Designing an Intensive ESP Course for Refugee Families in Australia

This assignment details the design of an intensive English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course for refugee families and children in Australia. The course aims to address the language barriers faced by refugees and help them integrate into their new environment. The paper outlines the students' specific needs, including their poor English-speaking skills and the trauma they may have experienced. It proposes a six-week ESP program with a focus on English communication and grammar skills, incorporating various teaching strategies such as role-playing, games, and multimedia resources. The curriculum includes reading, writing, speaking, and listening tasks, with an emphasis on practical, real-life scenarios. The assessment methods involve both formative and summative evaluations, including oral and written tests, homework assignments, and self-assessment. The goal is to equip refugee families with the necessary English language skills to communicate effectively, build social networks, and gain employment.

Running Head: ENGLISH 1
English with special purposes
Author's Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Introduction
Migrating to a new country is never easy as the migrants face a new environment and
culture. Social interactions play a major role in how fast they acclimatize to their new
surroundings and communication is very essential for social interactions. Their personal and
social skills are no longer effective once they find themselves in a new country with a foreign
language that they cannot speak or understand. The paper designs a program in English for
specific purpose for a refugee families and children in Australia. It discusses the students, their
special needs and the kind of curriculum and learning environment they need.
“Extending lives,” an NGO working with the Refugee Council of Australia has
supported the entrant refugees and helped them rebuild their lives in Australia. The
organization runs with the utmost integrity and realizes that one of the foremost hurdles faced
by the refuses is the new language. Lack of English and communication and writing skills
prevent them from making social interactions and settle down faster in the new country.
Based on the investigation, the NGO has been asked to prepare an intensive ESP course to
improve English speaking skills and are given four weeks to train them.
Description of students and their special needs
The language is the first major hurdle for refugee families and children arriving in an
English-speaking country such as Australia. English language skills are a basic requirement in
work and study in a foreign country (Davies, 2017). People from refugee and migrant
backgrounds who arrive in Australia are linguistically advantaged as they speak their mother
tongue and at least one other language. A limited understanding of the Australian education and

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low English literacy add to the challenges of these families and their children. Refugee families
experience a range of challenges during their resettlement in Australia. The families, after
facing life-threatening and traumatic experience at home, find themselves in an unfamiliar social
system and a new culture. They need to learn English to get education, build social supports
within their community and gain employment. Language barriers are further hindrance in their
access to education, employment and housing (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2017).
They need a proficiency in English language to complete their education, get work and feel part
of the community.
The NGO must provide high quality learning one-to-one support that meets their
learning needs and for higher chances of success. Specially trained teachers are required to teach
refugee children who may be dealing with trauma and post-traumatic stress (Davies, 2017). The
mainstream teachers should get better EAL training in their pre-service education. There are
eight refugee families who come from Bangladesh and the group are made of 15 adults and nine
children in the age group of 4 to 10 years. Their English-speaking skills are very poor, and a
translator would be present during the first few days of the training. It is essential to provide the
refugee families with an easily accessible intensive English language provision so that they gain
adequate proficiency within a short period of time. They need to learn English fast and speak
effectively so that it is easier for them to communicate and feel part of the society.
Designing the ESP course
English for Specific Purposes or ESP is a prominent area in EFL teaching. It has become
essential to choose, develop and use appropriate teaching material that meets the needs of a
specific group of learners. The main purpose of ESP is to fulfill the very specific needs of very

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specific learners and meet their professional or vocational demands and respond to the needs of
the society (González Ramírez, 2015).
Before designing an ESP course, it is essential to understand the specific purpose of the
specific group and evaluate the suitability of the course and learning outcomes. Certain needs
and critical situations have been identified for the refugee families. They need to converse in
English during introductions and build rapport at home and at work. Thus, the key identified
areas include English communication and English grammar that can help them create new social
and professional networks, and lead to financial independence. Content instructors and
vocabulary specialists can help in the designing of the ESP course and
content.
The intensive English-speaking course for the refugees would be held at the community
center of the NGO and would run for six weeks. There would be six lessons given every week
for the six-week course. The ESP program can increase access to English language by teaching
refugees at home and hold special classes for mothers and their small children.
Linguistic features and Learning outcomes
English communication skills
Respond to casual introductions in English
Participate in in casual English conservations
Get aware of common Australian English slang words and accent
Get basic information on Australia and its people and culture.
English Grammar skills

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Get a meaningful understanding of the English language
Develop skills such as pencil and book holding during the foundation classes.
Understand the grammar involved in a daily life
Get a solid foundation for making sentences
A specially designed course material and textbooks have been selected for the six-week
course. ‘The Vocabulary Builder Workbook’ by Chris Lele can introduce new words and build
the vocabulary for continued advancement in English lessons. another book ‘English for
Everyone’ by DK makes learning English easier and help develop English skills with the help of
graphics and visuals. A specially designed syllabus and method would be used to offer the
course so that the English lessons are tailored to the practical communicative needs of the
participants. The courses should facilitate autonomy and motivation among the learners, and
they can play an active role in the planning of their courses (Gilmartin, 2008). A specific needs
analysis exercise was conducted before designing the ESP course and syllabus. The aim of the
ESP course to build the English language proficiency among the refugee families and their
children. Other resources relating to the course would be integrated and would include colorful
books and pamphlets relating to Australia, Australian maps, lifestyle and culture. Special classes
can cover the popular food and festivals of Australia. Video clips and short films would be used
to enhance the understanding of the English language and Australia as a country.
Teaching strategies and Learning activities
Curriculum and pedagogy will decide on what to teach and how to teach. The content of
the curriculum should help raise their literacy competency so that they can settle successfully in
Australia and find work. The ESP text must meet the particular language needs of the refugee

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group and the courses must focus on the skill of reading, writing and speaking. The syllabus
should facilitate between teacher and learner and develop vocabulary plus increase grammatical
range of the participants. The language learning would focus on basic grammar, language,
speaking and writing. Commonly used phrases in daily life and different situations would be
included in the curriculum. The curriculum used would be information intense and student
would be expected to communicate only in English during each class so as to improve their
English speaking and literacy abilities. The curriculum would focus on procedures for speaking,
reading, listening and writing along with vocabulary. It should be relevant to social and cultural
needs of the learners. Lesson plans should be designed for each of those six weeks and include
reading, writing, and speaking tasks. Certain high-frequency words, phrases, and expressions
would be included in the course. The grammar component of the study material
would cover verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs and other grammar items. In
the reading component, students would be asked to skim and scan texts for
main ideas. For the speaking component, they can be asked general
questions on speaking component or asked to read a short paragraph.
The learner group needs to be motivated to learn a foreign language to live in a country.
They need to believe that better prospects and results wait for them once they learn the
language. The motivation to learn the language should continue even beyond the classroom
(Gilmartin, 2008). When the learner gets involved in the course design, it allows language
learning to be embedded in his life. This is only possible if the ESP courses are flexible and
individualized. ESP practitioners often immerse themselves in the community to offer suitable
support for language learners. The subject-area resources can be the instructor and class
members themselves. Collaborative approaches can be encouraged with expertise sharing from

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different sectors of the society. The course material should be available online for participants so
that they can revise or learn the content as and when they get time. Social media networks and
platforms can allow greater freedom to the participants and enhance interactivity with the
teachers and other students. A flexible and individualized ESP course can keep the participants
motivated and achieve the desired outcomes.
Strategies and activities
Self-introduction practice and cooperative learning
Authentic speaking, writing and listening exercises
Learning through Role play and games
Monitoring of self and others learning
Supplemental literacy exercises
Real-life scenarios and case studies
Use of computers, pictures, PowerPoint slides, charts and other media
The ESP course should be well designed so that the students are able to maintain their
interest in studying English. The curriculum should focus on reading, reading comprehension,
writing, and grammar. The verbal and interactive communication should be a higher
priority than literacy development. Added activities and resources will improve the literacy
development of students. The students are expected to enhance their reading, writing and
speaking skills with appropriate grammar and vocabulary. Their General English literacy skills
are expected to show improvements after taking the class and prepare them well for

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communicative environments and their chosen fields.
Teaching strategies and learning assessment
Communicative, collaborative, active methodologies should be
followed for a more effective language learning. The ESP teacher should follow an
integrative approach and pay attention to the academic and psychological needs of the students.
ESP teachers and their instructional methods can play an effective role in teaching English and
providing education to refugee families.
Learning instruction should meet the cognitive and social needs
Enthusiastic and encouraging approach to keep the students motivated
Students can work in pairs and discuss the lessons in class
Extensive use of visual resources like PowerPoint, charts and graphics
Different English reading, writing, and speaking tasks for better engagement
Tactful correction of any errors made by the students
Encourage use of core vocabulary words and sentences in daily life
Allow only English conversation in class
Brainstorming for better comprehension
Regular assessment for learning
Assessment of learning
Assessment of language learning would be conducted by the instructor at the end of
every week. An oral and written test would be given to the participants who would be allowed to

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use an English monolingual dictionary. Homework assignment can be given for the weekend
and submitted online or in the classroom. Any mistakes should be discussed in small groups so
as to help the students gain confidence and feel less embarrassed. The assessment should cover
reading, writing and speaking. Web 2.0 communication tools can help in the assessment of
speaking competence of students with mixed abilities (Pop & Slev, 2013). The assessment and
feedback can encourage the students’ further improvement. Pronunciation should be clear and
smooth, and any minor imperfections can be ignored, as long as there is a high degree of fluency
and easy of speech.
Formative assessment
Discussion of previous lesson
Observation and quizzes
Peer-to-peer and teacher feedback
Self-assessment
Summative assessment:
End of week test and quizzes
It is essential to keep the students directly involved and they should state their goals and
assess their linguistic strengths and weaknesses based on questionnaire and assessments. Self-
assessment, external assessment and assessment framework can be combined to motivate the
learners (Gilmartin, 2008).

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Evaluation
Evaluation is an important aspect of any course and thus the students can complete a
course evaluation questionnaire completed by the students can helps assess the value and
success of the ESP course. The feedback given by the students plays a vital role in
understanding the quality of the course and help remove any flaws to make it better.. Educators
can achieve their life and career goals while the learners can get integrated within the society
once they learn the new language and bring the benefits. an evaluation of the ESP course would
indicate if the participant is able to handle everyday social, casual conversations correctly and
with the appropriate grammar structure.

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References
Australian Institute of Family Studies. (2017). Barriers to formal and informal supports for
refugee families in Australia, Australian Institute of Family Studies Retrieved from
https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/2017/04/06/barriers-formal-and-informal-supports-refugee-
families-australia
Davies, E. (2017). Language Barriers, The Australian education Reporter Retrieved from
http://www.edureporter.com.au/language-barriers/
González Ramírez, C. (2015). English for specific purposes: Brief history and definitions.
Revista De Lenguas Modernas, (23), 379.
Gilmartin, E. (2008). Language Training for Adult Refugees: The Integrate Ireland Experience.
Integrate Ireland Language Training, 1(1), 97–110.
Pop, A. & Slev, A.M. (2013). Computer-Mediated Communication Tools In ESP Speaking
Assessment. Academia Science Journal, 1(2), 1–5.

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