SESSION 1C

Leesa Horn and Sarah Sim, Deakin University
The design and delivery of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses

Abstract
At DUELI we offer three five week ESP courses for students progressing into Bachelor or Masters programs in nursing, teaching and commerce. These have been developed in response to a perceived need by the respective faculties. The aim of the ESP courses is to introduce students to the language, key concepts, skills and task types that they will need to successfully navigate their award courses.

Feedback from the faculties and the students has been very positive and indicates that the ESP courses have better prepared students to tackle their further studies with increased competence and confidence. Students feel armed with some vocabulary and concepts and less like they are 'coming in cold.'

We propose to present a workshop in which we will outline the purpose of our ESP courses, give some examples of assessment tasks and workshop the process of developing an appropriate, targeted syllabus.

Bio
Leesa Horn and Sarah Sim have both worked at Deakin University English Language Institute (DUELI) for around 15 years and have been involved in writing curriculum and presenting at in house and external conferences. Sarah’s interests include the role of development in education and international education policy, having worked at Australian Education International for over two years. Leesa participated in the English Australia Action Research Project in 2012, researching the use of Learner portfolios and considers presenting as a means of professional development. Both Sarah and Leesa appreciate the challenge of presenting classes in an engaging and dynamic manner.