Designing a learner-centered esp course for adults based on evidence from a questionnaire and incorporating the learners' aims into a situational-based syllabus

Abstract

This paper examines the organization of a six-week Conversational English ESP course design for the tweny-two adult administrative human resources staff working in the International Inlingua Language Learning Center in Istanbul. At the very start of this course, a thorough needs analysis taking into account the language needs of the learners based on the essentials put forth by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) and Dudley-Evans and St.John (1998) established the core framework for the study and the findings from this analysis were used for the ESP course and syllabus design. In the final phase of my study for the ESP course design in question, the choice of the right syllabus was a major decision in language teaching, and it was made as consciously and with as much information as possible. After due consideration, I decided on the Situational-Based Syllabus as the most appropriate syllabus from among the several distinct types of language teaching syllabi and prepared the course content for the Conversational English Class.