Esp teacher’s Transforming Profile

-Showed their students they cared: “They didn’t just ‘say’ they cared; they did care – about many things. They were concerned about students as human beings; they deeply wanted students to learn; the whole teaching-learning process excited them and they truly believed their subject was the most important and exciting in the world. These passions were made visible to students, not hidden or kept secret.” (ibid) This is very important considering ESP. Many teachers underestimate this subject but lots of them appreciate it completely. The latter know that this subject is of special importance to their students not only in terms of widening their language skills in a particular subject area, but also in fostering competencies that can be used and further developed through their entire life
Our example: It happened once that straight after the first class, a student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering approached the teacher with this question: Is this for you just a profession or a passion?
-Knew how to motivate students: they are three ways of motivating students to work hard on learning mentioned in Bain’s book: a) by giving praise in a special way, e.g. using ‘task’ praise instead of ‘person’ praise; b) by careful listening to students; c) by figuring out what motivated different students and responded respectively. (ibid) All tree ways of motivating students can be used by ESP teachers. The third one can be somewhat problematic if the students’ group is huge (as is the case in our environment).
Our example: we praise both the student’s performance of the task and his individual progress; we encourage them to approach us and tell us everything considering all the aspects of the course and their learning. As for realizing what motivates them, we tend to approach more introvert students, because the others apparently reveal what is more motivating to them.
-They were trustworthy: “They were sensitive to how they handled the power-trust issue inherent in any hierarchical relationship. They did not use the classroom to demonstrate their power or brilliance, but instead to invest in students, displaying a trust that students were ready to learn. When possible, they gave students power to make decisions about their own learning. And finally, they were fair, i.e., they equally applied the same policies for all.” (ibid) ESP teachers can always win their students trust by allowing that they both (the teacher and the students) will learn from each other especially because teachers are not experts in the students’ field of study. ESP teachers can always let students decide what they really need to learn from the course. And for the last piece of advice - to be fair – it is something, like many of these characteristics – which if missing, has to be paid attention to and developed as a part of the teachers’ personal profile.
Our example: This characteristic has been developed during our whole personal and professional life. Accepting the idea that teachers are there for the benefit of the students and not vice versa, we approach students with respect and treat everyone fairly and equally. We always emphasize the mutual teaching-learning aspect of the ESP course and tell students what we have learnt from them.