April 2008 Volume 4 Issue 2
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Foreword

Foreword to July 2008, Volume 4 Issue 2

Foreword

We are happy to present the second edition in 2008 of theAsian ESP Journal, which containsfive papers written by ESP practitioners from a wide variety of working contexts.

The first three contributions cover various aspects of the teaching of writing in ESP which will be of both practical use and provide theoretical insights to our readership. The fourth paper looks at move structures in textbook prefaces, and the final study investigates an ESP project for tour guides.

The first paper by Damian Riversat Kanda University of International Studies, Japan, is a conceptual work entitled “English as an International Business Language: The Need for an Increase in Theoretical and Practical Research on Written Business Communications Across Cultural Boundaries in Relation to Multinational Corporate Language Selection.” Rivers provides a comprehensive analysis of the current situation related to English as the language of international business, when business communities “are not just adopting English, but theyare actively shaping it for their own benefit to align more closely with their nativelanguage.”

Theauthor uses this analysis as a foundation to put forward a theoretical model for teaching written communication considering it a core form of business exchanges today in light of more technological developments in the future.

The second paper on writing “Academic Writing in Nursing: Genres, Marking Criteria and Course Design” by Julio Gimenez from Middlesex University, United Kingdom, considers the writing genres used in nursing.Based on his previously outlined “descriptive-argumentative cline”,Gimenez offers a genre taxonomy to be used as thefoundation for a systemof general marking criteria from readability and correct grammar and spelling to referencing, logical organization, balanced argument, and critical evaluation. Of great practical applicability is the sample course outline for teaching writing to undergraduate students of nursing. Though claiming no universality in this study, Gimenez offers an efficient framework for developing ESP courses in writing.

David Dalton, teaching at the Petroleum Institute in Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, presents a study of chemical engineering student-generated memo reportsevaluated according to theirsubject teachers’ perception of text ‘readability’. In his paper “The Foreign Language Engineering Writer: What Makes a Readable Memo Report?”, Dalton investigatesengineering documents in terms of the essential linguistic elements ofnoun phrase formation, infinitive clause formation, use of text moves, and lexical range. The objective of “sensitizing weaker writers to the contextual nature of elements of text discourse” can be achieved by means of the approach proposed, yet could be enhanced, as Dalton suggests, by collaboration between engineering and language teaching faculty, as well as encouraging students themselves to adopt more autonomous means of self-editing.

Davud Kuhi from the Islamic Azad University, Iran, in his study entitled “An Analysis of the Move Structure of Textbook Prefaces” offers an alternative angle to genre competence, analyzing the schematic structure of academic book prefaces. Various combinations of the four basic moves (Announcing Objectives, Identifying Audience, Outlining Organization, and Acknowledging Others’ Contribution) are found in order of useto “meet the expectations of actors involved in textbook discourse.” The outline and textualization of the 4-Move Structure, presented in Kuhi’s paper, are of great value for course design in Applied Linguistics, English for Academic Purposes, and study skills.

The last paper in the Summer 2008 issue is “The Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of an English Tour Guide Project” by Ya-feu Lo and Chuen-maan Sheu, both working at the National Kaohsiung University, Taiwan. This comprehensive outline of a tour guide project has been developed in a content-based instruction context and is closely connected with specific real-life eventsprovidingan extrinsic factor to motivate hospitality students in their ESP course. Lo and Sheu draw significant conclusions forthe implementation of such projects in content-based hospitality language courses.

We hope that you enjoy reading these five contributions in this edition and look forward to receiving yourown contributions for 2009.

Tatiana Slobodina

Associate Editor

July 2008
Volume 4 Issue 2
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Foreword by Tatiana Slobodina
1. Damian Rivers. - English as an International Business Language (EIBL): The need for an increase in theoretical and practical research focusing on written business communications across cultural boundaries in relation to multinational corporate language selection.
2. Julian Gimenez. - Academic Writing in Nursing: Genres, Marking Criteria and  Course Design
3. David Dalton. - The Foreign Language Engineering Writer  - What Makes a Readable Memo Report?
4. Davud Kuhi. - An Analysis of the Move Structure of Textbook Prefaces
5. Ya-fen Lo and Chuen-maan Sheu. - The Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of an English Tour Guide Project