SAME ENGLISH - DIFFERENT PURPOSES

SAME ENGLISH - DIFFERENT PURPOSES

Kršul, Svea
Šuput, Branka

What is specific when teaching English for specific purposes to the students of entrepreneurial economics, tourism and journalism? Similarities and differences between teaching general English and English for specific purposes are fairly straightforward focusing on who our target audience is and their purpose of learning English. Through appropriate choice of content, language and text types our teaching inevitably becomes more goal-oriented. However, when it comes to the analysis of teaching English for various specific purposes, the distinctions are much more subtle, yet meaningful. This paper describes and compares the content and methodology that we apply in teaching English to the undergraduate students of entrepreneurship, tourism and journalism at the University of Applied Sciences VERN’ in Zagreb, Croatia. The focus is on the comparison of teaching, revising and practicing vocabulary, grammar and skills which are fundamental for each area of study. Regarding vocabulary work special attention is given to specific word partnerships and collocations that are integral to mastering the core vocabulary of any profession. Additionally, the fact that words collocate differently in English than in the students’ mother tongue is emphasized. It is significant that the importance of certain grammar points varies considerably according to the specific purpose in question. Therefore, in our language work we concentrate on the areas that are pertinent to the particular professional register. Despite the fact that there are certain generic business skills such as presentation skills, participating in a meeting, making a pitch or writing an email, they also vary according to the students’ professional careers. Raising awareness of just how specific the specific purposes of our pre-service and in-service students at different study programmes really are has helped us provide them with the accuracy and fluency required in their professions. Keywords: english for specific purposes, business, tourism, journalism

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2014

3545