Abstract:

At Tel Aviv University, freshmen students are required to take advanced ESP (English for Specific Purposes) courses. In ESP, English is not taught as a subject detached from the students' needs and interests; rather, it is taught through a field that is relevant to the students, emphasizing the importance of the learners. Attending to students’ needs greatly influences their motivation to learn and thus leads to effective learning.

ESP focuses on language in context. Accordingly, our courses are built around themes of high interest to students, and we develop a wide range of supplementary activities related to these themes in order to augment all language skills and improve the students’ communicative competence. These additional materials are implemented using Moodle, a free, open source learning management system (LMS) which offers a flexible online environment that can be “filled” with activities, texts, sound and videos.

The aim of this presentation is to share my experiences designing an ESP course for occupational therapy students where all four language skills are practiced and integrated with the help of a learning management system. The processes of conducting a needs analysis in order to select appropriate course topics and resources, creating supplementary interactive activities and making use of the Moodle platform will be addressed. This can encourage other ESP teachers to incorporate both receptive (listening and reading) and productive (speaking and writing) skills into the thematic units of their courses.

When instructors make use of activities that have been specifically devised to incorporate several language skills, they provide their students with situations that allow for well-rounded development and progress in all areas of language learning.

References:
[1] Aydoğan, H., Akbarov, A.A. (2014). The Four Basic Language Skills, Whole Language & Intergrated Skill Approach in Mainstream University Classrooms in Turkey. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(9), 672-680.
[2] Hutchinson, T. Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A Learning-Centered Approach. Cambridge University Press
[3] Jendrych, E. (2013). Developments in ESP Teaching. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 34(47), 43-58.
[4] Mijatovica, I., Cudanova, M., Jednaka, S. & Kadijevich, D.M. (2013). How the usage of learning management systems influences student achievement. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(5), 506-517.
[5] Momtazur, R. (2009). Academics' Perceptions of Reading and Listening Needs for English for Specific Purposes. Language in India. 9(4), 292-311.

Keywords:

ESP, thematic units, Moodle, four language skills.