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Task-Based Learning with Interactive ESP Courseware Integration in Higher Vocational Education

Task-Based Learning with Interactive ESP Courseware Integration in Higher Vocational Education
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Author(s): Shu-Chiao Tsai (National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Taiwan)
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 19
Source title: Educational Stages and Interactive Learning: From Kindergarten to Workplace Training
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Jiyou Jia (Peking University, China)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-0137-6.ch021

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Abstract

This chapter reports on integrating a self-developed interactive courseware of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) into a self-study and elective course “English Reading for Technology” offered for sophomore students in the Applied Foreign Languages Department (AFLD) of a vocational university in Taiwan two hours per week for twelve weeks. A Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) approach combined with a Task-Based Learning (TBL) approach was adopted. The course mainly focused on vocabulary, reading, and comprehension. Evaluation of implementing these Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into ESP instruction with courseware integration was based upon data from a variety of pre- and post-tests including cloze, listening, writing, and Q&A. Meanwhile, a traditional teacher-centered Face-to-Face (F2F) instruction was conducted as a control group. The learning effectiveness in most of the post-tests under both instructions has been significantly improved. Students under the ICT instruction with courseware integration made as much progress as those did under the F2F instruction, suggesting that the well-structured courseware offered a potential solution to problems in the development and expansion in frequency of ESP courses in Taiwan by playing the role of an adjunct teacher, peer, and facilitator, through which students were able to practice language skills and learn content knowledge. Most students were satisfied with practices for learning English skills and professional knowledge provided by the courseware and had a positive attitude toward such ICT instruction. In addition, students used reading strategies to a high degree, and the most-commonly used reading strategies were cognitive, memory, and compensation, but social-affective strategies were least frequently employed.

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