A1 Journal article (refereed)
Mediation in practice in an ESAP course : Versions of the Medical English student conference (2021)

Liontou, M., & Braidwood, E. (2021). Mediation in practice in an ESAP course : Versions of the Medical English student conference. CEFR Journal : Research and Practice, 4, 25-43. https://doi.org/10.37546/jaltsig.cefr4-2

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Liontou, Magdalini; Braidwood, Eva

Journal or series: CEFR Journal : Research and Practice

ISSN:  2434-849X

eISSN: 2434-849X

Publication year: 2021

Volume: 4

Pages range: 25-43

Publisher: Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) CEFR & Language Portfolio SIG (CEFR & LP SIG)

Publication country: Japan

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/jaltsig.cefr4-2

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/79389

Abstract

The Medical English course at the University of Oulu (Finland), which is compulsory for 200 first-year medical students, is designed to enhance professional English language communication focusing on work life relevance. The course design utilized the action-oriented approach promoted by CEFR CV (2018), to support the active use of language through various simulation activities. This paper describes specifically the final assignment of the Medical English course, which is integrated with the Clinical Psychology course. Having discussed topics in Finnish in groups, complementing the lectures in the Clinical Psychology course, students present in English what they have learnt in these discussions in the framework of a student conference. While preparing for the conference, the students create a poster presentation in teams. During the conference, they present the posters and, thus, practice communication relevant to work life. In this assignment, they must actively apply cross-linguistic mediation and use mediation strategies to explain new concepts and simplify the source text. Traditionally, the assignment requires students to participate in a simulated real-time faceto-face conference both as presenters and attendees. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we used an alternative solution: a hybrid conference of asynchronous presentations with real-time Q&A forums in online posts. The new design similarly provides students with stimuli to activate all modes of communication (production, reception, interaction and mediation) simultaneously. This article reports on this novel solution for the assignment together with its context and the course design in relation to mediation scales and descriptors. Moreover, an analysis of the self-assessment forms between the student cohorts in 2019 and 2020 allows an insight into the learners’ experiences. The results show that students perceive the assignment as an authentic communication task, which enhances their engagement and autonomy in the learning process.

Keywords: English language; content and language integrated learning; online teaching; use of language; simulation; working life; working life orientation; interaction; communication; courses (societal objects); curricula; learning environment; educational methods

Free keywords: cross-linguistic mediation; mediation strategies; pandemic; pedagogical solution; online teaching; curriculum development; CLIL

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2021

JUFO rating: 0