Adding the ESP to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses Handout
- 1. Adding “the ESP” to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses Presented by Ethel C. Swartley, University of Denver Ethel.Swartley@du.edu Presented March 25, 2010 TESOL 2010 Boston, Massachusetts Abstract: Since Dudley-Evans and St. John distinguished between English for General and Engilsh for Specific Academic Purposes (EGAP/ESAP) in 1998, EGAP courses have become the norm in budget-driven university language programs. While semi-specific courses like “English for Business” are sometimes offered, many administrators believe they cannot afford more specialized courses that do not draw a large enrollment. As a result, “academic English” courses often include students from diverse fields like finance, theology and computer science in the same classroom. Nonetheless, since these students have dramatically different needs, ESP principles are relevant when designing these multidisciplinary classes. This presentation demonstrates ESP strategies used in graduate preparation courses offered at one university intensive English program (IEP) and makes suggestions for applying ESP principles to other teaching settings.
- 2. Adding “the ESP” to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses – Ethel C. Swartley TESOL 2010 – Event # STUDENT-LED NEEDS ANALYSIS Writing Workshop: Assignment #1 (Description given to students) In order to help you better understand what is expected of you in graduate school, one of the first assignments we are going to do in this class is to interview a professor (or some other expert) from your program of study. The main objective of this interview is to learn more about the types of reading and writing you will be doing in graduate school. To prepare for your interview, you will brainstorm questions about the types of reading and writing assignments you might have to do in graduate school and prepare a final list to use in your interview. Therefore, for our next class session, your assignment is to brainstorm a list of at least five questions that you could ask your contact person. Keep in mind that you want to understand what types of reading and writing you will have to do in graduate school. You might want to ask specific questions about the names of common journals in your field, the type of style used in your field (APA, MLA, etc.) or other more specific types of questions. For tomorrow’s class, bring your list of questions. After class tomorrow, contact a professor from your department and arrange to interview this professor before the end of the week. Please let me know immediately if you have trouble contacting someone in your field. Also, it is perfectly fine to conduct your interview over the phone or using email. You are going to write up the results of your interview in a one- to two-page paper that you will turn in on (DATE). In your write-up, you are going to summarize the key findings of your interview. You may want to include the questions that you asked in the interview but integrate the questions into your sentences. Do not make a list of questions and answers or you will receive a zero on this assignment. CONTACTING YOUR PROFESSOR (Guidelines given to students and role-played in class) 1. Identify yourself and the purpose of your call. a. Who are you? (name – slowly!) b. What is your relationship to this professor? (current, future) c. Why are you calling? 2. Ask for an appointment. a. In person? b. By phone? 3. Confirm appointment. a. Time? b. Place? 2
- 3. Adding “the ESP” to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses – Ethel C. Swartley TESOL 2010 – Event # Professor Interview Follow-up Discussion Questions (Discussed in groups in class) 1. How long is the typical writing assignment in your department? How long do students have to complete these assignments? 2. How long is the typical reading assignment in your department, and how long do students have to read it? 3. What are the major categories of writing assignments in your field? What are the major categories of reading assignments in your field? 4. What journals or periodicals do students typically have to read in your department? How long are the articles in these periodicals? 5. What kinds of writing and reading assignments are unique to your department (different from assignments in other fields)? Describe these types of assignment to your partners. 6. What did the professor tell you that you already knew was true before the interview? 7. What did you learn from your professor interview that surprised you? 8. What “themes” emerged from your interview? For example, did the professor talk more about writing than reading? Did the professor put a heavy emphasis on content but not grammar? Brainstorm a list of themes or emphases with your group. 9. As a result of your interview, how do you feel about entering your department? Are you nervous or excited? Why? 10. Do you feel like you are already well-prepared for your major, or do you feel underprepared? If you feel underprepared, in what ways? What can you do to get more ready for your graduate studies? Find out whether your classmates have any suggestions for you. 3
- 4. Adding “the ESP” to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses – Ethel C. Swartley TESOL 2010 – Event # Writing Workshop: Field-Specific Text Analysis (instructions given to students) Look at the article you chose last week from your field’s database. In class today, read your article, and then exchange articles with another student and read his/her article. Then meet together with your partner and discuss the language used in your articles. Can you find examples of: - academic grammar styles described on pages 22-24 of our text (Swales & Feak)? - formal vs. informal verb choices (see pp. 18-19 of text)? - Linking words or phrases that give the article “good flow”? - punctuation choices that improve the article’s flow or that highlight the relationship between ideas (see pp. 27-28)? - This + summary words structures that maintain flow (see pp. 32-33)? If these elements are not present in the article, discuss why they may be missing. - Are there other style elements that serve the same functions (flow, summary, formality/informality) as the elements that we discussed in class? If so, what are these elements? - Do you think these are usual for your field or unique to this particular article? - Are there other style elements in the text that you noticed which you think might be important? What function do they seem to play? Writing Workshop: Field-Specific Document Formatting and Style (instructions given to students) For all future assignments in this class, format your papers in the style used by your academic field. In order to become familiar with this style, work individually on this activity. First, go to the appropriate online resource for your field’s style: (see resources) Then, read through the materials on the website and answer the following questions. 1. What should the heading of your papers contain, and how should the first page of a paper be formatted? 2. What is the format of in-text (or parenthetical) citations in your field? What information do these in-text citations include? 3. What do you do if the author of an article or case is not known? How should these be cited? 4. How are direct quotations formatted in your field’s style? Are long and short quotations treated differently? If so, how? 5. Does your field’s document style allow footnotes or endnotes? Which is preferred? 6. Do academic papers in your field include a Works Cited page, a Reference page or a Bibliography page? a. What is the format for entries in this section? b. How are entries in this section organized/listed? 7. Should authors’ titles or degrees be included in your reference list? Should they be included in your in-text citations? 8. How are articles, books, and electronic sources cited differently in your academic field? Give an example of each. 4
- 5. Adding “the ESP” to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses – Ethel C. Swartley TESOL 2010 – Event # Speaking Workshop: ESP-Adapted Presentation Assignments PRESENTATION #4 – A Definition Speech In Class (Instructions given to students) With your classmates who are in the same or a similar field, brainstorm a list of words that are important to your field. Don’t worry about trying to eliminate or rank the words in any order. Just write down the first 10-20 words that come to your mind when you think of your academic field. Choosing a Term to Define (done together as a whole class) Read your list of words out loud slowly to the class. As you read your words, classmates who are not in your field will indicate whether they are familiar with the term or not. For any of the terms that your classmates do not know, the instructor will write this term on the board. Do not try to define these terms yet. From the list of words that the instructor wrote on the board, choose one term. You will use this term as the topic for your next presentation. Prepare a Definition Speech (Instructions given to the students) For the term that you chose in the last activity, prepare a short (3-5 minute) speech to teach the class the meaning of this term. Based on the handout from Academically Speaking (Kayfetz & Stice), your presentation should include a definition and reasons why the audience should understand this term, an analogy comparing this term to something else that your classmates are already familiar with, and an example of how this term is used in your field. PRESENTATION #5 - A Persuasive Speech (Guidelines given to students) Topic: Think of an issue within your field of study – something controversial or something that you feel strongly about – and prepare a speech about that topic. Your goal in this speech is to persuade the members of our class to agree with you on this topic. You may want to choose one of the topics that has been discussed on your blog or a topic that you have researched previously. Your topic does not have to be complex, but it should be one that allows you to practice using the vocabulary and communication style of your academic field. Organization: You may use any of the organizational patterns suggested in Chapter 10 (Ferguson) for persuasive speeches, but since our class has students from different academic study fields, you may want to include some background or a description of the issue in your introduction. 5
- 6. Adding “the ESP” to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses – Ethel C. Swartley TESOL 2010 – Event # Speaking Workshop Weekly Assignment: Blog Watching (instructions to students) This quarter, you have been asked to choose and follow a blog (written in English) that is related to your academic field. This blog can be one kept by someone who works in your field, a student studying in your field, a news agency that reports often about your field, a specific company’s employees or former employees, etc. The blog should be one that is active, with new information being posted to it at least once a week. If you choose a student blog, you will want to focus on issues that are raised which relate to your field, not personal issues about the student’s daily life, dating relationships, pets, etc. As you watch this blog over the course of this quarter, you may choose to be a lurker (someone who simply reads the blog) or a post-er (someone who posts occasional questions, responses, or opinions on the blog). Whether you post or lurk, your main objectives in watching the blog are: - to gather information about what topics are “hot” in your field right now so that you can with others (in upcoming classes, in your future job, etc.) about these issues - to learn more about how people in your discipline communicate with each other about the field (vocabulary, style, jargon, openness, euphemisms) and how they describe the discipline to others outside the field - to provide interesting content for our class discussions On Mondays, we will spend part of our class period reporting on the blogs you are watching. Each week, you will have an opportunity to summarize one or more of the blog “threads” you have read about and to tell about anything you found surprising or interesting in the online discussions. These surprising things can relate to something you learned, news that is being discussed, vocabulary or jargon that you didn’t know before, work or study patterns in the country where the blog is based, etc. The Monday blog reports will be student-directed and will give you an opportunity to initiate and pursue your own discussion topics. In addition, they will give you the opportunity to improve your ability to select and explain concepts in your field in a way that is interesting and clear to others. WEEKLY BLOG REPORTS (Assignment given to students as homework) Choose one problem or issue that was discussed on your blog this week. Plan how to summarize this issue; then, create 2-3 discussion questions to lead your group in discussing the issue. Remember: Good discussion questions should be open-ended (not yes/no questions) but specific enough so that people know where to begin (especially if your group members are not very familiar with the topic), and good discussion questions allow for many different opinions to be offered. 6
- 7. Adding “the ESP” to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses – Ethel C. Swartley TESOL 2010 – Event # Speaking Workshop: Panel Discussion Reviews (Discussed in class after students watched field-specific professional panels online) Among the members of your group, at least two different panel discussion videos were assigned. Review these discussions using the following questions. Don’t focus too much on the content of the panel discussions; instead, focus on how they were organized and what made them flow smoothly. 1. Give an overview of the general topic of the panel discussion you watched, including a general summary of each speaker’s position or role in the discussion. 2. Describe the role of the moderator in the panel discussion that you watched. a. How did the moderator introduce the topic of the panel discussion to the audience? b. How did the moderator introduce each speaker? c. How did s/he direct the panel discussion while it was in process? d. How often did the moderator speak, and for how long? What kinds of things did s/he say? (I.e., did s/he only ask questions, or did the moderator also give his/her own opinion? If so, when and how?) 3. Describe the role of each of the panelists in the discussion. a. Who were the panelists? b. How did the panelists express their points of view? (strongly, weakly, argumentatively, passively, clearly, “beating around the bush”, with examples, with visual aids or not, etc.) c. Did the panelists have very different points of view from each other, or were they similar? d. How and how much did the panelists interact with each other, if at all? e. Did all of the panelists participate equally, or were some more dominant than others? How did the moderator control this? 4. Describe the role of the audience in this panel discussion. a. When and how much did the audience participate in this panel discussion? b. Did audience members ask questions, tell stories, or give opinions? c. How did the panelists interact with the audience? Did they address the audience directly, or did they address the moderator? d. Did the audience address questions to specific panelists or to the whole panel in general? e. How did the moderator interact with the audience? Did s/he repeat audience questions, call on specific individuals, or answer questions him/herself? 7
- 8. Adding “the ESP” to Multidisciplinary EAP Courses – Ethel C. Swartley TESOL 2010 – Event # RESOURCES Dudley-Evans, T. & St. John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for specific purposes: A multidisciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ferguson, S. D. (2008). Public speaking: Building competency in stages. New York: Oxford University Press. Hacker, D. & Fister, B. Research and Documentation Online. http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/ (detailed information about researching and documentation in APA, MLA, CSE and Chicago Manual styles). Hemmert, A. & O’Connell, G. (1998). Communicating on campus: Skills for academic speaking. Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Publishers. Kayfetz, J.L. & Stice, R. L. (1987). Academically speaking. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Martin, P.W. (2010). Introduction to basic legal citation (Online ed.). http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/. Oates, L.C, Enquist, A. & Kunsch, K. The legal writing handbook: Analysis, research, and writing (3rd Ed.). New York: Aspen Publishers. Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University. (2010). http://owl.english.purdue.edu/. (detailed information for learning citation formats in APA and MLA styles) Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. B. (2004). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. UC Berkeley Webcasts http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php (check archives of past semesters if you do not find your students academic fields in the current semester listing) 8