Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia

Academic and Research Vice-Rector

Activity guide and evaluation rubric – Task 3 – Variables for
designing an ESP course

1. General description of the course

Faculty or Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación

Academic Unit

Academic Level Profesional

Academic Field Formación disciplinar

Course Name Teaching English for specific purposes

Course Code 551038

Course Type Teórico Can be yes ☐ No ☒

enabled

Number of Credits 3

2. Description of the activity

Type of Number of
Individual ☐ Collaborative ☒ 4
activity: weeks
Evaluation Unit
Initial ☐ ☒ Final ☐
moment: Intermediate 2

Total score of the Environment for the submission:

activity: 125 Evaluation and Monitoring Environment
Starting date of the
Deadline of the activity:
activity: October 2nd
October 31st 2018
2018
Competence to develop:
Students write an essay on needs and components of an ESP course
and create a comparative chart.
Topics to develop:
English for specific purposes. 4 – Language Descriptions
English for specific purposes. 5 – Theories of learning
English for specific purposes. 6 – Needs analysis
English for specific purposes. 7 – Approaches to course design
Step, phase or stage of the learning strategy to develop
The approach proposed for this course is the Task-Based Approach
(TBA) since it permits goal-oriented and meaning centered activities.
Writing tasks are designed to facilitate students’ participation in
meaningful activities. This unit relies on the theoretical generalities of
Teaching English for Specific Purposes.

Activities to develop

Individual

Task 1. Write a paper about needs and components of an ESP course

1. Check and read the bibliographic material in the Knowledge
Environment for Unit 2.
2. Read and select one of the following scenarios:

A. You have been hired by a young tourist guide who already has an
English level of B2, and who is highly motivated to get a better job
opportunity at a coffee plantation. In three months, this coffee
plantation is expected to hire new staff with a general knowledge of
English, who is also familiar with a specific vocabulary related with
coffee plantations, production, machinery and refinement processes to
be able to explain to foreign business investors and/or visitors all the
steps required for the development and completion of the product,
meanwhile he is showing them the different areas of that coffee
Plantation.

B. A university from a TEFL Bachelor’s program in Colombia wishes to

hire an English teacher for a Cambridge Exam preparation known as
CEPTO. This student already has an English level of B2 and is highly
motivated to graduate as soon as possible, but he lacks listening and
reading comprehension skills. Therefore, he wants you to help him
prepare on these two areas for the exam.
C. Two parents are planning to live abroad with their two children in
two years, and they are looking for an English tutor who can help their
son and daughter of 13 years old to have a smoother transition to a
math class. These two children have gone to a bilingual school for 2
years, but for some reasons the math teacher talked more in Spanish
than in English during his class, and for this reason the children were
not familiarized with enough English vocabulary on math. Their parents
want their children to learn and master the math vocabulary used for
6th and 7th grade. They are pretty good at math, but do not
understand the vocabulary quite well.

D. A chef is hiring you to prepare him for a job interview that he will
have in 3 months, for a new position. He has a B2 English level and a
good range of vocabulary related with his profession, but he lacks
fluency and confidence to speak because he has not found anyone to
practice with, therefore he decides to hire you to prepare him for this
specific purpose. He would like to reinforce his speaking skills.

E. A pilot is hiring you because he has a month to take an English exam

by means of which he may be promoted to a better position at the
airline he works for. He has a B1 level of English and manages a good
range of vocabulary. He speaks with some fluency but actually needs to
prepare for the writing and reading part of the exam.

4. Based on the suggested readings of UNIT 2 and the scenario you

have selected, write a two-page long argumentative essay analyzing
components (steps, variables, methods and resources) that you need
to keep in mind, to design and implement your ESP course.

Note: Include an introduction and a conclusion. Each paragraph must

be about a different topic and all paragraphs together must present a
global, organized and complete picture of your mental planning toward
this course.

5. Post the scenario you picked in the forum.

6. Post your essay at least three days before the due date.
Collaborative

Task 2. Consolidate a document including all participant’s essays and a

chart

Interact in the forum asking and answering at least two meaningful

questions about your classmates’ essays.
As the outcome, the group will post a document including all
participants’ essays as well as a comparative chart presenting all the
common and uncommon components expressed on the essays.

Environments
for the Knowledge Environment
development Collaborative Learning Environment
of the Evaluation and Monitoring Environment
activity
Individual:
The student must submit a Word document that
includes the information developed in task 1.

Submission format:
The document will be delivered in Word
Products to Cover according to APA style
be delivered Font: Arial o Times New Roman 12
by the Line spacing: 1.5
student
Collaborative:

A word document including all participants’ essays as

well as a comparative chart presenting all the
components mentioned in the essays and developed
in task 2.
3. General guidelines for the development of collaborative work

Planning of Collaborative learning is a strategy that allows

activities for students to work together in order to achieve a
the common goal. Accordingly, the collaborative work
development proposed for the course is based on a structured and
of planned process that includes individual and group
collaborative activities, as well as interaction and socialization in
the virtual classroom.
work

Different roles are proposed within the collaborative

environment, which allow an appropriate space for
academic growth and effective interaction that
promotes learning and interpersonal relationships.
Every student will take up one of these roles for the
development of the course assignments and can only
be changed if decided by the group members.
Facilitator: Makes sure that every voice is heard
and focuses work around the learning task. Provides
Roles to be leadership and direction for the group and suggests
performed by solutions to team problems.
the student in
Recorder: Keeps a public record of the team's ideas
the
and progress. Checks to be sure that ideas are clear
collaborative
and accurate.
group
Time keeper: Encourages the group to stay on
task. Announces when time is halfway through and
when time is nearly up.
Planner: States an action for the completion of the
task at hand according to the instructions and course
agenda.
Task monitor: Looks for supplies or requests help
from the teacher when group members agree that
they do not have the resources to solve the problem.
 Compiler: Puts together the final product and
includes the work done only by those who
participated on time. Informs the student in charge
of alerts about people who did not participate and
will not be included in the final product.
Reviser/editor: Makes sure the written work
follows all the criteria established in the activity
guide.
Evaluator: Evaluates the final document to ensure
it follows the evaluation criteria of the rubric and
Roles and
informs the student in charge of alerts about any
duties for the
changes that need to be made before delivering the
submission of
product.
products by
students Deliveries: Student in charge of informing about
the dates set for presenting each task and delivering
the final product according to the course agenda.
Also informs other students that the final product
has been sent.
Alerts: Informs group participants about any news
in the work being done and reports the delivery of
the final product to the course tutor.

American Psychological Association APA rules:

It’s very important for students to take into account
Use of these rules in order to avoid difficulties with
references plagiarism and the consequences they may face in
the assessment processes. Check:
http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/apa/

In the agreement 029 of December 13, 2013, article

99, the mistakes that infringe upon the academic
Plagiarism order, among others, are the following: paragraph e)
policy “To plagiarize is to present as your own work the
whole or part of a writing, report, task or document
of invention performed by another person. It also
implies the use of cites or lack of references, or
 includes cites where there is no coincidence between
them and the reference” and paragraph f)” To
reproduce, or copy for profit, educational resources
or results of research products, which have
intellectual rights reserved for the University”.
The academic punishments that the student will face
are:
a) In case of academic fraud proved in the
academic work or evaluation, the score achieved will
be zero (0.0) without leading to disciplinary
measures.
b) In case of plagiarism proved in the academic
work of any nature, the score achieved will be zero
(0.0), without leading to disciplinary measures.

4. Evaluation rubric

Evaluation rubric
Individual Collaborative
Activity type: ☒ ☒
Activity Activity
Evaluation
Initial ☐ Intermediate ☒ Final ☐
moment
Evaluated Performance levels of the individual activity
Score
items High score Average score Low score
No selection
Students post posted OR the
their selected Students post selection was
scenario and their selection posted too late
Timely
individual essay scenario and OR the
posting 10
on time to allow essay late. individual essay
individual
interaction. was posted 2
points
essays
days before
deadline.
(up to 10 (up to 5
(0 points)
points) points)
 The individual
The essay is
essay is 2 pages
shorter or larger
long (no more,
than 2 pages OR
no less) and
it is not close
Pragmatic they fit
related to the The essay is
competence information
guideline OR not posted. 50
(Essay’s according to the
activity guide.
references were points
content and
not made
Structure) References are
according to APA
made according
Rules.
to APA Rules.
(up to 50 (up to 25
(0 points)
points) points)
The essay has
The essay does The essay has
many grammar
not have major some grammar
mistakes,
grammar mistakes. 10
Grammar which affect
mistakes.
meaning.
points
(up to 10 (up to 5
(0 points)
points) points)
Evaluated Performance level of the collaborative activity
items High score Average score Low score
Student interacts
Student
in the forum by
Social participates by No questions or
asking and
competence asking and answers were
answering two or 15
(inquiry on answering only posted.
more meaningful
one question.
points
classmates’
questions.
essays)
(up to 15 (up to 8
(0 points)
points) points)
The final The final Contributions
document document have multiple
doesn’t have contains some spelling
Spelling spelling spelling mistakes mistakes OR
10
and mistakes, and OR punctuation punctuation is
points
Punctuation punctuation is is imprecise. very imprecise.
correct.
(up to 10 (up to 5
(0 points)
points) points)
Students build The final paper The group
Final
collaboratively a doesn’t include doesn’t make a 30
Collaborativ
paper including all the collaborative points
e Document
all participants’ information final paper
essays as well as according to according to
a CHART guideline OR guideline OR
presenting all APA Rules are nobody in the
the common and not correctly group posts the
uncommon applied for final paper
components citation and
expressed on the references.
essays.
(up to 30 (up to 15
(0 points)
points) points)
125
Final score
points