ESP TEACHING TOOLS IN MEDICAL SCHOOLS

ИСТРУМЕНТЫ ОБУЧЕНИЯ ESP В МЕДИЦИНСКИХ УНИВЕРСИТЕТАХ

Научная статья

Баева Т.А.^1, *, Всеволодова А.Х.², Вихарева А.Ю.³

¹ ORCID: 0000-0002-3908-4112;

^{1, 2, 3} Северо-Западный государственный медицинский университет им. И.И. Мечникова, Санкт-Петербург, Россия

* Корреспондирующий автор (tamarabaeva[at]mail.ru)

Аннотация

В данной статье описывается сущность «Английского языка для специальных целей» (ESP), идеи и факторы, которые внесли свой вклад в его появление и развитие. Подчеркивается важная роль преподавателей английского языка в рамках ESP, использующих следующие инструменты: специализированные учебники; активные/интерактивные, проблемно-ориентированные и другие типы занятий; IT-технологии и образовательные среды, например, СДО Moodle. Цель статьи - проанализировать СДО Moodle как инструмент ESP, являющийся средством дистанционного обучения на кафедре иностранных языков. Авторы делятся опытом проведения онлайн обучения в условиях мировой пандемии, вызванной COVID-19, когда учебный процесс пришлось перенести в дистанционной формат. В ходе исследования были использованы такие методы, как изучение научной литературы, ее анализ, анкетирование студентов и статистический анализ полученных данных. Был сделан вывод, что обучение в СДО Moodle, несмотря на все его достоинства, не может полностью заменить традиционные занятия в аудитории из-за отсутствия личного контакта между преподавателем и студентом, что особенно важно для изучения ESP. Тем не менее, будущее ESP связано с комбинированием «офлайн» и «онлайн» обучения с внедрением инструментов для дистанционного обучения.

Ключевые слова: ESP, студенты-медики, инструменты ESP, дистанционное обучение, LMS MOODLE.

ESP TEACHING TOOLS IN MEDICAL SCHOOLS

Research article

Baeva T.A.^1, *, Vsevolodova A.Kh.², Vikhareva A.Yu.³

¹ ORCID: 0000-0002-3908-4112;

^{1, 2, 3} North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, Saint Petersburg, Russia

* Corresponding author (tamarabaeva[at]mail.ru)

Abstract

The paper deals with the essence of «English for specific purposes» (ESP), ideas and factors that contributed to its appearance and development. Besides, the important role of English language teachers using ESP tools is emphasized. Specialized textbooks; active/interactive, problem-oriented, and other lessons; IT-technologies and learning environments, e.g., LMS Moodle are considered to be ESP tools. The purpose of the article is to analyze the LMS Moodle as an ESP tool for distance learning at the Chair of Foreign Languages. The authors share their experience of online teaching-learning during lockdown caused by COVID-19, when the educational process had to be transferred to a distance format. Such methods as literature review and analysis, the students’ survey and the statistical evaluation of the received data were employed during a research. We have concluded that despite all its benefits LSM Moodle cannot fully replace face-to-face classroom due to the lack of personal contact between a teacher and a student which is vital for ESP learning. Nevertheless, the future of ESP lies in the combination of offline and online learning with the implementation of distance learning tools, e.g., LSM Moodle, in it.

Keywords: ESP, medical students, ESP tools, remote classroom, LMS MOODLE.

Introduction

«English for specific purposes» (ESP) was created for professions, in which foreign language is not a major: doctors, lawyers, engineers, economists, etc. In our current era of globalization foreign languages have become a necessary requirement for those professionals, who want not only to be scientist and get PhD degrees, but also to be well informed about the latest discoveries and innovations in their sphere, which means reading articles, taking parts in conferences, both as presenters or attendees, communicating with foreign colleagues, etc.

Paltridge and Starfield define ESP as “teaching and learning of English as a second or foreign language where the goal of the learners is to use English in a particular domain” [8, P. 14]. As for the appearance of ESP, its origin is in the beginning of the 20^th century when the courses for international travel developed. It can be easily understood that these courses didn’t implicate real second language proficiency. During the World War II teaching and learning foreign languages for specific purposes was of greater interest than before. After the War in the early 1960^th LSP (Language for Specific Purposes) was founded as a field of applied linguistics and in 1964 Halliday, McIntosh and Strevens provided [10].

The creation and the development of the ESP was due to several factors: increasing demand of English as a tool for international communication; new tendencies and technologies in linguistics and teaching methods, in particular, switching the emphasis on the personality of the student, his requests, interests and motivation. It is worth emphasizing the need for ESP in countries where English is taught as a foreign and second language, e.g., Russia [5]. Nowadays ESP is developing due to the need in the early professionalization of students, which makes it even more relevant [1].

It is important to understand that the “teaching the language” is not a goal but a means, especially, in the framework of ESP [9]. ESP focuses on understanding the special needs of the learners applicable to some knowledge area: medicine, seafaring, legal studies, engineering, IT, etc. [1]. Consequently, it uses methodology of the relevant specialization, focuses on suitable grammar, vocabulary, register, discourse and genre of domain. It must be stressed that ESP can be studied not only by university students, but also by specialists with professional experience.

One of the ideas of ESP is not only to know the text (in other words, to be proficient in English), but also to be acquainted with the context (have a knowledge in a non-linguistic science) [11]. Then, as a part of the English language learning, students get acquainted with topics, approaches, methods that exist in their future profession but are new to them. That means ESP is an interdisciplinary integration of foreign language and major subjects [13]. It’s necessary to say that teachers of English should not only have a good knowledge of a foreign language, but also possess terminology of the science that ESP focuses on, in our case it is a medicine. It doesn’t mean English language teachers also must be doctors, but it does mean they must have a basic knowledge in medicine.

Speaking about learning ESP at university, it is important to note that students study English while working with materials, which seem interesting and relevant for their professional tasks and research. Accordingly, the English language should be presented in an authentic context in order to show students the specific ways of using the language that are acceptable for their specialties and the future work of students [12].

Also, it’s important to emphasize the especially important role of English language teachers in the framework of ESP. Their main tasks are searching, selection and organization of training materials with regard to specifics of the knowledge are. Also, they develop curriculum aimed at acquiring desired learning outcomes and keep students’ motivation up. The ESP teacher is a kind of intermediary, a conductor of knowledge about the studied language, genre, discourse and terminology, he has a role of a methodologist, curator, consultant, adviser, expert. It is important to note that in this case, the teacher must be able to analyze the needs of the students and understand the teaching methodology [4].

English teachers carry out searching, selection and organization of training materials by choosing or even creating the appropriate specialized textbooks that correlate with one or more major subjects; conducting active/interactive, problem-oriented, and other lessons, allowing both to introduce new material, and to consolidate and practice it; using IT-technologies and learning environment, e.g. LMS Moodle (a free and open-source learning management system on English classes [1, 5, 12, 13]. All these points can be designated as ESP instruments. We’ve chosen this list of tools as in our opinion it totally reflects the essence and the features of ESP.

K.E. Bezukladnikov, B.A. Zhigalev, B.А. Kruze et al. offer techniques, variety, enjoyment, integrated methods of teaching, involvement in the process of education, atmosphere, etc. as ESP instruments or tools [6]. But we suppose that in the 2020 we can’t imagine the learning process without using IT-technologies and various learning environments, so they’ve become one of the most important ESP tools.

So, in this article, we aimed to analyze the LSM Moodle as an ESP instrument in terms of its implementation as a remote classroom tool in the foreign languages chair of the North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov.

Methods

We would like to focus on using LMS Moodle, as far as after the COVID-19 educational disruption it became especially important for distance learning. To minimize the consequences of the quarantine in universities a learning process has moved to remote classroom.

As for LMS Moodle, it can be used during lessons, for feedback, for questionnaires, what is more in our modern situation, for remote classroom. The foreign languages chair of our medical university has used LMS Moodle combined with Zoom lessons for remote training since March, 2020.

Remote classroom refers to digital teaching and learning environment where lecturers and their students are not situated in the same place. In conventional face-to-face classroom this place is traditionally a classroom. Remote classroom can be synchronous and asynchronous [14], [15].

In reference to asynchronous training, it is a type of remote classroom when teaching and learning do not occur at the same time. There is not so much collaboration between lecturer and students but it is more flexible to students, e.g. time frame for learning. It should come as no surprise that digital tools used in asynchronous and synchronous learning differ a lot [14], [15]. Course projects and communications through web, email, community forums, different learning environments, etc. are considered the most common teaching and learning tools.

As for synchronous training, its main advantage is a true collaboration and interaction. The reason is that a lecturer teaches virtually by means of videoconferences, webinars, etc. but in real-time. The lesson can be recorded and students can watch it at any available moment. Moreover, a lecturer can discuss any necessary topic with his or her learners, share his screen to show something. The most popular tools of synchronous learning are video conferencing via Skype, Zoom, Trueconf and other platforms. The main disadvantage of this type of remote classroom is its dependence on good Internet connection [7]. In the North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov we use both types of remote classroom: synchronous and asynchronous training for teaching and learning ESP, combining Zoom and Trueconf with LSM Moodle.

In LMS Moodle a special module for contact work with students was developed by faculty members of the foreign languages chair in March, 2020. So, it was important to understand in more detail what elements of the course are used in remote classroom asynchronous modules for teaching and learning ESP. Let’s consider them. LMS Moodle has a lot of capabilities: creation of written, oral and video lectures by teachers, making glossaries, tests with a database of questions. Moreover, assignments with digital attachments can be created, not only text answers, but also video and audio made by students can be downloaded, there is the possibility to view performance, organize forums, questionnaires, communication, write messages, etc.

The most commonly used LMS Moodle element is a test. It is important in working with new material when skills are being acquired and the appliance of the learned knowledge in various new language conditions is being organized [15]. Test is suitable for enriching the vocabulary of students and boosting their grammar skills as well as it offers a mainly multiple choice and matching questions, e.g., match words/phrases and pictures, words/phrases and their definitions or even two sentences. Since these tests are not always used for control, students can be given unlimited attempts and consider the last one to stimulate striving for a better result. It seems appropriate to carry out this type of test in a learning mode when students can check the correctness of their answer after completing each task. Tests are utilized more often for practicing and self-assessment than for evaluation [2]. In our module for contact work tests for all the studied topics were created, being quite convenient for many goals. We believe tests to be useful for improving students listening skills. Different forms of questions are included into such exercises: multiple choice, embedded answers, matching questions. Both audio recording and video can be placed on the same page with tasks which is quite convenient and comfortable for doing the exercises, e.g., for the topic “Hygiene” we created video tasks “Hospital-acquired infections” and “The history of antibiotics”.

Along with that, such type of assignments as essay serves to develop writing skills. The essays are checked by teachers who can leave comments on them. Students can send their answers as texts or various types of files. It is possible for students to send their works with corrections after they were checked by their teachers. This practice is better than the conventional correction of mistakes as the desire of learners to understand and correct their errors increases significantly [3]. In our module for contact work with students we offered students to discuss the problem of increasing life expectancy and write an essay to the topic “Caring for the elderly”. We use essay tasks to check the speaking skills as well. Students have to record a short speech on a given topic, then upload it to cloud storage or to LSM Moodle and apply a link to their answer. This kind of task allows teachers to assess oral skills of students especially in the context of remote classroom. Thus, our students recorded their speech on every topic in curriculum according to the given plan.

As for the LSM Moodle activity ‘Forum’, it stimulates the communication among students and helps to improve communication skills. In the module for contact work made by the foreign languages chair each lesson contained forums on different topics. The students were supposed to express their opinion on specified topic. Teachers assessed learners’ answers and asked additional questions, thus stimulating them to communicate. E.g., there was a heated discussion in a forum about placebo and nocebo effects in the topic “Medication”.

Results

As remote classroom has become especially important recently, a survey among 1^st year students of preventive medicine and general medicine departments was conducted. In May, 2020 122 respondents answered to the questionnaire which consisted of two parts. Students were questioned whether LMS Moodle could fully replace face-to-face learning in their opinion. In the second part of the survey the learners were asked to assess their experience of using LMS Moodle, listing its advantages and disadvantages. After analyzing the students’ answers, we have got rather predictable results.

Fig. 1 – Possibility of replacing the face-to-face classroom by remote classroom

 

As we can see on Fig. 1, face-to-face learning is the preferable form for most of the students – 61% of respondents chose that option. In our opinion, it can be explained by the number of factors. First of all, almost all schools and universities work in such a format, face-to-face teaching and learning are more conventional and students are more accustomed to such type of classroom. Secondly, it is more comfortable way for learning ESP. It’s important to understand that medical English is connected with their future job where face-to-face communication is prevalent. Real-life situations are more easily imitated in face-to-face classroom than in the remote one.

The second part of the survey was made in open question format. Respondents had to describe positive and negative sides of using LMS Moodle in ESP learning. Among the main advantages students mentioned the time flexibility and opportunity to study learning materials at home. They don’t have to perform all the tasks strictly during the lesson and can return to them when they have time. From our point of view, this advantage is quite controversial. On the one hand, weaker students have an opportunity to study the material one more time to understand better. Moreover, students have the opportunity to work in their own regime, feeling more comfortable and concentrated. On the other hand, many students are not self-disciplined enough to work independently, which results in skipping classes, misunderstanding of material and a big number of unsatisfactory marks. The next commonly described positive feature is an opportunity to do some tasks several times and study their own mistakes. The third most frequently mentioned advantage is the variety of tasks. Students noted that performing different types of tasks made learning more interesting and automatic system allowed to see the mistakes and made corrections. Learners were allowed to do tests several times without any restrictions.

As for disadvantages of learning ESP in LMS Moodle, the biggest one, in students’ opinion, is the lack of personal contact with the teacher who can explain the material and help with pronunciation. As it was already mentioned, learning ESP requires personal contact with a teacher. Another big negative side was unstable internet connection. Students often faced difficulties due to breakdowns, which can be extremely stressful to students, due to the fact that final tests also take place in LMS Moodle.

Conclusion

According to the results of the research we can conclude that despite its convenience and wide learning opportunities, LMS Moodle cannot fully replace face-to-face learning. The main reason for that is the lack of personal contact between a teacher and a student, which is vital for learning languages. As for video conferencing that we used to replace face-to-face communication, teachers and students faced a lot of difficulties working online which makes the total replacement impossible.

On the one hand students thought that time flexibility is the biggest advantage of LSM Moodle. But on the other hand, they admit the fact that many students lack self-discipline which is necessary for learning independently. So, it may become a disadvantage at the same time. Summing up, we can conclude that LMS Moodle can only complement the traditional face-to-face lessons, as it cannot replace the most important part of language learning – personal communication. Thus, transferring a part of lexical and grammar exercises or writing tasks into LSM Moodle we release the time for speech training during face-to-face classroom which is important in many professions, especially, for future doctors. However, LMS Moodle offers a wide range of facilities, such as different types of tasks, test etc., which makes it a perfect tool for training grammar, vocabulary, listening and writing.

As for ESP, it focuses on understanding the special needs of the learners applicable to different sciences. It plays an especially important role in the higher educational institutions where foreign language is not a basic discipline and is taught as a foreign language. ESP training is and will be in demand, since it corresponds to the spirit of the time of the era of globalization and integration. There is a lot of research on the ESP, but we consider there is a little space for improvement and it would be fair to assume that the future of ESP is in the combination of offline and online learning with the implementation of remote classroom in it.

Конфликт интересов Не указан.

Conflict of Interest None declared.

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