Problems in Transforming EGP Teachers in China’s Universities into ESP Teachers

Pei, Xishan; Milner, Joseph O.

doi:10.17507/tpls.0611.06

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Iswati and Triastuti (2021) explored ESP challenges relevant to course development and instruction, such as a lack of disciplinary knowledge, the absence of needs analysis, and large class sizes. Because most ESP teachers held a degree related to English language teaching or applied linguistics, ESP instruction seemed to be challenging, especially for those who generally taught general English (GE) courses (Pei & Milner, 2016).…”

Section: Existing Esp Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploration of Thai ESP Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Sources Concerning Course Development and Instruction

Khakhai¹,

Taylor²

2022

ELT

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Challenges of English for specific purposes (ESP) course development and instruction have still been reported in a number of studies. They could affect ESP teachers’ belief and confidence in their ability to do such tasks. This qualitative case study explores the development of self-efficacy, along with source information concerning challenges in course development and instruction. The study case took place in a Thai university’s institution where eight ESP teachers participated in this exploration. Through multiple interview sessions, they revealed source information and different ways to develop self-efficacy. Findings included that cognitive and enactive mastery experience were the most influential sources derived from their educational background and success in implementing pedagogical elements in their actual practices. Vicarious experience and verbal persuasion appeared to be scant due to the underlying contextual factors related to the institutional policies explored in the case. Physiological and emotional states proved to be less influential and acted as supplementary sources of influence. The current study also highlights the influence of contextual factors’ shaping sources of self-efficacy and the development. Indeed, the lack of collaborative practices diminished vicarious experience and verbal persuasion so that individual teachers relied on their knowledge and experience as mastery experience to be efficacious. Research implications focus on policies where collaborative culture development is included. A suggested plan is to employ professional learning communities (PLC) to develop internal collaboration (e.g., sharing knowledge and practices to improve self-efficacy sources and development).  

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Section: Existing Esp Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploration of Thai ESP Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Sources Concerning Course Development and Instruction

Khakhai¹,

Taylor²

2022

ELT

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“…Growing research on EMI has raised doubts as to whether this is being achieved, with reports on students' language-related challenges (Rose et al, 2020b), a lack of academic and language support classes (Fang, 2018;Rose, 2021), and lack of collaboration between content and language teachers (Macaro & Tian, 2020). There is also an overall lack of teacher training, for both EMI content practitioners and English language teaching (ELT) practitioners who may increasingly find their role transitioning from teaching general English classes to teaching English for specific purposes (ESP), English for academic purposes (EAP) or English for specific academic purposes (ESAP) for EMI students (Galloway & Rose, 2021;Pei & Milner, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

English for specific purposes in surging English-medium instruction contexts

Galloway,

Sahan,

McKinley

2024

JEMI

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English-medium instruction (EMI) research increasingly reports on students’ language-related challenges and a lack of academic and language support classes, collaboration between content and language teachers and overall teacher training. Our study explores EMI in Japan and China, two contexts where EMI has been referred to as emerging but is now “surging.” In these contexts, EMI is closely linked to English language proficiency goals, yet research on supporting students remains scarce. Data were collected via interviews and focus groups with students, English teachers and content teachers, who provided insights into approaches to EMI policy implementation, stakeholders’ attitudes, and the need for English for specific purposes (ESP) and English for specific academic purposes (ESAP). The results provide much needed insights for evidence-informed EMI policy implementation, curriculum development and teacher training. The study also provides insights into institutional infrastructure conducive to EMI policy, with findings revealing ESP needs of EMI students and the training needs of teaching staff. The study presented in this paper furthers the work that has been conducted in Anglophone settings on the complexity of ELT practitioner roles. The results also provide directions for future research.

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“…Widely considered to be a better approach for non-English department students, ESP is generally designed to fulfill what learners currently need and what their future careers demand (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998). Teaching ESP is challenging because the teachers are generally English for general purposes teachers (Pei & Milner, 2016). Moreover, teaching ESP courses requires not only the teachers' English proficiency but also the mastery of knowledge in a specific field of study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voicing the challenges of ESP teaching: Lessons from ESP in non-English departments

Iswati

Triastuti

2021

SiELE

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Along with the growing practice of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in non-English departments of tertiary education, it is essential to investigate the challenges faced by ESP teachers. It can be a basis for proposing policies for the improvement of ESP practice. This study was driven by the fact that ESP classes in non-English departments are allocated limited credit hours, and the teachers are generally General English teachers with no experience and training in teaching ESP. Thus, this study attempted to investigate the fundamental challenges faced by ESP teachers in one state and four private higher education institutions. The data of this qualitative study were obtained through interviews with five ESP teachers. The interview questions were mainly concerned with the knowledgeability and competence in teaching related to subject-specific contexts, adequacy of ESP training, needs analysis, and classroom condition. The findings reveal that the evident challenges encountered by ESP teachers were: lacking knowledge on students’ field of study, lacking of ESP training, lacking of proper needs analysis, large classes, and various learners’ English competencies. The findings of this study suggest that policymakers (stakeholders) should pay more attention to the practice of ESP teaching, especially in non-English departments, by reforming policy in order to minimize the problems faced by ESP teachers and to improve the practice of ESP teaching.

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Problems in Transforming EGP Teachers in China’s Universities into ESP Teachers

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

An Exploration of Thai ESP Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Sources Concerning Course Development and Instruction

An Exploration of Thai ESP Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Sources Concerning Course Development and Instruction

English for specific purposes in surging English-medium instruction contexts

Voicing the challenges of ESP teaching: Lessons from ESP in non-English departments

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