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C o n s t r u c t i v i s t b L e n d e d l e a r n i n g a p p r o a c h
t o t e a c h i n g E n g l i s h f o r s p e c i f i c p u r p o s e s
Chapter 1 .
Exp eriential interactive learning as the
constituent part of the constructivist
approach that determines the methods
ofteaching/learningEnglishforSpecific
Purposes at tertiary schools
Ex p e r i e n t i a l i n t e r a c t i v e L e a r n i n g is t h e f ir st f u n d a m e n t a l n o t i o n f o r t h i s m o n o g r a p h
b e c a u s e i t o n e o f t h e t h r e e b a s i c n o t io n s u n d e r l y i n g t h e c o n s t r u c t i v is t a p p r o a c h
p r o p o s e d i n i t . I n f a c t , i f t h e c o n s t r u c t i v i s t a p p r o a c h i s t h e s u g g e s t e d theory
o f ESP t e a c h i n g / l e a r n i n g a t t e r t i a r y s c h o o l s ( c .f . t h e Introduction , e x p e r i e n t i a l
i n t e r a c t i v e l e a r n i n g i s o n e o f t h e b a s i c ways of implementing that the ory in rea l -
l i f e p e d a g o g i c a l p r o c e s s . To c l a r i f y t h e n o t i o n o f e x p e r i e n t i a l i n t e r a c t i v e l e a r n i n g
a d v o c a t e d i n th e m o n o g r a p h , e a c h o f th e t w o p a r ts in t h e n o t i o n s h o u l d b e
a n a l y z e d s e p a r a t e l y : experiential learning a n d interactive learning.
1 E x p e r i e n t i a l L e a r n i n g
E x p e r i e n t i a l l e a r n i n g h a s b e e n w e l l k n o w n b o t h i n E F L / E S L t e a c h i n g a n d i n t e a c h -
ing other subjects for qui te a long t ime (c . f . , for instance, the works by Cerd,
W i l l ia m s , 2 0 1 2 ; F r e e m a n , Fr e e m a n , 1 9 9 8 ; J e r a l d , C l a r k , 1 9 9 4 ; K o l b , 1 9 8 4 ) . It
o r i g i n a t e s f r o m t h e learning by doing a p p r o a c h ( D e w e y , 1 9 3 8 ) a l r e a d y d i s c u s s e d
in the Introduction. A c t u a l l y , t h e i d e a u n d e r l y i n g e x p e r i e n t i a l l e a r n i n g i n ESL / EFL
i s t h e s a m e a s i n l e a r n i n g b y d o i n g - t e a c h i n g l a n g u a g e s n o t t h r o u g h t h e o r y b u t
t h r o u g h p r a c t i c a l e x p e r i e n c e t h a t a l l o w s k n o w l e d g e a n d s k i l l s t o b e n o t l e a r n e d ,
b u t
internalized {
or
acquired .
Th e i d e a o f internalization d a t e s b a c k t o t h e w o r k s b y P i a g e t ( 1 9 5 0 ) a n d
V y g o t s k i i ( 1 9 7 8 ) . I n t e r n a l i z a t i o n m e a n s g a i n i n g a c t i v e a n d d e e p c o m m a n d o f t h e
k n o w l e d g e a n d s k i l l s t h a t b e c o m e a n i n t e g r a l p a r t o f h u m a n p e r s o n a l i t y a n d
a r e a l w a y s r e a d y f o r i m m e d i a t e o p e r a t i o n a l u s e i n c a s e o f n e e d . Th e p r o c e s s
o f i n t e r n a l i z a t i o n i s m o s t l y s u b c o n s c i o u s o r e v e n t o t a l l y u n c o n s c i o u s , t h e r e b y
req uir in g l i t t le or no ef fort for the re tent io n of wh at is bein g inter nal i z ed.
I n t e r n a l i z a t i o n m o s t l y h a p p e n s in t h e c o u r s e o f g a i n i n g e x p e r i e n c e t h r o u g h
p r a c t i c a l a c t i v i t i e s . C o n v e r s e l y , t r a d i t i o n a l l e a r n i n g i s a m u c h m o r e p a s s i v e
p r o c e s s o f c o n s c i o u s l y t r y i n g t o r e t a i n ( r e m e m b e r ) w h a t w a s e x p l i c i t l y t a u g h t
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0 leg Tarnopolsky
by others (e.g., teachers) and not discovered by learners themselves through
practical experience. This is why what has been learned does not immediately
become an integral part of personality, is rarely ready for practical operational
use, and requires great conscious efforts for retention. Therefore, internalization
is considered to be a much more efficient and effort-saving way of educating
humans.
In ESL/EFL internalization got the name of language acquisition in the works
by Krashen (19 81) and Krashen, Terrell (19 83) that, by the way, represent the
experiential approach to language teaching as well. In those works the much
greater eff iciency of acquisition as compared to learning is also strongly empha-
sized. That eff iciency of internalization/acquisition is most clearly demonstrated
in the famous Learning Pyramid develo ped by the National Training Laboratories
in Bethel, Maine (the USA). It is shown in Fig.l.
In this pyramid the upper four layers belong to what may be called traditional
passive learning while the three bottom layers relate to the active processes of
internalization or acquisition (the latter term w ill be used further sinc e it the one
relevant for ESL/EFL contexts). And it is just the activities that are shown in the
three bottom layers that may be considered as representatives of experiential
learning, including experiential learning in EFL.
Learning Pyramid
F ig 1 Average s t udent ret ent ion rat es (Source: National Training Laboratories. Bethel, Maine, USA;
drawn on the basis of the Internet source at http://images.yandex.ua/yandexsearch?ed=l text=Pyramid
of Learning as retr ieved September 11, 2011).
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Construct iv i st bLended learning approach
to tea chin g ngl is h for specif ic purp oses
That representat ion of experient ial Learning act iv i t ies in EFL concerns even
such an activity little known in that area as Teach Others (i.e., w he n stu de nts
the ms elv es teach la ngua ge sk i l ls to each other). There i s no evidenc e kno wn to
us that it has ever been used in ESL but in EFL teaching to tertiary linguistic stu-
dents (those who are trained for the careers of translators and interpreters from
and into Engl i sh), i t has been used more than successfu l ly for a number of years
already (c.f. Tarnop olsky, Degtyariova , 20 07 ). There i s also so m e ex perie nce
in using a s imi lar approach for an ESP technical master 's program in eHealth
(Toechterle, 2012).
What has been said also concerns the layer of Discussion Group becau se
when students are discussing some extra- l inguist ic i ssue in the target language,
they are constr uct ing so m e new kno wle dge out of the facts and ide as alread y
known to them, and such construct ing i s most certain ly one of the forms of
lea rning b y doing, i.e., of expe rientia l learning, or learn ing thro ug h exp erie nce
of discu ssin g facts and ideas. In th is case, the expe rience in que st io n i s b eing
gain ed th roug h the me dium of the target language. There are other forms of ESL/
EFL learning act iv i t ies that belong to the same category as Discussion Groups,
e.g., brainstorm ing in the target language or case studies done in it They can also
be in included into the list of experiential learning activities for ESL/EFL due to
the same reasons that are g iven above for discussions in the target language.
An d it is even n ot require d to prove that Practice by Doing and Immediate Use
are experiential activities that can be actively and effectively used for ESL/EFL
teaching in a great variety of forms. Those forms can be l i sted under the two
head i ng s above: Practice by Doing and Immediate Use. The forms undo ubte dly
inc lude project work and students presentations in the target langua ge do ne in
the framework of project work or whatever other framework (Pract ice by Doing).
They inc lude role plays and simulations in the target langu age do ne as soo n
as stud ents have gained so m e new inform ation in that language. Such role
plays and simulat ions are staged for better understanding and acquisi t ion of
that information ( Immediate Use) and for pro ces sing the obta ined informa tion
in practical activities (Practice by Doing). Finally, the y includ e search for extra-
linguistic information through target language sources (Internet, audio, audio-
visual, and printed ones). That information i s required for doing extra- l inguist ic
learning tasks to be done in the target language - such as the tasks above, l ike
preparing for a presentat ion or discussion in that language, doing a case study
or project work, etc. The se arc h in qu es tion is als o on e of the form s of Practice by
Doing (practice in the target langua ge thr oug h do ing an extra- l inguist ic act ivi ty
of content information search), as well as one of the forms of Immediate Use
because the search for information i s being done for i ts immediate use - for
instance, when preparing for a presentat ion.
The eight learning act iv i t ies l i sted above are those that are considered and
further analyzed in th is monograph as the basic and principal ones for experiential
Ch a p t e r
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ESP teaching/learning at tertiary schools The reasons why such activities are
believed to be experiential have already been given. But before analyzing those
activities in detail (which is the main essence of the first half of this chapter), it
is necessary to discuss why they are believed to be much more efficient than all
the other learning activities traditionally used in ESP.
The reasons for such a belief are psychological and psycholinguistic.
First, in all human activities the goal and motives are directly connected with
the activity itself. For instance, a man who h imse lf des igns and makes furniture for
his own house instead of buying it at the store does it with the aim of furnishing
that house (providing furniture for it) and following the motive of saving money
(DIY is much cheaper) and/or, possibly, another motive of satisfying his hobby
or passion for handicraft. Thus, both the aim and the motive(s) directly generate
the relevant activity - producing a piece of furniture - within ( inside) which they
both l ie in the process of that activity. The only exception from this rule is the
communicat ive act iv ity . According to Russian psychol inguists Leontiev (1969)
and Zimniaya (1985) , the a im and m otives of a l l com mun icat ion (a comm unicat ive
activity) are beyond (outside) the boundaries of that activity. For instance, if
a wife is trying to convince her husband, who is quite good at handicraft, to
make a piece of furniture for their house himself instead of buying it, her aim
is, again, providing such a piece of furniture for it and her motive is also saving
money. But if in the first case, the activity, its aim, and motive fully coincide in the
process of furniture making, in the second case the aim and the motive for DIY
furniture prod uction are the same, while the activity for satisfying the m otive and
achieving the aim is totally different. It is communication as a vicarious activity
replacing the production of a piece of furniture. With communicative activities
it is always l ike that - they are almost never the end but practically always the
means (except those quite rare, and mostly cl inical, cases when people talk just
to talk and not to achie ve some thing).
If any communicative activity is always the means for doing other activities,
gaining the command of that communicative activity wil l , certainly, be most
effective when it is acquired while fulf i l l ing its natural function - being such
means. Actually, this is exactly how hum ans acquire their L l (mother tongu e) in
their ontological de velopment. They acquire i t unco nsciously (or su bconsciou sly) ,
not by form ulating con sciou s rules for them selve s but by gradu ally adjustin g their
communication so as to achieve the best organization of those other activities
that they want to launch through verbal communication. And it is well known
that in the ontological developm ent of children such sub consc ious adjustments
(Ll acquisition) happen quite fast, very eff iciently, and seemingly effortlessly.
That is why Krashen (1981) recommends that the same approach is fol lowed
in L2 teaching - replacing conscious language learning with subconscious
language acquisition that can ensure much better learning outcomes and greatly
eco nom ize students efforts. But exp erien tial EFL/ESP learning does exactly that
2 3
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C o n s t r u c t i v i s t b L e n d e d l e a r n i n g a p p r o a c h
t o t e a c h i n g n g l i s h f o r s p e c i f i c p u r p o s e s
- i t p r o v i d e s fo r s u b c o n s c i o u s L 2 a c q u i s i t i o n t h r o u g h u s i n g t h e t a r g e t l a n g u a g e
c o m m u n i c a t i o n w h i l e d o i n g s o m e o t h e r a c t i v it i e s a n d a s a m e a n s f o r d o i n g t h o s e
a c t i v i t i e s (e .g ., f o r d o i n g s o m e t o p i c a l l e a r n i n g p r o je c t i n t h e t a r g e t la n g u a g e - s e e
a b o v e ) . Th i s is w h y e x p e r i e n t i a l EF L /E SL l e a r n i n g a c t i v i t i e s w i l l a l w a y s b e m o r e
e f f i c i e n t i n t h e l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g / l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s t h a n t h e m o r e t r a d i t i o n a l
o n e s - i n f u l l a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e Learning Pyramid a b o v e .
S e c o n d , o n l y w h e n c o m m u n i c a t i v e s k i l l s a r e b e i n g d e v e l o p e d i n t h e f r a m e w o r k
o f e x t r a - l i n g u i s t i c a c t i v i t i e s i s g a i n i n g c o m m a n d o f a l l t h e b a s i c f u n c t i o n s o f
h u m a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n r e a l ly p o s s i b le . T h e R u s s i a n p s y c h o l o g i s t L i s i n a ( 1 9 8 6 )
n a m e s t h r e e s u c h b a s i c f u n c t i o n s : a nominative o n e ( n a m i n g s o m e t h i n g a n d
c l a s s i f y i n g ) , a regulative o n e ( o r g a n i z i n g jo i n t a c t i v i t i e s w i t h o t h e r p e o p l e ) , a n d
a n expressive o n e ( e x p r e s s i n g o n e ' s f e e l i n g s a n d e m o t i o n s ) . A l l t h e s e f u n c t i o n s
r e l at e t o t h e h u m a n e n v i r o n m e n t a n d h u m a n e x t r a - l i n g u i s t i c a c t i v i t i e s i n t h a t
e n v i r o n m e n t a n d n o t t o c o m m u n i c a t i o n per se F o r i n s t a n c e , g a i n i n g c o m m a n d
o f t h e r e g u l a t i v e f u n c t i o n o f h u m a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n i s p o s s i b l e o n l y i n t h e
s i t u a t i o n s o f o r g a n i z i n g s o m e t h i n g , i .e ., i n e x t r a - l i n g u i s t i c a c t i v i t i e s a i m e d a t
e n s u r i n g s u c h a n o r g a n i z a t i o n . Th a t is w h y if a c q u i r i n g c o m m u n i c a t i o n s k i l l s
i s a c h i e v e d t h r o u g h e x t r a - l i n g u i s t i c a c t i v i t i e s w h i c h m o d e l r e a l - l if e h u m a n
a c t i v i t i e s , t h e r e s u l t s f o r m a s t e r i n g c o m m u n i c a t i o n f u n c t i o n s a r e m u c h b e t t e r .
A n d a g a i n , t h i s i s e x a c t l y w h a t i s d o n e i n e x p e r i e n t i a l t a r g e t l a n g u a g e l e a r n i n g
- f o r i n s t a n c e , w h e n s e v e r a l s t u d e n t s t o g e t h e r d o a p r o je c t t a s k ( e x t r a - l i n g u i s t i c
a c t i v i t y ) i n t h e t a r g e t l a n g u a g e , t h e y m a y g a i n t h e c o m m a n d o f t h e r e g u l a t i v e
c o m m u n i c a t i v e f u n c t i o n in t h a t l a n g u a g e m u c h b e t t e r t h a n w h e n t h e i r l e a r n i n g
a c t i v i t y i s a i m e d a t l a n g u a g e o n l y .
Th i r d , i t i s w e l l k n o w n t h a t s t u d e n t s ' p o s i t i v e m o t i v a t i o n i s t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t
f a c t o r f o r s u c c e s s f u l l e a r n i n g i n g e n e r a l a n d l a n g u a g e l e a r n i n g i n p a r t i c u l a r . Th e
b e s t f o r l e a r n i n g i s w h a t s o m e R u s s i a n p s y c h o l o g i s t s l i k e L e o n t i e v ( 1 9 7 5 ) c a l l
intrinsic process motivation I n t r i n s i c p r o c e s s m o t i v a t i o n ( o f t e n c a l l e d s i m p l y
intrinsic motivation i n W e s t e r n p s y c h o l o g i c a l l it e r a t u r e - W i l l i a m s , Bu r d e n ,
2 0 0 7 : 1 2 3 ) i s m a n i f e s t e d i n c a s e s w h e n a p e r s o n i s e n jo y i n g t h e p r o c e s s o f
a c t i v i t y it s e l f - r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f it s g o a l s a n d a c h i e v e m e n t s i n
i t for the ind iv id ua l 's l i fe , career , etc . G am es that peo ple p lay for p le asu re a nd
n o t f o r a c h i e v i n g a d e f i n i t e g o a l a r e t h e b e s t e x a m p l e s o f s i t u a t i o n s i n w h i c h
i n t r i n s i c p r o c e s s m o t i v a t i o n i s m o s t v i v i d l y d e m o n s t r a t e d . I n t r in s i c p r o c e s s
m o t i v a t i o n i s t h e m o s t e f f e c t i v e o n e f o r l e a r n i n g p u r p o s e s b e c a u s e w h e n t h a t
k i n d o f m o t i v a t i o n i s a c t i v a t e d , i t e s t a b l i s h e s a d ir e c t l in k b e t w e e n t h e a c t i v i t y
a n d i t s g o a l , s o t h a t t h e a c t i v i t y b e g i n s t o b e d o n e f o r i t s o w n s a k e ( H e c k h a u s e n ,
1991) , just for the p leasure of doing i t .
Th a t c r e a t e s t h e b e s t c o n d i t i o n s f o r involuntary retention ( Z i n c h e n k o , 1 9 6 1 ) ,
i.e. , for ef fort less an d long -term reten t ion of ev ery thin g re lated to the act iv i ty -
ju s t l i k e p e o p l e e f f o r t l e s s l y r e t a i n e v e r y t h i n g r e l a t e d t o t h e i r f a v o r i t e g a m e t h a t
t h e y e n jo y p l a y i n g . I n v o l u n t a r y r e t e n t i o n e x p l a i n s w h y p e o p l e w h o a r e l e a r n i n g a
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foreign language under the influence of intrinsic process motivation (those who
enjoy learning and communicating in the target language) almost effortlessly
remember and retain great numbers of foreign words.
In experiential ESP learning there are many more opportunities for developing
students' intrinsic process motivation than in traditional ESP as developed by
Robinson (1991) - with its principal focus on language for professional purposes
and not on professio n-related activities. Contrary to that, experiential learning in
EFL,
as it is clear from what has already been said,
is based on modeling extra-
linguistic activities a nd on comm unication in the target language related to those
activities. That comm unication is used as a mean s for achieving the goals of the
extra-linguistic activities be ing don e, and it is in the process of doing such activities
and using the target language as a mean s of achieving their goals that the target
language itself is subconsciously acquired.
But if it concerns ESP teaching and
learning, such modeled extra-l inguistic activities can only be profession-related.
ESP tertiary students are practically always highly motivated as to everything
that is closely related to or models their future professional activities. That is
why if such activities are modeled in the university ESP course, they are very
likely to generate students' intrinsic process motivation. Such motivation, when
generated, cannot but spread to everything through wh ich the goals of m odeled
profession-related activities are achieved, i .e., to professional target language
communication. That can really help in achieving the involuntary retention of
materials processed in the course of such communication, thereby improving
and facil itating the development of EFL/ESP communication skil ls - again, in full
accordance with the Pyramid of Learning in Fig.l above.
Finally, the last reason to believe in greater eff iciency of experiential ESP
teaching/ learning at tert iary schools as compared to the tradit ional ESP
approach is bound with the highly comm unicative nature of experient ia l
learning.
From the end of the f irst decade in the 2000s it has become fashionable to
spe ak about the the post-co m mu nicative era in ESL/E FL (c.f. Symposium on
gramm ar teaching in the post-commun icative era - Burkert, Mumford, t Lackman,
2010 - as the name for one of the symposia held at the IATEFL 2009 Cardiff
Conference). Communicative language learning (CLL) has started to be regarded
as a thing of the past - something to be replaced with the intercultural approach
(IA): a kind of training allowing students to communicate in English eff iciently
with representatives of different cultures without breaking the sociocultural
norms characteristic of a given culture, and in this way attaining communicators'
specif ic pragmatic goals (Ferradas, 2010). CLL is beginning to be considered as all
the more outdated because ESL/EFL teaching is more and more distancing itself
from the idea that students should be taught either British English or American
English as the two most widely spread varieties of the language that has become
the universally accepted media of international communication. After Kachru's
2 5
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Constructivist bLended learning approach to teach ing ngl ish for specif ic purposes
(1986) work on World Engl ishes, the movement advocat ing teaching Engl ish as
an International Language (EIL) or English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is gathering
momentum (Graddol, 2006, Jenkins, 2004) , gradual ly oust ing CLL.
On the other hand, in the discussion of Tarnopolsky (2010 and 2011) vs Berry
and vs Young (2011) on the pages of three issues (217, 219, and 220) of IATEFL
Voices itwas argued that the l ine of thinking behind the assertion thatthe IA, EIL,
and ELF can oust CLL is methodologically incorrect. It is nothing better than the
result of misinterpretation because if CLL is responsible for the method of teach-
ing {how the language is taught), IA, EIL, and ELF are responsible for the selection
of teaching/learning content (what is taught in a language course) (Tarnopolsky,
2010,2011a). That is why CLL, being indifferent to the content, not only does not
form an opposition to IA, EIL, and ELF, but may very well complement them (Tar-
nopolsky, 2010, 2011a). Moreover, if we agree about the importance of teaching
IA, EIL, and ELF (and that importance cannot be denied nowadays), we have to
agree that we absolutely must complement and combine these approaches with
CLL. The reason for that is quite evident.
In what concerns the goals, nobody argues that whatever kind of English we
teach to our students (General English or ESP, American English, British English,
or EIL), we do it to develop their communicative competence (Council of Europe,
2001; Paulston, 1992). However, developing it, we may emphasize different
components of that competence which, according to the Common European
Framew ork of Reference for Language s (Council of Europe, 2001), consists of
three principal parts: the linguistic compe tence sociolinguistic competence and
pragmatic competence.
For instance, when we follow the intercultural approach, we focus more on
the sociol inguist ic and pragmatic com petences (especia l ly i f we teach Engl ish to
solve some specif ic pragmatic tasks, as in Business English) and pay less atten-
tion to the l inguistic com petenc e. But we can never totally ignore any of the three
competences whether we teach English for intercultural communication, British
or Am erican English, EIL or ELF. This is be cause in all case s we teach our studen ts
to communicate eff iciently enough to attain through that communication their
pragmatic goals without breaking any of the important l inguistic, sociolinguistic
and cultural norms that come into play in every particular communicative event.
And how can we teach such com mun icat ion without CLL that, roughly speaking,
is nothing but teaching communicat ion for communicat ion through and in com-
munication? Of course, if we focus on intercultural aspects of communication in
English and try to teach our stude nts to use EIL or ELF in such co mm unication, w e
will necessarily neglect to a certain extent traditional/standard English grammar
and pronunciation in our teaching. But it does not compromise CLL in any way.
CLL has never emphasized grammar or phonetics. But it has always emphasized
spec if ic meth ods of teach ing such as role-plays, stude nts project work and dis-
cussions, brainstorming and essay writing and a multitude of other similar com-
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municat ive learning act iv i t ies that real ly represent and embody communicat ive
langu age learning. An d no bo dy as yet has rejected such me tho ds of teaching/
learning or has even spoken about the necessi ty of reject ing them. But i f th is
i s so, there remain no grou nd s for sp ea king ab out the post- com mu nica t ive era.
Therefore, it is hard not to recognize that CLL is sti ll here to stay remaining the
most ef f i c ient method for develop ing students ' target language communicat i ve
competence which i s the f inal goal of whatever ESL/EFL teaching and learning.
But, as p roved in the article by Tarn opo lsky (201 1), in what con cer ns ESP ( in
particular, Busin ess Engl ish), experient ial le arning i s the be st represe ntat ion and
em bo dim en t of CLL, and the m ost eff icient and effect ive as to learning outco me s.
This i s because experient ial learning act iv i t ies have features that best su it the
bas i c requ i rements to communicat i ve Eng l i sh teach ing for u s ing the language
taught in s tudents ' fu ture profe ss iona l comm unicat ion that i s su pp os ed to serve
their future professional work:
1. They al low faithful m ode ling of pro fessio nal act iv i t ies, pro fessio nal com -
mun icat ion, and profess iona l com mun icat ion s i tuat ions.
2. Al l ESP exper ient ial learning activ i ties can easi ly be bas ed on whate ver
conte nt matter related to pro fessio nal act iv i ties that nee ds to be learned.
This makes such learning act iv i t ies very f lex ible in what concerns their adjust-
ment to ESP teaching/learning at tert iary schools, potent ial ly improving thereby
students ' learn ing outcomes.
The al l-pervasive communicat ive nature of experient ial learning does not
me an that, i f such learning i s introduc ed into ESP tea ching proc ess at tert iary
scho ols, more fo rma l typ es of lea rning act ivi t ies, al l thos e that are most ly aime d
at s tudents ' ga in ing the command of vocabu lary and g rammar, are p lanned to
be total ly discarded. That would not be rat ional at al l because second language
acquisi t ion (SLA) research and pract ical teaching in the last three decades have
shown that some focus ing o f s tudents ' a t tent ion on language forms and con-
sc ious ness- r a i s ing a s to them are ind i spe nsab le for ach iev ing the best resu l t s in
target langu age acq uisi t ion (Dough ty, Wi l l iams, 19 98 ; El li s, 19 90 ; Fotos, 19 94 ;
Rutherford, 19 87 ; 0. Tarnop olsky, 19 99 ; Walter, 201 2).W hat i s actual ly mea nt i s
a hardly refutable statement that more or less formal (speci f ic language forms-
oriented) learning act iv i t ies should be on the periphery of the teaching/learn-
ing process. The focus sho uld be on total ly com mu nicat iv e exp erient ial lea rning
act iv i t ies and the greatest amount of teaching/learning t ime should be devoted
to them.
On the basis of the above analysi s of the characteri st ics of experient ial learn-
ing and i ts adva ntage s, the defin i t ion of such learning for an ESP cou rse at terti -
ary schools can be formulated. That defin i t ion may be worded as fol lows:
The
e x p e r i e n t i l l e r n i n g
in the conditions of teaching ESP to tertiary school
students is a form of learning implem ented through a set of specific learning activi
ties. They ensure the acquisition ofth target language and comm unicative skills in
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it as by-products of extra-linguistic activities modeling professional activities of a
future specialist. In this way, students them selves construct their target language
professional comm unication skills through the experience of direct participation in
such professional comm unication. This makes experiential learning a fundamental
feature of the constructivist approach.
The specific learning activities through which experiential learning in an ESP
course can be implemented have already been listed above. They include:
1. Role playing professiona l situations in the target language;
2. Sim ulating professional activities in the target languag e (including such a
form of simulations as continuous simulations discussed further);
3. Project work (when students do profession-oriente d learning projects
using the target language for doing such projects);
4. Brainstorming some professiona l issue(s) in the target language;
5. Case studies conce rning some profession al issue(s) and done in the target
language;
6. Discus sions of some professiona l issue(s) condu cted in the target
language;
7. Stude nts' presentations on some professiona l issue(s) delivered in the
target language;
8. Stud ents ' search for profe ssiona l extra -l inguistic information through
target language sources (Internet, audio, audio-visual, and printed
ones), that search being undertaken for f inding some particular
information required for doing some profession-oriented learning
assignments.
All these learning activities deserve special and detailed analysis.
2 E x p e r i e n t i a l L e a r n i n g a c t i v i t i e s
2.1. Role p layin g profes sional situations in the target
language in ESP
2.1.1. Definition of roLe pLays and their use in ESP teaching/
Learning
For decades role playing has been very popular in language teaching and widely
discussed in professional literature on such teaching (c.f. Car, 1976; Debyser,
197 6; Livingstone, 1982; Maley, Duff, 198 3; Ments, 1999 : Nunan, 198 9;
Watcym-Jones, 1978, and many other authors). This is because role playing is
an inalienable part of CLL. And since experiential learning is one of the branches
(modifications) of CLL, it cannot do without role playing, all the more so that role
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play ing has a lways bee n cons idere d as Learn ing th rough exp er ience in m ode led
real-life situations.
The comp lete d efin i t ion of role playing in langua ge learning m ay be as fol lows:
o l e p l a y s in language learning are based on classroom mode ling of target
language comm unication situations. In such modeled situations every learner-
comm unicator acts out the roles typical for those modeled situa tions (a custom er,
a passenger, a patient, etc. - the num ber of possible roles is unlimited). While
acting out roles, the learner-comm unicator is suppose d to solve some extra-
linguistic problem (s) (set in the assignmen t/instruction to the role play) w ith the
purpose of achieving some e xtra-linguistic goals (those goals having been either
explicitly set in the assignment/ instruction to the role play or formulated by
learners-comm unicators them selves in the process of role playing). The learner-
communicator is also supposed to take into account the modeled situations, the
roles, and the possible relationships betwe en comm unicators in accordance with
those roles, as well as the comm unicative intentions of all participants in that
particular p iece of comm unication. If all the above conditions are observed, role
playing becom es a kind of life-size experience for students in which mod eled life-size
problem s are being solved and modeled life-size goals are being achieved through
the medium of the target language. This allows for subconscious acquisition of the
target language in the process of living the mod eled experience.
The g iven defin i t ion i s fu l ly with in the range of shorter defin i t ions form ulated
by L i vi ngst one ( 198 2) (aclassroom activity which gives thestudents the opportunity
to practice the language they may need outside the classroom), Ment s ( 1999 )
(asking someo ne to imagine that they are either them selves or another p erson in a
particular situation), or Al-M utaw a, Kai lani (1 98 9) (a technique that affords an
opportun ity to practice a new structure in the context of natural comm unicative
usage). But the def in i t ion g i ven by us see ms to be much m ore com preh ens i ve
than the on es q uoted, i.e., more precise and mu ch less am bigu ous .
As an exa mp le pract ical ly ideal ly su it ing the defin i t ion above, one o f man y role
plays sugges ted in the book by L i v ingstone (1 98 2: 18 ) can be c ited:
You bought a sweater tw o days ago. You have discovered a hole init Takeitback
to shop and explain the problem. You do not want another sweater; you want your
money back. Be polite at all times.
This example clearly demonstrates probably the most important feature of
all role plays: their problem -solving nature that makes them representat ive not
only of experient ial learning but also of the task-based approach to language
teac hing (Pica, 20 07 ; Prabhu, 19 87 ; Skehan, 2002 ). Fol lowing the instruct ion to
the role play above, the students f ind themselves in a problem-solv ing s i tuat ion
where they are supposed to play the roles of unsat i sf ied customers who need to
prove their points despite the object ions of shop staff in order to be refunded
(problem-solv ing, or solv ing of a l i fe- l ike task with an unavoidable confl ict of
interests in the proc ess of f inding so m e sa t i sfying solut ion). It i s th is pro blem -
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to tea chin g ngl is h for specif ic purp oses
solv ing nature that makes role playing di fferent from other k inds of learning
act iv i t ies such as dramatizations or playing out situations of social contacts.
Dramatizations are a kind of lea rning activities in wh ich stu de nts act out
dialo gue s or stories written or othe rwis e p repare d for them. The part icipants
in a dram atizat ion s im ply act out the text of a dialo gue or transform a story into
a dialogu e a nd act it out. The de vel op me nt of the convers at ion a nd i ts end are
known in advance ( l ike for actors on the stage). Such dramatizat ions are useless
in ESP teaching because nothing in th is k ind of act iv i ty may be considered as
typical of pro fessio nal c om mu nicat ion . With a role play, it i s abs olut ely di fferent.
Because of the problem and the confl ict of interest, nobody knows how the
com mu nica t ion i s go ing to de velo p and h ow it i s go ing to end - just as it hap pe ns
in profes siona l com mu nica t ion (e.g., in busin es s talks). This i s w hy o nly pro blem -
solv ing role plays and not dramatizat ions are required for ESP teaching on the
con ditio n that the stu de nts neve r prepa re su ch role pla ys in adv ance , i.e., the y
must be total ly spontaneous. I f students f i rst discuss how they are going to act
out a role play, the s eq ue nc e of their rem arks, etc., it is not a role play but a
dramatization with no problem to solve or no conflict of interest.
The same can be said about the learning act iv i ty that could be cal led playing
out situations of social contacts. The instruct ion for a student doing such a k ind
of activity may be as follows, You are a customer who w ishes to buy some definite
issue of a definite magazine from a news agent (the other student in the pair). Ask
for the maga zine and its price. If it is available, buy it; ifnot,ask w hether you can
order it or where you can get it . There i s absolutely no problem to solve in th is
cas e and no conflict of intere sts as distinct from role plays, and, therefore, su ch
social contacts are not very typical of genuine professional communicat ion. That
is w hy if suc h lea rning activities are quite p oss ibl e and use ful at the initial stage s
of teac hing G ene ral E ngl i sh, they are hardly go od for ESP.
So role plays developed for experient ial learning should always have a problem
to be solve d by the stud ents w ho are doin g the role playin g - like in Di Pietro s
sce nario s (1 98 7) w hich are, in fact, the sam e role plays. In most cases, the p rob lem
is based on the conflict of participants interests, that conflict being conditioned
by the roles they play (e.g., like in the ab ove role play de ve lop ed by Livingstone :
the interests of the customer who wants to be refunded oppose the interests of
a shop a ssi stant w ho w ants to avoid the necessi ty of paying the refund money).
It sho uld also be rema rked that in ESP it i s more habitual to spe ak abo ut
simulations and not about role plays because s imu lat ions are most ly bel ieved to
be l inked to professional content matter - including the content of professional
communicat ion in the target language. But whether we shou ld speak about and
use s imulat ions or role plays depends on students future specialty and their
current m ajor. If the stu de nts major in Econo mic s, Engin ee ring, or science s, it
i s better to speak abo ut s im ulat io ns (e.g., w he n bus ine ss talks or mee tings at
a Product ion Department are s imulated). Communicat ion in such si tuat ion
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is too specif ic, both in what concerns the content and the Language, and too
far removed in that respect from everyday problems and everyday (General)
English required for solving such problems. On the other hand, if the students
major in humanities, in a number of cases it is better to speak about role plays
and not simulations. A good example demonstrating why it is so may be taken
from the already mentioned coursebook for university students of Psychology
Psychological Matters by Tarnopolsky, Kozhushko, et al. (2011a) - Unit 4.
Balancing Work and Family.
Role play Act outadialogue betw een an employer and a working person (mother
or father) who is asking for a release time from work to attend to her/his children's
needs a t school. Themother/father'should follow the recomm endations (both those
that are in the text above and those that you have deve loped in your discussion).
Please, keep in mind that 'the employer' is certainly unwilling to give 'the employee'
some extra release time. S/he will listen to reason only if'the employee' proves that
such extra release time is absolutely necessary and that her/his work will not suffer
because ofit.
The learning activity in the example above is undoubtedly aimed at developing
professional target language communication in English of future practical
psychologists - those skil ls that they need to advise their cl ients how to behave
in working place conflicts. But that activity is better called a role play and not a
simulation because it deals with a situation of everyday life (just like the work
of practical psychologists usually does) and everyday (General) English with no
special terminology is to be used for communicating in such a situation. It means
that not only simulations but also role plays can be used in ESP teaching dep end ing
on what particular ESP is being taught. When teaching future psychologists, it is
going to be mostly role plays, not simulations ( l ike in the coursebook mentioned
above), and this is why they are analyzed in this monograph.
As to professional communication skil ls development with the aid of role
plays, they are certainly most beneficial for acquiring speaking skil ls in the
target language. Naturally, l istening skil ls are also developed because when
role playing, students are listening to each other. It means that role plays as a
learning activity are mostly design ed for studen ts acqu isition of skil ls in target
language oral communicat ion.
However, role plays can be no less helpful in developing reading and writing
skil ls. For instance, as can be seen from the instruction to the role play above
designed for students of Psychology, it is based on reading a professional
text, that reading preceding and providing information for actual role playing
(role playing could be based on l istening as well - e.g., l istening to a fragment
of a psychological session where a psychologist is advis ing his/her cl ient how
to behave in a similar situation). Reading can also follow role playing - for
instance, when after role playing a psychological consultation, students are
requested to read some professional text explaining how such a particular kind
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of psychological consultat ions should be conducted with further discussion of
drawbacks in students' performance in the role play from the professional point
of view. Writing m ay follow role play ing in the same manner - for exam ple, wh en
students are requested to write a report on a psychological consultation just role
played by them w ith the aim of presen ting that report at a seminar of p ractical
psychologists ( the learning tasks discussed above are based on the coursebo ok
Psychological Matters by Tarnopolsky, Kozhush ko, et al. (2011a)).
In all these cases, rea ding and w riting tasks either serve as the source of extra-
l inguistic information for role playing or are the means of summarizing its re-
sults, and it is in the process of solving such extra-l inguistic tasks that students'
target language ski l ls in reading and writ ing are being developed subc onsc iously
in full accordance with the experiential learning procedure discussed before.
Therefore, in a properly organized ESP learning role playing may serve both the
development of target language oral communication skil ls (speaking and l isten-
ing) and target language written communication skil ls (reading and writing) with
practically equal eff iciency.
An important question concerns the stage of students' target language
development at which role plays, such as the role play for future psychologists
described above, become feasible. The role plays of the above level of language
and content diff iculty are most definitely impossible to be used atthe beginner's
A level of students' language development in General English. But on the other
hand, they become accessible to students if their level of EFL development is
Bl , Bl+, a l l the more so B2 (Counci l of Europe, 2001) - pre-intermediate and
intermediate levels. But it is just at this level of command of General English
that students start to learn ESP. For instance, in Ukraine, for which the teaching/
learning approach discussed in this monograph was initially developed, tertiary
students usual ly atta in Bl , Bl+, or sometimes B2 level in their General Engl ish
command by the end of their f irst year of university studies, and it is beginning
with their second year at university that they ordinarily start learning ESP. It is
just for the students of this level of language development (i.e.,for those who have
reached B1/B1+/B 2 levels in their General English and start learning ESP on that
basis) and this period o f language studies that our approach had originally been
developed, and that should be kept in mind when evaluating both the ESP role
play above and all the other learning activities suggested in this chapter and the
monograph as a whole.
2.1.2. CLassification of roLe pLays and their organization
Role plays can be classif ied according to:
1. The num ber of participants - those played in pairs, in sm all grou ps of 3- 4
students, or by the entire academic group who are learning ESP together
in one classroom.
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2. The Location - classroom role plays or those held outside the classroom,
for instance, when ESP students are touring a practical psychologist or a
doctor s office for learning purposes.
3. The need for initial preparation - like reading, or listening, or watch ing a
video before staging the role play to obtain some information required
for such staging.
k. The degree of using aids for role playing - a bsenc e of aids; using only
visual or auditory aids like video, pictures, or music; using also verbal
supports like lists of words for giving language help to students when
they are role playing (hand-outs), etc.
5. Involveme nt of all four comm unication skills (speaking, listening, reading,
writing) or limiting them to two (speaking and listening only) or three
skills (reading or writing in addition to speaking and listening).
6. The degree of control of students role behavior (whether the instructions
to the role play grant students freedom in what they do within the loose
framework oftheroles indicated for them or whether that instruction fu lly
determ ines their role behav ior - e.g., when in the role play for students of
Psychology above the student impersonating the employer is instructed
to be as little compromising as possible).
7. The degree of control of goa l-settin g in a role play - w hether the go al
of communication is predetermined by an instruction or whether the
players themselves formulate their goals in the process of playing
on the basis of the roles assigned to them. For instance, in the role
play above the communication goal of the employee talking to his/
her employer is pre-set (getting release time from work), but in
other role plays it may be not formulated at all with only the roles of
communicators and the situation of communication being outl ined in
the instruction.
In the organizational aspect, role playing may include several stages:
1. Preparation by the teacher: dec iding what the comm unication situation,
the roles of participants, and their goals are going to be; dec iding whether
the students leve l of langua ge de velopm ent is sufficient for just such a
role play; deciding whether they will need supports, what kinds of sup-
ports, and preparing those supports; deciding whether students will need
initial preparation for role playin g - like reading, or listening, or w atching
a video before staging the role play to obtain some information required
for such staging - and assem bling m aterials for such students prepara-
tion; compiling instructions for students, etc.
2. Stude nts initial preparation: reading, or listening, or wa tching video be-
fore staging the role play to obtain some information required for such
staging.
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3. Instructions to stude nts (by the teacher): des crib ing the com mu nicatio n
situation, assigning roles, setting goals (if they need to be set), and answer-
ing possible students questions.
k. Role playin g itself.
5. Debriefing - d iscussin g and comm enting on the results of role playing
(both the teacher and the students comments).
6. Follow-up - l ike students majoring in Psychology writing a summ ary in Eng-
lish of psyc holo gical session that they have just role played for p reparing
a presentation or report at a mode led seminar of practical psycholog ists
that may be one of the following experiential learning activities.
Only the third and the fourth stages are mandatory and absolute ly unavoidable;
all the others can be m ore or less optional. For instance, the first stage (preparation
by the teacher) is not required when everything necessary for organizing a role
play has already been prepared for the teacher in the cou rsebook or other teach-
ing materials used by him or her (as it is in the coursebook Psychological Mat-
ters by Tarnopolsky, Kozhushko, et al. (2011 a) mentioned above). As to the secon d
stage (initial stud ents preparation), it is less frequ ently omitted in ESP, but such
omissions are quite possible when the students were learning all the content ma-
terials required for role playing at some earlier stages. The debriefing stage (omit-
ted most rarely) may be useless in such infrequent case s when students work was
so good that the teacher has practically nothing to comment on except say ing how
good a job the students have done. Finally, though the follow-up stage sh ould
mostly be used in experiential teaching to ensure logica l modeling of professional
activities follow ing e ach other in a consecutive order according to a certain profes-
sional logic, in some case s the role play itself may be the en d- pi ec e -f or instance,
when finishing a ll learning activities on some ESP topic of profession al interest.
An important issue is the teacher s invo lvement in the process of stude nts
role playing. In principle, teachers may take part in their studen ts role plays as
participants. But this is probably not the best solution because, in this case, a
teacher can join only one pair or small group out of several who are role playing
simultane ously in the classroom. The opportunity of helping and obse rving (to get
information for debriefing) other pairs and small groups will be lost. So, the best
involvement for the teacher is probably becoming an observer circulating among
pairs and small groups of students and listening to their role playing. In that case,
the teacher can also be a consultant givin g prompts to students when they require
them.
Som e other essential requirements for teachers whe n organ izing their students
role playing in an ESP course are as follows:
1. to avoid makingon e pairof students oro ne smal l gro up ofth em perform in
front of all the other students who are silently l istening; though sometime s
that may become advisable (e.g., for demonstrating the performance of
the best students as a sample) - as a rule, all students in class should role
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p lay s imulta neo us ly i n the ir pa i rs or sma l l g roup s ; otherwi se , p rec ious t ime
of ta rget langu age com mun icat ion, wh ich m ode ls rea l- li fe p rofess iona l
communicat ion, wi l l be lost for the major i ty of learners;
2 . to avo id i n ter rupt ing s tudent s wh i le they a re com mu nica t ing in the ta rget
language in the process of role p lay ing for correct ing their language
mistakes (except thos e ca se s wh en mi s takes m akes wha t i s be in g sa id by a
s t uden t i n co mp reh en s i b l e - t a c t f u l p rompt s s hou ld be u sed in s u ch c a ses );
teache r s i n ter rupt ions d ue to lea rners langu age fau l t s may d i s rupt the i r
c ommun i ca t i on ;
3. to avo id dem on stra t ing to stud ent s the interest in their l inguist ic
perf orm ance only; learners sho uld fe el that their teache r is intereste d in
wh at the y say, their ideas, etc., an d n ot onl y in ho w th ey sa y it (the la ngu age );
4. to avo id ma kin g stud ent s nerv ou s and anxi ou s (e.g., abo ut their grade s,
about hear ing someth ing d i scourag ing f rom the teacher concern ing the i r
performance) in the process of role p lay ing; students should feel re laxed
and f ree of whatever persona l fea rs tha t can d i s rupt communicat ion or
mak e it m uch less eff ic ient than i t cou ld be other wise;
5 . to avo id lower ing s tude nt s mot i va t ion leve l s by sug ges t ing ro le p lay s
that cannot interest them or repeat ing the same kinds of role p lays over
and over aga in , thus gene ra t ing m on oto ny and b ore do m in the teach ing/
learning process;
6 . to avo id s tag ing ro le p lay s very ra re ly and i r re gu la r ly - t he y sho u ld bec om e
a regular part of the learning process for the students to learn p lay ing them
without too much efforts and to start enjoy ing such p lay ing.
7 . to avo id surpa ss ing the reason ab le leve l o f langu age and in format ion
di ff iculty for stud ent s (at the given stage of their langu age a nd pro fess iona l
dev e lop me nt ) i n the ir ro le p lay ing a s s i g nme nt s . It doe s not m ean that
s tude nt s sho u ld have abso lute ly a ll content i n format ion and a ll langua ge
(for instance, a ll vo cab ular y) for role p lay in g at their d i sposa l. There sh ou ld
be som e k ind of inform at ion gap, just l ike in a l l tas k-b ase d ass ig nm ent s,
oth erw ise there is go in g to be no sen se in role p lay ing at a l l be cau se the
pr ob lem s to be so lve d wi l l be lacking (c.f. Prabhu, 198 7). There a lso ma y
be som e voc abu lary that stu den ts do not know but may need for their role
p lay . However , th i s voca bu la r y sh ou ld i nc lude o n ly a few wo rds tha t may be
easi ly prompted by the teacher before role p lay ing or in the process of i t
w i t hou t endang e r i n g t he smo oth f low o f s t uden t s c omm un i ca t i on . S o , wha t
i s mea nt by the above requ i reme nt is mak ing ro le p lay ing ta sks ac cess ib le
to s tudent s , even though a t ta in ing that access ib i l i t y may demand the i r
se r iou s e f for ts . In fac t, su ch e f for ts sho u ld be constant ly d em an de d f rom
s tuden t s beca u se on l y t hey c an en su re t he l ea rn i ng p rog re s s .
The requirem ents formulated above concern all experiential learning activities
discussed in this chapter so they will not be repeated again.
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C o n s t r u c t i v i s t b L e n d e d l e a r n i n g a p p r o a c h
t o t e a c h i n g E n g l i s h f o r s p e c i f i c p u r p o s e s
2
S i m u l a t i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s b y m e a n s o f t h e
t ar get l anguage i n E SP
2 2 1 D efin it io n o f s i m ul at i o n s an dt h e i r us e i n E SPt eac hing/
learning
S i m u l a t i o n s i n E S P t e a c h i n g h a v e b e c o m e n o l e s s p o p u l a r th a n r o l e p l a y s a re i n
t e a c h i n g G e n e r a l E n g l i s h . T h e y a r e a l s o v e r y t h o r o u g h l y a n a l y z e d in p r o f e s s i o n a l
l it e r a tu r e ( C r o o k a ll , & O x f o r d , 1 9 9 0 ; D a v i s o n , & G o r d o n , 1 9 7 8 ; J o n e s , 1 9 8 2 ;
V i s h n y a k o v a , 1 9 8 7 ) . J o n e s d e f i n e s a s i m u l a t i o n in l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g a s
... r e a l i t y o f f u n c t i o n i n a s i m u l a t e d e n v i r o n m e n t , a n d i t i s t h a t r e a l i t y o f
f u n c t i o n th a t d i s t i n gu i s h e s i t f r o m a r o l e p l a y ( J o n e s , 1 9 8 2 : 4 - 5 ) . Th e d e f i n i t i o n
i s g o o d b e c a u s e i t d r a w s a d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n s i m u l a t i o n s a n d r o l e p l a y s .
T h e s e t w o l e a r n i n g a c t i v i t i e s a r e v e r y m u c h a l i k e s i n c e i n s i m u l a t i o n s s t u d e n t s
a l s o p l a y r o l e s w h i l e t h e y a r e e n ga ge d i n e x t r a - l i n gu i s t i c a c t i v i t i e s i n w h i c h
c o m m u n i c a t i o n i s h e l d in th e t a rg e t l a n g u a g e . B u t i n s i m u l a t i o n s
the function
o f t h e a c t i v i t y ( l i k e s o l v i n g a p r o f e s s i o n a l p r o b l e m ) i s f o c u s e d u p o n , w h i l e i n
r o l e p l a y s t h e f o c u s i s o n m o d e l i n g a r e a l - l i f e s i t u a t i o n f o r c o m m u n i c a t i o n .
H o w e v e r , J o n e s ' s d e f i n i t i o n is n o t s u f f i c ie n t f o r E S P t e a c h i n g b e c a u s e n o t h i n g
i s s a i d a b o u t th e o r i e n t a t i o n o f s i m u l a t i o n s a t s t u d e n t s ' p r o f e s s i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s .
J u s t t h a t p o i n t w a s e m p h a s i z e d b y t h e R u s s i a n s c h o l a r V i s h n y a k o v a ( 1 9 8 2 ) w h o
w a s d i s c u s s i n g u s i n g s i m u l a t i o n s in t e a c h i n g R u s s i a n a s a f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e a n d
d e f i n e d t h e m a s p r a c t i c a l c l a s s e s m o d e l i n g d i f fe r e n t a s p e c t s o f p r o f e s s i o n a l
a c t i v i t i e s .
On t h e b a s i s o f t h e s e t w o d e f i n i t i o n s , o u r o w n d e f i n i t i o n o f s i m u l a t i o n s i n ESP
t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g c a n b e f o r m u l a t e d :
Simulations in ESP teaching and learning are learning activities similar to role
plays with the difference that they focus not so much on comm unication situations
but more on the functions of professional activities being modeled in them.
Just l i ke in a ro le p lay , in s imulat ions there are ro les , s i tuat ions of communica-
t i o n i n w h i c h t h o s e r o l e s a r e p l a y e d , s e p a r a t e a c t i o n s w i t h i n t h e a c t i v i t y b e i n g
modeled, and, of course, the problem(s) to be solved. But i f for a ro le p lay
the
conflict of interests i s q u i t e c o m m o n ( e .g ., t h e c o n f l i c t o f i n t e r e s t s b e t w e e n a c u s -
t o m e r a n d a s h o p a s s i s t a n t i n t h e r o l e p l a y s u gge s t e d b y L i v i n gs t o n e o r a c o n f l i c t
o f i n t e r e s t s b e t w e e n a n e m p l o y e e a n d a n e m p l o y e r in t h e a b o v e ESP r o l e p l a y
f o r s t u d e n t s o f Ps y c h o l o gy ) , f o r a s i m u l a t i o n
the conflict of opinions
i s m u c h m o r e
t y p i c a l s i n c e t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s s t r i v e t o a t t a i n o n e a n d t h e s a m e go a l a n d t h e r e a r e
n o c o n t r a d i c t i o n s a m o n g t h e m a s t o w h a t t h a t go a l is . But t h e r e i s a c o n t r a d i c t i o n
a s t o t h e w a y o f a c h i e v i n g t h e go a l ( a c o n f l i c t o f o p i n i o n s ) t h a t d i f f e r e n t p a r t i c i -
p a n t s s u gge s t , a s c a n b e s e e n f r o m a n e x a m p l e b e l o w o f a n ESP s i m u l a t i o n t a k e n
f r o m t h e c o u r s e b o o k
Business Projects
b y Ta r n o p o l s k y , K o z h u s h k o , et a l. ( 2 0 0 2 )
Unit
7.
Marketing.
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Student A
You are a representative of a
manufacturer. Discuss with the
middlem an (a who lesaler or retailer)
the conditions of distributing your
product He/she will store it But who
will transport it? You w ould prefer it
to be the middleman because you lack
the means of transportation. If he/she
agrees to undertake transportation,
you are willing to lower the price h e/
she will pay you for the products.
Student
You are a middleman (a wholesaler
or retailer). Discuss with the
representative of a manufacturer
the conditions of distributing his/
her product. You will store it. But
who will transport it? You prefer
it to be the responsibility of the
manufacturer because you lack the
means of transport. But you can solve
the problem and find the means of
transport if the manufacturer agrees
to lower the price at which you will
buy the product. You would like a 15
reduction if you transport the product.
Discuss this with the manu facturer's
representative.
It sho u ld be noted that w he n th i s parti cu lar s imu lat io n i s being organ ized
in the c lassroom, each one of the two studen ts-part i c ipa nts i s not su pp os ed
to know the instruct ions received by h is/her counterpart. Otherwise, i f those
are mutual ly know n, the proble m to be d i scus sed d i sapp ears. Th i s i s bec ause
not only the cause of the confl ict of opin ions (both s ides are unwi l l ing to un-
dertake t ransportat ion ) is revealed in adva nce but the g ro und s for the c om pro -
mise are also dis clo se d be fore the dis cu ss ion beg ins. A s imi lar restr ict ion (the
part i c ipants shou ld not know the op in ions and ideas o f other part i c ipants in
advance) appl ies to most ESP s imu lat ions ju st because, un l i ke ro le p lays, they
represent the conf l i ct o f op in ions typ ica l for profess iona l communicat ion and
not the confl ict of intere sts typica l for eve ryd ay l ife (and wh ich i s in ma ny ca se s
qu i te obv ious wi thout any d i scuss ion ) .
S im u lat io ns in ESP a lwa ys deve lop pr imar i ly ora l com mu nica t ion sk i l l s
(speaking and l i stening - just l ike in role plays) s ince they inevitably include
profe ss iona l d i scu ss io ns in wh ic h part i c ipants act in som e p rofes s iona l ro les.
But un l i ke ro le p lays, the proce ss o f s imu lat ing mos t ly inc lude s agre eing on a
wh ole cha in o f profe ss iona l so lu t ions requ i red to com e to a com pro mis e in
what concerns the conf l i ct o f op in ions. For in stance, in the s imu lat ion above
Student sho u ld agree to undertake t ra nsportat ion ( the f ir st profess ion a l so lu -
t ion in a chain and the f i rst compromise) on the condit ion that Student Aag rees
to lower the pr ice ( the seco nd profe ss iona l so lu t ion in a cha in and the sec ond
compromise) . Th i s s t ructure of ESP s imu lat ions makes them c loser to typ ica l
profess iona l communicat ion than ro le p lays.
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Besides, if in role plays recourse to written communication (reading and
writing) is possible and desirable but more or less optional, in simulations
that recourse is practically mandatory. First, simulations are almost always
preceded by students' collecting some professional information required
for simulating, and that is mostly done through reading. For example, before
staging the simulation above students need to know what product is being
sold and transported, what its characteristics and conditions of transportation
are, what the standard price is on the basis of wh ich the 1 5 discou nt may
be requested, etc. Thus, reading must obligatorily precede such a simulation
- exactly as it would have happened in real-l ife professional oral business
communication. But in real l ife such communication would almost inevitably
be followed by writing - preparing contract on the basis of the talks or writing
a report on the talks for the employer by a representative of the manufacturer,
etc. For an ESP simulation just such a follow-up is also natural and should never
be omitted. So, in this respect (practically mandatory involvement of aII the four
basic communication skil ls) simulations are also closer to genuine professional
communication than role plays.
It is due to such features of simulations, as distinct from role plays, that
they, and not role plays, are mostly used in ESP teaching (though, as already
said, for students of some humanities, l ike Psychology, role plays are better
adapted).
2.2.2. CLassification of simuLations and their organization
The classification of simulations is quite similar to the classification of role plays.
Just like those, simulations can be classified according to:
1. The number of participants.
2. The location - ESP simulations can be held outside the classroom. For
instance, future aviation dispatchers can be taken to the airport training
center with all the mock equipment installed there and simulate doing in
English the job that they are taught to do.
3. The degree of using supports when simulating some professiona l activity,
including using or not using language supports.
k. The degree of control of students' role behavior in a simulation.
5. The degree of control of goa l-setting in a simulation.
But unlike role plays, there can be no simulations that do not need some de-
gree of initial preparation by students (like gathering some information required
for simulating accurately some professional activity). Therefore, simulations with
absolutely no involvement of reading and/or writing are hardly possible either
(see above).
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The stages in organiz ing a s imulat ion also coincide with the stages of organ-
izing a role play:
1. Pre para tion by the teacher.
2. In it ial stud ent s pre pa rat ion.
3. Instruct ing stud ents by the teacher.
4. Sim ulat in g a pro fessio nal act ivi ty i tself.
5. Debriefing.
6. Follow-up.
But unlike role playing, only the stage of preparation by the teacher can
be opt ional among the six stages and i s not required when, for instance, the
coursebook ( the Teacher s Book) contains everything the teacher may need for
organiz ing a s imulat ion. Al l the other stages, as fol lows from everything that has
been sa id above, sho u ld be cons idered as a lmost a lways mandatory.
As i s clear from what has been said when discussing role plays, everything
stated ear l ier concern ing the teachers invo lvement and the requ i rements to
teachers in the process of students role playing relate in an equal measure to
the organizat ion of s imulat ions (as well as to al l the other experient ial learning
act iv i t ies). But there i s one more speci f ic and quite an important requirement
that concerns the organizat ion of s imulat ions only (Vishnyakova, 1987).
This is the requirement to organize them in such a way that imitational mod eling
of professional activities i s ensured. This means that in an ESP simulation not only
the professional communicat ion i tself but the non-verbal professional act iv i t ies
acc om pan ying that com mu nicat ion shou ld a lso be s imulated. For instance, if a
business meeting i s being s imulated, students should not only talk in English on
profess ional (business) matters, they shou ld also d o wha t professiona ls usual ly do
at such meetings: demonstrate diagrams and graphs, present some samples, etc.
Otherwise, learners will not really feel themselves to be in a quasi -genuine pro-
fessional environment and much of the experiential learning effect may be lost.
On the other hand, imitat ing professional non-verbal act iv i t ies and environment
should be balanced and never overdone because that may distract students from
what is really important in an ESP course - professional communication in English.
Thus, s imulat ing profess ional act iv i ties of a rai lway engine er in an ESP classro om
do es not require bringing a locomotive into that classro om - b esid es b eing im po s-
sible, that i s not even desi rable bec ause stude nts attent ion wi l l be focuse d o n the
locomotive and not on comm unicat ion. In the same way, tho ugh o rganiz ing ESP
simula t ions in professional locat ions ( like an ESP simulat ion in a locomotive she d
organized for future rai lway engineers) may sometimes be desi rable, as fol lows
from point 2 in the classification of sim ulat ions ab ove, it sh ou ld never be freq uent.
Such simulat ions in professional locat ions are good only as infrequent (sporadic)
events for reinforcing students belief in the modeled professional activities in
their ESP classroom. But i f those events hap pen too often, they m ay unnec essari ly
distract learners from their communication in the target language.
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2.2.3. Definition of continuous simulation and its use in ESP
teaching/Learning
ALL the above requireme nts to sim ulations in ESP are be st met in a compara-
tively novel kind of such simulations called continuous simulations (Tarnopolsky,
& Kozhushko, 2003), f irst presented and discussed as a tool in Business English
teac hing at IATEFL 199 8 Manche ster confere nce by Tarno polsky (2000).
ont inuous simulat ion
is a specific o rganization of a Business English (as a spe-
cif ic type of ESP - Ell is, & John son, 1 99 4) course when learning develops as con-
tinuous mo deling and enacting of business activities and comm unication in class.
The enactment is done in the framework of almost life-size functioning of an imagi-
nary company. Students themselves invent it, set itup ,organ ize its functioning ,
and work in that compan y.
It is a kind of play where learners themselves are
actors, directors, and playwrights on an on-going basis. Continuous simulation,
unl ike tradit ional s imulat ions, which are disconnected episodes in the learning
process, creates a common meaningful plot for Business English learning and
communicative activities in the course, that plot being developed from class to
class. Students decide what form of business they are going to organize, what
the structure and management hierarchy of their company is going to be; they
organize the company, elect or appoint its top executives, f ind, interview, and
select employees; determine the place that their business can occupy in the
economy of the country; they do marketing research, solve f inancial problems,
participate in fairs, sign contracts, etc.
This common plot developing from class to class creates an imaginary l ife
continuum in which students do not need to focus on conscious learning. They
acquire both Business English and business itself by constantly playing it in con-
ditions imitating or modeling business environment. What is very important is
the fact that in continuous simulation the modeled business environment is cre-
ated by students themselves who develop the plot when they play business.
That makes students' communication highly creative and imaginative. Learners'
creativity and imagination is what the entire approach is based on.
In the teaching/ learnin g process where the continuou s s imu lat ion is used
it becomes the pr incipal type of learning act iv it ies. Al l the other learning
act iv it ies 'serve' this one - leading up to i t , supply ing language materia l for
the continuous s imulat ion and helping organize i t in the most eff ic ient manner
so that students could permanently s imulate business act iv it ies and business
communicat ion in their c lassroom al l through the course of Business Engl ish
not only without too m uch efforts but a lso enjoying th em selves in the process.
Continuous s imulat ion as an approach to teaching Business Engl ish was
most ful ly embodied in the coursebook Business Projects by Tarnopolsky,
Kozhushko, et al. (2002). There continuous simulation was designed as a series
of logica l ly interconnected ep isodes-assignm ents for students that out l ine the
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dev elop me nt and funct ion ing of the imag inary comp any foun ded by them at
the very be ginn ing of the course. The ep iso de s are stage d by the studen ts not
only when they are working on each unit in the coursebook but almost in every
class (see Chapters), ens urin g the cont inuity of the s imulat ion and the ima ginary
cont inuu m of bus ine ss acti v it ies ment ione d above. Som e of such ep i sod es-
a s s i gnmen t s f rom the cou r sebook Business Projects by Tarnopolsky, Kozhushko,
et al. (2 00 2) are g iven below to provide e xam ples. The ep iso de s are borr ow ed
from: Unit 3. Making Appointments and Applying for a Job; Unit 7. Marke ting; and
Unit 9. Banking.
Con t i n u o u s s imu l a t i o n .
Conduct your company s Executive Board meeting.
You have already advertised some job vacancies and decided how many people
of various occupations should be employed. Your company s Personnel Officer
has already received a number of applications. Thejob interviews will be held very
soon. Now you need to discuss the personal qualities and qualifications you want
an applicant to have in order to be given a certain position in your com pany. Every
member of the Executive Board, as well as every director or manager, should give
his or her opinion about both the qualifications (education, work experience, and
other aspects) and the personal qualities th at are required of the candidates./4s
a result of the discussion, minimum requirements for the candidates should be
listed. The discussion should be based on the list you comp iled in project work
(la.2) - professions required, the numb er o f emp loyees from tho se professions to
be employe d, cond itions of their work, and salaries.
Con t i n u o u s s imu l a t i o n sma l l g r o u p w o r k ) .
In small groups of three or four
students, discuss the kinds of prom otion you think would be good for your busi-
ness and give your reasons. Which methods do you need (ifany ,and w hy? You will
surely include advertising. Which m ethod of advertising do you recomm end that
your company uses, and w hy? After a 5 to 7 minute discussion, each small group
will make a two-m inute presenta tion to the class, giving their recomm endations
and answe ring questions.
Co n t i n u o u s si m u l a t i o n . A t t h e me e t i n g o f t h e F i n a nc e De p a r t m e n t .
In the pre-
ceding class ea ch pair in the class simulated getting a loan for your com pany. Now
the results should be reported. Each pair bases the presentation on their written
report prepared after the preceding class. If every pair tried getting a loan for the
same project, when all the reports have been given, there should be a whole-class
discussion to decide which bank h as offered the best conditions.
If the loans were for different projects, each p air should first explain the project
itself, and then report which bank was willing to grant a loan for it and on what
conditions. In that case, the report of each pair should be discussed separately and
a decision taken wheth er the project itself is acceptab le and wheth er the conditions
ofthe loan are suitable.
It has a l ready be en m ent ion ed that in con t inuo us s im u lat ion learners them -
selves develop the p lot o f the s imu lat ion and p lan everyth ing that i s go ing
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Construct iv i st bLended learning approach
to tea chin g ngl is h for specif ic purp oses
to happen. But the genera l out l ine is promp ted/d eterm ined by the teacher/
cour seb ook. I t can be see n f rom the exam ple s abo ve and f rom the gene ra l out -
lay of the coursebook in quest ion how it i s done. The f i rst unit in i t i s ent i t led
Forms of Business and i s devoted to d i scuss ing in Eng l i sh the most spread
forms of bus iness organ izat ion : so le propr ietorsh ip, partnersh ip, two types o f
corpo rat ions/c omp an ies, a nd f ranch i s ing . It i s wh en wo rk ing o n that uni t that
the con t inu ous s imu la t ion starts by s tude nts s imu lat ing a me et ing o f fou nd -
ers whe re they dec ide to establ i sh their ow n bus ine ss. They a l so dec ide
what the form of that business i s going to be (a partnership, a corporat ion/
co m pa ny , etc.), wh at they are goi ng to do (ma nufa cture , sell, etc.), w he re their
business organizat ion i s going to be located, what i ts name is going to be, what
contr ibut ion to the common cause every s tudent in the g roup i s go ing to make,
etc.
When work ing on the next un i t Company Structure , learners develop the h i -
erarchy and structure of their bu sin es s organiza t ion and elect or app oint its
top execut ives. Then, whi le working on the th i rd and fourth units, students are
en gag ed in recruit ing staff and interview ing app l ican ts for vaca nt posi t ions ;
later they start orga niz ing product ion, doin g market research, laun ching pro mo -
tion campaigns, and so forth from unit to unit.
Co ntin uo us s im ulat ion gen eral ly d ev elo ps for quite a long per iod of t ime - in
the case of the courseb ook Business Projects,for the who le ac ade mic year - a nd
i s most ly based on learner autonomy (Benso n, & Vol ler, 19 97 ; Dam, 20 02 ). The
teac her 's gu id anc e i s quite prom inent at the early stage of con t inu ous st imula-
t ion whe n stud ents are not yet use d to th is k ind of learning and are not sure how
to proceed. But with their progress, they be com e m ore and more aut on om ous ,
i f not independent, in everything that concerns organiz ing the act iv i t ies with in
their cont inuous s imulat ion.
From this point of v iew, three levels of learner auto no m y can be dist ingu ishe d
(Tarnopolsky, 2001):
1. Level zero of learner au ton om y w he n eve rything i s de cide d on, guide d,
and c ontrol led by the teacher.
2. The fi rst level of learner auton om y, or the level of gro up auton om y, wh en
a pair, small group, or the ent i re academic group of students are most ly
responsible for the organizat ion of learning act iv i t ies and their results,
whi le the teacher 's funct ion i s only to consult and help students at their
requests, as well as to facilitate the learning process for them as far as
possible.
3. The seco nd leve l of learner autono m y, or the level of indiv id ual
autonomy, when the respons ib i l i t y for learn ing act i v i t ies and thei r
results i s vested in every indiv idual student, and the teacher 's attent ion
is focused on consult ing, helping, and faci l i tat ing the work of such
ind iv idua l s tudents.
Ch a p t e r
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l g arnopolsky
T h e m e t h o d u n d e r l y i n g t h e c o u r s e b o o k Business Projects ( T a r n o p o l s k y ,
K o z h u s h k o , et a l., 2 0 0 2 ) r e q u i r e s p u t t i n g a l l t h e t h r e e l e v e l s o f l e a r n e r a u t o n -
o m y in t o p r ac t i c e . W h e n s t u d e n t s a re b e i n g p r e p a r e d f o r s t a g i n g t h i s o r t h a t
p a r t o r e p i s o d e i n t h e c o n t i n u o u s s i m u l a t i o n (l i ke r e a d i n g o r l i s t e n i n g in E n g -
l i sh t o p r o f e s s i o n a l in f o r m a t i o n , c o l l e c t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n a n d a c q u i r i n g v o c a b u -
l a r y t h a t t h e y n e e d f o r t h e i r s t i m u l a t i o n , et c.), t h e y a r e t o t a l l y t e a c h e r - g u i d e d
a n d t e a c h e r - c o n t r o l l e d , i.e., w o r k o n t h e z e r o l e v e l o f l e a r n e r a u t o n o m y . L at er ,
w h e n t h e y p a s s o n to a c t u a l e n g a g e m e n t in s o m e e p i s o d e o f t h e c o n t i n u o u s
s i m u l a t i o n , t h e s t u d e n t s s i m u l t a n e o u s l y p a s s t o t h e f ir st l e v e l o f a u t o n o m y
- t h a t o f g r o u p a u t o n o m y . N a t u r a l l y , w o r k i n g o n t h a t l e v e l, t h e y n e e d a l o t o f
p r o m p t s a n d h e l p f r o m t h e i r t e a c h e r at f ir st , b u t w i t h t h e i r a d v a n c e a n d t h e
d e v e l o p m e n t o f h a b i t o f w o r k i n g i n s