Teaching vocabulary in tertiary ESP using TED talks [Innovation and digital technologies in Languages for Specific Purposes]

Teaching vocabulary is particularly important in tertiary English for specific purposes (ESP) education, as technical terms form the foundation for oral and written communication in disciplines, professions, and projects. Becoming accurate and fluent in speaking and writing about subject-specific content requires extended linguistic instruction and opportunities to practise the language, which is why engineering students need to be enabled to participate in ESP courses in their academic degree programmes. This talk, therefore, reviews some vocabulary teaching techniques and illustrates pedagogical scenarios for teaching technical terminology. It thus caters for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in higher education, but its contents may be transferred to other academic subject areas or in-service training courses in industry. The main scenario presented revolves around a TED talk video file on technology and society, whereas two further TED video files adopt a narrower focus on 3D-printing in aircraft design and removing CO2 from the atmosphere. TED talk files are permanently archived, accessible online, and accompanied by transcripts. The teaching sequences under consideration involve discussion questions, note-taking of facts and figures from the talks, an analysis of key vocabulary and phrases, using key terms in discussing aspects of the talks, and preparing arguments and counter-arguments related to the speaker’s view. These teaching scenarios may be complemented with homework assignments or integrated into several lessons treating the same thematic strand. The major objectives of this talk are revisiting an essential area of ESP and exchanging techniques from tertiary pedagogical practice. It may be characterised as a methodological contribution rooted in teaching experience, thus resembling a concept talk rather than a research presentation. Instead of research data and results, it focuses on pedagogical aspects and the spreading of good teaching practice among tertiary ESP professionals