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In the context of higher education and further education, scientific research plays a major role in the development and quality of teaching and careers (research active teachers). However, this opportunity is denied to most teachers of languages for specific purposes (LSP) who find themselves teaching their subject without any prior training in a specialized field with which they are not familiar. To compensate for the lack of specific training for these teachers, a training experiment including a component devoted to an initiation to scientific research was conducted (TRAILs, 2021). The arrival of the pandemic forced us to change the project to a distance learning format shortly before its implementation, which was planned for a summer session at the university. We describe the innovative online training module for developing a research career that focused on action research and empowerment of participants.

What do economists talk about? This seemingly innocent interrogation conceals a broader and innovative research programme, with the potential to renew the reflection on heterodox economics in a post‐crisis scenario. The aim of this paper is to show that convergence between language for specific purposes and economics is possible, so as to single out the genesis and the emergence of critical economic discourse.

After underlining the necessary collaboration between language and subject‐matter specialists, the paper addresses the question of the problematic use of economics textbooks in English‐speaking countries. Then, it deals with the fascinating question of the multiplicity of specialized meanings in economics. After pointing out the shortcomings of orthodoxy characterized by hyper‐formalization and its inevitable corollary, the mathematical nature of the discipline, it investigates the genesis of critical economic discourse, which requires the acknowledgement of pluralism and the components of heterodoxy, in order to converge towards a process of disciplinary acculturation that goes hand in hand with the learning process of language for specific purposes.

A deep‐seated renewal of economics, consisting of a methodological shift towards the components of heterodoxy, has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of teaching English for economics, so that the latter effectively conveys specialized meaning.

Teaching and researching English for specific purposes necessitates enhanced collaboration between subject‐matter specialists and applied linguists. However, this type of collaboration can be hampered by institutional or socio‐professional obstacles.

Discursive analysis has become indispensable in order to surmount the collective failure of mainstream economics in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. With the help of textbooks of a new kind, one must go beyond the vision of students as mere consumers of knowledge.

Language for specific purposes has long shown interest in economics, but is the reciprocal true? This paper proposes an original association, by putting the two disciplinary fields on an equal footing, and by bringing new synergies forward.

The paper aims to analyse the application of a pedagogy-based approach to designing online language learning courses. It aims to evaluate course efficiency from three perspectives – provider, recipient and wider community perspective and define the extent to which the target course could be applied for developing tourism and hospitality industry students’ and employees’ language competences in Europe.

In line with pragmatism paradigm, a summative/outcome evaluation research in provider, recipient and wider community perspective was conducted in Latvia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Italy. It comprised a focus group interview of 8 language teachers (the provider perspective), a survey of 505 students (the recipient perspective) and a survey of 106 language teachers and 161 industry representatives and 10 expert interviews (the wider community perspective).

The results highlight the main strengths of online learning environments and emphasise the efficiency of the pedagogy-based approach applied in designing an online course. The created courses are beneficial and may be used to foster the development of tourism and hospitality industry students’ and employees’ language competences.

The research sample is composed of language learners from five countries, but it is not proportionally distributed. Another limitation refers to the languages piloted. Further in-depth study concerning less widely used languages is required.

The research results enable understanding certain aspects of designing online language learning courses, provide evaluators’ feedback, suggest the course application for language learning and reveal the European value added.

The research explores the specifics for designing online language learning courses for Languages for Special Purposes for the application in tourism and hospitality industry. The course efficiency and quality are evaluated from provider, recipient and wider community perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion that social constructionist approaches to learning, which a building with the hands provides, is a “technique that leverages the potential of the hand-mind dynamic” as historically reported in the extant published literature.

The use of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) method in the context of transformative learning in Higher Education was used to drive a Situational analysis with sixteen postgraduate nursing students, from African learning contexts. This methodological approach was used to specifically explore their identity as learners and then to facilitate processes of critical introspection on social constructivist learning opportunities.

Students’ perceived LSP permitted a deeper level of critical introspection on their transformative learning journeys than alternative approaches, such as written discourse or extended narratives, could have provided. They also perceived that a major benefit of using the LSP method was that it enabled them to understand and articulate their stories more easily than if they verbally reported them first.

The sampling the authors used was purposive and reflective of the Nigerian background of our research participants, who study at the University of Sunderland.

LSP was perceived as an effective vehicle for the facilitation of reflection and self-awareness, which consequently contribute to students’ capacities to function at a metacognitive level. This has the potential to contribute to authentic transformative learning. Academic learning at postgraduate level hinged on the capacity of students to develop a pragmatic and working knowledge of what acknowledging their epistemic cognition entailed.

The methodological approach implemented in this paper provides a unique means of harnessing a now common gamification technique in pedagogic practice.

Presents a case study that probes the process of leading professional development in a specific educational setting, namely, a primary school, and offers a critical analysis of the process over an eight‐ to ten‐month period. Hopes that the approaches used and the lessons learned will have a relevance to the wider field of educational research and practice.

Purpose – This study aims at finding out the implementation of English for specific purposes (ESP) course and identifying the challenges faced by English lecturers in designing an ESP course for first-year students in the Engineering Faculty of Malikussaleh University.

Methodology – This study implements qualitative research through interviews as a means of data collection.

Findings – This study addresses the application of an ESP course and identifies the challenges appeared during the stages of designing. The study reveals that an ESP course is not completely implemented. In fact, the course provided little ESP contents. The paper also reveals that, in terms of challenges, each stage of design presents its own challenge. To design an ESP course involves five crucial stages, that is, needs analysis, syllabus, material, teaching, and evaluation. Teachers encounter challenges as the design process takes place.

Research Limitations/Implications – The present study provides an account of how English teachers view challenges in implementing a complete ESP course. However, further research should be conducted to discover the possibility of application of ESP course in national universities in Indonesia.

Practical Implications – This paper offers solutions in order to make the implementation of ESP course feasible in the university.

Originality/Value – There have not been any research in ESP application for engineering students in Malikussaleh University.

In an ever-interconnected world dominated by discourses on the internationalization and marketization of higher education, concerns related to language and employability have been the focus of recent debates. There is, however, a dearth of research investigating how these dimensions relate to one another in recent comparative and international higher education research. By focusing on how issues related to language and employability have been presented in recent higher education research worldwide, this chapter aims to contribute to our understanding of this concern. To achieve this goal, we conducted a scoping literature review using the Web of Science, Scopus, and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) databases, considering the years 2011–2020. The findings, perhaps not surprisingly, suggested that language skills are perceived to be valued by both graduates and employers though the discussions predominantly focused on one language, English. The research focus on English for employability in Anglophone contexts is understandable. However, the fact that the trend is observed in contexts where the language is not the primary or official language seems to indicate the influence of internationalization of higher education and global labor markets primarily dominated by English. The literature also suggested that (English) language training in higher education programs needs to move from solely linguistic and qualification-related content areas to a broader sphere of English for communication purposes that cover both specialized disciplinary content and broader generic employability skills. Considering this finding, we suggest that higher education systems and institutions incorporate recent developments in English for occupational purposes in their curriculum. We also recommend that there needs to be a shift from the overwhelmingly English language-dominated discussions to more inclusive research that assesses the impact of other dominant languages on employability-related concerns.

To examine how vocabulary instruction can lead toward students connecting the known to the familiar with the unknown.

Theoretical advances in vocabulary acquisition and utility are discussed in relation to word reading and knowledge formation. Extending theory requires pedagogical planning and reinforcement to promote skill learning first toward preparing students to have the capacity to acquire vocabulary across the content areas and in turn, understand and apply that knowledge toward problem solving.

Students must be scaffolded toward connecting what they know with that which is familiar and eventually with the unknown; only then can we extend learning beyond our guidance and supervision. Students must be taught how and when to use vocabulary acquisition strategies so they are prepared to overcome difficulties associated with word meanings in independent reading.

It is timely for rich, varied, and complete vocabulary instruction to serve as the basis for learning across the curriculum. Words are the predecessors of tomorrow’s learning and we must consider how to best provide instruction for students who overuse sight words, text shorthand more than they write formally, and even substitute inappropriate language based upon a lack of vocabulary knowledge and ability to articulate their feelings.

The need for designing the next generation of web service‐based educational systems with the ability of integrating components from different tools and platforms is now recognised as the major challenge in advanced learning technologies. In this paper, we discuss this issue and we present the conceptual design of such environment, referred to as ASK Learning Service Platform (ASK‐LSP), that can support reusing and repurposing of learning scenarios, activities and content in a consistent manner.

Given the continued globalization of industry, second language (L2) training is becoming more important. However, to assume that all managers who need L2 training are equally trainable or that all respond similarly to traditional L2 training techniques, can be costly errors of judgement. Attempts to address these issues using the results of a 1995 pilot NBA Spanish language training course for middle managers. Provides specific recommendations regarding these two important areas.