1.1 Module Presentation
1.1. Learning objectives:
This module provides an introduction to LSP. It attempts to provide a definition of LSP and offers an overview of LSP-related concepts such as CLIL and EMI. You will therefore become familiar with a variety of concepts and consider the benefits of learner needs analysis. The module also provides opportunities for you to design your very own needs analysis, thanks to different tools you will become familiar with, and to reflect on its usefulness in your teaching.
At the end of this module, you will
- be aware of what motivates adult learners (CCF 1.4 Knowledge about the affective domain in language learning)
- be aware of the fact LSP is not reduced to lexis (CCF 3.1 LSP discourse awareness)
- be able to carry out a learners’ needs analysis (CCF 3.4 Knowledge of classroom data collection)
- be able to evaluate a textbook with regard to learner needs (CCF 5.1 Know-how of coursebook evaluation).
1.2. Activities to complete in order to validate the module
There are three possible levels of engagement in the course, and therefore three different validation levels with specific requirements:
Level 1 – “Browser level”: you want to view and read the course materials to gain an insight into LSP pedagogy. Your objective is to go through the materials each week without doing the quizzes or more complex assignments. Although you are welcome to participate in this way, be aware that you will not be awarded any badge or certificate if you choose this option.- Level 2 – “Tester level”: you want to view and read the course materials, but also to take all the quizzes in the module and write a few posts to gain badges. You will need to score 50% or above to be awarded the badges associated to quizzes.
- Level 3 – “Creator level”: you want to view and read the course materials, to take all the quizzes in the module, to interact with other course participants (posts) and to complete the final assignment of this module to be awarded a Certificate.
Level 1 – “Browser level”: 
Level 3 – “Creator level”: you want to view and read the course materials, to take all the quizzes in the module, to interact with other course participants (posts) and to complete the final assignment of this module to be awarded a Certificate. 1.3. Introductory Activity: write your very first post (you should make a wish!) in the “Comment” box below to
- introduce yourself (country, what language you teach, your typical learners, your learners’ subject domains, your experience as a teacher…)
- express your expectations from this course (what you would like to improve, three priorities for this course…).
44 thoughts on “1.1 Module Presentation”
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I’m Kerli from Estonia. I’ve started the MOOC twice already, enjoyed both times, but unfortunately never reached the end as work got on the way. I work with specialists of internal security – police and prison officers, rescuers, emergency dispatchers, tax and customs officers, so LSP is my daily life.
Hello there,
My name is Margaret but everyone calls me Peggy. I’m from the USA but I live and teach in Ancona, Italy. I have been teaching English since 1998, but I’ve only recently started teaching at the Università Politecnica delle Marche. We have students who study Economics, Medicine, Engineering, Science and Agriculture. I’m here to learn more about LSPs. Nice to meet everyone!
Hello Margaret, nice to meet you too and welcome to our course!
What an interesting range of domains. You will see a few examples and tasks in the medical field in our course, and I am looking forward to learning from your perspective and teaching experience!
As for me, I mainly teach students preparing a Bachelor’s Degree in English for Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and also IT, Accountancy, and Human Resources in Calais (France), at Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale Institute of Technology.
I completed the LSP course 3 years ago, and as I found it very fulfilling, I have kept in touch with the community as a teaching assistant then instructor. I tend to see myself more as a “permanent trainee” :-D, because I still have so much to learn, both from the course and from the community here.
Hello Peggy, nice to meet you too and welcome to our course! What an interesting range of domains. You will see a few examples and tasks in the medical field in our course, and I am looking forward to learning from your perspective and teaching experience! As for me, I mainly teach students preparing a Bachelor’s Degree in English for Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and also IT, Accountancy, and Human Resources in Calais (France), at Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale Institute of Technology. I completed the LSP course 3 years ago, and as I found it very fulfilling, I have kept in touch with the community as a teaching assistant then instructor. I tend to see myself more as a “permanent trainee” :-D, because I still have so much to learn, both from the course and from the community here.
Hi Peggy, nice to meet you too and welcome to our course! What an interesting range of domains. You will see a few examples and tasks in the medical field in our course, and I am looking forward to learning from your perspective and teaching experience! As for me, I mainly teach students preparing a Bachelor’s Degree in English for Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and also IT, Accountancy, and Human Resources in Calais (France), at Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale Institute of Technology. I completed the LSP course 3 years ago, and as I found it very fulfilling, I have kept in touch with the community as a teaching assistant then instructor. I tend to see myself more as a “permanent trainee” :-D, because I still have so much to learn, both from the course and from the community here.
Hi Peggy, nice to meet you too and welcome to our course!
What an interesting range of domains. You will see a few examples and tasks in the medical field in our course, and I am looking forward to learning from your perspective and teaching experience!
As for me, I mainly teach students preparing a Bachelor’s Degree in English for Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and also IT, Accountancy, and Human Resources in Calais (France), at Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale Institute of Technology. I completed the LSP course 3 years ago, and as I found it very fulfilling, I have kept in touch with the community as a teaching assistant then instructor. I tend to see myself more as a “permanent trainee” :-D, because I still have so much to learn, both from the course and from the community here.
Hi there! I teach English in a French high school, but I am hoping to go back to teaching in higher education where LSP is more prevalent!
Hello. My name is Ainur and I’m teaching General English here in France at the college for the 12 -14 y.o. I’ve been teaching English since 2008. I have taught ESP at the University 2 years ago,and I was struggling, as it was the first time I had to create a curriculum, study the coursebooks provided to meet the students’ and DOS’s expectations. I also have Business English teaching experience, which was rather easier as given that there are so many resources to be supported by. I have no specific expectations, as life-long learning is one of my priorities. Bon courage!
Welcome to the course, Ainur!
Hi everyone!
I’ve just joined the course but better late than never 🙂 I’ve got about 20 years of experience teaching English mostly in higher education but also for adult professionals in different spheres. Their field of expertise varies from sociology and psychology to IT, warehouse management and accounting. Despite my solid linguistic background and PhD in pedagogy, when it comes to ESP, I mostly rely on my extensive experience, some eclectic reading, my teaching intuition and common sense 🙂 My students are usually happy with the results. However, I’d love to back up my practice with some structured theoretical knowledge in teaching ESP so I’m really glad I’ve come across this course!
Welcome to the course, Oksana! We hope you’ll enjoy it 😉
Hi, I’m Maria. I’m a little late to start the course but I[‘m sure I can complete the modules in the time allotted. I’m primarily a business English teacher, but I also provide courses for young students who need to practice English communication and I also provide a course on English for travel. My expectations are that I learn about new tools to provide LSP coursework to my students.
Welcome to the course, Maria!
Hello dear fellow participants, my name’s Sébastien. I teach English at the faculty of pharmacy at Université Paris-Saclay, a position I’ve had since September. On the side I do hours for master’s degree students at CentraleSupélec too. Both are lovely audiences. I don’t have any specific expectations related to the course, just to learn stuff and have fun!
Hi Sébastien, and welcome to the course. 🙂
Hi, everyone! I am Brazilian and I have taught English for Specific Purposes for 25 years now. I am a PhD candidate in English Language and Literature at the University of São Paulo, and my research topic is related to language assessment for specific purposes. I hope this course contributes to my understanding of LSP, in terms of theory and practice.
Welcome, Selene! Looking forwrad to finding out more about what you do in your ESP classes in Brazil!
Hi, Cedric! Thank you for your warm welcome! I enrolled in the course but apparently have not gained access to anything after this “1.1 module presentation”. I have noticed I am not listed as a student. Can you help me with that?
Hi Selene, you have created an account on the site but you haven’t enrolled on the course yet as you don’t appear in the course participants’ list.
You need to click on the registration button to do so (under the Season 6 logo on the righthand side, here: https://catapult-project.eu/course/season-6-teaching-lsps/): you will then gain full access to course content…
Hi everyone! My name is Marion and I am a master’s student. I have only been teaching Physics students for one semester, but my dissertation is focused on language learning and teaching for scientific students. During my PhD (hopefully starting in september), I will deal with English for Geology students. I have been trained to teach LSPs but I have very little teaching experience, so I hope to get a better insight of what teaching an LSP can be.
Welcome, Marion! I hope you’ll enjoy the course .
Hi everyone, I’m Lyndon, from the UK now based in the Cevennes in France. Most of my students focus is on Business English for specific fields like IT, HR, finance, electronics, healthcare etc.
I’m hoping to update my skills especially in the use of ICT in providing language learning.
Hi Lyndon! Welcome to the course!
We hope this course meets your expectations and that you will find some useful tools.
Hi! I’m Lyndon and have been teaching English in France for the past 14 years. I typically teach Business English and often focus in specific areas such as healthcare, electronics, finance and HR. Most of my teaching is now distance learning through video conferencing software. I’m hoping to update my skills in the use of ICT in relation to language teaching and learning.
My name is Sampada. I have taught French (FLE) in India and have been teaching ESL in France for over ten years. For the last seven years, I have been teaching specialized english to pharmacy and medical students at université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne. It has been an interesting journey transitioning from a language assistant and lectrice working on ‘general’ English to teaching technical English; I am still learning about the field!
I did a master’s in English studies from université de Lorraine two years ago where we explored didactics of English teaching. I am now looking forward to building skills and sharing knowledge and ideas related to ESP. My thanks to the organisers and the instructors for this course. 🙂
Hi everyone!
My name is Estephania Bravo and I’m from Colombia. I studied a bachelor’s degree in teaching Spanish and English as foreign languages and years later I did a master’s degree in education in my country. I have worked in Colombia, Argentina and Chile with all kinds of audiences. Children from 4 years old to adults of 50 years. I have about 10 years of work experience and I am currently living in France, so I hope that this mooc course will give me an update in my knowledge and tools for my classes.
Welcome Estephania! The course should hopefully meet your needs… Looking forward to finding out more about your impressive background 🙂
Hi there, I’m Beatrice, I’ve been teaching English as a second language for 5 years after a long career in hospitality. I now would like to combine the two by teaching English to students in the Hotel, catering & hospitality industry. I’m really looking forward to exploring the content of this course, which looks very promising.
Welcome, Béatrice! Your background sounds very interesting and so relevant to LSP teaching… Looking forward to finding out more 😉
Hi Beatrice! Welcome to the course! You career is a plus and I am sure that this will be very useful for you when it come to creating tasks and developing the communication skills of the students. The course introduces tools as well as the theory but what is valuable is the interaction and exchange of ideas and good practices with the course participants as well!
Hello everyone, I’m Leslie and I’m a university English teacher in France (Université de Poitiers). I’ve been teaching English linguistics for almost 10 years, but recently I’ve started teaching English to business students. In the future, I might teach English to engineers or other specialized audiences, which is why I am very curious to learn more about LSP, both in theory and in practice. I hope this course will inspire me, give me ideas and news skills as well as help me prepare classes that are engaging and answer my students’ needs.
Welcome Leslie! The course should hopefully meet your needs…
Hello everyone! I’ve been teaching languages (English & French) to university students for about 14 years now. My current position has me specializing in teaching English to French B.Sc and M.Sc students and engineers. It’s really interesting work and has me approaching pedagogy differently on many levels. So this MOOC will be a great way to further explore other tools and teaching techniques, and continue adapting my courses to my students. Looking forward to it!
Welcome, Heloise. I’m sure you’ll find lots of ideas for your teaching in the course. 🙂
Hello
I am an English as a foreign language teacher from the USA but have been living in France for the past 13 years. Currently, I am teaching Legal English to university students from the first year to the third year but I have taught all grade levels from children, teenagers and adults. I have been teaching for the past 15 years and earned a Master of Education and a teaching certificate in the USA. I also have a Master’s degree and currently pursuing a PhD in English linguistics in France. I would like to improve my teaching skills and stay up-to-date on the latest classroom trends and research in the field of education and also of languages and to continually grow in the profession.
Welcome, CherAmie! Looking forward to finding out more about your extensive experience and your doctoral research… 8)
Hi there!
I’m an English teacher with 20 years of experience. Currently, I teach university students in law and economics. I was initially trained to teach general English to secondary school students. I also earned a doctorate in U.S. studies from Paris Sorbonne Nouvelle University. Over the past year, I’ve been extending my research to focus on ESP. This MOOC is opportunity to hone my skills and explore innovative approaches to ESP teaching and learning.
Hi Isabelle, and welcome to the course! Excited to find out more about what you do in class 😀
Hello,
I am French and currently living in French Polynesia, and I have been teaching English as a foreign language for fourteen years. I have taught to university students full time for the past four years: mainly to future teachers at the INSPE of French Polynesia, but also to students of other master’s degrees, such as GEMIT students (Gestion des Energies en Milieu Insulaire et Tropical).
I will be teaching mainly to science students starting next year, and am very interested in this course: I hope it will bring me some tools and techniques to adapt my courses to my students, in order for me to help them acquire the professional language skills they need.
Hi Sonia, and welcome to the course! Looking forward to finding out more about your very exotic teaching context and about what you do 😉
Hello, there ! I have been teaching English for psychology students at Université Paris Descartes for more than 10 years now. I’d like to find out whether this course can give me new ideas to plan and prepare my lessons.
Hi Céline and welcome to the course! I’m sure you’ll get lots of ideas from the course itself as well as from other course participants…