Getting closer to authenticity in the course of technical English: task-based instruction and TED Talks

Authentic materials, if appropriate to the learning situation, might turn the classroom environment into a more engaging place, where motivation might be generated through the performance of meaningful tasks. This article describes how a Text-Based Instruction approach can provide the basis for the...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor: García Pinar, Aranzazu
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2019
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena(UPCT)
Repositório:Repositorio Digital UPCT
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.upct.es:10317/13152
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10317/13152
https://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/view/0/40956
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:text-based instruction
authenticity
TED Talks
ESP syllabus
Filología Inglesa
5505.10 Filología
Descrição
Resumo:Authentic materials, if appropriate to the learning situation, might turn the classroom environment into a more engaging place, where motivation might be generated through the performance of meaningful tasks. This article describes how a Text-Based Instruction approach can provide the basis for the design of an ESP syllabus based on relevant, varied and engaging tasks to enhance authentic language use among engineering undergraduates. The design of these tasks mainly draws on TED Talks that are specifically technological and connected to engineering undergraduates, as the talks develop novel and thought-provoking ideas which are interesting and personally meaningful and relate to different engineering fields. These tasks are specially designed to enable students to carry out a process of talk deconstruction through the analysis of distinct discourse and linguistic features specific to the spoken genre of TED Talks. This analysis ultimately aims at the eventual construction of students’ oral presentations. Oral presentations can be conceived as an activity that approximates the real world and future workplace of engineering undergraduates, and in consequence, promotes students’ instrumental motivation.