Introducing ESP courseware into the classroom Shu-Chiao Tsai 蔡叔翹

1. Introducing ESP courseware into the classroom Shu-Chiao Tsai 蔡叔翹 Dept. of Applied Foreign Languages National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences 高雄應用科技大學應用外語系 BA & MA in Nuclear Engineering, Tsing-Hua University Ph. D in Material, Université Paris XI, Orsay

2. 1. Introduction 2. Design and development of the courseware 3. Courseware support for ESP instruction 4. Students’ performance and satisfaction 5. Discussion and Conclusions

3. Introduction • English for specific purposes (ESP) has evolved to provide students with English language abilities and advanced professional knowledge necessary for them to succeed in the global job market. • This is especially true for technical universities in Taiwan that offer language learning in professional contexts.

4. ESP instructionis designed to meet the needs of learners for use in their specific fields, such as business, science, technology, or academic studies. ESP instruction has been increasingly emphasized at technical universities in Taiwan in order to reduce the mismatch between skills obtained in higher educational institutions and the skill sets needed in industry.

5. The development of effective ESP programs, however, introduces several challenges. 1. Curriculum design and qualified staffing for the development of ESP courses in Taiwan are lacking (Tsou, 2009) 2. A survey for students and teachers in four universities of technology, Lai (2005) found that: －there is a lack of qualified teachers, authentic materials, and specific knowledge. － students’ language need is to apply integrative English skills, rather than individual skill.

6. 3. Although the fullest collaboration for ESP teaching is one where a subject expert and a language teacher team-teach classes (Johns & Dudley-Evans, 1991), such teaming has not been easily conducted due to difficulties in collaboration among teachers from different disciplines (Barron, 2003).

7. The integration of multimedia courseware into ESP instruction is considered an effective tool (Brett, 2000; Tsai, 2010; Roblyer, 2003; Haertel & Means, 2003): － to facilitate the learning of subject content － to encourage repeated language practice － to provide instant and positive feedback to the learner However, most multimedia tools have focused on individual linguistic skill.

8. In addition, teachers can make use of corpus analysis, an important research tool in ESP, (Hewings, 2012; Walker, 2011) － to improve students’ knowledge of language use － to make learning activities more relevant to the target contexts － to evaluate teaching materials and students’ performance.

9. This chapterdiscusses the introduction of technology into ESP classrooms. － to review some of the underlying theories behind ICT (information & Communication Technology) usage. － to show how courseware can be used to support content instruction and subject-specific language skill development. － to lead to a discussion of how courseware- supported ESP classrooms can be evaluated in terms of goal achievement and student performance improvement and satisfaction.

10. 2. Design and development of the courseware 2.1Mayer’smultimedia learning cognitive theory (Mayer, 2001; 2005; 2008) 2.2 Chapelle’s suggestions for multimedia computer-assisted language learning (Chapelle,1998)

11. Mayer’s principles of multimedia learning commonly used in this study Multimedia principle: People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. Modality principle: People learn better from animation and narration than from animation and on-screen text. Spatial contiguity principle: People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen.

12. Mayer’s principles of multimedia learning commonly used in this study Segmenting principle: People learn better when a multimedia lesson is presented in learner-paced segments rather than as a continuous unit. Temporal contiguity principle: People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively. Voice principle: People learn better when words are spoken in a standard-accented human voice than in a machine voice or foreign-accented human voice.

13. Layout of courseware development Each section includes several topics with corresponding learning units. Each unit includes its target text with English audio and Chinese translation support, narration, opportunities to practice language skills, online tests with instant self-checking function. Thus, students can control their learning pace and educational experience through repetition, deliberate practice, and self-evaluation with the courseware.

14. Section button Highlighted vocabulary Button for the on-line evaluation Narration button After any paragraph of the text is touched by the mouse, its color becomes blue. The paragraph is being spoken in English as learners click on left button of the mouse. Topic button Pop-up window for Chinese translation

15. Chapelle’s suggestions for multimedia computer-assisted language learning 1. Making key linguistic characteristics salient → highlighted vocabulary, English audio, and bilingual design 2.Offering modifications of linguistic input by repetition or different mode of input → repeated practice of a variety of integrative language skills with English texts and their English audio 3. Providing opportunities for comprehensible output → on-line evaluation system of the courseware provides learners with various language tests to practice English skills

16. Chapelle’s suggestions for multimedia computer-assisted language learning 4. Providing opportunities for learners to notice their errors 5. Providing opportunities for learners to correct their linguistic output → instant self-checking function of the on-line evaluation system allows learners to notice, analyze, recheck, reflect, identify, and correct their errors. 6. Supporting modified interaction between the learner and the computer 7. Acting as a participant in second language (L2) tasks → a variety of functions or on-line activities provided by the courseware through mouse clicks, hypertext links, learning activities or tasks in language and in subject content assigned to students.

17. 3. Courseware support for ESP instruction Courseware can play three roles in ESP instruction: － a joint tutor to make the transfer of content knowledge by providing text explanations with multimedia support － a joint language teacher to provide a variety of language practices with different difficulties － a peer-like role with which students can have a direct interaction with content-based or linguistic activities provided by the courseware

18. Courseware- implemented ESP instruction with a TBL (task-based learning) approach in a technology context The course was － conducted in an elective course on “English Reading for Technology”on the topic of Energy. ◆vocabulary- reading- listening- content knowledge － was attended by 37 sophomore EFL students of the department of applied foreign languages in a technical university.

19. Procedure 

20. Purpose of Content-based and Linguistic Tests Cloze and dictation tests － to understand students’ effectiveness in vocabulary, reading, and listening abilities Q&A test － to determine students’ retention of content knowledge Essay writing － to understand students’ conception or comprehension related to the target topic

21. On-line writing assessment - 1 Vocabulary Profiler (VP) － to classify the words of the analyzed text from the following four frequency levels K1 words: the most frequent 1,000 words of English K2 words: the second most frequent thousand words AWL words (academic words list) & Off-list words: generally including more professional terminology

22. On-line writing assessment - 2 Computerized Propositional Idea Density Rater (CPIDR) Propositional idea density (P-density) to be determined according to the number of verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions, divided by the total number of words in the text. － related to the readability or quality of students’ writing (Brown, Snodgrass, Kemper, Herman , & Covington, 2008; Kintsch, 1998; Takao, Prothero, & Kelly, 2002)

23. Questionnaire Survey Questionnaire of satisfaction (QF) included 12 questions to investigate students’ responses concerning  suitability of the content and its usage  multimedia assisted language learning  online evaluation  bilingual design and navigation of the courseware

24. 4.1 Text & Question Analysis by VP

25. 4.1 Students’ Performance － Students’ mean TOEIC-like test score = 636 *: p<.05 and **: p<.01, significant difference － Students made significant progress in their post-tests of cloze and dictation.

26. 4.1 Students’ Performance *: p<.05 and **: p<.01, significant difference － Students significantly wrote more words in AWL and Off-list categories (professional vocabulary) in their post-writing.

27. 4.1 Students’ Performance *: p<.05 and **: p<.01, significant difference － Students significantly wrote more ideas and had a higher P-density (better writing quality) in their post-writing.

28. 4.1 Students’ performance － students’ TOEIC proficiency had a significantly positive correlation with their performance in all the pre- and post-tests of cloze and dictation, but not with their Q&A performance.

29. 4.2 Questionnaire about student satisfaction (Cronbach alpha value = 0.963 )

31. Examples of Courseware-implemented Instruction Tsai, S. C. (2013).Implementing courseware as the primary mode of task-based ESP instruction: A case study of EFL students, Computer Assisted Language Learning. DOI:10.1080/09588221.2013.818554 Tsai, S. C. (2013).Integrating English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courseware into task-based learning in a context of preparing for international trade fairs, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 29(1), 111-127.

32. Examples of Courseware-implemented Instruction Tsai, S. C.(2011). Multimedia courseware development for World Heritage sites and its trial integration into instruction in higher technical education, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 27 (7), 1171-1189. Tsai, S. C.(2010). Developing and Integrating Courseware for Oral Presentations into ESP Learning Contexts. Computers & Education, 55, 1245–1258. Tsai, S. C. (2009). Courseware Development for Semiconductor Technology and its Application into instruction. Computers & Education, 52, 834-847.

33. 5. Discussion & conlusions The courseware-implemented ESP instruction in this study was evaluated: － Students’ significantly better performance in content-based and linguistic tests assigned in the Post-Task phase － Students’ higher learning satisfaction

34. 5. Discussion & conlusions Many ESP teachers whose academic major is in language studies have to teach subject-specific topics far from their primary areas of expertise. Thus, unpredicted ISKD (In-class Subject Knowledge Dilemma)situations occur so that the lesson may not run smoothly and the teacher as expert becomes challenged (Wu & Badger, 2009).

35. 5. Discussion & conlusions In addition, ESP teachers often use ready-made materials or textbooks with which they feel comfortable. However, this choice may lead to less consideration about students’ needs for their future jobs. Thus, students may not get appropriate practice and interaction, either in the target language or in subject knowledge, during their learning process.

36. 5. Discussion & conlusions Courseware can provide learner-centered, flexible and interactive learning environment and these features and resources of multimedia may have great potential in facilitating learning in language and content knowledge. However, courseware-implemented ESP instruction is not a panacea and has its limitations: － to require investment of time and money － to require interdisciplinary collaboration in courseware production and its implementation

37. 5. Discussion & conlusions It is suggested that ESP teachers have to actively look for an opportunity to work with other participants such as course designers, materials providers (from industry), and collaborators for conducting effective ESP instruction.

38. Thanks Merci ! 謝謝 ! achiao@kuas.edu.tw

39. Multimedia Elements target text / English audio / Highlighted vocabulary / Pictures / Animation / Chinese translation / online evaluation

40. Cloze test 14 words to be filled in K2 words: decay / steam AWL words: occupational / induce / inevitable / monitoring / exposure / scope  Off-list words: leak / genetic / conjunction / abundance / prevailing / harness

41. 5. Discussion & conlusions These problems can be mitigated using courseware. While studying with ESP courseware, students have to be more aware of their responsibility and have to play an active role in their individual learning in order to complete content-based and linguistic tasks. Meanwhile, students can receive feedback and monitor their progress via the online evaluation system and built-in language tests of various difficulty levels.

42. 4.1 Students’ performance a significantly positive correlation － among the pre- and post-tests of cloze and dictation － btw Q&A and post-tests of cloze and dictation