Utilizing Students' Subject Knowledge through Blended Learning in ESP Classroom

In the higher education sector, there has been much discussion on challenges of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP), including how much subject-matter expertise ESP teachers should have (Pradhan, 2013). In reality, most ESP teachers are English teachers, a common practice that leads to ESP teachers' identity crisis because their students know the subject content better (Sierocka, 2008). ESP practitioners can turn students' content knowledge into an asset (Falasus, 2016) by giving them opportunities to comment on the content of subject-related language tasks.

The objectives of the present study are to investigate (1) how effective blended learning (wiki function of Blackboard and face-to-face discussion) in creating opportunities for students to utilize their discipline knowledge in ESP lessons, and (2) other means that can encourage students to contribute their subject content to ESP classes.

This study was conducted in an undergraduate communication course for year 2 engineering students who are required to produce a technical specification for a product in groups. In the study, students were given three in-class time slots, each 10 to 15 minutes, to give peer feedback on other groups’ initial product ideas and specification drafts.

The effectiveness of this teaching methodology was measured by (i) the frequency of content-related comments made by peers on wiki pages, Blackboard, and (ii) the rating (1-5) of those comments on wiki pages by the group concerned. Regarding other ways to utilize students’ discipline knowledge in the ESP classroom, a questionnaire to students was used to identify those means.