Designing the Reading Module in an Esp Course for the Students Majoring in Radio Engineering, Telecommunications and Economic Studies

Abstract

An English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course aims to enable students to function effectively in their ever-changing, all the more global professional environment. For such a course to be efficient, an ESP syllabus is to be constantly updated. This study focused on the design of the Reading module in an ESP course taught to the 1 st-year students of Radio Engineering and Telecommunications Faculty at Zaporizhzhia National Technical University and students of the Faculty of Economics at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Students' learning experience was outlined by them with the help of the questionnaires concerning before-, while-and post-reading strategies. Reading subskills to be improved were identified taking into account the results of the comparative analysis of the reading subskills that are assessed in international examinations for academic and occupational purposes (BULATS, GMAT, OET, TOEFL ITP, etc.). The material for developing the reading subskills was decided upon regarding a set of text selection criteria. Then authentic and learning tasks were set. Finally, some practical recommendations for designing the Reading module in the ESP syllabus were given.