Purposes, ideologies, objectives and tools in ESP CALL

Richard Watson Todd

KMUTT

http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/crs/workshop.htm

Purposes in learning English

ESP EGP GEd

EAP EOP

General Specific General Specific

skills

Courses at Thai universities

• EGP• Foundation English II • Exposure to significant structures of the

English language as the basis of developing language abilities: listening, speaking, reading and writing through language skill integration with emphasis on communicative competence on a higher level.

Courses at Thai universities

• EGP (skills)• Basic English Listening and Speaking• Frequently-used vocabulary/expressions in vario

us settings and essential English listening and speaking skills: listening for the gist and details, proper engagement/participation in conversations and discussions, cultural difference awareness and sensitivity including systematic and creative communications in English.

Courses at Thai universities

• EAP (general)• Academic English 1• Practising academic English in the four language

skills (listening, speaking reading and writing), emphasizing vocabulary development skills including academic expressions, reading and writing academic paragraphs, listening to and taking notes from lectures, and conducting project presentations.

Courses at Thai universities

• EAP (specific)• English for Health Communication• A course to develop language skills

through reading articles and research papers on topics connected to health as well as listening and speaking in English on health and work matters. The course also includes writing reports on health topics.

Courses at Thai universities

• EOP (general)

• Communicative English for Careers

• Vocabulary and expressions used in many career areas. Memos, advertisements, telegrams, schedules, and other career documents.

Courses at Thai universities

• EOP (specific)

• English for Tourism

• English for tourist guides: preparing itinerary and tourism publications; making reservations; discussion and presentation on geography, history and local culture; on-site practice.

Courses at Thai universities

• GEd (through English)• Reading appreciation• Reading principles and techniques. Reading for

comprehension and main idea. Critical reading. Various genres of texts and media: documentaries, autobiographies, speeches, short stories, poems and novels. Emphasis on development of reading appreciation and critical thinking skills.

Courses at Thai universities

• EGP• EGP (skills)• EAP (general)• EAP (specific)• EOP (general)• EOP (specific)• GEd (through

English)

• Most unis, 3 courses• Many unis, 3-4 courses• Some unis, 2 courses• Few unis, 1 course/department• Many unis, 2 courses• Few unis, 1 course/department• Very few unis, 1-2 courses

Courses at Thai universities

Ideologies in education

• Economic efficiency

• Learner-centredness

• Academic rationalism

• Social reconstructionism

• To serve the needs of the economy

• To enable individuals to develop their capabilities

• To increase knowledge and understanding for their own sake

• To develop society to be fairer

Miller et al., 1998; Richards, 2002

The ideological environment in Thailand

• Thai educational policy makers emphasise Economic efficiency as the goal of education:– “Education is important to Thailand because quality

education will produce a valuable workforce that could serve the demand in the globalised world and improve the country’s competitiveness ... The objective is to develop quality people so we will have knowledgeable workers for the globalised world. The country’s competitiveness will improve significantly and noticeably over the next 10 years. By then, we will be able to compete with any rivals in the region.”

– Wijit Sisa-arn, Education Minister, 2007

The ideological environment in Thailand

• National Education Act promotes Learner-centredness as the goal of education– Section 22, “The teaching-learning process

shall aim at enabling the learners to develop themselves at their own pace and to the best of their potentiality”

– Section 28, “The substance of the curricula, both academic and professional, shall aim at human development”

University courses and ideologies

• EGP, EAP, EOP

• GEd

• Primarily Economic efficiency, some Learner-centredness

• Academic rationalism

Objectives in teaching English

• Discrete language points (lexis, grammar)– “significant structures of the English language as the

basis of developing language abilities”– “Vocabulary and expressions used in many career

areas”

• Skills (and strategies)– “listening for the gist and details”– “listening to and taking notes from lectures”

• Non-linguistic goals– “cultural difference awareness and sensitivity “– “reading appreciation and critical thinking skills”

Purposes and Objectives

Purpose Discrete points Skills Non-linguistic

EGP Main Secondary

EGP (skills) Secondary Main

EAP Secondary Main

EAP (specific) Secondary Main

EOP Main Secondary

EOP (specific) Secondary Main

GEd Secondary Main

English Education at Thai Universities

• Mostly EGP (Foundation English 1 etc.)• Some EAP and EOP (but often restricted

to electives)• Ideology = Economic efficiency (preparing

students for the market, in line with influential policy makers)

• Skills and discrete language points are main objectives (very little focus on non-linguistic objectives)

The digital age

• Effects of technology on language teaching– Effects on content

• Language use with technology• Corpus findings (importance of phrases and

collocations)

– Effects on learning• Corpus findings linked to emergentist models of

learning• TELL

The digital age

TELL

CALL MALL MPALL

TELU

CALU MALU

Jarvis and Achilleos, 2013

• CALL

• CALU (with incidental learning)

• CALL multimedia software/websites

• LMS• Some CMC

• CMC• Language tools (dictionaries,

spell checkers)• General websites

Watson Todd, 2007

3 case studies

• WELSIT– Specific EOP, skills, CALL, Economic efficiency

• CEEM– Specific EAP, discrete language points, corpus-

based, CALL, Learner centredness

• Wikipedia writing– GEd, non-linguistic, CALU, Academic rationalism

WELSIT

• Web-based English Language Support for the IT industry– Ideology = Economic efficiency + Learner

centredness– Government funded project– Skills-based– Traditional CALL multimedia format– Some focus on language use with technology (writing

e-mails)

• http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/welsit/index.html

CEEM

• Corpus-based Engineering English Materials– Ideology: Learner centredness– Based on a 1.5-million-word corpus from 29

engineering textbooks– Users choose words to study– Highlights phrases using words

• http://crs2.kmutt.ac.th/ceem/ (Student – Phrase challenge)

Wikipedia writing

• English course for advanced students focusing on creating or substantially expanding a Wikipedia page– Ideology = Academic rationalism– Mix of academic writing and general education

objectives– Students choose the page, read extensively, write or

expand the article, and upload

• Sample pages: Thai ceramics, likay, saw duang

Summary of the situation• English courses at Thai universities

– EGP dominates, some ESP– Ideology = Economic efficiency– Discrete language points and skills– Little digital impact

• Supplementary or self-study ESP– Both EAP and EOP– Ideology = Learner centredness and Economic efficiency– Discrete language points and skills– CALL

• General education through English– Very rare– Ideology = Academic rationalism– Non-linguistic objectives (critical thinking, synthesising info etc.)– CALU

The environment

• National Education Act of 1999– “Education” means the learning process for personal

and social development through imparting of knowledge; practice; training; transmission of culture; enhancement of academic progress; building a body of knowledge by creating a learning environment and society with factors available conducive to continuous lifelong learning. (Section 4)

– Education shall aim at the full development of the Thai people in all aspects: physical and mental health; intellect; knowledge; morality; integrity; and desirable way of life so as to be able to live in harmony with other people (Section 6)

Directions

• General education through English meets the requirements of the NEA– Transferable skills– Curiosity– General knowledge

• English courses and supplementary ESP currently dominating are useful, but there needs to be a greater emphasis on – General education through English– Academic rationalism– CALU– Non-linguistic objectives