Electronic Tools for English Language Education (with a special view to English for Specific Purposes)

Abstract

Almost simultaneously with the developments in information technology over the past fifteen to twenty years, literacy has gained new dimensions. To be considered literate in our age demands functional, academic, critical and technological skills. Because language and technology are inseparable in this context, technology as a means for developing literacy skills must be an integral part of the language class.This paper examines some of the ways electronic tools can be of use in developing student language literacy competences, with a special emphasis on the benefits learners of English for Specific Purposes can reap.

Business English Teacher Competencies: A Mixed-method Study of the Required Competencies of Business English Teachers for Running In-company Business English Courses at Mulinational Companies in Hungary

“…Interestingly, the respondents gave the presentations skills item a high rating (M = 3.81, SD = .90) (see Table 48), while the language use frequency table (see Table 44) shows that business professionals of this sample very rarely have to give presentations in English. This result seems to reaffirm the findings of a study conducted by Feketéné Silye (2002), which also shed light on a significant difference between the learners' and teachers' perceived frequency of giving presentations in English. A possible explanation for this discrepancy might be that even though learners do not give presentations very often, they still need to acquire the language skills needed for presentations.…”

“…Similarly, in the Hungarian context, previous research studies have been devoted to the language competence requirements of employers and the language skills of business professionals (Feketéné Silye, 2002;Major, 2002;Noble, 2002;Teemant, Varga & Heltai, 1993), and to exploring the BE teacher identity (Bereczky, 2009). A recent study by Bereczky (2012) conducted in the Hungarian higher education context investigates BE teachers' perceptions of becoming a BE teacher.…”

“…Results of text and genre analysis in ESP help map, analyse and apply the appropriate discourse types and genre conventions of the target discourse community, hence bridge the gap between classroom and reality (cf. Bhatia, 1993Bhatia, , 2002Bhatia, , 2005Bhatia, , 2008Belcher, 2006;Dudley-Evans, 2000;Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998;Feketéné Silye, 2002Foz-Gil & González-Pueyo, 2009;Károly, 2007Károly, , 2010Kurtán, 2002Kurtán, , 2003aKurtán, , 2005Swales, 1990).…”