Summer 2014

Editor’s Notes: It is a source of singular pleasure to welcome to these pages another independent initiative – the Special Supplement on English for Medical Purposes. This collection is both timely and urgent as it attempts to address some of the challenges facing teachers teaching English for healthcare. Recognising that a globally mobile workforce, ease of travel, and the increasing dominance of English as a lingua franca make it more important than ever for anyone involved in healthcare, the Editors of this Supplement ask: ‘Where else could communication be more important than in healthcare?’ As this collection of articles shows, while there are great opportunities, there are equally great challenges for English teachers.

Contents Overview

Main Articles

    Literature review: Explicit instruction vs. incidental acquisition in vocabulary learning / Karlyn Butler

    Principles underlying an exploratory approach to teacher development / Jerry G. Gebhard

    Patterns of English usage in Central Switzerland / Susanne Oswald    

Voices of Experience

    Teacher development belongs to teachers / Willy Cardoso

    The power of persuasion / Gabrielle Jones

    10 steps to becoming an EMP trainer / Ros Wright

    Content or methodology: Which should be the main focus of the ESP teacher in teaching health professionals? / Sam McCarter

    The essential role of vocabulary in healthcare communication / Catherine Richards

    What is it like to be colourblind? A web-based, guided discovery for ESP learners / Jeane Summermatter

    Challenges in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) / Kay Bentley

    The search for authenticity in ESP assessment / Ivana Vidaković

    Being surreptitious in the classroom: Impression management in English for Medical Purposes / Evan Frendo

And more…