ESP FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES DESIGNING AN ENGLISH TEXTBOOK FOR SUSTAINABLE LEARNING

Abstract

In this paper, the authors describe the preliminary results of an on-going project consisting in the design of a textbook for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) to be used as support for students in several areas of the Life Sciences (Agriculture, Biology, Genetic Engineering, Horticulture, etc.). A case study was undertaken with students on a tertiary level (1st and 4th year students), which included collaborative learner-teacher activities, including the construction of concept maps based on keywords, the results of which are being considered for inclusion in the final textbook. The object of this study is to assess the opportunity of collecting feedback from learners with a view to including it in the textbook design, as well as materials collaboratively chosen and designed by the authors together with students. For this purpose, the research is supported by a conceptual methodological approach having an exploratory objective. The question raised in this study is answered by following a review of the literature related to some major key concepts to be acquired, as well as empirical observations of our ESP classes for the purpose of gathering relevant data from learners, followed by an analysis and discussion of the collected data. This analysis serves as preliminary considerations for our textbook focusing on feedback from the students, while also being a presentation of our outlook on the ESP course upheld for discussion.

Keywords

• esp (english for specific purposes)
• language learning
• content-based instruction
• conceptual maps
• quality