Investigating the teacher education needs of experienced ESP teachers in Spanish universities

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study exploring the teacher education needs of experienced English for Specific Purposes (ESP) instructors. It discusses data from interviews with 19 experienced in-service teachers of ESP in two spanish universities. The interviews aimed to develop an understanding of the teachers’ views of ESP teaching, the kinds of knowledge and skills they required and the forms of support that could be of benefit to them. Results suggested that the teachers perceived needs in five areas: course development, knowledge of the target discipline, knowledge of language use in the target discipline, peer collaboration, and professional development opportunities. It is hoped that findings from the present study are illuminating for the ESP teaching profession and drawn on in future teacher development initiatives in the local context.

Keywords

• needs analysis
• esp teachers
• teacher needs
• teacher education and development
• experienced teachers