3.1 Module Presentation
1. Learning objectives of the module:
This module questions what effective communication means in relation to specific subject domains and professions. One of the challenges facing LSP teachers is how to create lessons for learners for professions when they have no knowledge of what happens in that profession. How do we know what professionals actually say? What do they really need practice in? Actually, there is a wealth of resources that we can use to help us. It’s not about reinventing the wheel. And we normally know far more than we think we do. In these units we will look at resources from different professional environments and scenarios and consider how they might be used. We’ll analyse ready-made lesson plans and teaching materials. We’ll also read about different research studies about the kinds of discourse people use in their professional environments as well as reports on different kinds of teaching practice. The module also offers a methodology for effective planning staring with our observation of what people really say or write. As you progress through the units, think about how you can use and adapt anything you see and read to your professional situation.
At the end of this module, you will
- be able to distinguish between possible and probable language use in a specific subject domain / profession, including specific skills balance (CCF – 4.4. Ability to bridge the gap between coursebook and workplace/academic setting)
- to able to adapt authentic materials for in-class use (CCF – 4.4. Ability to bridge the gap between coursebook and workplace/academic setting)
- be able to evaluate a designed and implemented course (CCF – 4.1. Know-how of course design)
- be able to evaluate a coursebook vis à vis learner needs (CCF – 5.1. Know-how of coursebook evaluation)
- be aware of differences in communication styles and of intersubjectivity and mediation in the context of intercultural communication – including the role of culture and non-verbal communication (CCF – 2.2. Intercultural communicative competences)
- be able to use online learning management systems (CCF – 1.2. Expertise in CALL methodology).
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.
3. Introductory activity 
Take the following poll on Communication Skills in LSP. Then, look at the answers to the poll given by all course participants and write a short post (in the “comment” box below) to reflect on poll results.
10 thoughts on “3.1 Module Presentation”
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I tend to believe that it is helpful to teach the 4 skills, even if they will be given more or less weight according to the specific purpose situation.
Coursebook publishers often design their units on the assumption that all language skills should receive equal attention, thinking that it may be the way to adequately address the needs of all learners. What the questionnaire suggests is that LSP courses should instead be structured around real-life situations, taking into account both verbal and non-verbal communication, and weighing the emphasis on each skill according to the context and specific purpose of the communication.
Although socialising skills are crucial, I am convinced that students need to acquire them together with the specialised language which is also indispensable in specific purpose contexts. Technical vocabulary on its own might not look like a priority, but it is an essential aspect of specialised languages.
I believe it gois without saying that not all competences are used in every field. In general, most fields related to business seem to put more emphasis on oral communication, whereas written competences seem essential when it comes to hard sciences and research.
In my view, in specific purpose contexts, professionals do not equally use all four skills. For example, some of my students primarily engage with clients or partners verbally, therefore, teaching them how to write emails or reports would be an inefficient use of classroom time. However, there are some who need to improve their sentence structure and skills in writing long analytical texts. Besides, there is consistently high demand for socializing skills in casual conversation. I also believe that cultivating at least some level of intercultural awareness is essential, along with understanding how language functions in different contexts.
I have to say that it was difficult to give scores to the questions when referring to LSP because there are so many different fields, each situation having different requirements.
Irrespective as to the importance of writing in their jobs, and speaking principally of business English students, I think students often have more time and tools like google translate to help them with writing tasks and their confidence is usually much lower in one to one or group situations with native English speakers where they have to think, listen and speak in real-time : hence the need for a focus on speaking / listening. Also, as I work in France, French speakers generally find formal English – something we often use most in writing – much easier, given its relationship to French (grammar, structures, vocabulary etc.). As soon as a native speaker starts using informal expressions, phrasal verbs, lone prepositions etc. they often feel blocked and don’t know how to respond naturally, even if their ‘technical’ level of English is high. It’s also in spoken English that accentuation takes on more importance – we often forget how important this can be for signalling content : with the written word we often are more careful to make something more precise and listeners might not pick up on accentuation signalled content.
It seems that I’m a bit early to the poll but everybody (for now) finds the writing skills might be less necessary to teach in some situations. I guess I’ll find the answer and the reasons in this module.
I also think that a live debate on these questions could have been interesting!
I strongly agree that there are professions where writing is not as important. I also dedicate some time to writing in my LSP classes, but compared to listening and speaking, it’s minimal. When it comes to cultural competences, then yes, we cannot learn these fully in the classroom, but we can become aware of them, and that’s a good start.
I strongly agree with you that even though we might not be able to teach/learn all cultural aspects in classroom but to become aware of them and help the learners the same, is important.