ESP Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition,... more

This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance—as well as out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs). Psychokinesis (PK), aura vision, encounter experiences, and sleep paralysis only make a very limited contribution to this review as they are seldom related to psychoactive drugs within the parapsychological literature. The paper borrows widely, but by no means exhaustively, from parapsychology as well as transpersonal studies, anthropology, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurobiology, particularly neurochemistry. It is organized into neurochemical models of paranormal experience (section 1), field reports of intentional and spontaneous phenomena incorporating anthropological, historical and clinical cases, and personal accounts (section 2), surveys of paranormal belief and experience (section 3), experimental research (section 4), and a methodological critique of the experimental research with recommendations for further work (section 5).

The cities are responsible up to 75% of energy consumptions and 80% of CO2 emissions. The European Performance of Buildings Directives and the urban regulations are going towards the reduction of the energy consumptions and the... more

The cities are responsible up to 75% of energy consumptions and 80% of CO2 emissions. The European Performance of Buildings Directives and the urban regulations are going towards the reduction of the energy consumptions and the minimization of the land’s use. In this scenario the innovative methodology, IMM® (Integrated Modification Methodology), has been applied in order to achieve the energy standards of net zero energy districts of four Eixample courtyards in Barcelona. The city is considered as a complex system composed by heterogeneous parts influenced each other. The multi-criteria process aims to transform a consolidated urban context into a more efficient and sustainable one. The opmization of solar potential and the design of new green areas give relevant benefits in terms of energy efficiency and quality of urban environment.

The paper presents an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of a needs-based approach to ESP course design in the context of Greek tertiary education and to measure the impact of the influence of pre-existing English... more

The paper presents an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of a needs-based approach to ESP course design in the context of Greek tertiary education and to measure the impact of the influence of pre-existing English knowledge in relation to the students' performance in ESP. Experimental research design was employed; the students' scores in the Oxford Placement Test and the pre-and post-tests were analyzed by means of ANOVA and ANCOVA. The post-intervention data revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in terms of total test scores even after adjustments were made by removing the learners' previous linguistic competence as measured by the OPT while between-groups comparison indicated statistically significant differences. The results thus, provide support for the efficacy of the adopted needs-based approach to syllabus design.

Learner motivation is considered a vital factor in second language instruction. An analysis of motivation types and degrees can reveal learners’ expectations and learning objectives. The present study analyzes the motivational patterns of... more

Learner motivation is considered a vital factor in second language instruction. An analysis of motivation types and degrees can reveal learners’ expectations and learning objectives. The present study analyzes the motivational patterns of a group of English for academic and professional purposes (EAPP) learners while focusing on types and degrees of motivation. The sample comprised 37 participants who were students in the EAPP program at a graduate school in California. The types of motivation were classified as intrinsic, extrinsic, or both, and the degrees of motivation were determined as low, medium, or high. The participants rated statements related to motivation type and degree on two Likert-type scales in a self-report questionnaire. The study reveals that most of the students had both types of motivation and their motivation degree was at a medium level according to the measurement scale. The results can help course instructors and administrators make informed decisions and choices in planning and revising the curriculum.

One of the most prevalent ways in which power works in education is by separating out and segmenting knowledge areas so that their corresponding synergies and connective augmentations are nullified. This article takes secondary English... more

One of the most prevalent ways in which power works in education is by separating out and segmenting knowledge areas so that their corresponding synergies and connective augmentations are nullified. This article takes secondary English teaching as an example of these complex social processes, and presents research that brings disparate fields of investigation together. On the one hand, teachers may be polarised and challenged by curriculum changes and governmental mandates that could infringe upon their everyday practice. On the other, every teacher in the profession will bring their interior and emotional life to bear on their ways of working, and this aspect of teaching has not been connected to curriculum change. This research proposes a conjunction of educational emotion and discursive identities, through an analysis of the ways in which teachers perceive curriculum change and their personal teaching and learning realities. This investigation has also been worked into the teacher training of pre-service (or trainee) secondary English teachers, so that they may realise how such concerns may be understood conjointly.

In my paper I first give a synopsis of the state of the art in ESP, briefly outlining the ways in which it has developed and the role it plays today in academia and in foreign language teaching. I then suggest some of the ways in which... more

Teaching and curriculum involves not only adhering to the teaching content, but the teaching methodology, learning strategies and the changed relationship between students and teachers. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that what is... more

Teaching and curriculum involves not only adhering to the teaching content, but the teaching methodology, learning strategies and the changed relationship between students and teachers. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that what is needed for ESP in science particularly is a different orientation to English study. There is a shift of the focus of attention from the grammar to the communicative properties and functions of language. Difficulties students encounter arise not so much from a defective knowledge of the system of language but from the unfamiliarity with English use and the adequate rhetoric used to convey scientific facts. It is suggested that in teaching ESP learning strategies should play not only important but a vital role. Accordingly, autonomous learning and metacognitive strategies are suggested as basics for teaching and learning ESP and especially ESP in science.

Abstract: The argument I will develop in this essay is that the foreign students are a latent human resource who can assist with overcoming English monolingualism in the Australian population. Foreign students, properly rewarded, can be a... more

Abstract: The argument I will develop in this essay is that the foreign students are a latent human resource who can assist with overcoming English monolingualism in the Australian population. Foreign students, properly rewarded, can be a major source of skills transfer. Every one of those students is a walking compendium of language and cultural skills that Australians need to know.

This study examined the writing performance of 58 students with a history of specific language impairment, assessing them at ages 8, 11, 12, 14, and 16 to evaluate longitudinal tra- jectories of writing performance and relationships with... more

This study examined the writing performance of 58 students with a history of specific language impairment, assessing them at ages 8, 11, 12, 14, and 16 to evaluate longitudinal tra- jectories of writing performance and relationships with oral language, reading, and handwriting fluency. At age 16, participants continued to experience problems with oral language and literacy:Their writing evidenced short texts, poor sentence structure, and difficulties with ideas and organi-zation. Concurrent measures of vocabulary and spelling were significant factors in explaining writ-ing performance. Handwriting fluency remained a particular difficulty for the current cohort and directly affected writing performance. Path analysis indicated that previous levels of literacy medi-ated the impact of oral language skills

This paper documents the strategies used in providing students with feedback in a large scale action research project that was designed to help students develop their language and literacy skills. The Scaffolding Literacy in Academic and... more

This paper documents the strategies used in providing students with feedback in a large scale action research project that was
designed to help students develop their language and literacy skills. The Scaffolding Literacy in Academic and Tertiary Environments (SLATE) was designed to provide students in a university in Hong Kong with discipline specific language and literacy support (see Mahboob, Dreyfus, Humphrey, and Martin, 2010, for a detailed description of the program). This support was provided by language tutors from around the world – with a large team of the tutors based in Sydney. In order to do this work, the SLATE team in Sydney developed a number of protocols and procedures for providing online support to the students. This paper describes these processes in some detail.

A PDF of English for Mechanics (120 pages) is available for purchase for US$15 (Paypal) at http://thormay.net/lxesl/teachx2.html . The material here on Academia.edu is a sample only. This is a workbook for classroom use or private study.... more

A PDF of English for Mechanics (120 pages) is available for purchase for US$15 (Paypal) at http://thormay.net/lxesl/teachx2.html . The material here on Academia.edu is a sample only. This is a workbook for classroom use or private study. It consists of Paragraph Units on Topics in Automotive Mechanics for teaching to NESB students (non-English speaking background) and others. English for Mechanics is a vehicle to improve competence in the English language, and to reinforce mechanical knowledge. It deals with a wide range of automotive engineering topics, but does not claim to be comprehensive on any topic. This book should supplement automotive engineering texts and workshop practice, never substitute for them. English for Mechanics will ideally be used by a skilled language teacher who also has a good mechanical understanding and can bring the content to life. Since most of the target students already have a good grasp of mechanical processes, the teaching can be dynamic and interactive. The book deliberately uses short texts to make learning effective and easy. An appendix briefly explains why short texts are so useful as a learning and teaching tool. Teachers can use the principles involved to shape their own curriculum material.

This is a corpus study aimed to compare six Iranian general English university textbook's reading comprehension passages and the passages of reading comprehension section of MA exams from 2010 to 2014. The study used three reading related... more

This is a corpus study aimed to compare six Iranian general English university textbook's reading comprehension passages and the passages of reading comprehension section of MA exams from 2010 to 2014. The study used three reading related factors to make the comparison: vocabulary coverage, syntactic complexity and discourse features. To meet these needs, three test types were used: measures of vocabulary coverage by the vocabprofiler software, measures of readability by means of readability formulas and measures of text easibility of the Coh-Metrix software. The analyses showed a big gap between what textbooks offered with regard to vocabulary, structures and discourse and what the MA examinations asked from the readers regarding the reading comprehension processes. The findings and results were presented along with the pedagogical implications and some suggestions for future researches.

Después de presentar la perspectiva sociocultural en la investigación y la enseñanza de la comprensión lectora y de defender la necesidad de adoptarla en ELE y también con textos de especialidad, analizamos algunas de las características... more

Después de presentar la perspectiva sociocultural en la investigación y la enseñanza de la comprensión lectora y de defender la necesidad de adoptarla en ELE y también con textos de especialidad, analizamos algunas de las características que presenta la lectura en Internet y resumimos dos estudios de caso en los que lectores de diferentes edades leen y valoran varios materiales de la red sobre temas especializados. Los resultados muestran que los informantes tienen importantes dificultades para
distinguir la ideología de los textos y para valorar su fiabilidad y utilidad. Las dificultades proceden de su desconocimiento del medio digital, de la ignorancia de la cultura de la lengua meta y de la falta de práctica en este tipo de lectura.

This paper introduces a classroom practice incorporating an ESP YouTube video, “The map of mathematics” by Dominic Walliman. This is an attempt to introduce English directly applicable to science/ engineering students where... more

This paper introduces a classroom practice incorporating an ESP YouTube video, “The map of mathematics” by Dominic Walliman. This is an attempt to introduce English directly applicable to science/ engineering students where technical terms can be abstruse, and content may be complex. The suggested video and proposed classroom practice within this paper aimed to make some of these difficult concepts easier to understand for students. The video piqued student interest and anecdotal results seem to indicate there was some increase in student motivation, quantity of classroom English use, as well as positively affecting English proficiency as seen in the output of final writing assignments.

Arabic and English manual for the first computer naskh typeface with variations. The typeface was not driven by smart font technology, but static. For this reason it consisted of 31 fonts, each with a fixed selection of variation features... more

Arabic and English manual for the first computer naskh typeface with variations. The typeface was not driven by smart font technology, but static. For this reason it consisted of 31 fonts, each with a fixed selection of variation features . Inside the fonts, the smallest number of glyphs was used, while each glyph was made with the smallest number of points, so that all 31 fonts files plus the instructions fitted on a single 1.4 MB floppy disk.
The text was set using Microsoft Word for Windows, with the very DecoType Professional Naskh font set that it describes. This font introduced novel features like variation and stretch that raised the level of ambition and interest in classic features throughout the design world.

The volume aims to investigate the linguistic dynamics inherent in tourism promotional texts. The focus is on recent and authentic brochures, issued in Great Britain and representing Italy as a tourist destination. ‘English for... more

The volume aims to investigate the linguistic dynamics inherent in tourism promotional texts. The focus is on recent and authentic brochures, issued in Great Britain and representing Italy as a tourist destination.
‘English for tourism’ is discussed as a set of ideologically-oriented discursive acts, enacted to persuade readers and sell packages. It thus engenders a circular textual process, which anticipates, generates and perpetuates its own conditions and forms of existence. The analysis unveils the de-differentiated nature of the tourism discourse, far more cohesive and homogeneous than suspected. The considered models of ‘post-tourism’ and ‘anti-tourism’, apparently two dichotomic stances, eventually weave pre-packaged similar stories, whose responses are carefully pre-established. The critical questioning of tourism advertising discursive practices can enable tourist-readers to open irreducible narrative spaces that resist homologation and control.
Along with user-friendly features such as chapter abstracts, key words, activities, key questions, a glossary of key words and a genre-based bibliography, readers will find an interview with Graham Dann, the author of the pioneer book The Language of Tourism. A Sociolinguistic Perspective (1996).
This volume is addressed to university students enrolled in Corsi di laurea triennali and specialistici of both Scienze della mediazione linguistica and Scienze del turismo. It also provides a useful tool for tourism professionals who want to update and further improve their skills and expertise in English.

Статья посвящена вопросам развития академической грамотности у русскоязычных студентов. Обосновываются необходимость развития академических навыков на основе обучения чтению и письму. Выделяется потребность русскоязычных студентов в... more

Статья посвящена вопросам развития академической грамотности у русскоязычных студентов. Обосновываются необходимость развития академических навыков на основе обучения чтению и письму. Выделяется потребность русскоязычных студентов в развитии академической грамотности на родном языке в процессе развития навыков академической грамотности на английском языке.

Tato práce má za cíl poskytnout stručné, kritické a ucelené uvedení do problematiky anomální kognice, tedy jevů označovaných jako telepatie, či „mimosmyslové vnímání“. Zaměřuje se na vytvoření teoretické pozadí problematiky a to zejména... more

Tato práce má za cíl poskytnout stručné, kritické a ucelené uvedení do problematiky anomální kognice, tedy jevů označovaných jako telepatie, či „mimosmyslové vnímání“. Zaměřuje se na vytvoření teoretické pozadí problematiky a to zejména po stránce terminologické a metodologické. Snahou je zkoumat disciplínu kritickým pohledem vědy, vědecké metodologie, a také představit konfrontací s aktuálními vědeckými (zejména fyzikálními) paradigmaty. Výklad problematiky a metodologie je takřka nepředstavitelný bez stručného přehledu historie zkoumání těchto jevů. Součástí práce je také zhodnocení kognitivních a informačních aspektů „mimosmyslové komunikace“ a s tím spojená kritika terminologie..

Given the fact that few studies have investigated the English language needs of EAP students in Iran, the present study was an attempt to analyze the needs of Iranian EAP learners of Humanities and Social Sciences. To this end, 114 EAP... more

Given the fact that few studies have investigated the English language needs of EAP students in Iran, the present study was an attempt to analyze the needs of Iranian EAP learners of Humanities and Social Sciences. To this end, 114 EAP learners at different educational levels (BA, MA, and Ph.D.) and with different English proficiency levels (elementary, intermediate, and advanced) were asked to provide their responses to a questionnaire. Moreover, ten EAP learners and eight EAP instructors were asked to write narratives about their experiences in EAP courses. Their narratives were then analyzed based on Strauss and Corbin's (1998) systematic approach. The results revealed that the EAP courses did not pay the deserved attention to writing, speaking, and listening skills, while the coverage of the sub-skills (grammar and vocabulary) was successful. Moreover, it was revealed that the EAP textbooks were insufficient in terms of the inclusion of language skills, community-specific cultural issues and conventions, and the topical knowledge. The analysis of the EAP learners' needs also showed that not all interaction types happened in the EAP courses. Furthermore, the analysis of the narratives of EAP learners and EAP instructors indicated that the EAP curriculum, EAP textbooks and also EAP assessment should include the four language skills, provide a communicative venue for EAP learners to practice their disciplinary issues, and design communicative materials. It can be concluded that the current EAP curriculum needs revision to fulfill the EAP learners' present and target situation needs.

This case study re-envisions the objectives of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program as taught by expatriate staff in a Japanese university. EAP courses in Japan often assume students will study in English speaking countries and... more

This case study re-envisions the objectives of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program as taught by expatriate staff in a Japanese university. EAP courses in Japan often assume students will study in English speaking countries and prepare them for a western academic experience. However, increasingly English medium content courses are offered in Japanese schools. These courses, while conducted in English are nevertheless grounded in a Japanese academic context and its customs. This qualitative study examines the values and opinions of Japanese Kiso Semi (a fundamental academic skills preparation seminar) teachers through questionnaires and interviews to better inform EAP decision-making. Findings reveal insights into both Japanese academic norms and Japanese faculty expectations for student behavior and performance. Understanding these norms and expectations has lead to a questioning of current EAP curriculum design and a proposed localization of that design. This has implications for specific EAP course objectives, particularly in terms of the importance of intertextuality, multimodality, the role of critical thinking, and the possible transferability of skills between content and language classes.