Helping university students discover their workplace communication needs: an eclectic and interdisciplinary approach to facilitating on-the-job learning of workplace communication

Clarice S.C. Chan*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Although work-integrated learning (WIL) programmes such as internships and placements can provide valuable opportunities for students from different disciplines to learn much about workplace communication, ESP research has not investigated how on-the-job learning of workplace communication during WIL can be facilitated. To address this gap, the present paper first illustrates how an eclectic and interdisciplinary approach was taken in designing a WIL module for some students at a university in Hong Kong, with a view to facilitating their experiential learning and informal workplace learning during their WIL and helping them to discover their workplace communication needs. The paper then evaluates the impact of the module, using data from the students’ reflections on their WIL experience and a questionnaire survey that solicited their perceptions of the WIL module. It was found that the module, with its specially designed components, helped the students to learn proactively and enabled them to identify four aspects of their workplace communication needs, namely, 1) their target situation, 2) workplace discourse, 3) their current language skills and lacks, and 4) effective ways of learning workplace communication. Overall, the present paper argues that on-the-job learning of workplace communication is an area that warrants more pedagogical innovation and research attention in ESP.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)55-71
    Number of pages17
    JournalEnglish for Specific Purposes
    Volume64
    Early online date21 Oct 2021
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 21 Oct 2021

    Keywords

    • Workplace/business communication needs
    • Business English
    • Higher education
    • Work-integrated learning
    • Experiential learning
    • Informal workplace learning

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