Dita Hochmanová is an assistant professor at Masaryk University Language Centre in Brno. She specialises in teaching courses of English language for special educators and designing teaching materials. Her research interests in pedagogy cover task-based language teaching, soft skills and learner autonomy.

 

Introduction

This article presents the design of a series of task-based courses of English for special educators at the B1/B1+ level introduced at Masaryk University, Czech Republic. In response to the recently identified need to prepare students more effectively for the demands of the job market (Collins-Nelsen, 2022), the course design focuses on real-life tasks and scaffolding activities which help students bridge the gap between graduates’ competences and their future employers’ requirements, which Beneitone and Yarosh (2022) agree is a pressing issue. Rather than focusing on teaching specific content related to special education in English, the courses thus have the ambition to develop more generic transferable skills identified as crucial for successful graduation and future career by specialists in the field. First, the paper shows how the tasks were chosen and how they align with the CEFR framework. It then explains how the tasks included in the courses are related and integrated to provide the students with a meaningful structure of skills they will find useful in their future practice. Finally, the paper assesses how the participants responded to the assignments in course evaluation surveys.

 

Stage 1: Identifying students’ needs

Following the current need for creating new and more up-to-date curricula for university students, who are preparing for a career in their fields but will also need to adapt to the rapidly changing conditions on the job market, it is important to pay attention to both specific skills as well as more generic skills which students can transfer from the classroom environment to a variety of professional situations they will encounter in their futures. As many workplaces have altered their recruitment strategies to include such generic transferable skills, finding them equally important to technical and educational requirements (Collins-Nelsen, 2022), the design of curricula in educational institutions needs to keep up with these changes to provide students with effective training.

In their meta study on generic competences, Beneitone and Yarosh (2022) stress that one of the main issues associated with competence development and graduate employability is related to “the (mis)match between university graduates’ competences and employers’ needs”. As a result, identifying the real-life communication needs of our students and exploiting the possibilities of teaching transferable skills as a part of ESP classes is essential to prepare them for their successful future and increase their employability. Probably the most called for set of competencies is soft skills since they are “the core of the modern mindset and the basis for knowledge and its organisation” (Coroamǎ-Dorneanu and Urlica, 2018). According to the latest research (World Economic Forum, 2020), the most desirable generic skills rank as follow:

1. analytical thinking and innovation;
2. active learning and learning strategies;
3. complex problem-solving;
4. critical thinking and analysis;
5. creativity, originality and initiative;
6. leadership and social influence;
7. technology use, monitoring and control;
8. technology design and programming;
9. resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility;
10. reasoning, problem-solving and ideation.

The skills listed by the World Economic Forum can be compared with another list proposed by Beneitone and Yarosh (2020). Based on a survey among academic professionals in 103 countries from all over the world, the researchers identified the most required generic competencies for university graduates who will need to be able to work in multicultural environments. These skills have a high transregionalisation level, which means that they were listed by most of the respondent countries. The survey thus provides a valuable insight into which skills are required across the globe and are therefore the most relevant to include into internationalised curricula. The study (Beneitone and Yarosh, 2020) discovered that the most valued competencies on the global market are:

1. appreciation of and respect for diversity and multiculturality;
2. capacity to learn;
3. oral and written communication;
4. teamwork;
5. social responsibility and civic awareness;
6. creativity;
7. commitment to the conservation of the environment;
8. critical and self-critical abilities;
9. problem solving;
10. capacity for abstract thinking, analysis and synthesis;
11. ability to apply knowledge in practice .

As both surveys demonstrate, the scope of most sought-after skills is much broader than what traditional language courses typically offer. Although it would be truly ambitious to include all the above skills into language learning, “integrating more skills and giving complex tasks based on finding solutions and implementing them could open a new perspective in language teaching and learning” (Coroamǎ-Dorneanu and Urlica, 2018). Bearing this in mind, when designing a curriculum for an ESP language course, one of the major starting points is determining the learning needs of a particular group of future professionals and choosing a teaching approach to accommodate those needs.

 

Stage 2: Choosing an appropriate approach

Considering the range of desirable competencies for future professionals, it is essential to choose a teaching approach which would provide students with opportunities to “negotiate meaning and engage in naturalistic and meaningful communication” (Richards and Rogers, 2001). Moreover, it should employ simulation of real-life situations requiring teamwork, creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and other such transferable skills. An approach which I believe most corresponds to such a description is task-based language teaching.

Skehan defines a task as “an activity in which meaning is primary, learners are not given other people’s meanings to regurgitate, there is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities, task completing has some sort of priority, and the assessment of the task is in terms of outcome” (in Willis, 2007). Task-based teaching therefore utilises practical tasks, like listing, sorting, classifying, matching, comparing, problem-solving, project management, and storytelling to engage students in real-life language use in the classroom. As Willis stresses, it is especially while teaching English for specific purposes, “we can mirror very closely the way our learners will be going on to use the language in the real world”, and therefore we can imitate discussions and set readings which will reflect the communication situations students will encounter in their future work or study. Richards and Rodgers (2001) also maintain that tasks improve motivation because they require learners to use authentic language, have well defined dimensions and closure, are varied, involve partnership and collaboration, may include learners’ experiences, and tolerate and encourage a variety of communication styles.

As the presented research has suggested, it is vital to design university curricula meant to prepare students for their future careers more effectively. The analysis of current employers’ requirements has revealed the need to concentrate on developing students’ generic transferable skills alongside specific professional competencies, as both are highly valued on the job market. To help students develop such a wide range of generic competencies, a task-based teaching approach has been recommended for its focus on meaningful communication, simulation of real-world situations, and use of authentic language and collaboration.

 

Stage 3: Determining specific goals

Despite the general appropriateness of a task-based language approach for enhancing students’ employability through developing transferable skills, the application of its theoretical principles into practice involves a number of challenges. Richard and Rogers (2021) identify several key areas of concern:

1. analysis of real-world task use situations,
2. translation of these into teaching task descriptions,
3. detailed design of instructional tasks, and
4. sequencing of instructional tasks in classroom training/teaching.

When designing a course of English for special educators, determining what real-life situations the students might encounter in their careers became the primary and fundamental challenge. As Bebeitone and Yarosh (2020) did in their study on generic competencies, we turned to academic specialists in the respective field, who are familiar with their students’ professional needs and could give us some insight into what tasks would be meaningful for them to work on. The discussion revealed that students are likely to need the English language to raise their awareness of all available career options and to enhance their job-seeking skills. They will also need English to be able to apply for and participate in Erasmus exchange programmes. Finally, they need it to be able to follow lectures and presentations about innovations in their field and read specialised texts both on public webpages and in academic journals. 

As the requested goals had to be commensurate with students’ level of study and the required level of English, another consulted source for the course design was the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which enabled us to identify the appropriate language skills and combine them with the expected real-life situations to specify concrete task descriptions. For example, at B1/B1+ level CEFR suggests, among other things, that students should be able to:

1. understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters, like a straightforward conference presentation or demonstration with visual support;
2. take notes during a lecture, provided the topic is within his/her field of interest and the talk is clear and well structured;
3. read straightforward factual texts on subjects related to his/her field and interests;
4. reasonably fluently sustain a straightforward description of one of a variety of subjects within his/her field of interest, presenting it as a linear sequence of points;
5. give detailed accounts of experiences, describing feelings and reactions and take follow-up questions;
6. write straightforward connected texts on a range of familiar subjects within his/her field of interest and also accounts of experiences, describing feelings and reactions;
7. write basic emails/letters of a factual nature, for example to request information or to ask for and give confirmation;
8. write a basic letter of application with limited supporting details;
9. find out and pass on straightforward factual information;
10. enter unprepared into conversation on familiar topics, express personal opinions and exchange information on topics that are familiar.[CK1] 

After selecting the educational aims at B1/B1+ level relevant to students’ future academic and professional needs, the main tasks to be included in the courses became clearer and more specific.  Additionally, CEFR proved to be a great source of inspiration when creating additional tasks and activities for the courses. Many of the goals described in CEFR specifically target the development of students’ relevant communication and interpersonal skills, which are of paramount importance for caring professions, as David O´Halloran confirms in his article on using a task-based approach in language courses for health professionals (2001).

 

Stage 4: Designing real-life tasks

Over the course of two semesters, students are presented with a series of scenarios which simulate real-life situations they might encounter later in their academic or professional lives. To resolve these situations, students need to accomplish related tasks. The first scenario focuses on preparing students for studying abroad. Students are asked to look at Masaryk University webpages to familiarise themselves with Erasmus programme offers. Then, they write a short structured CV and letter of motivation to apply for one of the offered stays. After peer-reviewing their work in class, they have an opportunity to reflect on their first attempt and write a final version, which they can also use when applying for their chosen Erasmus stay.

The second scenario aims to prepare students for communicating with English-speaking clients about their needs. To enhance students’ ability to understand an English-speaking client’s case, they are first asked to find a video in English presenting a story of a person with special needs and write down its main points. Students then discuss the stories in class to raise awareness of the diversity of people’s needs. Afterwards, students are presented with the task of researching a specific special need and sharing the information with a non-Czech-speaking client using English as the language of mediation. They are asked to find a website of an organisation which offers information for people with special needs and their families. Students then give short presentations about the webpage, highlighting what kind of useful information one can find there, and answer questions from the audience, who play the role of the client.

The purpose of the third scenario is to enable students to actively communicate with other specialists in their field. Having gained some experience with following stories and searching websites, in the second semester students are required to work with more sophisticated sources and further develop their academic skills by watching a specialised lecture, writing an email to request information, and giving a short presentation about their own work experience.

To learn how to find and process information about their areas of interest online, students are asked to find a video by a specialist explaining a problem or talking about an interesting topic related to their field, watch the video, take notes, and write an email to the specialist referring to the content of the lecture and asking the person three questions related to their talk. In preparation for this task, students explore various forms of notetaking and organising information and are also encouraged to experience networking with other specialists from their field. In the peer-reviewing process, they familiarise themselves with some of the videos chosen by other students and exchange opinions on the problems the videos discuss. Finally, to practise talking about their own experience with English-speaking specialists, students give a presentation on their in-field training, which involves working with people with special needs and is a part of their study programme. Students have their presentations in class and answer questions from the audience and comment on their experience.

 

Stage 5: Validation

To validate the designed tasks, students are required to complete a course evaluation questionnaire where they mark to what extent they find the tasks meaningful and useful for their future career. The survey, containing responses from over 200 participants, has revealed that students found all the tasks meaningful and that they most appreciated being able to write a CV and cover letter as well as to process a specialised text related to the area of special education. In addition, they also marked the experience of watching a talk by a specialist and writing an email to the specialist to ask for information very useful.

 

Conclusion

Our experience of using task-based learning in the courses of English for special educators has confirmed that this approach allows for integrating generic transferable skills and therefore raises students’ employability on the job market. Students themselves found the work they did in the classes practical and meaningful, especially because it was related to a specific scenario, which set the context for the tasks. Although the current system of tasks seems to reflect students’ academic and professional needs rather well, it could certainly be further improved by incorporating more collaborative projects and teamwork into the curriculum.

 

Bibliography

Beneitone, Pablo and Maria Yarosh. (2022). Trans-regional generic competences: The core of an internationalized curriculum. Research in Comparative & International Education, 17(3), 486–510.

Coroamǎ-Dorneanu, Laura-Ioana and Alina-Andreea Dragoescu Urlica. (2018). The Language Class, an Environment for Developing Soft Skills. Research Journal of Agricultural Science, 50 (4), 87-91.

Collins-Nelsen, Rebecca, Frank Koziarz, Beth Levinson, Erin Allard, Stephanie Verkoeyen & Sandeep Raha. (2022). Social Context and Transferable Skill Development in Experiential Learning, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, (59)4, 421-430.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment Companion Volume with New Descriptors. (2018). Council of Europe.

O' Halloran, David. (2001). Task-based Learning: A Way of Promoting Transferable Skills in the Curriculum, Journal of Vocational Education & Training, (53)1, 101-120.

Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rogers. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Willis, Dave and Jane Willis. (2007). Doing Task-based Teaching. Oxford University Press.

World Economic Forum. (2020). What are the top 10 job skills of tomorrow - and how long it takes to learn them. Available at

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/top-10-work-skills-of-tomorrow-how-long-it-takes-to-learn-them/

 

Please check the Pilgrims f2f courses at Pilgrims website.

Please check the Pilgrims online courses at Pilgrims website.