Implementing courseware as the primary mode of task-based ESP instruction: a case study of EFL students

Abstract

The study reports on implementing self-developed English for specific purposes (ESP) courseware for technology industries in an elective course, “English reading for technology,” offered to junior students of English as a foreign language in a technical university in southern Taiwan. Courseware implementation was combined with a sustained-content language teaching (SCLT) approach and a task-based learning (TBL) approach was adopted. The course mainly focused on vocabulary, listening, and reading comprehension. Evaluation of implementing these information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ESP instruction was based upon data from a variety of pre-tests and post-tests including cloze, dictation, essay writing, and Q&A tests. The courseware not only provided learning materials for the target ESP, but also offered content-based and linguistic learning activities with corresponding instant self-evaluation. These features offered by the courseware both corresponded to the duel focus of the SCLT approach, and provided a model for developing an ESP courseware. Also, a teacher-centered instruction of the same subject matter was conducted with a control group. Students self-studying with the ESP courseware made as much progress as those that elected teacher-centered instruction. Most students were satisfied with the courseware-implemented ESP instruction combined with the SCLT and TBL approaches.

Keywords:

• courseware implementation
• task-based learning
• English for specific purposes
• learning satisfaction

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank most sincerely Dr Boyd Davis, Professor of Applied Linguistics/English, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA, for her valuable suggestions during this study and her proofreading. He also thanks Dr Ann Carver for her proofreading. This work was partially supported by the National Science Council (NSC), Taiwan, ROC, under grant NSC 101-2410-H-151-023.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shu-Chiao Tsai

Shu-Chiao Tsai received his PhD degree in material sciences from Paris-Sud (Orsay) University in 1996. He worked in an optoelectronics company as the marketing and technical administrator for several years. He is currently an associate professor with the Department of Applied Foreign Languages at National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Taiwan. His research interests include developing technical and commercial ESP courseware and its application in the classroom to help university students and adult learners augment language skills and knowledge applicable to the job market in Taiwan.