Syllabus design of an English for vocational purposes course for welding and metalwork students using task-based teaching

Abstract

This study aims to integrate English for Vocational Purposes content with task-based teaching to develop a syllabus for a 22-hour introductory metalworking course tailored for first-year metalworking and welding students at Tartu Vocational College. The primary objective is to design a syllabus with authentic and relevant pedagogical tasks, enabling students to acquire field-specific terminology and enhance their language proficiency for realistic workplace scenarios. The thesis consists of an introduction, two principal chapters and a conclusion. An outline of English for Vocational Purposes and related branches and terms can be found in the introduction. The first chapter provides a comprehensive literature review covering necessary concepts, including syllabus design, task-based teaching methods, task design, and an overview of needs analysis. The second chapter is dedicated to empirical research describing the needs analysis process culminating with task design and subsequent syllabus formulation. The thesis concludes with a discussion, including appendices such as example tasks and other related documents. Keywords: EVP, task-based teaching, tasks in TEFL