ESP News, March 2025
Letter from the Editor
Kevin Knight, Kanda University of International Studies, Chiba, Japan
Letter from the Chair
Jennifer Roberts, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
Letter from the Chair-Elect
Gerlinde Koppitsch, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Villach, Austria
Helping Scholars Excel: A Framework for Supporting Research Talks
Katie Blackburn Brown, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
After many years working with international scholars, Katie Blackburn Brown has learned that excellent researchers are not often equally proficient at public speaking. In fact, quite frequently research talks fail to engage a broad audience, fail to clearly articulate the study’s relevance and impact, and fail to inspire listeners. At Washington University in St. Louis, they set out to develop a short, meaningful curriculum that increases scholars’ confidence and competence in delivering public research talks, resulting in Excellence in Communication and English Language Skills or the ExCELS Program.
Yes, Engineers Need Small Talk
Karen Schwelle, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Karen Schwelle discusses the need to teach relational talk to international graduate students in engineering. She briefly outlines research about the value of relational talk and these students’ need to engage with mentors and work in teams to fulfill their academic and professional goals. She then describes activities and assignments she uses to teach and assess these students’ skills at relational talk.
Implementing Project-Based Learning in A Graduate Pathways Program
Natalya Watson, Northeastern University of Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Veronika Maliborska, Northeastern University of Boston, Massachusetts, USA
What is the best way to meet your learners’ needs for English language communication in their studies or their work? Project-based language learning (PBLL) is one way in which you could possibly do both. Natalya Watson and Veronika Maliborska of Northeastern University of Boston have been providing support for graduate students through a PBBL program in which the instructor acts as a research supervisor who guides a student through all steps of the research process, including presentation and publication of the research outcomes. Such PBBL research projects complement and prepare the learners for their actual graduate studies and professional activities.
ESP Project Leader Profile: Jack Hardy
Kevin Knight, Kanda University of International Studies, Chiba, Japan
The 64th ESP Project Leader Profile features Jack Hardy, Associate Professor of Linguistics at Oxford College of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He is on the Steering Board of the TESOL ESPIS and was the Convention Chair in 2022. Jack defines leadership in terms of creating an environment that promotes collaboration. His narrative explains how communication was at the core of his leadership, which enabled him to bring multiple stakeholders together for a study of discipline-specific academic writing for his doctoral dissertation.