This paper presents the results of a needs analysis of second year undergraduates, majoring in various foreign languages (except for English) at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris, France. As part of their studies, students can take one semester of English during their second or third year. While needs analyses are an integral part of ESP research, the needs of students in certain disciplines, particularly the Liberal Arts, are not often referenced. Using questionnaires and interviews with current students, past students, and discipline instructors, this study attempts to partially fill that gap. Results show that while current students mostly use oral and written comprehension skills presently, they feel expression skills will become important in the future. Responses from former students and discipline instructors seem to support these results, with some key distinctions. Implications for teaching and future research are discussed.
This study presents findings from an online collaborative project involving students learning English at the University of Paris Nanterre (France) and students learning French at Cornell University (USA). Our main goal was to determine the impact of e-tandems on language learner motivation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all courses at these two institutions were offered online, a move that greatly complicated the use of interactive group activities. This change represented a major threat to learner motivation and the development of communication skills in the target language. To counteract these effects, language teachers from the two universities organized an online e-tandem program; pairs of students composed of one American learner of French and one French learner of English had three virtual meetings to complete activities relevant to their studies. During these meetings, they were to alternate between speaking English and French. Following each exchange, students completed journal entries about their experience using the target language. Results indicated that the e-tandem program was a positive experience for students, with many reporting higher levels of intended learning effort and being able to see themselves as competent language users. These findings highlight the didactic potential of virtual exchanges.
This study presents findings from an online collaborative project involving students learning English at the University of Paris Nanterre (France) and students learning French at Cornell University (USA). Our main goal was to determine the impact of e-tandems on language learner motivation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all courses at these two institutions were offered online, a move that greatly complicated the use of interactive group activities. This change represented a major threat to learner motivation and the development of communication skills in the target language. To counteract these effects, language teachers from the two universities organized an online e-tandem program; pairs of students composed of one American learner of French and one French learner of English had three virtual meetings to complete activities relevant to their studies. During these meetings, they were to alternate between speaking English and French. Following each exchange, students completed journal entries about their experience using the target language. Results indicated that the e-tandem program was a positive experience for students, with many reporting higher levels of intended learning effort and being able to see themselves as competent language users. These findings highlight the didactic potential of virtual exchanges.
This report describes two mandatory one-semester ESP courses (English for InternationalRelations) offered to second-and third-year undergraduates at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) enrolled in the selective "international relations" track. The second-year course deals with topics related to jobs in international relations and the third-year course with topics related to recent issues in international relations and diplomacy. The common objective of both courses is to give students as many opportunities as possible to practise communication skills in class, and, at the same time, to make English use part of their everyday lives. This is achieved thanks to a Flipped Classroom (FC) model of instruction which is precisely where the novelty of the course lies. Although the report does not thoroughly detail course design and evaluation procedures, it could prove valuable to those willing to develop similar courses. The report also includes the results of a post-course survey which provides useful information to the course designer for future revisions (and an example for those who wish to evaluate similar courses) but does not make it possible to draw more general conclusions about the FC model as the response rate seems quite low (34%, that is 24 participants out of 70 students) and therefore does not allow for generalizations. 2The Flipped Classroom model is one of the possible implementations of what has been termed "blended learning", an educational approach which combines face-to-face sessions with online activities (Graham 2006). However, the FC model of instruction blends face-to-face and online activities in a very specific way as "activities traditionally conducted in the classroom (e.g., content presentation) become home activities, and activities normally constituting homework
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