Abstract:

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students at third level education programs are usually adults who already know English, and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions. Therefore, an ESP program should be built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is required.

In fact, from our experience as teachers of ESP at university level, an ESP program should concentrate more on language in context rather than on teaching grammar and language structures. Indeed, in the field of Agricultural Engineering, and more specifically in the sector of Food technologies and food industries, we have combined subject matter and English language teaching in a way that students are able to use specific vocabulary and structures in a meaningful context increasing their motivation and reaching a more meaningful learning experience.

To that end, we have developed a project where students perform collaborative tasks based on food and drink tasting activities. This collaborative activity allows students to acquire, interesting and relevant learning abilities in English which they can use in their professional work or further studies. Being immersed in this hands-on activity, the Food Engineer student is particularly well disposed to focus on specific technical vocabulary in the subject-matter field.

In this paper, we present the innovative teaching activity of using tasting sessions in the University ESP courses for Agricultural Engineers, and analyze the outcomes of this methodological approach.

Keywords:

ESP, vocabulary, food engineers, tasting.