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Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport College of Language
and Communication (CLC)

Assignment One

Course Title: ESP Programme Management / fall 2020-2021

Course code: SP 734

Lecturer’s Name: Prof. Abeer Refky

Topic: ESP02 (LH130) - Course Evaluation
Presented by: Amira Abo Sedaa

Registration No. : 20125063

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ………………………..………………………..….........................3

2. Course description overview

2.1 Basic Course Specifications …………………………...………………........3

2.2 Intended Learning Outcomes ILOs …………………………………………3

2.3 Class Objectives according to the matrix of knowledge and skills of the
educational course. …………………………………………………………..4

3. Reflection on the class objectives according to Bloom`s Taxonomy…............4

4. Interview with the instructor ……………………………………………...…..4

5. Class Observation Feedback…………………………………………………...5

6. Recommendations to improve the lesson……………………………………...5

7. Conclusion.............................................................................................................6

8. Appendix ..............................................................................................................7
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1. Introduction

With the concerns about the state of education today, many educators understand the need for
increased supervision of universities' English programs. They suggest having several classroom
observations as a method to refine teachers' skills, materials, platforms, and course content. As ESP
programs are recently competing in the market, it is necessary to give them appropriate attention to
make sure they serve students` needs and match the requirements of any other English program. ESP
02 is the program I had a chance to observe. It’s a well-designed course with a clear matrix of
knowledge and skills. This matrix applies Bloom`s Taxonomy levels of learning to write effective
learning objectives. Some modifications have been done to the matrix and that had a reflection on
the teacher, students, and class achievement of the ILOs. As each observation has to be reliable, some
suggestions to improve the class will be mentioned for further program development.

2. Course description overview

ESP 02 is an ESP course for students who are enrolled in the Arab Academy for Science,
Technology, and Maritime Transport, School of Engineering. This course is given to the Bachelor's
program in the academic year 2020/ 2021. It has no pre-requests courses and the total number of hours
is sixty hours.

2.1 Basic course specifications

The course aims at enhancing learners’ four language skills, improving their general lexical
repertoire, and preparing them to communicate their ideas effectively. The course is also designed to
train learners to identify the various types and functions of a sentence and follow the principles and
stages of the writing process of a coherent paragraph. Those objectives are supposed to be covered in
fifteen weeks. Moreover, the facilities provided for teaching & learning methods are; books, projectors,
audio cassettes, and online platforms. The student's assessment is divided into four tasks; exam on week
seven, exam on week twelve, continuous assessment, and final exam on week sixteen. It is worth
mentioning that the total coursework is out of a hundred marks. Moreover, essential books are;
Straightforward. Oxford: Macmillan Education and Writing Academic English (4th ed.). New York:
Pearson Longman.

2.2 Intended Learning Outcomes ILOS

Each course has to have proper ILOs that are designed to meet the learners' needs. We can get insights
into learners` needs by talking to instructors about the course, observe some classes and taking notes,
conducting diagnostic tests, or carrying in-class surveys to ask students about their needs. Intended
learning outcomes for this course are four; Knowledge and Understanding (See appendix A), Intellectual
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Skills (See appendix B), Professional and Practical skills (See appendix C), and General and Transferable
skills. (See appendix D)

2.3 Class objectives according to the matrix of knowledge and skills of the educational course
According to the weekly plan, students were in their 13th week of the course. The plan is to
cover Unit “5C (Holiday Heaven) + 5D (Planes)”. The main skill is reading and the sub-skills are
listening and speaking. (See appendix E). Unfortunately, due to the current circumstances, the plan has
changed and the teacher had to cover Unit “4A – Emoji’s”, the main skill is reading and the sub-skill
is listening in addition to vocabulary and grammar revision. (See appendix F)

3. Reflection on the class objectives according to Bloom`s Taxonomy

The main skill that has been covered in the class was reading while the sub-skill was listening. The
teacher assigned to her students the task of reading texts with the purpose of skimming, scanning, and
identifying contextual references. This objective uses Bloom`s Taxonomy; the understanding level
and the applying level; as students were able to explain what they understood from the passage and
solve different types of questions. On the other hand, the sub-skill; listening for GIST and details,
covered the level of understanding from Bloom`s Taxonomy as students translated what they have
listened to, discussed it, and explained what they understood to their teacher.

The level of analyzing participated with the level of remembering and the level of applying in the
grammar and vocabulary exercises the teacher practiced with her students. Students memorized
different tenses, distinguished between the infinitive form of a verb and a gerund then used this
information to answer the questions in the practice sheet.

Some of Bloom`s Taxonomy levels were not in the IOLs of this course and this is reasonable.
Those levels vary according to the class level and objectives. This class is B1, which means students
are in the primary stages of acquiring L2, and assigning tasks to them that covers high levels of
Bloom`s Taxonomy such as creating and evaluating will be insufficient.

4. Interview with the instructor

One of the most entertaining and beneficial experiences one can have is talking to someone who
works in the same field. I had the honor of meeting Ms. Nadeen Etman who has been very helpful and
welcoming. She answered all my questions and gave me a brief about herself as well as an overview of
this ESP Program. Ms. Nadeen has been teaching general English since last summer in Ukraine; and
started teaching ESP three months ago in Egypt. AAST has provided her with an ELTTC certificate to
help her improve her teaching skills.
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According to Ms. Nadeen, ESP 02 Program relies on the results of the diagnostic test to rank students
to see what areas of language need to be in the syllabus. Additionally, the course coordinator;
Dr.Marwa, is the one who decides the course content. Ms. Nadeen also informed that teachers usually
meet their coordinator twice per semester to discuss the course content, take feedback about the
students, and receive any updates about the program. Furthermore, teachers consistently communicate
on WhatsApp with their coordinator to keep each other informed and updated.

It is worth mentioning that teachers don’t follow the book sequence, they cover some units from the
book which the course coordinator believes meet the students` needs. I noticed that the book Ms.
Nadeen used in class was not the same book mentioned in the course specifications.

5. Class Observation Feedback

Teachers work extremely hard to satisfy their students' needs, Ms. Nadeed has accomplished a lot
in her class with her students, listed below the constructive in-class interactions she had done

1. Built a great rapport with her students.

2. Allocated time to complete tasks sufficiently.
3. Reinforced class participation. “Bloom`s / remember – understand”
4. Accepted the L1 interference in the class as students are beginners. “Bloom`s / understand”
5. Encouraged her ST to memories the grammar rule to reach the right answer “Bloom`s /
remember/apply /analyze”
6. Learners applied reading strategies (skimming and scanning) “Bloom`s / Apply/ understand”
7. Learners listened for GIST “Bloom`s / understand”
8. The teacher encouraged her students to use synonyms “Bloom`s / understand/ apply”
9. The sequence of the class was logical.
10. Learners achieved ILOs mentioned in the class objectives even though the content covered is
not the same scheduled.
11. The material (book) used caters for students’ needs.
12. ILOs reflect the course aims. It does not sound like an ESP program but this is acceptable as
the student`s level is still B1

6. Recommendations to improve the lesson

Perfection is never achieved. Teachers do their best inside their classes and each now and then
they need to receive feedback that helps them know what right tracks they are following and what
areas of improvement they need. Below recommendations might add value to the program if taken
into consideration without denying the great effort Ms. Nadeen exerted with her students.
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1. Although L1 interference is acceptable in some teaching methodologies such as “The Language

Translation Method”, there was a massive use of it in the class by the students.
2. Students understand the teachers` questions however, they intend to answer them in Arabic.
Continuing this attitude results in slowing down the process of the SLA.
3. The teacher hardly encouraged ST to use the L2 and sometimes her L1 use in the class exceeds
the acceptable limit.
4. More class management is required as students interrupt each other.
5. We need to explain the lesson objectives to our students in addition to the class sequence before
starting the class instead of starting the activities immediately.
6. Teachers need to use CCQs.
7. Interactive classes are beneficial. The TTT was extremely high in comparison to the STT, this
class was a teacher based class. Students need to have more time to practice the language.
8. It is essential to ask students to read the questions for themselves to have self-motivated
students. The teacher can guide them to find the answer instead of reading the questions for
them.
9. Students answer questions in numerical order. I believe this makes them find the answer to the
question assigned to them only instead of answering all questions.

7. Conclusion

Finally, class observation nowadays with the current state of the English programs in universities is
essential. It helps educators to improve teachers' skills, materials, platforms, and course content for
general English programs and ESP programs. Having a well-designed course with a clear matrix of
knowledge and skills is one main factor for the success of any ESP program. Applying Bloom`s
Taxonomy levels of learning is also a significant factor that has to be taken into consideration.
Teachers add to each other and that’s why we observe, learn, and give feedback.
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8 . Appendix

Appendix (A) presents: Knowledge and Understanding

Knowledge and Understanding

Through knowledge and understanding, learners will be able to:

1. Use listening and reading strategies appropriately.

2. Listen for specific information /details.
3. Listen to a conversation and answer questions.
4. Read texts with the purpose of skimming, scanning, and identifying contextual references.
5. Learn the various tenses (present simple/continuous, past simple/continuous, future and
present perfect)
6. Learn how to form questions.
7. Use and form compound nouns effectively.
8. Ask for and give directions.
9. Use invitations, suggestions, and requests effectively.
10. Use adjectives and their opposites effectively.
11. Use word collocation and connotation correctly.
12. Learn some key terms used concerning family, friends, and school life.
13. Acquire vocabulary related to towns, traveling, and migration.
14. Complete sentences with home and house.
15. Discuss issues related to vacation, hotels, and air travel
16. Discuss issues related to food and eating out.
17. Develop a battery of pre-writing and writing strategies.
18. Learn the basic sentence structure.
19. Recognize the different types and different functions of sentences.
20. Choose and narrow down a topic.
21. Use brainstorming techniques, such as listing and clustering.

Appendix (B) presents: Intellectual Skills

Intellectual Skills

Through intellectual skills, learners will be able to:

1. Use listening and reading strategies appropriately.

2. Skim a text to identify the main ideas.
3. Scan a reading text and answer questions.
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4. Guess the meaning of new vocabulary from context.

5. Recognize synonyms and antonyms.
6. Select and limit a topic to one specific area to write a paragraph.
7. Use brainstorming techniques, such as listing and clustering.
8. Use new vocabulary in a meaningful context.
9. Match the words with their definitions.
10. Understand the difference between countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
11. Understand how to use quantifiers effectively.
12. Use prepositions of time correctly.
13. Understand when to use “will”, “going to” and the present continuous in the future tense.
14. O use modifiers correctly. O use the various tenses correctly

Appendix (C) presents: Professional and Practical Skills

Professional and Practical Skills

Through professional and practical skills, learners will be able to:

1. read and analyze texts on a variety of general topics

2. Develop their writing skills.
3. Follow the principles and stages of the writing process of a coherent paragraph.
4. Understand the difference between the various sentence types and their functions.
5. Listen to and understand dialogues, discussions, etc. about various topics.
6. Exchange/ discuss information about various general topics.

Appendix (D) presents: General and Transferable skills

General and Transferable skills

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. Use the four language skills

2. Have a general lexical repertoire
3. Communicate their ideas effectively.
4. Work effectively in a group or team to achieve goals.

Appendix (E) presents: Class objectives according to the matrix of knowledge and skills of the
educational course
Knowledge Intellectual Skills
 Read texts with the purpose  Apply a variety of reading
of skimming, scanning, and strategies. Bloom`s /
identifying contextual Apply
references. Bloom`s /  Listen for gist, specific
understand / Apply information, and take
 Listen for gist and details. down notes. Bloom`s /
Bloom`s / understand Understand
 Get introduced to the  Use verb patterns
various types of holiday correctly. Bloom`s / Apply
trips. Bloom`s / remember  Plan a trip for visitors in a
 Acquire vocabulary related tourist country. Bloom`s /
to air travel Bloom`s / Create
Apply  Describe the procedures of
traveling by plane.
Bloom`s / Apply
Appendix F presents: The class objectives, outcomes, and skills covered.
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Professional Skills
 Read and understand
texts on general topics.
Bloom`s / understand
 Listen to and
understand dialogues,
discussions, etc.
Bloom`s / understand
 Exchange information
about topics related to
air travel and holiday
destinations. Bloom`s /
Apply