Considering Aspects on Selecting ESP Teachers

Authors

  • Clara S. Koifman
  • Elisabeth A. C. Justo
  • Lilian Kerr

Keywords:

teacher selection, ESP approach, pioneer work, self-evaluation

Abstract

This paper is meant to lead ESP approach followers to reflect on the profile of an ESP teacher as well as on their own ideas and practices. It is also meant to launch procedures for choosing teachers with adequate competence to become ESP professionals. As we are not interested in only finding out about linguistic and pedagogical knowledge, we changed the traditional way of selecting teachers, filtering also their feelings, their way of thinking about what happens in the classroom and their way of looking at their students as human beings. Our intention is to clarify doubts that may occur about the purposes, design, practice, criteria for evaluation, and the legal structure that sustained the examination which was meant to choose candidates for a post as an English for Specific Purpose Teacher at E.T.F.Q.-R.J. We also took into account the pedagogical philosophy and necessities of the school, the team of English teachers, the pedagogical practice as well as the target clientele, the future professionals. We will go through the test analysing the needs, the steps and the results going into details that reflect our priorities when devising the ten questions that compose the written test and all the issues linked to the nature of such innovating work. We also make a self-evaluation as we consider some aspects to be altered and developed.

Author Biographies

Clara S. Koifman

Clara Sprintzin Koifman completed a Specialisation Post-Graduate Course in English for Specific Purposes at Lancaster University, England. She teaches English at Escola Técnica Federal de Química , Rio de Janeiro where she works mainly with Materials Design research. Her present research deals with the selection of English teachers for ESP.

Elisabeth A. C. Justo

Elisabeth Alves Correa Justo, teaches at Escola Técnica Federal de Química-R.J., working with Reading Abilities and Discourse Analysis, within an ESP approach. Her academic background includes a Specialisation Post-Graduate course in ESP at the University of Lancaster, England, and a Master Program in “Teaching English as a Foreign Language” in Applied Linguistics, at the University of Michigan. Her present research deals with the selection of English Teachers for ESP.

Lilian Kerr

Lilian Kerr teaches at Escola Técnica Federal de Química - R.J. She has been working with ESP attending to National and Regional Seminars . Her present research deals with the selection of English teachers for ESP.

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