Abstract:

Due to the complex nature of teaching skills within a formal classroom setting, generic skills have been receiving various pedagogical and curricular treatments. In fact the concepts attached to the notion of generic skills are varied and at times subjective or even polemical. In tertiary education, generic skills can range from the typical academic skills to the perceived job-related skills. This paper conceptualizes those skills as tertiary skills, suggesting for wider conceptual and methodological frameworks. Through this paper, the writer will illustrate how ESL curriculum can serve both as theoretical and methodological tool to examine generic and related skills within the context of innovative curriculum and language learning. Specifically, this paper intends to a) highlight the contexts and content of the ESL curriculum deemed useful in promoting tertiary literacy, and b) to propose an innovative model for tertiary literacy acquisition.

Using a Malaysian university as a case study, the writer analyzed various available programs that promote language, generic and related skills at the university. Interviews, questionnaires and participant observations were also conducted among students in order to gather in-depth data on the programs and the relevant policies and practices.

The findings suggest that ESL curriculum and teaching should not only be capable of dealing effectively with language proficiency but also serving as a comprehensive program that promotes the desired tertiary literacy. ESL curriculum offers wide range of contents that offer learners linguistic as well as sociolinguistic, sociocultural, and sociopolitical skills. Furthermore, ESL curricular and teaching contexts allow for interactive and authentic learning environment as well as effective integration of ICT which are conducive for the promotion of tertiary level skills. This study has wider implications for future universities, challenging the current traditional pedagogical and curricular approaches, calling for better collaboration among practitioners, and redefining literacy at higher education.

Keywords:

ESL, curriculum, tertiary literacy, higher education, ICT.