Aspects of designing an English for
Science and Technology (EST) course in
non-English speaking countries
JALT CUE ESP Symposium 2014,
September 13, 2014, Waseda University
Needs analysis:
Dr. Sonia Sharmin
Graduate School ofInformatics andEngineering
The University of ElectroCommunications, Tokyo,JapanE-mail:sonia.sharmin@uec.ac.jp

EST is mainly acourse by which
students should be
able to learn andcommunicate inEnglish, not a classfor understanding
their sciencesubjects.

1) What should theobjectives of the EST
course be?
2) Which objectives
should be supportedby the materials
offered to students inthe EST course?
3) How will EST
teachers evaluate thetexts and/or materials
offered in the ESTcourse?
4) Who should teachthe EST course,
prepare course
materials and finally
grade the students?
5) Are all the students
capable of taking theEST course andbenefiting from it?

Choice of textbooks:
Problems in using astandard textbook:unpreparedness of the
majority of students fortheir EST course, thecurrent EST textbooks’
high level of difficulty,
and lack of suitabletextbooks.
Possible solution: Theavailable textbooks
contain subject-related
vocabulary and how toproperly use that indifferent contexts.
Systematic usage ofsuch a textbook can bea helping guide inpreparation of course
materials

Subject-matter
expertise of theteacher:
EST is specializedteaching, so it requires a
combination of subject-matter
professionals,
Englishlanguageacademics

The overall field of
science or engineering
has a whole special rangeof vocabulary, and it is
this technical vocabularythat should be the basisof the EST course. Thus
the need for subjectmatter specialists with agood command of English
who can be trained.
Problem: In a non-English
speaking country, such
instructors may be difficult
to obtain.
Possible solution: The
curriculum and course
material should be suchthat an English teacher,with limited knowledge oftechnical terms, becauseofnothavingabackground in science,canstill
successfully
understand the basic
concepts of the subject
after studying the course
material, and can thenteach the course to nonEnglish speaking science
majors.

English proficiency ofthe students:
The continuous usage ofEnglish by the teacher for
all tasks and instructions
during class can provide
the students with theopportunity to learn
different expressions
which they can then use
in their own speaking.
A great problem is thestudents’ shortcomings inbasic English skills.
Possible solution: An
English proficiency exam
may thus be required inorder to take the EST
course.
Evaluation of thestudents:
There should be astandardized method forevaluating the students’performance so that
future workplaces canunderstand their level ofEnglish proficiency.
Problem: Too muchemphasis on the IMRD
(introduction, methods,results, discussion)
pattern.

Possible solution:
Concentrating on
increasing vocabulary andgrammar skills, whichhave been shown to be
the primary attributes inenhancing fluency.

Needs analysis, Choice of textbooks for the EST course, Subject-matter expertise of the teachers,
Stages of EST course design: English proficiency of the students, Evaluation of the students of the EST course