ESP course delivered to personnel working in shifts for the state emergency service of Ukraine through a student-tailored model

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify whether there had been an enhancement in students' language skills and perception of the ESP course if it had been delivered through a blended mode student-tailored model. The latter was aimed at training each English language skill separately. Reading and listening skills were trained online, the writing was taught both online and offline, and speaking was trained offline using speaking clubs that were held once a week. The TUTORROOM system was programmed to deliver materials online. The ongoing and final assessments were administered offline. A pre-test-posttest research design was utilised to analyse the change in variables which were students' English Language fluency (proficiency), cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles. The study used a set of quantitative and qualitative empirical, experimental and statistical methods. The intervention improved the sampled students' English language skills, their cognitive ability and learning motivation. The use of the student-tailored ESP model led to the shift from the teacher-driven to autonomous learning. It had been proved by the responses of the interviewed students that they felt 'convenient' (16 out of 19 respondents), 'efficient' (13 of the interviewed students), benefited (6 of the interviewed participants), 'motivated', and 'responsible' for their progress in language fluency. The experiment showed that the model promoted students' responsibility for the learning outcomes which resulted in improved performance.