Cover not available
Article published In:
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 37:1 (2024) ► pp.299–334

Further step toward a definition of the core professional development needs of teachers of Languages for Specific Purposes in the European Higher Education Area

ORCID logo | University of Ljubljana
| University of Ljubljana
ORCID logo | University of Ljubljana

In the attempt to make a further step toward a research-based definition of the core professional development needs of teachers of languages for specific purposes (LSP), this paper aims to upgrade the framework of professional development needs of LSP teachers developed by Bocanegra-Valle and Basturkmen (2019). With this objective in mind, the paper will examine the differences in the professional development needs of LSP teachers in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) based on their experience with LSP teaching in higher education, qualification level, and LSP taught. The results suggest that the core LSP teacher professional development needs are distributed across the categories of course development, knowledge of the target discipline/profession/industry, knowledge of language use in the target discipline/profession/industry, peer collaboration, and professional development opportunities. Efficient LSP teacher professional development could be based on a three-stage model: a general LGP teaching methodology course, followed by a general LSP teaching methodology course, and finally discipline-specific acculturation.

Keywords: LSP teachers, professional development needs, European Higher Education Area, curriculum design, mixed methodology study
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Instruments and data collection
    • 3.2Participants
    • 3.3Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1What are the core professional development needs of LSP teachers in the EHEA?
      • 4.1.1Course development needs
      • 4.1.2Knowledge of the target discipline/profession/industry
      • 4.1.3Knowledge of language use in the target discipline/profession/industry
      • 4.1.4Peer collaboration
      • 4.1.5Professional development opportunities
    • 4.2How do the core professional development needs of LSP teachers in the EHEA differ depending on the LSP teacher’s experience, qualification level, and LSP taught?
      • 4.2.1LSP teacher’s experience
      • 4.2.2Qualification level
      • 4.2.3LSP taught
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 29 January 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.21039.jur
References (43)
Abedeen, F.
(2015) Exploration of ESP Teacher Knowledge and Practices at Tertiary and Applied Colleges in Kuwait: Implications for Pre- and In-service ESP Teacher Training. Doctoral dissertation. University of Exeter.
Arnó-Macià, E., & Mancho-Barés, G.
(2015) The role of content and language in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) at university: Challenges and implications for ESP. English for Specific Purposes, 37 1, 63–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
BALEAP
(2008) Competency Framework for Teachers of English for Academic Purposes. Retrieved from [URL]
Basturkmen, H.
(2014) LSP teacher education: Review of literature and suggestions for the research agenda. Iberica, 28 1, 17–34.Google Scholar
(2017) ESP teacher education needs. Language Teaching, 1–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berg, B.
(2001) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Borg, S.
(2019) Language teacher cognition: perspectives and debates. In X. Gao (Ed.), Second handbook of English language teaching (1–23). Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bocanegra-Valle, Ana
(2016) Needs analysis for curriculum design. In K. Hyland & P. Shaw (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English for academic purposes (560–576). Routledge.Google Scholar
Bocanegra-Valle, A., & Basturkmen, H.
(2019) Investigating the teacher education needs of experienced ESP teachers in Spanish universities. Iberica, 38 1, 127–150.Google Scholar
Brudermann, C., Mattioli, M. A., Roussel, A. M., & Sarré, C.
(2016) Le secteur des langues pour spécialistes d’autres disciplines dans les universités françaises: résultats d’une enquête nationale menée par la SAES, Recherche et pratiques pédagogiques en langues de spécialité. Cahiers de l’Apliut, 35 (1). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Council of Europe
(2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Council of Europe.Google Scholar
(2018) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Companion Volume with New Descriptors. Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Chen, T-Y.
(2000) Self-training for ESP through action research. English for Specific Purposes, 19 1, 389–402. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dudley-Evans, J.
(1997) Five questions for LSP teacher training. In R. Howard & G. Brown (Eds.), Teacher education for languages for specific purposes (58–67). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Dudley-Evans, T., & StJohn, M. J.
(1998) Developments in English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Emadian, F., Gholami, J., & Sarkhosh, M.
(2018) Towards a sustainable curriculum for ESAP teacher training program: A profile of ESAP content specialists vs. language instructors’ needs. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 20 (2), 139–157. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ewer, J. R.
(1983) Teacher training for EST: problems and methods. The ESP Journal, 2 1, 9–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, G.
(1997) Teacher education and LSP: the role of specialised knowledge. In R. Howard & G. Brown (Eds.), Teacher education for languages for specific purposes (80–89). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Flowerdew, L.
(2013) Needs analysis and curriculum development in ESP. In B. Paltridge & S. Starfield (Eds.), The handbook of English for specific purposes (325–346). Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hall, D. R.
(2012) Teacher education for languages for specific purposes. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopaedia of applied linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hewings, M.
(2002) A history of ESP through English for Specific Purposes. English for Specific Purposes World, 1 (3).Google Scholar
Howard, R.
(1997) LSP in the UK. In: R. Howard & G. Brown (Eds.), Teacher education for languages for specific purposes (41–57). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Hüttner, J., Smit, U., & Mehlmauer-Larcher, B.
(2009) ESP teacher education at the interface of theory and practice: Introducing a model of mediated corpus-based genre analysis. System, 37 1, 99–109. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iswati, L., & Triastuti, A.
(2021) Voicing the challenges of ESP teaching: lessons from ESP in non-English departments. Studies in English Language and Education, 8 (1), 276–293. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jarvis, J.
(1983) Two core skills for ESP teachers. The ESP Journal, 21, 45–48. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jordan, R.
(1997) English for Academic Purposes. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kirkgöz, Y.
(2019) ESP in teacher education: a case study. In S. Papadima-Sophocleous, E. Kakoulli Constantinou, & C. N. Giannikas (Eds), ESP teaching and teacher education: current theories and practices (13–26). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lafford, B. A.
(2012) Languages for specific purposes in the United States in a global context: commentary on Grosse and Voght (1991) revisited. The Modern Language Journal, 96 1, 1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Larson-Hall, J.
(2016) A Guide to Doing Statistics in Second Language Research Using SPSS and R. Routledge.Google Scholar
Laurence, A.
(2018) Introducing English for Specific Purposes. Routledge.Google Scholar
Mahendra, A. W.
(2020) Constructing identity: Experiences of Indonesian ESP teachers in a language institute. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 3 (3), 229–240. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marvasti, A. B.
(2004) Qualitative Research in Sociology. Sage. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nazari, M.
(2020) Language for specific purposes teacher education: a scoping review. MEXTESOL Journal, 44 (4), 1–13.Google Scholar
Podgoršek, S., Jurkovič, V., Dostal, M., & Mertelj, D.
(2021) Analiza izobraževalnih potreb visokošolskih učiteljev tujih jezikov stroke v Sloveniji. Sodobna pedagogika, 72/138 (3), 94–110.Google Scholar
Ruiz-Garrido, M., & Fortanet-Gómez, I.
(2009) Needs analysis in a CLIL context: a transfer from ESP. In D. Marsh, P. Mehisto, D. Wolff, R. Aliaga, T. Asikainen, M. J. Frigols-Martin, S. Hughes, & G. Langé (Eds.), CLIL practice: perspectives from the field (179–188). University of Jyväskylä.Google Scholar
Skela, J.
(2019) A journey through the landscapes of language education. In A. Kostoulas (Ed.), Challenging boundaries in language education, second language learning and teaching (15–32). Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Szymańska-Tworek, A., & Makowska-Songin, J.
(2019) Teacher quality as a prerequisite for quality education: needs and expectations of ESP teachers towards professional development in Polish tertiary education context. In D. Gabryś-Barker, & R. Kalamarz (Eds.), Quality in language teaching. theoretical considerations and practical solutions (67–99). University of Silesia Press.Google Scholar
University of Ljubljana
(2022) Predstavitveni zbornik. Drugostopenjski študijski program Anglistika Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani. Retrieved from: [URL]
Trappes-Lomax, H.
(2002) Language in language teacher education – a discourse perspective. In H. Trappes-Lomax, & G. Ferguson (Eds.), Language in language teacher education (1–23). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van der Yeught, M.
(2016) Developing English for specific purposes (ESP) in Europe: mainstream approaches and complementary advances. 13th ESSE Conference. National University of Ireland.Google Scholar
Vega Umaña, A. L.
(2020) On the nature of ESP teachers’ expertise: results from a survey about ESP teaching in French higher education. In M. Sowa (Ed.), In search of the LSP teacher’s competencies/À la recherche des compétences des enseignants de LS (203–221). Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Xu, X., Chan, F. M. and Yilin, S.
(2018) Personal learning environment: an experience with ESP teacher training. Interactive Learning Environments, 28 (6), 779–794. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zavašnik Arčnik, M.
(2006) Model analize potreb učiteljev tujega strokovnega jezika v okviru stalnega strokovnega izpopolnjevanja. In C. Peklaj (Ed.). Teorija in praksa v izobraževanju učiteljev (103–112). Center za pedagoško izobraževanje Filozofske fakultete.Google Scholar