| April 2007 Volume 3
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Foreword
John Adamson
Senior Associate Editor
For the Spring 2007 edition of Asian ESP Journal we are happy to publish six articles diverse in theme and cultural context and a paper replying to an article published in our last edition. We are also pleased to announce the appointment of Theron Muller and Yong Chen as Associate Editors, as well as a significantly expanded editorial team. A warm welcome is extended to all those appointed. This strengthening of the editorial board reflects the growing interest in the journal from ESP researchers world-wide.
The first paper comes from Farzaneh Khodabandeh, working at Mobarakeh Payame Noor University in Iran. Her paper investigates student errors in translating Persian and English newspaper headlines. In analyses of possible cross-linguistic problems in the translations, it was revealed that, in the first case of translated Persian headlines, most errors were grammatical and lexical in nature. A second analysis showed that there was a lack of knowledge of English headlines rules. Analysis of translated English headlines also highlighted grammatical, then discoursal and lexical difficulties among participants.
The second paper by Renata Suzuki from Sophia University, Japan, considers the design of consciousness-raising (C-R) tasks in an Economics English course. Suzuki describes the application to teaching English to Economics majors in a case study of two C-R activities: for collocation, and for modal patterns of agreement. In an analysis of student feedback, a four-point fundamental framework (ownership, responsibility, autonomy, and empowerment) is illustrated as a means of evaluating how beneficial C- R activities can be for students in meeting learning goals.
The next article by Theron Muller looks at the use of Discourse Analysis in the adaptation of a TOEIC text, the Longman Preparation Series for the TOEIC Test: Advanced Course. Specifically, Muller illustrates how written discourse analysis can be applied to the text to create a more communicative classroom still focused on test preparation. The model presented in this paper is seen as one which other materials writers and developers can employ in textbook adaptation.
Katayoon Afzali and Mohammad Hassan Tahririan from Sheikhbahaee University, Iran look at the strategic needs of ESL Students in developing their literary competence. Afzali and Tahririan use a questionnaire-based approach by Miall & Kuiken (1995) to elicit the literary strategic needs of students. The results indicate that ESL students have only a hypothetical awareness of the significance of insight, empathy, imagery vividness and concern with the author in dealing with literary texts.
The fifth article by Mohammad Nodoushan asks whether task type and text familiarity are predictors of performance on ESP tests. In this study, 541 senior and junior university students of electronics in an Iranian university undertook the Task-Based Reading Test (TBRT). Variance and regression analyses were conducted, revealing a diversity of inter-relatedness between the variables on test performance.
The sixth paper comes from Gao Jiajing in Beijing Normal University (Zhuhai campus) who looks at the design of an ESP course for university-level students of business. In this study, the focus of ESP course design is drawn to the future workplace needs of learners. Gao puts forward a proposal for this design which considers specific learner needs, realistic aims, the place of grammar and study skills, and how assessment and evaluation are to be conducted.
Finally, we are pleased to be able to publish our first ‘reply to’ contribution by Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini from the Board of Education, Tehran, Iran. Mirhosseini replies to the November, 2006 article “Teaching English to Students of Medicine: A Student-Centered Approach” by Kashani, Soheili, and Hatmi by outlining various questions and concerns about the paper’s representations of educational practices, both praising and criticizing the authors’ stance.
I hope you will enjoy reading these seven contributions to the Spring edition of Asian ESP Journal. We look forward to your own contributions in this coming year.
John Adamson
Senior Editor
Asian ESP Journal
April 2007
Volume 3 Issue 1
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Foreword: Dr. John Adamson
1. Farzaneh Khodabandeh. Analysis of students' errors: the case of headlines
2. Renata Suzuki. Designing Consciousness-Raising Tasks for an Economics English Course
3. Theron Muller. Innovating the Longman Preparation Series for the TOEIC Test: Advanced Course with Discourse Analysis
4. Katayoon Afzali & Mohammad Hassan Tahririan. Strategic Needs of ESL Students in Developing
their Literary Competence
5. Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan. Are Task Type and Familarity Predicators of Performance on Tests of Language for Specific Purposes?
6. Gao Jiajing. Designing an ESP course for Chinese University Students of Business
7. Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini. Real Flowers or Plastic Flowers in Learning Medical English: A Reply to Kashani, Soheili, and Hatmi
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