| 14.00 - 15.30 | Sessions E1 and E2 |
| E1 |
Technical David Bonamy Go with the Flow! Matching language input to communicative task Summary: Communicative tasks that reflect the real world and flow naturally from problem to resolution can motivate and (on a good day) totally absorb the ESP learner. But what happens when the focus shifts from the task to the language? How can the flow be maintained? The author of the four-level course Technical English (Pearson) will examine this issue with examples from the newly published Intermediate and Upper Intermediate levels of the course. David Bonamy is the author of the four-level Pearson course Technical English and series editor of Pearson’s Vocational English series. (sponsored by Pearson) |
| E2 |
Technical Graham Tritt Creating material for vocabulary - modular, flexible and practical Summary: Beyond general and business vocabularies, learners of English for technical purposes face words with multiple meanings and usage dependent on context. While dictionaries and flash cards are basic tools, we need flexible methods with realia sources to produce material that can be used in different ways. Graham will demonstrate how anyone with simple office and some online tools can: - create frequency word lists and concordances from documents - extract from lists of collocations and dictionaries and format for further use - use spreadsheets to combine, select and optimize texts - produce flash cards, cloze and other tests, randomized with multiple sources Thousands of special-purpose flash card sets already exist and are used in student-driven learning. Graham will explain how these can be correlated to estimate vocabulary size and to test comprehension. Biodata: Graham Tritt is a scientist and informatician with over 30 years experience in technical and service industries, with special expertise in library and information management. He has been a teacher of business and technical English in Switzerland for 15 years, and moderates various online forums. (non-sponsored) |
| 15.30 - 16.00 | Coffee break |
| 16.00 - 17.00 | Sessions F1 – F2 |
| F1 |
Technical Claire Hart Authentic learning materials Summary: This will be a hands-on, participatory workshop. The focus will be on how to adapt authentic documents from the workplace in order to produce relevant and interesting learning materials for Technical English. I will present my experiences of materials creation while teaching Technical English at a helicopter factory in southern Germany as a case study in what is possible in this area. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and respond to the case study and they will then be challenged to generate ideas for materials development based on a selection of technical documents I will provide them with. Biodata: Claire Hart is an in-company English trainer based in Bayreuth, Germany. She currently teaches Business English courses, Technical English courses and courses tailored to the individual needs of participants working in a range of fields. Claire also works in materials development and is a keen blogger. (non-sponsored) |
| F2 |
Technical
Dr Sherida Altehenger-Smith
Putting pep into processes Summary: Every student of technical English is confronted with describing how things function and/or giving instructions how to operation eg machines. Learning, on the one hand, the different grammatical tools for oral description processes or instructions and on the other, those skills necessary for developing written versions of the same process can be a challenge and at times not inspirational. This talk will question which tools are currently available for putting pep into the classroom when dealing with these technical English tasks. After an overview of my experiences teaching instructions and the explanation of processes in Technical English, this workshop will encourage participants to share and discuss their own experiences. Then an exercise which has brought eager and enthusiastic participation in my Technical English classes in the past years will be run through with those present. Biodata: Variety is the spice of life and of teaching. Sherida Altehenger-Smith is involved in ESP for technical, legal and business English at tertiary level, for small businesses and for a larger utility company. Class size ranges from 1 to 25, all ages and coming from 27 different countries. Somewhat spicy at times! (non-sponsored) |
| 17.00 - 17.40 | Panel Discussion |
| 19.00 - open end | Evening dinner (at participants' own expense) - venue to be confirmed |
| 8.00 – 9.00 | Registration |
| 9.00 - 9.20 |
Opening Speech Ivo Gönner Lord Mayor of Ulm and conference patron Ray Bentley, Prof. Dr. BSc, MSc, DPhil Director of the Institute for Foreign Languages and Management, Ulm University of Applied Sciences |
| 9.20 - 9.50 |
Plenary speech Jeremy Day Needs analysis ... what you need to know Summary: Needs analysis is central to the way we plan and teach ESP but it is by no means perfect. What happens when what our students want is different from what they need, or different from what the person or organisation paying for the course perceives the students need? In this plenary I’ll offer some practical advice on needs analysis, drawing on my experiences of teaching lawyers who aren’t interested in contracts, patent attorneys who don’t want to learn about patents, air traffic controllers who don’t need aviation English, and other professionals who don’t know what they need or want from an English course. Biodata: Jeremy Day is Series Editor of Cambridge English for ..., which has ESP titles on Nursing, Engineering, Job-hunting, the Media, Marketing, HR and Science. His seven teacher’s books include International Legal English, Flighpath (Aviation English) and Dynamic Presentations. He is co-author of the advanced level of Active Grammar, a new CLIL-based grammar series. He works for English360, an award-winning blended learning platform. (sponsored by Cambridge University Press) |
| 9.50 – 10.00 | Room Change |
| 10.00 - 11.00 | Sessions A1 - A5 |
| A1 |
General ESP
Ian Mcmaster & Carol Scheunemann How specific should we be? Summary: English for specific purposes (ESP) is a growth area in English teaching and publishing. Yet it is constant challenge for publishers to get the balance right between providing general material for a wider audience and more specific materials that are of greater relevance to smaller groups. Business Spotlight has also faced this challenge since it was launched ten years ago. In this workshop, we will look at ways of squaring this circle and provide examples of classroom activities to help you improve your learners' general- specific and specific-specific skills. Biodata: Ian McMaster is editor-in-chief of the bi-monthly magazine Business Spotlight (www.business-spotlight.de) and a former joint-coordinator of IATEFL-BESIG. Carol Scheunemann is an editor at Business Spotlight. She also coordinates Business Spotlight Audio (sponsored by Business Spotlight) |
| A2 |
Automotive Nick Munby Creating simulations in ESP Summary: Using simulations for ESP teaching can dramatically increase student involvement intellectually and affectively. Creating your own for a particular group or company clearly entails some initial preparation but will often bring a potentially dry area of teaching alive and give students the feeling they are using language in a realistic communicative context. In this workshop I will introduce the outlines of a simulation I have used with Behr GmbH, consider the arguments for working in this way and suggest some design and set up principles. Participants will then be invited to sketch out a simulation of their own. Biodata: Nick Munby teaches mechanical and civil engineers at the Berlin School of Economics and Law, as well as running corporate seminars and teacher training sessions around Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. He has been based in Berlin since 1994 and has a background in linguistics and theatre. (non-sponsored) |
| A3 |
IT & technical Kenneth Thomson Identifying and overcoming the challenges in targeting English at IT professionals Summary: "Even trainers experienced in delivering English for Special Purposes for various occupational groupings can find the prospect of working with IT professionals daunting. Despite, or perhaps due to, our daily encounters with the products of their labour, IT professionals appear to work in a particularly difficult field full of incomprehensible processes described using impenetrable language. The focus of this presentation will be on demystifying what kind of English professionals working in IT need and how this can best be delivered. By virtue of the fact that English is the technical lingua franca of IT, professionals working in the field know more English than we might imagine. The emphasis of the presentation will be on identifying the language input which IT professionals need to join up their pre-existing knowledge of English and on their particular communication needs." Biodata: Ken Thomson, who has a background in business information, settled in Germany in 1999. He worked for several years as a Business English trainer before establishing himself as a freelance writer and editor of Business English and ESP training material. (sponsored by Cornelsen Verlag) |
| A4 |
Energy Paul Dummet Energy is the context, management is the issue Summary: Teaching managers in any industry requires an understanding of the specifics of the industry but also the specifics of their particular job: field and function. This talk presents ideas on how to address both these needs, using materials from Energy English (Cengage Learning 2010) and other practical teaching ideas. Biodata: Paul Dummett is a business English trainer and author based in Oxford. He has over 20 years experience of teaching managers in the energy field and is the author of various titles for Summertown Publishing including Energy English and Success with BEC Higher. (sponsored by Langenscheidt ELT) |
| A5 |
High surrender ESP course design for a Finnish Insurance Company Marise Letho Summary: Designing an ESP course from scratch is a challenging task for any teacher; let alone one who has never attempted it before. Finding the starting point, making sense of all the various stages, testing theories in the local context and finally bringing it all together can be a very daunting process indeed! In this presentation I will talk about the process I went through and specifically the stages involved in designing a ‘high surrender value’ course for a group of Finnish Insurance experts. I will offer practical examples on conducting Needs Analysis, defining goals and objectives, assessment and evaluation procedures as well as defining (and defending!) the syllabus type I used. This presentation is aimed at trainers who are have little or no experience in ESP course design and will hopefully offer some valuable insights and practical tips into this extremely rewarding process. Biodata: Originally from New Zealand, Marise Lehto is the founder of Marise Lehto Associates Oy and is currently studying for an MSc EMT / TESOL through Aston University distance study. Combining this with her passion for action research enables her to continue developing lifelong learning skills; skills she strives to pass on to her clients and professional peers. (non-sponsored) |
| 11.00 - 11.30 | Coffee break |
| 11.30 - 12.30 | Sessions B1 – B4 |
| B1 |
General ESP Jeremy Day Mixing and matching in ESP course design Summary: Most of my early ESP courses involved the mix-and-match approach: a photocopy from here, a text from there, an old home-made grammar exercise from my files and a handful of new exercises based on the needs analysis. The resulting course wasn’t especially pretty to look at, and it certainly wasn’t easy for me to make, but it was a tried and tested method. These days we have an alternative, which is much quicker, better looking and more effective. In this workshop, I’ll take one of my old courses, English for Sales Managers, and show how I could have written it using the authoring and course design tools on English360.com, an award-winning learning platform. Biodata: Jeremy Day is Series Editor of Cambridge English for ..., which has ESP titles on Nursing, Engineering, Job-hunting, the Media, Marketing, HR and Science. His seven teacher’s books include International Legal English, Flighpath (Aviation English) and Dynamic Presentations. He is co-author of the advanced level of Active Grammar, a new CLIL-based grammar series. He works for English360, an award-winning blended learning platform. (sponsored by English 360) |
| B2 |
Finance Evan Frendo Assesing English for accounting Summary: EDI ((LCCI) have recently developed a new test for people who need English in accounting contexts, which consists of 40 discrete point test items based on the following assessment criteria - denotation, collocation, colligation and word formation. This talk will outline some of the thinking behind the test, focusing particularly on the challenges pertaining to testing ESP, before explaining its format and target audience. It will finish with suggestions for teaching activities which can be used to prepare students for the test. The audience will receive a copy of the test specifications, a sample test paper, as well as a handout containing a range of teaching activities. The speaker is a freelance consultant and was a member of the team which designed and developed the test. Biodata: "Evan Frendo’s current projects include teaching on the ESP module of the online MA TESOL at the New School in New York, authoring four books in the new Pearson Vocational Series, and consulting for EDI (LCCI) on ESP testing. In 2010 he co-authored Working in Asia (Cornelsen) with Shuna Hsu." (sponsored by EDI (LCCI)) |
| B3 |
Automotive John Bolton Summary: "Often clients are interested in a short course or module which gives a grounding in the essentials of car technology. This workshop provides participants with appropriate materials to aid in developing such a course, based around the five main car systems: • Body • Powertrain • Chassis • Electrics and electronics • Interior The communicative nature of these materials will be exploited in the interactive workshop format." Biodata: John Bolton has been teaching for twenty years. In the last ten he has been training at a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi AG, the Audi Akademie GmbH, with a responsibility for developing technical English materials. John is also qualified as a Steiner-Waldorf Teacher. (sponsored by Audi) |
| B4 |
Academic writing Lisa Nazarenko & Gillian Schwarz-Peaker. Guiding ESP students through the writing process Summary: ESP students often have difficulty developing writing skills in English because, in addition to vocabulary and grammar, they have to learn to write a variety of text types. In addition, there is often not enough time in the semester for ESP teachers to spend many classes on writing skills. We will share our method of using model texts to develop students’ awareness of text types, and of using frameworks to clarify features of those types so that they can incorporate these into their own writing. In addition to developing students’ writing skills, this method raises their awareness of the vocabulary and grammar features typical of each text type. This method can be used for all areas of ESP and all text types. In this workshop we will take participants through the steps of this process, then give them texts from a variety of published material for them to practice the technique for their own teaching situation. Biodata: Lisa Nazarenko teaches ESP to engineering students at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien and Academic English at the University of Vienna. Gillian Schwarz teaches Academic English and ESP at the University of Vienna. Together they write about and develop material for writing skills, reading skills and vocabulary development. (sponsored by Pearson) |
| 12.30 - 13.30 |
Lunch Exhibition |
| 13.30 - 14.30 |
Panel discussion & Exhibition Panel discussion on ESP examinations and testing Panelists: Judith Mader, Matt Firth, Amy Krois-Lindner, James Schofield & Geoff Trantner Alternative programme: Information about and demonstrations of ESP materials at the exhibitors' stands |
| 14.30 - 15.00 | Coffee break |
| 15.00 - 16.00 | Sessions C1 - C5 |
| C1 |
Marketing & general ESP David Baker Bridging the ESP Gap with onestopenglish.com Summary: "As ESP practitioners, we often need to teach or review a particular topic within a work area, but we don’t always want to work through a complete published course from beginning to end, nor do we always have time to prepare relevant materials ourselves. Materials delivered online offer an accessible way of bridging the gap between published coursebooks and material written by the trainer. In this workshop we will look at different ways of using the downloadable worksheets and lesson plans available for ESP on onestopenglish.com. As well as reviewing the complete range of work areas currently covered on the website, we will also try out examples from various specific fields, including marketing, hospitality and tourism, and nursing. Finally, we will discuss future plans for expanding the ESP content on the site." Biodata: "After several years teaching ESP in Paris, David Baker worked as an ELT publisher, specializing in ESP and grammar. He is now a freelance publisher and materials writer. He has worked on onestopenglish.com as a commissioning editor and latterly as a writer, and has just completed a series on Marketing. " (sponsored by Macmillan ELT ) |
| C2 |
Legal Amy Krois-Lindner Sets of texts: A broader perspective for ESO materials Summary: The production or reception of texts in the workplace commonly occurs with other texts serving as their point of departure. Individual texts (or whole text genres) can be seen as existing within “generic systems” of texts, which are often “ordered in such a way that Text A leads to Text B, which in turn engenders Text C.” (Swales 2000). This broader perspective, which looks beyond the individual text to focus on the larger chain or set of texts of which it is a part, can lead to the development of enlightening and practically useful materials for ESP learners. The new edition of International Legal English (CUP 2011) adopts this perspective, featuring new tasks that engage the learner in the reception and production of sets of texts, while focusing on the linguistic strategies learners can apply. With practical examples of tasks and case studies, this talk aims to inspire teachers and materials developers in all fields of ESP teaching. Biodata: I teach language competence at the English Department of the University of Vienna. I also teach English for Special Purposes and academic and scientific writing. Together with TransLegal, I am the author of International Legal English (CUP 2005) and Introduction to International Legal English (with Matt Firth and TransLegal) (CUP 2008). (sponsored by Cambridge University Press) |
| C3 |
European public sector Rhoda McGraw Public administration for sustainable development and urban planning Summary: Global interactions increasingly require civil servants in Europe to communicate in English, even when they are working locally. Indeed, the effective use of English may be a factor in the survival of public services today. The presenter briefly discusses her experience of designing and running mixed-level, content-based courses for present or future public administrators in France. The courses currently explore areas linked to sustainable development and urban planning. After showing how she adapts instruction to her local context, the speaker suggests general ways in which the needs of civil servants might differ from those of private sector employees. Workshop participants will try out sample activities and share their own relevant experiences. Those attending the session should leave with a clear idea of one possible teaching approach, along with a renewed sense of the political and social significance of an openly acknowledged focus on the public sector in language teaching. Biodata: Rhoda McGraw has taught English to present and future civil servants at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech since 1973. Her mixed-level, content-based courses presently focus on sustainable development and urban planning. Rhoda also worked for 20 years as a teacher educator for a pre-service TEFL certificate awarded by Rutgers University. (non-sponsored) |
| C4 |
Oil, construction & general ESP Evan Frendo ESP course books? A contradiction in terms? Summary: "Needs analysis is a fundamental principle in ESP, yet publishers continue to add ESP books to their lists even though the authors have never met the learners who will be using the books. Is this a contradiction? Are publishers trying to pull a fast one? This workshop will examine these questions and consider the notion that “ESP coursebooks” are not a contradiction in terms, but are actually very useful resources in the ESP classroom. It all depends on the type of course and the degree of specificity required. We will be using extracts from coursebooks (English for the Oil Industry, English for the Construction Industry) in the Vocational series recently published by Pearson to help with our discussion. Come prepared to share your thoughts!" Biodata: Evan Frendo’s current projects include teaching on the ESP module of the online MA TESOL at the New School in New York, authoring four books in the new Pearson Vocational Series, and consulting for EDI (LCCI) on ESP testing. In 2010 he co- authored Working in Asia (Cornelsen) with Shuna Hsu. (sponsored by Pearson) |
| C5 |
Printing
Catherine Duffek A systematic approach to industry-specific English using the example of the printing industry Summary: "Hardly any industry is immune to the effects of globalization today and the accompanying opportunities and challenges for effective communication in English. By using the printing industry as an example, this presentation will show how to analyze a vertical market, its stakeholders and their interrelationships in order to develop a comprehensive program for specialized English. At the micro level, practical applications of industry specific English with appropriate grammar, lexis, register and discourse must support business activities and roles of each learner segment. At the same time, language has to be consistent from function to function in all skills in order to achieve an organization’s business objectives, not always an easy task when there are variations worldwide in the technical English terms. These and other issues in development of an industry- or segment-specific ESP program will be explored." Biodata: Catherine Duffek is Program Manager of the Print Media Academy in Heidelberg, Germany, which offers business training including English courses to the printing industry. After a long career in sales and marketing management for American, Japanese and German manufacturers, she now also develops and delivers programs for business English training. (non-sponsored) |
| 16.00 - 16.15 | Change rooms |
| 16.30 - 17.30 | Sessions D1 – D4 |
| D1 |
ESP methodology Nick Robinson Chasing rainbows? The search for an overarching methodology for ESP Summary: As a teacher of business English and ESP, and later as an editor and author of ESP materials, I gave a lot of thought to what, if anything, could work as an overarching methodology for the teaching of ESP. My quest began as a way to try to save time preparing my courses: could I find a framework that could be minimally adapted to fit both my banking and my marketing students? From that developed a set of principles for teaching ESP that have influenced my teaching and writing ever since. Having found that these same guiding principles are also at work in the Cambridge English for ... ESP series, we will discuss these ideas in more depth, focussing on practical applications for the classroom. Biodata: Nick Robinson is a freelance author, editor and trainer based in York, UK. He taught in Spain, specialising in ESP and business English and then worked as an Editor of ESP materials for Cambridge University Press. He is the author of the Infotech online workbook and Cambridge English for Marketing. (sponsored by Cambridge University Press) |
| D2 |
Finance James Schofield Friend of foe? New technologies and business English Summary: I have been teaching for close to thirty years and in that time have experimented with all the various technological developments that were supposed to make my teaching life easier and improve the effectiveness of my students. The result of these experiments is that I am more convinced than ever that technology is only as good as the teacher that moderates it. In other words, technology will never replace the teacher. That being said, technology can be very useful, and by making slight adaptations to my teaching approach, I can use it to expand my potential teaching market. So, in this workshop I will demonstrate how I work with the Cambridge Financial English blended learning course and suggest generic teaching strategies that can help you deploy new teaching technologies effectively. Biodata: I have taught business English in several countries in Asia and Europe and worked for various organisations including the British Council. I now work as a trainer and course organiser for Siemens in Munich. I have written general English and business English course books as well as graded readers for different publishers. I also write short stories for Business Spotlight. (sponsored by Cambridge ESOL) |
| D3 |
Cross border communication Laura Hudson & Charlotte Ellis Crossing borders - Preventing international crisis through English Summary: English was established long ago as the lingua franca in cross border communications but for different areas alternative skills and language competencies are needed to avoid large scale crises. Using three case-studies; air safety, humanitarian assistance and international crime we will delve into the specialised language needed by each of the areas and how it can be effectively taught. Biodata: Laura Hudson, Senior Sales Representative for Germany, and Charlotte Ellis, International Marketing (sponsored by Macmillan ELT) |
| D4 |
Technical Kirsten Acquaviva & Silvia Melichova One room, many needs: Teaching technical English to multilevel classes Summary: When technical English learners are grouped by occupation, or a program has space, budget, or time constraints, multilevel classes are common. The technical component of these classes, with its specialized terminology and narrow focus, adds an additional challenge. Students might also only need English for limited functions, giving beginners little opportunity for general English improvement. This workshop will present practical and fun ideas for training multilevel classes in technical English through discussions, role-plays, and case studies. The focus will be on identifying needs, teaching specific content, and tackling motivation issues. The co-presenters will draw from their shared experience in training factory production teams and participating in continuing education programs. The aim is for participants to feel more confident and prepared when handling mixed level classes in technical English, or a similarly specialized topic Biodata: Silvia Melichova teaches technical and business English throughout Thuringia. She graduated from Masaryk University with MAs in English Language and Literature, and Upper Secondary School English Education. Kristen Acquaviva has taught business and technical English in four German states. She received her BA in Linguistics from the University of Chicago. (non- sponsored) |
| D5 |
General ESP Lewis Lansford Mudmen and monkey boards: coping with specialist content in ESP Summary: Do you teach workplace English to specialist students? Do you feel that a subject expert – and not you – should be running the class? We’ll discuss how non-experts can deliver effective ESP lessons by maximizing their own strengths, utilizing their students’ knowledge, and making the best use of available materials, including examples from the Oxford English for Careers series. Biodata: Lewis Lansford is the author of English for Oil and Gas 1 (with D'Arcy Vallance), English for Cabin Crew (with Sue Ellis), Tech Talk Intermediate Workbook, the Passport series (second edition, with Angela Buckingham) and an array of other textbooks, teacher's books, tests, magazine articles and other ELT materials for top educational publishers. (sponsored by OUP) |
| 17.30 - 18.00 | End and raffle |