English for Specific Purposes for sport as a profession in Croatia: Students’ and teachers’ voices

Ana Penjak

Abstract


University teaching staff in Croatia are expected to implement English Medium of Instruction (EMI) as an integral part of their teaching inventory, while students are encouraged to enrol in academic subjects taught in English. This study aimed: 1) to examine and analyse students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the importance of using EMI, i.e., the importance of using English for Specific Purposes (ESP) for sport as a profession as an integral part of subjects delivered in English; 2) to provide feedback to all the ESP teachers regarding the necessity of creating adequate teaching materials for teaching ESP for sport as a profession. The study sample consisted of 91 students and 32 teachers randomly selected from one of the public universities in Croatia. Data was collected using an adapted questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed since the t-test for dependent samples showed no significant differences between the first and second measurements (p > 0.05), and the correlation was moderate to high (r ranged between 0.71 and 0.89; p < 0.05). The results show that the usage of ESP enhances the teaching and learning process and enriches their general knowledge of English. Also, the findings point towards the necessity of accumulating the number of teaching hours for subjects that implement EPS for sport as a profession and their availability at the academic level.

Keywords


education; English Medium of Instruction; English for Specific Purposes; university teaching staff; university students

Full Text:

PDF

References


Basturkmen, H. (2017). ESP teacher education needs. Language Teaching, 52(3), 318-330. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444817000398

Belcher, D. (2006). English for specific purposes: Teaching to perceived needs and imagined futures in worlds of work, study, and everyday life. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 133-156. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264514

Bocanegra-Valle, A., & Basturkmen, H. (2019). Investigating the teacher education needs of experienced ESP teachers in Spanish universities. Ibérica: Revista de la Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos (AELFE), 38, 127-150.

Bui, H. P. (2022). Students’ and teachers’ perceptions of effective ESP teaching. Heliyon, 8(9), e10628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10628

Cahyati, P., & Suwarsih, M. (2019). Teaching English in primary schools: Benefits and challenges. In A. Mustadi, P. P. Dewanti, & A. Reswari (Eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Current Issues in Education (ICCIE 2018) (pp. 395-400). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/iccie-18.2019.68

Cai, Y., & Cheung, H. T. (2019). Classifying the writing assessment tasks of English as the medium of instruction programs using latent class analysis. International Journal of Educational Research, 95, 143-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.02.003

Chapple, J. (2015). Teaching in English is not necessarily the teaching of English. International Education Studies, 8(3), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v8n3p1

Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in ESP: A multidisciplinary approach. Cambridge University Press.

Duplančić Rogošić, G. (2009). Postoji li potreba za učenjem općeg engleskog jezika na fakultetima? [Is there a need to learn general English at college?]. Strani Jezici, 38(3), 311-320.

European Commission. (2008, September 18). Multilingualism: An asset for Europe and a shared commitment. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52008DC0566&from=LV

Ferčec, I., & Šoštarić, B. (2006). Internet i nastava engleskoga jezika na tehničkim fakultetima [Internet and English language teaching at technical faculties]. Život i Škola: Časopis za Teoriju i Praksu Odgoja i Obrazovanja, LII(15-16), 115-122. https://urn.nsk.hr/urn:nbn:hr:142:135866

Ferris, D. (1998). Students’ views of academic aural/oral skills: A comparative needs analysis. TESOL Quarterly, 32(2), 289-318. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587585

Franolij, B. (2001, May). The Croatian language today [A lecture given in Trinity College]. CU Croatian Society & CSYPN. http://web.archive.org/web/20040606041856/http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/cro/crolang.htm

Galishinovka, E. M., & Khafizova, L. V. (2015). Continuity as an important component of lifelong learning (on the example of foreign language). Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(3), 414-419. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s1p414

Gardner, R. C. (2004). Attitude/motivation test battery: International AMTB research project. The University of Western Ontario.

Getie, A. S. (2020). Factors affecting the attitudes of students towards learning English as a foreign language. Cogent Education, 7(1), 1738184. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2020.1738184

Graves, K. (1996). Teachers as course developers. Cambridge University Press.

Grosse, C. U. (2004). The competitive advantage of foreign languages and cultural knowledge. The Modern Language Journal, 88, 351-373.

Hu, G. (2007). The juggernaut of Chinese–English bilingual education. In A. W. Feng (Ed.), Bilingual education in China: Practices, policies, and concepts (pp. 94-126). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853599934-009

Hyland, K. (2022). English for specific purposes: What is it and where is it taking us? ESP Today, 10(2), 202-220. https://doi.org/10.18485/esptoday.2022.10.2.1

Ilyinska, L. (2004). English for science and technology: Course design, text analysis, research writing [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Rīgas Tehniskā Universitāte.

Jelovčić, I. (2010). English for specific purposes–student attitude analysis. Metodika, 20(1), 124-136. https://hrcak.srce.hr/61532

Kabalin Borenić, V. (2011). Attitudes towards English and FL motivation among Croatian University Business students: Results of a pilot study. In M. Lehmann, R. Lugossy, & József Horváth (Eds.), UPRT 2010: Empirical studies in English applied linguistics (pp. 131-154). Lingua Franca Csoport.

Kapović, M. (2022). Strani jezici u formalnom obrazovanju u Hrvatskoj [Foreign languages in formal education in Croatia]. Strani Jezici, 51(2), 283-309. https://doi.org/10.22210/strjez/51-2/6

Kerby, D., & Romine, J. (2009). Develop oral presentation skills through Accounting Curriculum Design and Course-Embedded Assessment. Journal of Education for Business, 85(3), 172-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/08832320903252389

Kirkgöz, Y. (2006). Developing a corpus-based academic reading course. In M. A. Snow & L. Kamhi-Stein (Eds.), Developing a new course for adult learners (pp. 143-65). TESOL Publications.

Kirkgöz, Y. (2009). Students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of foreign language instruction in an English-medium university in Turkey. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(1), 81-93. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510802602640

Klimova, B. F., & Semradova, I. (2013). Developing language competences for management tourism students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93, 517-521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.09.231

Konya, I. J. (1966). A morphological analysis of loanwords in Russian [Master’s thesis, University of British Columbia]. UBC Library Open Collection. https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0104687

Krstinić, M., & Pauković, M. (2020). Konkurentnost njemačkog jezika pri izboru stranog jezika struke [Competitiveness of the German Language in choosing a foreign language for specific purposes]. Polytechnic and Design, 8(3), 163-169. https://doi.org/10.19279/TVZ.PD.2020-8-3-05

Liszt, N., Krnajski Hršak, V., & Domljan, D. (2005). Transverzalne vještine u nastavi poslovnog engleskog jezika [Transversal skills in teaching business English]. Zbornik Ekonomskog Fakulteta u Zagrebu, 3(1), 357-360. https://hrcak.srce.hr/26230

Martinović, A., & Poljaković, I. (2010). Attitudes toward ESP among university students. Fluminensia, 22(2), 145-161.

Mihaljević Djigunović, J. (1996). Learner motivation as a source of variance in attitudes, effort, and achievement. Studia Romanica et Anglica Zagrabiensia (SRAZ), 41, 211-223.

Ministarstvo znanosti i obrazovanja [Ministry of Science and Education (MSE)]. (2023). Odluka o donošenju kurikuluma za nastavni predmet Engleski jezik za osnovne škole i gimnazije u Republici Hrvatskoj [Decision on adoption of the English language curriculum for primary and secondary schools in the Republic of Croatia]. https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2019_01_7_139.html

Ministarstvo znanaosti i obrazovanja [Ministry of Science and Education (MSE)]. (2023b). Kurikulum nastavnog predmeta Engleski jezik za osnovne i srednje škole [English language curriculum for primary and secondary schools]. https://mzo.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/Publikacije/Predmetni/Kurikulum%20nastavnog%20predmeta%20Engleski%20jezik%20za%20osnovne%20skole%20i%20gimnazije%20u%20RH.pdf

Parr, C. (2014, April 30). English language use ‘most significant internationalisation trend for HE’. Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/english-language-use-most-significant-internationalisation-trend-for-he/2013009.article

Penjak, A., & Delaš Kalinski, S. (2023). Metrijske karakteristike upitnika za ispitivanje stavova profesora o važnosti učenja engleskog jezika struke [Metric characteristics of the questionnaire on teachers’ attitudes towards learning English for specific purposes]. In Proceedings of the 31st International Summer School of Kinesiologists (pp. 225-231). Croatian Kinesiology Association.

Penjak, A., & Duran, I. (2017). Gender and language: Assessing English oral skills within sport-related conference. In Z. Grgantov, J. Paušić, D. Čular, M. Erceg, A. Kezić, & M. Milić (Eds.), Proceedings Book of the 6th International Scientific Conference ‘Contemporary Kinesiology’ (pp. 47-56). Kineziološki Fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu.

Penjak, A., & Karninčić, H. (2015). Attitudes, motivation and parental encouragement in learning English as a foreign language: The Croatian context. Journal of Foreign Languages, Cultures and Civilizations, 3(2), 17-23.

Penjak, A., & Karninčić, H. (2017). National identity and language: Students’ usage of English terminology within the Croatian language. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 5(2), 40-52. https://doi.org/10.1515/jolace-2017-0017

Prachanant, N. (2012). Needs analysis on English language use in tourism Industry. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 66, 117-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.253

Rovan, D., & Jelić, A.-B. (2008). Motivacijska uvjerenja u učenju materinskog jezika i stranih jezika [Motivational beliefs in learning mother tongue and foreign languages]. Društvena Istraživanja, 19(4-5), 879-894. https://hrcak.srce.hr/60127

Rujevčan, D., & Dumančić, D. (2016). Do you have a soft spot for English, or is it just not your thing? A study of Croatian (university) students’ attitudes towards English as a foreign language. In I. Z. Dinković & J. M. Djigunović (Eds.), English studies from archives to prospects: Volume 2–Linguistics and applied linguistics (pp. 270-286). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Smit, U. (2023). English-medium instruction (EMI). ELT Journal, 77(4), 499-503. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccad018

Weatherford, J. H. (1986). Personal benefits of foreign language study. ERIC Digest. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED276305

Wilkinson, D., & Thelwall, M. (2012). Trending Twitter topics in English: An international comparison. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(8), 1631-1646. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.22713

Žegarac, L. M., & Grabar, I. (2018). Engleski jezik na visokoškolskim ustanovama u odnosu na stvarni svijet - što poučavamo? [English language at higher education institutions in relation to the everyday needs - what do we teach?]. Educa, Časopis za Obrazovanje, Nauku i Kulturu, XI(11), 337-340.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v11i2.36829

Article Metrics

Abstract view : 0 times
PDF - 0 times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Print ISSN: 2355-2794, Online ISSN: 2461-0275

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


View Journal Stats