriculum developer: An investigation ofcurriculum processes within the Adult Migrant Education Program. SouthAustralia: National Curriculum Resource Centre.

Nunan, D. (Ed.). (1992). Collaborative language learning and teaching. NewYork: Cambridge University Press.

Perren, G. (1974). Forward in Teaching languages to adults for special purposes.CILT Reports and Papers, 11, London: CILT.

Rogers, C. (1983). Freedom to learn for the 80's. Columbus, OH: CharlesMerrill.

Sagliano, M., Stewart, T., & Sagliano, J. (1998). Professional training to developcontent-based instruction in higher education. TESL Canada Journal, 16, 36-51.

Selinker, L., Tarone, E., & Hanzeli, V. (Eds.). (1981). English for Academic andTechnical Purposes: Studies in honor of Louis Trimble. London: NewburyHouse.

Strevens, P. (1988). ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal. In M. Tickoo (Ed.),ESP: State of the Art (pp. 1-13). Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Centre.

Stryker, S., & Leaver, B. (Eds.). (1997). Content-based instruction in foreignlanguage education: Models and methods. Washington, D.C.: GeorgetownUniversity Press.

Taylor, C. (1986). Cultivating simultaneous student growth in both multiplecreative talents and knowledge. In J.S. Renzulli (Ed.), Systems and models fordeveloping programs for the gifted and talented (pp. 307-351). MansfieldCenter, CT: Creative Learning Press.

VanPatten, B., & Lee, J. (1990). Second language acquisition - Foreignlanguage learning. Avon: Multilingual Matters.

Yogman, J., & Kaylani, C. (1996). ESP program design for mixed level students.English for Specific Purposes, 15, 311-24.

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VII, No. 10, October 2001http://iteslj.org/

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Gatehouse-ESP.html

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Defining English for Specific Purposes and the Role of the ESP Practitioner

Laurence AnthonyDept. of Information and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University ofScience, 1-1 Ridai-cho, Okayama 700-0005, Japan

Abstract

This paper first defines the 'English for Specific Purposes' (ESP) approach to language teaching interms of absolute and variable characteristics offered by Dudley-Evans in the plenary speech of thefirst Japan Conference on English for Specific Purposes. Then, under the headings of teacher,collaborator, course designer and materials provider, researcher, and evaluator proposed by Dudley-Evans, a comparison is made between the 'General English' teacher and the so-called ESPpractitioner.

1. Growth of ESP

From the early 1960's, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become one of the mostprominent areas of EFL teaching today. Its development is reflected in the increasing number ofuniversities offering an MA in ESP (e.g. The University of Birmingham, and Aston University inthe UK) and in the number of ESP courses offered for overseas students in English speakingcountries. There is now a well-established international journal dedicated to ESP discussion,"English for Specific Purposes: An international journal", and the ESP SIG groups of the IATEFLand TESOL are active at their national conferences.In Japan too, the ESP movement has shown a slow but definite growth over the past few years. Inparticular, increased interest has been spurred by the Ministry of Education's decision in 1994 tolargely hand over control of university curriculums to the universities themselves. This has led to arapid growth in English courses aimed at specific disciplines, e.g. 'English for Chemists', in place ofthe more traditional 'General English' courses. The ESP community in Japan has also become moredefined, with the Japan Association of College English Teachers (JACET) ESP SIG set up in 1996and the Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT) N-SIG to be formed shortly. Finally, inNovember 1997, the ESP community came together as a whole at the first Japan Conference onEnglish for Specific Purposes held at Aizu University in Fukushima Prefecture.

2. The ESP approach

As described above, ESP has had a relatively long time to mature and so we would expect the ESPcommunity to have a clear idea about what ESP means. Strangely, however, this does not seem tobe the case. In October of 1997, for example, a heated debate took place on the TESP-L e-maildiscussion list about whether or not English for Academic Purposes (EAP) could be considered partof ESP in general. At the Japan Conference on ESP also, clear differences in how people interpretedthe meaning of ESP could be seen. Some described ESP as simply being the teaching of English forany purpose that could be specified. Others, however, were more precise describing it as theteaching of English used in academic studies, or the teaching of English for vocational orprofessional purposes.The main speaker at the Japan Conference on ESP, Tony Dudley-Evans, is very aware of thecurrent confusion amongst the ESP community, and set out in his one hour speech to clarify themeaning of ESP, giving an extended definition in terms of 'absolute' and 'variable' characteristics(see below).

Definition of ESP (Dudley-Evans, 1997)Absolute Characteristics1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners

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2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves3. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis,register, study skills, discourse and genre.

Variable Characteristics

1. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines2. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of GeneralEnglish3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in aprofessional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.5. Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems

The definition Dudley-Evans offers is clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988), although hehas improved it substantially by removing the absolute characteristic that ESP is "in contrast with'General English'" (Johns et al., 1991: 298), and has revised and increased the number of variablecharacteristics. The division of ESP into absolute and variable characteristics, in particular, is veryhelpful in resolving arguments about what is and is not ESP. From the definition, we can see thatESP can but is not necessarily concerned with a specific discipline, nor does it have to be aimed ata certain age group or ability range. ESP should be seen simple as an 'approach' to teaching, or whatDudley-Evans describes as an 'attitude of mind'. Such a view echoes that of Hutchinson et al.(1987:19) who state, "ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to contentand method are based on the learner's reason for learning".

3. The ESP Practitioner

If we agree with the above definition, we begin to see how broad ESP really is. In fact, one may ask'What is the difference between the ESP and 'General English' approach?' Hutchinson et al.(1987:53) answer this quite simply, "in theory nothing, in practise a great deal". In 1987, of course,the last statement was quite true. At the time, teachers of 'General English' courses, whileacknowledging that students had a specific purpose for studying English, would rarely conduct aneeds analysis to find out what was necessary to actually achieve it. Teachers nowadays, however,are much more aware of the importance of needs analysis, and published textbooks have improveddramatically allowing the teacher to select materials which closely match the goals of the learner.Perhaps this demonstrates the influence that the ESP approach has had on English teaching ingeneral. Nevertheless, the line between where 'General English' courses stop and ESP courses starthas become very vague indeed.

Ironically, although many 'General English' teachers can be described as using an ESP approach,basing their syllabi on a learner needs analysis and their own specialist knowledge of using Englishfor real communication, many so-called ESP teachers are using an approach furthest from thatdescribed above. Coming from a background unrelated to the discipline in which they are asked toteach, ESP teachers are usually unable to rely on personal experiences when evaluating materialsand considering course goals. At the university level in particular, they are also unable to rely onthe views of the learners, who tend not to know what English abilities are required by theprofession they hope to enter. The result is that many ESP teachers become slaves to the publishedtextbooks available, and worse, when there are no textbooks available for a particular discipline,resolve to teaching from textbooks which may be quite unsuitable.

Dudley Evans describes the true ESP teacher or ESP Practitioner (Swales, 1988) as needing toperform five different roles. These are 1) Teacher, 2) Collaborator, 3) Course designer and materialsprovider, 4) Researcher and 5) Evaluator. The first role as 'teacher' is synonymous with that of the

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'General English' teacher. It is in the performing of the other four roles that differences between thetwo emerge. In order to meet the specific needs of the learners and adopt the methodology andactivities of the target discipline, the ESP Practitioner must first work closely with field specialists.One example of the important results that can emerge from such a collaboration is reported by Orr(1995). This collaboration, however, does not have to end at the development stage and can extendas far as teach teaching, a possibility discussed by Johns et al. (1988). When team teaching is not apossibility, the ESP Practitioner must collaborate more closely with the learners, who will generallybe more familiar with the specialized content of materials than the teacher him or herself.Both 'General English' teachers and ESP practitioners are often required to design courses andprovide materials. One of the main controversies in the field of ESP is how specific those materialsshould be. Hutchinson et al. (1987:165) support materials that cover a wide range of fields, arguingthat the grammatical structures, functions, discourse structures, skills, and strategies of differentdisciplines are identical. More recent research, however, has shown this not to be the case. Hansen(1988), for example, describes clear differences between anthropology and sociology texts, andAnthony (1998) shows unique features of writing in the field of engineering. Unfortunately, withthe exception of textbooks designed for major fields such as computer science and business studies,most tend to use topics from multiple disciplines, making much of the material redundant andperhaps even confusing the learner as to what is appropriate in the target field. Many ESPpractitioners are therefore left with no alternative than to develop original materials. It is here thatthe ESP practitioner's role as 'researcher' is especially important, with results leading directly toappropriate materials for the classroom.

The final role as 'evaluator' is perhaps the role that ESP practitioners have neglected most to date.As Johns et al. (1991) describe, there have been few empirical studies that test the effectiveness ofESP courses. For example, the only evaluation of the non compulsory course reported by Hall et al.(1986:158) is that despite carrying no credits, "students continue to attend despite rival pressures ofa heavy programme of credit courses". On the other hand, recent work such as that of Jenkins et al.(1993) suggests an increasing interest in this area of research.

4. Conclusion

If the ESP community hopes to grow, it is vital that the community as a whole understands whatESP actually represents, and can accept the various roles that ESP practitioners need to adopt toensure its success. Only then, can new members join with confidence, and existing members carryon the practices which have brought ESP to the position that it has in EFL teaching today. In Japan,in particular, ESP is still in its infancy and so now is the ideal time to form such a consensus.

5. References

Anthony, L. (1998). Preaching to Cannibals: A Look at Academic Writing in Engineering.Proceedings of the Japan Conference on English for Specific Purposes (forthcoming).Dudley-Evans, T. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinaryapproach. Cambridge University Press.Hall, D., Hawkey, R., Kenny B., & Storer G. (1986). Patterns of thought in scientific writing: Acourse in information structuring for engineering students. English for Specific Purposes, 5:147-160.Hansen, K. (1988). Rhetoric and epistemology in the social sciences: A contrast of tworepresentative texts. In D. A. Joliffe (Ed.), Writing in Academic Disciplines: Advances in WritingResearch. Norwood.Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A learner-centered approach.Cambridge University Press.Jenkins, S., Jordan, M. K., & Weiland, P. O. (1993). The role of writing in graduate engineeringeducation: A survey of faculty beliefs and practices. English for Specific Purposes, 12:51-67.

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Johns, T. F. & Dudley-Evans, T. (1988). An experiment in team teaching overseas postgraduatestudents of transportation and plant biology. In J. Swales (Ed.), Episodes in ESP. Prentice Hall.Johns, A. M. & Dudley-Evans, T. (1991). English for Specific Purposes: International in Scope,Specific in Purpose. TESOL Quarterly 25:2, 297-314.Orr, T. (1995). Models of Professional Writing Practices Within the Field of Computer Science.Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Ball State University.Strevens, P. (1988). ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal. In M. Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the art(1-13). SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.Swales, J. (1988). Episodes in ESP. Prentice Hall.

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The ESL Programme

By Jason Geyser

ESL PROGRAMME ASSESSMENT REPORTINGMARKING /RECORDING

Young Learners English(Ages 6 -12)

Attendance & ExamClasses

Placement- Quick PlacementTest. Progress Testing aftereach Unit for attendanceclasses. CambridgeProficiency Tests (Starters,Movers, Flyers) for examclasses.

Reports after each course.Cambridge Certificates forstudents successfullycompleting exams.

Teacher's record book / markbook. Copies of student'sreports kept in student file.

Secondary Learners(Ages 13 -16)

Attendance & ExamClasses

Placement- Quick PlacementTest. Progress Testing aftereach Unit for attendanceclasses. CambridgeProficiency Tests (KET, PET,FCE, CAE) for exam classes.

Reports after each course.Cambridge Certificates forstudents successfullycompleting exams.

Teacher's record book / markbook. Copies of student'sreports kept in student file.

Adult General English(Ages 17 -)

Attendance & Examclasses

Placement- Quick PlacementTest. Progress Testing aftereach Unit for attendanceclasses. CambridgeProficiency Tests (KET, PET,FCE, CAE, CPE, IELTS,TOEFL) for exam classes.

Reports after each course.Cambridge Certificates forstudents successfullycompleting exams.

Teacher's record book / markbook. Copies of student'sreports kept in student file.

Business English(Adults)

Placement- Quick PlacementTest. Progress Testing aftereach Unit for attendanceclasses. CambridgeProficiency Tests (BEC –Preliminary/ Vantage/ Higher)for exam classes.

Reports after each course.Cambridge Certificates forstudents successfullycompleting exams.

Teacher's record book / markbook. Copies of student'sreports kept in student file.

Corporate English(Adults)

Placement- Quick PlacementTest. Progress Testing aftereach Unit for attendanceclasses. Reports after each course.

Teacher's record book / markbook. Copies of student'sreports kept in student file.

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Young Learners English

The Young Learners Programme should be aimed at helping children grow in confidenceand succeed in their studies. The Programme should be designed for 6 to 15 year olds.The lessons should where possible, contain content from a wide range of curriculumsubjects in order to help the children improve their knowledge of English, Science,History, Geography, IT and Social Studies. Varied lesson content will ensure that thelessons are stimulating, challenging and fun. This approach will lead to a well-roundedand balanced child.

The Young Learners classes should be designed for the age and level of the child. TheJunior courses should be aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 12. Classes shouldideally be limited to 20 students per class and should ideally run once a week for twohours (usually on Saturdays). The Secondary courses are aimed at teenagers from theages of 13 to 15 and should run once a week for two hours.

Young Learners Courses Levels

Durationof

CourseLessonsper week

Durationof

Lessons

Junior Courses

BeginnerElementaryLower Int

15-24weeks 1 2 hrs

Senior Courses

ElementaryLower IntUpper Int

15-24weeks 1 2hrs

Fig.1. Young Learners Courses

Before registration, Junior and Senior students should take a placement test to find theirability level.

Young Learners have the chance to sit for a range of English Proficiency examinations inorder to gain internationally recognized qualifications. These examinations may includethose offered by Oxford and Cambridge.

Adult General English Programme

These courses will enable students to improve their overall ability in the Englishlanguage, focusing on speaking, reading, listening, writing and communication skills(functional language). Throughout the course, students will be given the opportunity tofurther the development of their understanding of grammar as well as increase their rangeof vocabulary.

The Adult General English Programme should incorporate multiple levels fromElementary to Advanced, with each course taking 45 hours to complete. Internationallyacclaimed text books should be used for instruction, including various sources ofsupplementary materials. These supplementary materials should be chosen by the

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teachers in response to the individual needs of their students and the dynamics of theclass. Teachers should make use of videos, listening materials, magazines, newspaperarticles and computers in order to assist in the learning process.

Adult General English Classes should consist of part-time and full-time classes. The part-time classes should last for 15 weeks and should usually include 2 lessons per week, witheach lesson lasting for an hour and a half. These classes will assist those who are workingor studying to learn at a more relaxed pace. The full-time programme should last for 15days and consists of a 3 hour lesson, either in the morning or afternoon. This programmeis ideal for students who are looking to improve their English Language Level in a hurry.Before registration, students should take a placement test to determine their entry level.

Adult General EnglishCourses Levels

Duration ofCourse

Lessonsper day/

weekDuration of

Lessons

Part-time Courses

ElementaryLower IntUpper Int

Lower AdvAdvanced 15 weeks

2 lessonsper week 1.5 hrs

Full-time Courses/ Intensive

ElementaryLower IntUpper Int

Lower AdvAdvanced 15 days

1 lesson perday 3 hrs

Fig.2. Adult General English Courses

Business Communication Courses

In today’s business climate and the advent of globalization, communicating well inEnglish means gaining a competitive advantage in ever changing and expanding worldmarkets. Offering high quality courses to individuals seeking to get ahead in their careersis an important and expanding market area. Business success rests to a large extend onthe ability of individuals to communicate effectively in English. Business writing skillsand communication will help students to understand the changing nature of businesscommunication and pinpoint and eliminate errors in their Business Strategies.

Business Communication Courses may be offered at Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate andUpper Intermediate levels and should provide a balance of English for Business andGeneral English. The courses should further aim to improve and expand students’vocabulary, increase their grasp of Business phrases and functions whilst giving them agood grasp of grammar, writing and vocabulary.

In addition to the Business Communication Courses offered, an English Language Schoolcan also provide one day Business Communication Workshops. Theses workshops areaimed at getting students up to speed with the English skills required to perform at thehighest levels in their careers. The workshops should cover a range of topics and skills

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for business people from negotiation skills, to making effective presentations, tocustomer relations. These workshops could include:

Business Writing Essentials

Successful and Effective Business Presentations

Managing your Time Effectively (Time Management)

Telephoning Skills for Reception and Frontline Staff

Success: For Secretaries and Administration Professionals

Communicating with Confidence

Writing and Preparing Effective Business Reports

Customer Care Essentials

Business Writing for Managers

Holding Effective Meetings and Discussions

BusinessCommunication

Courses Levels

Durationof

Course

Lessonsper

week

Durationof

Lessons

BusinessCommunication

Courses

Pre-IntIntermediate

Upper Int 15 weeks2 lessonsper week 1.5 hrs

Workshops Topic based 1 day

Fig.3. Business Communication Courses

English for Corporate Clients

Custom-made courses specially designed to suit clients’ needs and requirements are animportant in-road into the lucrative Corporate Market. Clients may include banks,government agencies, hotels and multinational companies. The corporate English trainingprogrammes should not only offer courses, but also off-site company contracts. Thesespecially designed courses are perfectly suited to new recruits, middle management, top-management executives and people who are representative of the company in the front-line. A good starting point for an ESP (English for Specific Purposes) course is a ‘needsanalysis’ or a ‘client map.’ It is impossible to teach a student’s specific needs until it isascertained exactly what they are. A typical ‘needs analysis’ might be a questionnaire thatthe client and teacher discuss and complete together. This may include an analysis of

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what the client uses English for, what their expectations are, what they need, what it isthey exactly want and what it is that they don’t have. The process of providing a custom-made course for a corporate client is as follows:

Initially, on first contact with the client, a detailed interview is set up in order toestablish the client’s specific requirements

The students’ levels are then established through the Language School’splacement testing system

The course outlines, method of instruction and materials are then designed inconsultation with the corporate client

A custom-made course will then be designed making careful use of both coretextbooks and other supplementary materials

A schedule is then negotiated with the corporate client

When teaching ESP, the teacher simply continues teaching all the English that theyalready know how to, but incorporate vocabulary, examples, topics and contexts that arerelevant to the students and practice relevant specific skills. If an English LanguageSchool does not have the appropriate texts, tapes etc, then it may be possible to get thestudents or Corporate client to provide them.

These courses are beneficial to the corporate client as there is a flexible and responsiveapproach to the changing client needs, ensuring a high quality and well-balanced course.The client also receives individual attention from highly qualified and experienced ESLteachers.

The Cost of the ESL Programme

The majority of English Language Schools are independent schools established for thepurpose of making a profit for its shareholders and owners. The business nature of theseschools present a rather different school ‘culture’ from that which teachers areaccustomed to in their home countries. In English Language Schools, managementdecisions are often made in line with sound business practices which may, at times, seemto be in conflict with educational needs. These decisions, however, provide a profit forthe school and salaries for the teachers.

It is usual for students to be charged a set rate per ESL class or per course enrolled in.

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English LanguageProgrammes

Cost of AttendanceCourses

Cost of ExaminationCourses

Young Learners Courses Charged per lesson or courseCharged per course, plus costof l Examining Body exams

Secondary School Courses Charged per lesson or courseCharged per course, plus costof l Examining Body exams

Adult General EnglishCourses Charged per lesson or course

Charged per course, plus costof l Examining Body exams

Business English Courses Charged per lesson or courseCharged per course, plus costof l Examining Body exams

Corporate Business Courses Charged per lesson or courseCharged per course, plus costof l Examining Body exams

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The English Language Learning Centre

By Jason Geyser

The English Language Learning Centre (ELLC) should be established by EnglishLanguage schools to help students improve their English and enable them to becomeindependent, life-long learners. The ELLC may however take on another name or formfrom the one suggested. The general principal underlying the concept should howeverremain the same. The English Language Learning Centre may comprise of the following:

A Self- Access Centre A Language Laboratory and Multi-Media Centre A Library

The ELLC should provide a place where students can go and study by themselves orwith fellow students (Self-Access Center). Students will find that doing activities outsidethe classroom will help them to learn English more effectively.

The ELLC should attempt to offer both a language laboratory and multi-media interactivecomputers with internet connection. This Centre should be open for general use, andalways staffed by someone who is able to assist and advise students. There should be anumber of multi-media interactive computers, equipped with CD-Rom, headphones andmicrophones. Internet and email should also be available for all students. Softwareprograms should be readily available for grammar practice, word processing andCambridge exam preparation. The language laboratory should offer materials that arespecially designed to enhance pronunciation and listening skills.The ELLC should attempt to stock a wide range of graded readers and books. Cassettesand CD’s should be available on loan for use in the language laboratory and for studentsto use at home.

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Cloze Tests

From ICALwiki

A cloze test (or gap fill exercise) is a simple exercise where a text has certain wordsremoved and students must suggest suitable alternatives to go in the gap.

Cloze tests are a common activity teachers use to get students to focus on a particularlanguage item. They can be used to check new vocabulary or to test verb tenses.

They can also be used to test listening comprehension or reading comprehension.

They are in fact often found in examination papers.

Construction

First an original text is chosen. This can be almost any kind of text from a song to proseto poetry. Anything, in fact, which will be of interest to the students. Here is an example.

Sophocles wrote more than 120 plays in his career and won 18 first prizes. He was alsoan actor (performing many of his own plays) for a while and served as a priest, as a civiladministrator of Athens and a director of the treasury.

The next step is to remove certain words from the text. At this stage you need to decidewhat level the text is for. By removing different sets of words you can make the same textsuitable for different levels.

Sophocles _____ more than 120 plays in his _____ and won 18 first _____. He was alsoan actor (_____ many of his own plays) for a while and _____ as a priest, as a civil _____of Athens and a _____ of the treasury.

The doctored text is given to the students who need to fill in the gaps. Students will usethe context of the gaps to work out a suitable word to complete the text. For example, thevery first gap is:

Sophocles _____ more than 120 plays

Knowing the structure of English, this is likely to be a verb. Students must then decidewhich verb collocates with play. Alternatives might include: performed, wrote, directedand so on.

Assessment

How a cloze test is assessed will depend on the reason for the test. Sometimes you willgive students a list of possible alternatives for each gap in which case the assessment is

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objective (i.e. only one answer is possible). Sometimes you may want to allow morecreativity and let the students come up with alternative words for each gap in which caseassessment is subjective (i.e. as a class you might decide which word is most suitable forthe gap).

Gap = Panic

Often students confronted with the GAP - and unable to think up a suitable word to fill itwith, will panic.

A simple sentence like this one:

The cat is a skilled predator known to ________ over 1,000 species for food.

Becomes in their eyes:

Blah,blah blah, blah _________ a GAP which I must absolutely fill in if I want to passthis test __________ blah, blah blah

In this state of panic no wonder many will fail their test.

To help them overcome this gap anxiety you can train your students to:

look at the words before and the words after the gap and asses their grammaticalconnotation.

If you can get them to identify a few key language items like verbs, subjects, pronounsetc. you can then encourage them to guess what may follow or precede them. Forexample before an article you will probably have a noun. After a verb you could wellhave an adverb, and so on.

try and guess the meaning from the context, that is, the sentence or paragraph thegap is in.

Going back to our example:

The cat is a skilled predator known to __________ over 1,000 species for food.

Get your students to focus on the key words like cat, predator, food, and get somebrainstorming going. How does a stray cat get to eat every day? Ok it may scavenge therubbish bins. It may rely on the kindness of animal lovers. Anything else? Yes, it maychase a mouse or a lizard or a bird. Can you think of any other verb related to chasing?Hunt! Yes, very good.

The cat is a skilled predator known to hunt over 1,000 species for food.

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guess the answers, particularly in cases where there is a list of possible answers.

Students, particularly those taking exam courses, should be encouraged to make guessesleft, right and centre in order to avoid ever leaving a space on an exam paper. If nothingis written in the gap the student will receive no marks. If something is written in the spacethere is a fair chance that the answer will be right.

Songs in the Classroom

A good game for the classroom is using the lyrics of a song as a cloze test. This can becombined with a listening exercise and can often lead on to an interesting discussion ofwhich version of the lyrics are best: the original ones or those discovered by the students.

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English for Academic Purposes

From ICALwiki

English for Special Purposes

EAP or English for Academic Purposes is usually concerned with teaching English tostudents who are involved in higher education at an English speaking university orcollege.

EAP students are usually current higher education students or they are hoping to go on tohigher education after their EAP course. They need to learn English in order to succeed intheir academic careers. Most EAP students are over 18 and they have chosen to study inan English medium university.

EAP courses are strictly tailored to suit the students' specific language needs. In an EAPcourse close attention is paid to why the students are learning English and, consequently,what language and skills they will need.

Although it will include general English skills, emphasis is placed on the use of theseskills in an academic setting. In addition, teachers will often find themselves teachingstudy skills as well (since most teachers will have been through a higher course at anEnglish speaking college or university, they are used to the kind of study techniques andculture which the student is likely to find themselves in).

Typical sub-skills taught will include:

academic reading & note-taking academic writing (style for papers, reports and so on) library research skills specialised vocabulary relating to academia critical thinking and formalised debate

EAP can also move into specialised areas of study so that students who are attending aparticular course will have training in the skills involved in their subject area.

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Sometimes EAP courses are intended to raise students' English levels so that they canenter university. In the UK, this often means endeavoring to help students get a score of 6or above in the IELTS examination. In the USA, this can mean helping students attain ascore of 500 or greater on the Institutional TOEFL.

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English for Special Purposes

From ICALwiki

ESP stands for English for Special Purposes.

ESP students are learning English for a specific purpose which is likely related to theirwork. For example, a doctor who wishes to work in an English speaking country, a singerwho wishes to sing in English. Courses tend to be very specific and tailored to suit eachstudent.

ESP can be general in nature (English for Hotel Employees, for example, who deal withthe public) or highly specific and related to a single task (English for writing Resumes,for example).

One problem for teachers is the actual content of an ESP course. You might be teachingMedical English one day, IT English the next and English for Archaeologists on thefollowing day. Preparation is always needed when teaching English, but with ESP it isvital that you are aware of the specifics of the language you are teaching in terms ofvocabulary and need.

Retrieved "http://www.icalweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=English_for_Special_Purposes"

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Private Lessons

From ICALwiki

Film Poster (1983)

Many teachers rely on private lessons to supplement their income. Sometime privatestudents can be provided directly by the school where you are teaching; often you have toadvertise your services on your own.

Notice boards at your local supermarket, post office, gym or metro station are a goodplace to start.

Make an easy to read flyer with enough information to attract attention but keep a fewdetails out so that whoever may be interested will have to call you for more. Once youhave them on the phone it should be easier to get them interested even further, but avoidbeing pushy or sounding desperate.

If you can, include in your flyer a small picture of yourself. As smiling face will reassurethe readers and catch their eye.

Word of mouth and networking also work wonders. Tell your landlord, your next doorneighbor, the lady at the bakery, basically anyone you meet and strike up a conversationwith. If you have the use of a printer get a few simple business cards printed out withyour name, telephone number - and area (if you live in a large city), contact hours ifnecessary - though it is better not to put any limitations. And be sure you specify what itis that you do!

Alison Smith English Teacher - Private Tutoring Area: Glyfada Tel: 210 2547 5648

Cell: 098 785 88833

Local papers are also useful. Enquire with those which cover your area and see if you canhave a small add placed in their classified section.

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Use the Internet and get onto local forums for students of English. Be careful not to usethe forums just to advertise yourself! Take part and try and answer a few questions thestudents might have. If they see you are a regular poster they’ll be more inclined to trustyou.

Where to Teach

The next step is to decide where to have your lessons.

You can have your students come to your place or you can to go to theirs. There areadvantages and disadvantages to both solutions.

If you ask students to come to your place you will have to ensure you can offer them acomfortable study area. Your bedroom with last week’s smelly socks lying around won’tdo!

If you are sharing a flat you will have to ensure your flat mate(s) can give you the privacyyou need to carry out the lesson without interruptions.

Students may tend to stay past the hour or feel they can arrive later as they know you arenot waiting for them somewhere out in the cold (or in the heat).

By going to their place instead you are more in control of when to arrive and when toleave but you have to put into account traveling time and possible traveling expenses.

How Long For

An hour is the standard length of time for a private lesson though often with advancedstudents, adults or pairs you may well go up to a lesson of one and a half hour. Avoid twohour lessons as they are too long for both teacher and student when it comes to one-on-one tutoring.

What to Teach

First and foremost find out exactly what your student needs or wants to learn; basicallycarry out a needs analysis as you would for a new class at school. Then plan your privatelessons accordingly.

Often students will say they just want conversation. This is fine but you will still need toplan for it. Talking is good but for conversation to be effective you need to structure it.Prepare your topic and make sure the content and language level is right for your student.Don't improvise! You may get away with it once or twice but after that your lessons willslowly come apart.

Collect all the necessary materials. If you are not using a book and rely on handouts makesure you have copies for both yourself and the student. Don’t try and save a few pennies

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by not printing out a copy for yourself. There is nothing more unprofessional than ateacher always peering over their student's shoulder trying to read the only handout.

What to Charge

People expect to pay for their private lessons so you don’t need to be too conservativewith your figures but before you set your hourly rate it’s worth asking around to see whatother teachers charge in the area.

Remember, if you charge too much you’ll get less, if no students; if you charge too littleyou will not be taken seriously enough.

When to Get Paid

If you can, try and get your students to pay you each time they have the lesson rather thanat the end of the week or the month.

Cancellations

A sticky issue is that of students booking you for the hour and not turning up. Sometimesthere could be very serious reasons or unexpected events that prevented them fromattending their lesson and you may be inclined to forgive and forget.

However whether or not your students may have a genuine reason for their no-show, it isalways better to set some rules from the start.

Let them know that they need to give you a 24hrs notice if they want to cancel a lesson. Ifthey don’t you will have to charge them for the hour. The notice could be a day or a fewhours. You will need to decide an exact time and let them know in advance. It isimportant however that you set this rule from the very beginning and stick to it.

Retrieved from "http://www.icalweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=Private_Lessons"

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Needs Analysis

From ICALwiki

Needs Analysis is a simple concept and an extremely important one at the same time.

Essentially it is the process of assessing the needs of your students. In other words, whyare they in the classroom. Once this has been established, the syllabus and lesson can bedesigned to suit those needs.

Combined with this are the wants of the students. What the student needs and what thestudent wants are not always the same thing though.

The first step is to find out what the needs of your students are. You can do this by simplyquestioning them with simple questions like this:

Why are you here? What do you hope to gain from this course? How long have you been learning English? How good is your spoken English? Do you use English in your job?

Alternatively (or as well as) you could give them language tests to find out their currentabilities.

These kinds of questions will tell you two things. Firstly they will tell what the students'current level is and secondly they will tell you what the student needs to know. In otherwords, you will establish what the needs of the student are.

Needs analysis does not end when you have the answers to these questions. With eachclass you should be updating the needs analysis so that every lesson is both suitable to thestudents' level and relevant to the students' needs.

Once you have the needs you need to make sure that each lesson and element of thelesson is aimed towards those needs. If, for example, the needs analysis of a class showsyou that the class needs to learn English for business, then the examples you use toexplain the language should all be about business