DISCIPLINARY DISCOURSE IN ESP CLASSES

Mapping English for Specific Purposes: Foundations, Theoretical Perspectives, and Pedagogical Applications

This study aimed to examine the concept and pedagogical significance of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) by analyzing its theoretical foundations, learner-centered orientation, and implications for contemporary English Language Teaching (ELT). The study presents an overview of the scope of ESP, highlighting its origin, major components, and expanding areas of application. It further discusses the emergence of ESP as a specialized approach to language teaching that evolved alongside the growing international role of English in scientific, technical, academic, and professional communication. The study employed a qualitative theoretical and review-based methodology, drawing upon established literature and major scholarly contributions in the field of ESP and ELT. The findings revealed that ESP is best understood as an approach rather than a product, emphasizing learner needs, contextualized language instruction, and active learner engagement through relevant pedagogical strategies. The paper also covers the basic approaches to ESP studies which comprise needs analysis (NA), register analysis (RA), discourse analysis (DA) and genre tradition (GT). This study contributes to the field of knowledge by synthesizing major theoretical perspectives on ESP and offering practical pedagogical insights for designing learner-centered and context-sensitive English language teaching practices.  

Content and Language Integration in Academic Reading: Fostering EFL Learners’ Comprehension and Critical Thinking

The study investigates how this integration affects comprehension, critical thinking, student engagement, learner autonomy, and the particular difficulties that students face using thematic analysis. Student perspectives, classroom observations, and classroom records were used to collect data. Using detailed information from ten informants with a range of skill levels, this qualitative case study examines the impact of combining language and content in academic reading for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in higher education. The results show that students' reading comprehension is much improved by contextualizing reading materials, structuring instruction, and connecting the subject to real-world scenarios. Giving students the chance to relate academic material to their own experiences increases their engagement and sense of autonomy. However, issues with technical jargon, a lack of prior knowledge, and the interpretation of statistical or graphical data remain obstacles. Scaffolded analysis, modeling of reading strategies, and pre-teaching of specialist terminology are among the effective tactics identified. These findings highlight the importance of adaptable, targeted teaching strategies for EFL students. Such interventions are essential for fostering critical thinking, academic literacy, and independence. Integrating language and content supports EFL learners in overcoming reading challenges and achieving academic success.

Discourse homeostasis as a teacher’s tool: transition from personal concepts to expert terminology

Introduction . Despite the declared transition to student-centered approach within the modern pedagogical paradigm, higher education continues to face a key contradiction between the declared commitment to dialogue and institutional inequality, as well as a gap between students' personal experience and the strict language of academic disciplines. This leads to the formal acquisition of terminology without deep comprehension. As a solution, the operationalization of the model of educational discourse is proposed, which views learning as a movement from personal concepts to professional terms through a stage of collective negotiation. Materials and methods . The study employed the modeling method to operationalize the theoretical model of discursive homeostasis. A system of linguo-didactic techniques of rediscursification was developed (synonymization, exemplification, comparison, denomination, definition). Empirical testing was conducted using qualitative discourse analysis and structured observation based on translation classes involving 42 students. Results . A practice-oriented model for managing discursive homeostasis was developed, transforming the teacher's role from a knowledge transmitter to a manager of discursive ecosystems. It was revealed that the targeted application of rediscoursification techniques facilitates the transition of educational discussion from the Discourse of Differences (clash of personal concepts) to the Discourse of Concord (formation of a collective notion) and further to the Discourse of the Expert Community (legitimation of the canonical term). Discussion and conclusions . The proposed model and toolkit represent a practical response to the need for transitioning to student-centered, dialogic teaching. They allow for managing the process of knowledge internalization, promoting not only the acquisition of terminology but also the formation of students’ professional identity. The study opens prospects for adapting the model to the digital environment and various subject areas.

Identity and Engagement in EAP Writing Classes for Multilingual Learners

 In the past, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) mainly focused on the language system and structure of school life. Recently, many scholars have been studying how writing can also serve as a tool for self-construction and identity formation in the modern era. Examine the complex relationship between identity and participation of multilingual learners in EAP writing classes in this paper. According to post-structuralist theories of identity and multi-dimensional models of student engagement, this study finds that language learners are not communication-impaired individuals but rather complex people with various cultural and academic demands that need to be managed simultaneously. Based on the analysis, authorial presence, social investment and power relations directly affect how much students are willing to participate in academic writing activities at different levels of behaviour, emotion and cognition. In addition, this paper also proposes some practical teaching strategies that promote the construction of an all-inclusive learning environment, such as translanguaging, culturally sensitive feedback, and dialogic teaching. In the end, the study believes that recognising and honouring the various identities of multilingual learners will foster a sense of belonging and drive them to learn better in higher education.

“Be brave to seek our own opinions”

In an effort to develop disciplinary literacy in English as an Additional Language (EAL) students in tertiary-level learning contexts, there have been various linguistically responsive instructional (LRI) approaches to fostering the learning of both language and content. The LRI approaches point to the importance of nurturing discipline-specific literacies of students as apprentice scholars who can appropriately participate in the scholarly conversations and practices of a discipline. There is, however, little known about whether and in what ways tertiary-level LRI-based approach can be realized and contribute to students’ empowered identities as legitimate participants in the consumption, construction, and representation of disciplinary knowledge. This autoethnographic teaching reflective account chronicles a ground-up pedagogical effort by university educators in Canada aiming to develop the disciplinary literacies of international undergraduate students in a course integrating content and language in conjunction with the content of first-year history, psychology, and geography courses. Illuminating specific instructional examples, this article illustrates how such a pedagogical effort informed by task-based, functional approaches to language learning may create an educational space within which students are invited to position themselves and others as producers of meaning. Drawing on students’ reflective voices, the article closes with pedagogical implications for fostering students’ empowered identities with a stronger sense ofaffective, cognitive, and communicative dispositions (beyond being “non-native” speakers/writers of English) while critically exploring the inextricable relationship between language and disciplinary knowledge. Dans le but de développer la littératie disciplinaire chez les étudiants dont l’anglais est une langue additionnelle (ALA) dans des contextes d’enseignement supérieur, diverses approches pédagogiques adaptées sur le plan linguistique ont été mises en place pour favoriser l’apprentissage à la fois de la langue et du contenu. Ces approches soulignent l’importance de cultiver les littératies disciplinaires spécifiques des étudiants en tant qu’apprentis chercheurs, capables de participer de manière appropriée aux conversations et aux pratiques savantes d’une discipline. On sait toutefois peu de chose sur si, et de quelle manière, une approche adaptée sur le plan linguistique au niveau tertiaire peut être mise en oeuvre et contribuer à renforcer l’identité des étudiants en tant que participants légitimes à la consommation, à la production et à la représentation des connaissances disciplinaires. Ce récit réflexif d’enseignement autoethnographique rend compte d’un effort pédagogique mené sur le terrain par des enseignants universitaires au Canada, visant à développer les littératies disciplinaires d’étudiants internationaux de premier cycle dans un cours intégrant le contenu et la langue, en lien avec les cours de première année en histoire, psychologie et géographie. À travers des exemples pédagogiques concrets, cet article illustre de quelle manière une telle initiative, inspirée par des approches d’apprentissage des langues fonctionnelles et basées sur les tâches, peut créer un espace éducatif dans lequel les étudiants sont invités à se positionner, eux-mêmes et les uns les autres, en tant que producteurs de sens. En s’appuyant sur les réflexions des étudiants, l’article conclut avec des implications pédagogiques visant à favoriser le développement d’identités autonomes chez les étudiants, dotées d’un sens accru des dispositions affectives, cognitives et communicatives (au-delà du simple statut de locuteurs/scripteurs « non natifs » de l’anglais), tout en explorant de manière critique la relation inextricable entre la langue et les connaissances disciplinaires.

Argumentation among pre-service Biology teachers: conceptions, pedagogical intentionality, and impacts on argumentative quality