School of Modern Languages

This document contains the prior research and consequent materials developed for an
English course for chemistry students at the School of Chemistry, at the University of
Costa Rica. This ESP course (English for Specific Purposes) focused on the practice and
development of strategies in the four macro skills: speaking, listening, reading, and
writing, in both the academic and professional fields of chemistry. The course was also
based on the implementation of technology for teaching by means of audiovisual materials,
an original web page, and a blog, where students had the chance of producing in English
and receiving feedback from their instructors.

Abstract: Due to the need for recent literature regarding teaching EFL in Costa Rica to students with dyslexia, in addition to establish which are the most effective didactic conditions for teaching of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, a qualitative Action Research case study was developed for an intermediate level EFL course in and adult program in a public univerisity in Costa Rica. Reading and pronunciation difficulties, and affective variables such as motivation, anxiety, and positive feedback from her teacher were considered. Information was collected through in-depth interviews, teacher logs, and the student's assessment activities during 14 weeks in collaboration with her teacher. Standard modifications such as reduced number of items and longer time for answering questions were applied. As for results, the most successful didactic conditions for oral activities were sitting arrangements, peer interaction, repetition of instructions, teacher praise, and tutorial sessions with the researcher. However, didactic conditions and strategies like repetition and practice, or using native language for explaining grammar did not contribute to correct spelling and passing grades in written grammar exercises. Although phonetic drilling was effective for the pronunciation of /s/, /∫/, and /t∫/ in isolated phonemes and words, no improvement was observed during actual conversations. As an affective by-product, the student's self-confidence increased. This study concludes that lesson planning based on strategies, persistence, and rapport between student and teacher play a central role in successful

This article presents the design process of an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course addressed to chemistry students and chemists at the school of chemistry, University of Costa Rica. This process required a needs analysis to assess the students' academic and professional needs, wants, and lacks in order to create a course that included the four macro skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This article presents the findings of the needs analysis. In addition, a set of learning strategies Revista de Lenguas ModeRnas, n.° 25, 2016 / 153-180 / issn: 1659-1933 154 were considered in the design process (paraphrasing, negotiation of meaning, predicting, scanning, among others) to fit the students' reported needs. Based on the findings of the needs analysis, ChemCourse was designed to respond to students' needs, wants, and lacks. ChemCourse was developed as a fifteen-week, ESP course within a task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach. The content of the course was divided into five units.

Resumen: Este artículo presenta el proceso de diseño de un curso de inglés para fines específicos (ESP) dirigido a estudiantes de química y químicos de la Escuela de Química de la Universidad de Costa Rica. Este proceso requi-rió un análisis para evaluar las necesidades profesionales y académicas de los estudiantes, sus intereses y carencias para crear un programa edu-cativo que incluyera las cuatro macrodestrezas: habla, escucha, lectura y escritura. Además, una serie de estrategias de aprendizaje se considera-ron en el proceso de diseño (parafraseo, negociación de significado, predic-ciones, escaneo, entre otras) para coincidir con las necesidades reportadas por los estudiantes. Basado en los resultados del análisis de necesidades, ChemCourse se diseñó para responder a sus requerimientos, intereses y carencias. ChemCourse se implementó como un curso de ESP de quince se-manas dentro de un enfoque fundamentado en el desarrollo de tareas para la enseñanza de idiomas. El contenido quedó divido en cinco unidades. Palabras claves: enseñanza del inglés para químicos, química, inglés para fines específicos (ESP), análisis de necesidades, diseño de cursos Abstract