A case study of collaboration among the ESP practitioner, the content teacher, and the students

Abstract

The literature in the fíeld of ESP (Englishfor Specific Purposes) conspicuously documents the relevance of the collaboration between the teacher in this field and the content teacher, as well as that between the former and the student. However, the positions on this score are of a general nature and, consequently, cannot easily be put into practice. This has led us to analyze the main aspects determining this collaboration, and the way in which it can be implemented. In order to do so, we will take as a reference point a post-graduate course on Foreign Trade and, by extensión, on Management Internationalization.We start by describing the ESP teacher's profile, and following upon this, we introduce the theoretical framework of the present study. In turn, we give way to the contextualization of the course under scrutiny, which will allow us to describe how this collaboration was undertaken building upon Dudley-Evans and St John's (1998) view. Finally, we highlight the conclusión at which our paper has enabled us to arrive, namely, that the collaboration between both teachers builds progressively and that it has to be established by delimiting their role in it, that the students' collaboration always involves some risks we should assume and, finally, that teachers with a philological background have a great deal to bring to the ESP field. 8 Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses

The Multidimensional Role of the English for Specific Purposes Practitioner in Today’s Changing Societies: Voices From Around the Globe

“…Regarding aspects of the teachers' teaching contexts, data revealed mainly challenges that they faced in their teaching. Similar challenges were reported in literature in the field (Esteban and Martos 2002;Bojović 2006;Latha 2014;Chibi 2018). More specifically, a common challenge that many teachers faced was lack of resources, especially technology resources, and funding (n=4, 16.66%).…”

“…Based on all the aforementioned, it can be inferred that ESP practitioners need to possess a set of qualities and skills that can be acquired through appropriate training, which according to Esteban and Martos (2002), will make them competent in coping with learners' specific needs and using specialised materials. Jackson (1998, p. 151) identified several qualities and skills that the ESP practitioner needs to have in order to be successful, such as "flexibility adaptability, creativity, resourcefulness, well developed organisational and managerial/ leadership skills, effective interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills, and mature problem-solving and decision-making skills".…”

Analysis and Proposals for Improving Knowledge and Skills in Engineering Aimed at Reducing Unemployment

“…As a result, in order to be competitive and successful in the global labour market, modern highly qualified engineers should possess high foreign language proficiency and well-developed communication skills (ideally in English). On the one hand, ESP (i.e., English for Specific Purposes) teachers are most frequently teachers of English for General Purposes, and on the other hand, "… the ESP teacher requires previous and additional training … regarding the competence required on the part of the practitioner of ESP in handling materials related to the students' field… and ideally ESP teachers should have a twofold training in language and the content area of their students" [6], which may actually call for collaboration among the ESP practitioner and the content teacher. Strictly speaking, generally this may imply that "a deficiency in English language skills might be a major barrier to effective participation in the global economy" ( [11,21,24]).…”