UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA GABRIEL RENÉ MORENO

FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES
POSTGRADUATE COURSE ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

Module 5th Research Methodology

COURSE DESIGN OIL ENGINEERING

Professor: M. Sc. Gabriela Vega Torres

Participants: Ana Carla Cadima Ribera

Brenda B. Flores Suárez
Maribel López Ramirez

Santa Cruz- Bolivia

October 2022
Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. THE NEEDS ANALYSIS 2
2.1. AIM 2
2.2. DATA COLLECTION 3
2.2.1. INTERVIEWS AND QUESTIONNAIRES 4
2.2.2. SURVEY GRAPHICS 4
2.3. SUBJECT OF STUDY 9
2.4. PRESENTING SITUATION ANALYSIS 9
2.5. TARGET SITUATION ANALYSIS 11
3. METHODOLOGY 12
4. RESEARCH METHODS AND TECHNIQUES 13
4.1. OBSERVATION 13
4.2. SURVEY 14
4.3. INTERVIEWS. AUDIO RECORDING. 15
4.3.1. PROFESSOR AUDIO 15
4.3.2. OIL ENGINEER NUMBERS ONE AND TWO AUDIO. 15
5. EVALUATION 16
6. CONCLUSION 17
7. REFERENCES 18
8. ANNEXES 20
8.1. CLASS OBSERVATION REQUEST LETTER 20
8.2. INTERVIEWS. QUESTIONNAIRES AND AUDIO RECORDING 21
8.2.1. Interview with the English Professor in the Oil Engineering
field and Audio Recording 21
 8.2.2. Questionnaire to Oil Engineering professionals 22
8.2.2.1. Translation and transcription for Oil Engineer #1 audio
recording 24
8.2.2.2. Translation and transcription for Oil Engineer #2 audio
recording 25
8.3. SURVEY TO OIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS 26
8.3.1. TABULATED DATA 28
1. INTRODUCTION

Known as the most common language around the world, English opens doors to all
fields because of the power of connecting people from many different relationships,
cultures and understandings. English can be focused on specific needs, that is, English
for specific purposes. In this context, with the aim of understanding these specific
needs, a Needs Analysis must be carried out. Axmedovna and others, introduce their
research document with an abstract about the concept of Need Analysis, which says
“...that the main aim of the ESP course is to meet the explicit needs of the learners. It is
deemed a learner-centered approach that develops learners’ language capacity to
succeed in their job sphere or academic needs. A needs analysis is an essential and
primary stage which helps to identify the learners’ needs, desires and prerequisites”1
With this definition and emphasizing the importance of the English language in the
Petroleum Engineering career, we decided to focus this research project on that area in
order to determine the needs, lacks and wants with the purpose of developing a course
design according to the outcomes obtained.

In the last half of the 18th century, oil fever broke out in the world, it was the "black
gold". Giving rise to supercapitalism with American and British companies, who started
the real production and economic predominance of oil as a world fuel. 2 However, later,
as a result of the oil crisis, the incursions of the Middle Eastern countries in this industry
arose, and English, due to its use in the post-war era, became the language of
exchange by excellence. Knowing about these reigning beginnings of petroleum, we
can understand why the basis of the literature in this area is in the English language.

In the Bolivian case, in our country, the oil industry is one of the most important
components of the national economy, as well as that of many countries around the
world. However, given the context in which we live according to the knowledge we were
able to obtain from this research, we can evidence that most students in this career
have little knowledge of English, since within the questions asked in the survey that was
conducted most attributed to the need to reinforce the language with complimentary

1 Fragment taken from the article THE IMPORTANCE OF NEEDS ANALYSIS IN TEACHING ESP
2 Fragment taken from the following link PETRÓLEO EN BOLIVIA (scielo.org.bo)

1
 classes and focus their needs to develop skills that are not very exploited by the
professor. They also say they need to manage the language to recognize the
terminology of the career that is in English, and to find better job opportunities,
recognizing that English is the language par excellence in the industry. Each of these
approaches, that of the learning process and that of work, are also mentioned in this
research by the primary sources: the professor and professionals in the area.

2. THE NEEDS ANALYSIS

2.1. AIM
Need analysis is a process that involves identifying the needs, wants, and expectations
of the target audience. ESP research objectives are not just limited to understanding the
needs of a particular group of people. It also involves understanding their expectations
and how they want to be communicated with.

The need analysis process starts by first identifying goals, objectives, and challenges
faced by institutions or professors. This is followed by conducting, for example,
interviews with the parties involved in order to identify what they would like to achieve.
Lastly, it is important for institutions to conduct secondary research to discover trends in
the fields and changes in their behavior over time. 3

English is the most important language for oil engineers, as it is the language of science
and international trade, the lingua franca of the oil industry. 4 As the language of
business, science, and technology. We decided to focus on the field of oil engineering
because we want to know how English is developed as a curricular subject in our
environment, so we focused on the state university of the city. Our main objective and
focus are to know how the teaching of this subject is approached within the career in
general. If it is designed to help people who are interested in this profession learn
English. Suppose it covers all the fundamental aspects of this subject, from terms and
phrases to grammar, reading comprehension, vocabulary building, and pronunciation.

3 Information obtained by an interpretation from the website (PDF) The Importance of English for
Engineering Students (researchgate.net)
4 Information obtained as an interpretation from website untitled (cambridgeenglish.org)

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Therefore, in order to clearly develop the research, we posed four questions in order to
determine the purpose of this paper.

- What are the Oil Engineering students lack?

- What are the Oil Engineering students’ wants?

- What are the Oil Engineering students’ needs?

- Which of the English language skills are often used by Oil engineering students?

2.2. DATA COLLECTION

To understand what Data Collection is, we will refer to an interesting and concise
definition offered by Oxford Bibliographies with McMillan and Gogia, who explain to us
“Data collection methods in educational research are used to gather information that is
then analyzed and interpreted. (It) is a very important step [...] Once the research
question and sources of data are identified, appropriate methods of data collection are
determined5”

Taking into account this definition and details about the Data Collection, we point out
that the methods, techniques, and tools we obtained through the sides that involve
English for Specific Purposes: the student, the professor, and professionals in the field
(looking for some support in the knowledge by a professional who has already gone
through this reality and who can currently provide us with information based on their
experience in the actual field).

Information was collected through the approach of an English professor from the Oil
Engineering degree. The class is located in the Tech Faculty of UAGRM. It is an
intermediate class for fifteen students of English II subject, who were surveyed through
a questionnaire in Spanish. They study English for two class periods two times a week,
a class we observed for one time.
As another support method of data collection, three interviews were generated, with the

5 Quotation from website Data Collection in Educational Research - Education - Oxford Bibliographies

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professor in charge of the named course, and with two Oil Engineers with experience in
the labor field. All three were interviewed and recorded.

So, our database is composed of eighteen people, between audio recordings and
surveys.

2.2.1. INTERVIEWS AND QUESTIONNAIRES

We elaborated on two types of interviews, one for the professor and a questionnaire for
the oil professionals. These experiences helped us to know in a concise and at the
same time profound way, the reality of the labor field of this career, and how well they
are prepared in the English language. On the one hand, the professor explained to us
how her lesson plan is developed and briefly told us about the content of the books she
is currently working with, teaching English. She gave us a glimpse of what the career is
preparing for the future with the English language, and her preparations for its
international accreditation. She spoke briefly about the skills that are used and not used
in her teaching method, why they are used more or less, and what she knows about the
requirements of the students in this degree program.
Meanwhile, in the case of the questionnaires made to the professionals, we also
obtained their answers in the form of recorded audio, since we were interested in a
post-university perspective that validates or not the teaching of English in oil
engineering. With these audios, we can know how the English language influences their
working careers since they highlighted that the importance of this language comes from
the same basic literature of the career, machinery, and procedures written in this
language, as well as job opportunities abroad since one of the interviewees is currently
working in an Arab country in the field of oil. Therefore, their answers help us to respond
to the needs of this language within the career in an international mode, and not only in
our national context.

2.2.2. SURVEY GRAPHICS

Below, we will present the responses obtained from the survey 6 in graphical form. For
each question, a variable was established to identify the question quickly and punctually

6 Survey in annex 8.3

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within the graphs shown. The equivalence of each variable 7 to each question is as
follows:

Question 1: English_importance

Question 2: skills_focus

Question 3: to develop_skills

Question 4: skills_perform

Question 5: supplementary_classes

Question 6: gender

In order to contextualize our sample, we will introduce the graphics with question 6.
Which is a general question for classifying the sample.
Our sample is composed of fifteen students of English II of the Oil engineering career.
Divided into 8 male students, and 7 female students.

7 Database obtained by a Survey to Oil Engineering students in the following link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uD_R1scNgg8SE2qy5VYF7VVudnVxgcRq/view?usp=sharing
8 Own elaboration according to the database responses. Annex 8.3.1

5
The unanimous answer to question one is Yes. Students consider learning the English
language to be important in their major.

In question two, it is evident that students mostly consider that their English class
should be focused on the skill of speaking. It is noteworthy that reading skill has not
been marked as an option to focus on class.

9 Own elaboration according to the database responses. Annex 8.3.1

6
 10

In question number three, students indicate with a slight majority that the skill they are
lacking is speaking. However, there is a tie between writing and listening as skills to be
developed.

11

While in the case of the skills they consider to have better developed currently, we have
that the majority of students consider it as Reading.

10 Own elaboration according to the database responses. Annex 8.3.1

11 Own elaboration according to the database responses. Annex 8.3.1

7
 12

The unanimous answer to question five is Yes. Students consider that it is necessary to
take supplementary classes in the English language besides their subject within their
major.

13

In conclusion, these graphics obtained, from the data, reflect the reality of the oil
students in this English subject. All fifteen of them unanimously consider that it is
necessary to study English for their career, as well as to take additional English classes
to the ones they have in their career. Also, the survey helps us to understand the
student's beliefs about what would be the skill to implement in their English classes,

12 Own elaboration according to the database responses. Annex 8.3.1

13 Own elaboration according to the database responses. Annex 8.3.1

8
where speaking stands out with a large majority. This leads us to believe that they may
consider that the English they currently know is not labor proficient in their beliefs. As for
the skill that needs to be developed, there is a slight majority that agrees that it is
speaking. This would also coincide with the opinions that arise after the class
observation. Since weakness in this field was evidenced when they participated in
class. And it also coincides with the audio of the professor, who clearly tells us that what
they want is to speak since it helps them with the interviews for job opportunities. Most
of them consider that their performance in reading is better than the other ones, which
supports our conclusion about the method taught by the professor that we witnessed in
the classroom observation, and the interview: The grammar-translation method, where
the most improved skill is reading.

2.3. SUBJECT OF STUDY

Oil Engineering is one of the careers of the state university that integrates English into
its pensum, taking it from basic English to one with technical terminology.

The English language has become an important tool for doing business in today's
globalized world. It is also a skill that many employers look for when hiring new
employees. And, also it is a necessary skill for engineers to be able to communicate
with other engineers across borders and cultures. Engineers need to be able to read
and understand technical documents in English, as well as write them. It is a must-
known for the oil engineering industry.

2.4. PRESENTING SITUATION ANALYSIS

Observation

This was an observation of a second-year university students class from Universidad

Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno located in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. In the
class, there are 15 students of Oil Engineering career and the professor. Some points
that were taken into account in this observation were the lack and students' needs.
Besides the method, the language used, the clear explanation of the tasks to perform,
and the use of support materials.

Experience

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First of all, we follow the professor as she enters the room and we take a seat in the
back of it. She starts the class by greeting and asking students if they have read the
lesson, then she explains the grammar rules of the affirmative, negative, and question
forms of the present perfect tense. After explaining the grammar part, she asks students
to give her examples which she writes on the board. Once the teacher finishes writing
the examples for each form of the present perfect, she asks her students if they have
any questions or doubts. Then she calls the attendance and while she calls them she
asks them a question from the lesson already explained. Finally, she asks students to
work in pairs and do the exercises from the book.

After observing the class for a period, it can be concluded that one of the needs of this
course is to add a method focused on the development of communication skills. Since
this is focused on grammar and translation. Is important in their labor field that they
complete their studies with a solid knowledge of the English language since the tools,
information, and processes in their entirety, are in this language, in addition to the fact
that it is evident that they lack this ability since it could be evidenced problems when
pronouncing some words such as verbs and adverbs, among others.

On the other hand, considering that they admit to having this deficiency due to the lack
of workload of the English subject, it should be considered that two periods a week is
not enough to achieve the development of the required skills, so it should be considered
to add period class.

Audio

According to both Oil engineering professionals audio, the analysis that we can obtain
through their answers is that they see that the lack of English at the university is that it
does not have a sufficient level to not need complementary classes to understand
English. It can be said that in the case of the needs of the students (looking at it from
the perspective of the labor field) is that they need to be able to communicate with
others in English due to the job opportunities that this area offers abroad. That is why,
we can easily conclude that what students also want is to be able and to feel proficient
in communicating, which means being able to speak, write, understand and read
English.

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Survey

Following the same line of identifying the wants, needs, and lacks of the students, as a
result of the surveys, carried out, we agree with what was previously mentioned. Their
lack, needs, and wants are related to being able to communicate in English in view of
better job opportunities abroad so they would exchange the Spanish language with
English to communicate, or also to work within our own country to be able to understand
the bases of the area's literature, machinery, software, research and related to the area,
which is found in the English language.

2.5. TARGET SITUATION ANALYSIS

Currently, the English course for oil engineering students consists in two books where
all the verb tenses are covered and terminology of the field is developed, including
images of oil wells, tools, machinery, and complete focus on the specialty of security. so
the student can recognize each components 14 This is basically part of the day-to-day
classes, a book that contains the information by topics to be developed as part of the
class. So, according to our perception, the class is based on the Grammar-translation
method. In the interview with the professor, she affirms that despite the speaking skill
being the most required by the students, it is not developed in the classroom because
there is no adequate environment for it in the building where the class is taken. In
addition, time is a variable that does not favor teaching that covers all the skills, since
only two English subjects are taken in this career.

Supporting this information with the data we have obtained from workers in the area of
oil engineering. We delimit a part of the interview with Oil Engineer #1 who works in a
foreign company, where English is the language to communicate, and he concisely
explains to us that within his reality the skill he uses the most is a set of the whole
(obviously because his environment is in this language) starting from understanding
what their coworkers say to him in a verbal and written way.

“Well, practically everything is (used) in the same order (order of options proposed in
our questionnaire): listening, speaking, reading, and knowing how to write. Perhaps (on

14 Own elaboration taken from the interview with the English Professor. Audio in annex 8.2.1

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a day-to-day basis) many contractions are used (which without knowing English would
not be understood) and with respect to reports and others, one has to read it too, right?
It becomes easier to write it when you have already read it before, and the speaking
and listening of the day-to-day, with which it is coordinated all the time. In other words,
from my point of view, like the previous answer, everything is important”15

On the other hand, the labor reality of Oil Engineer #2 in matters of the most used skill
in the English language is explained as follows: “Obviously now we are using reading
because we are in Bolivia, the company is Bolivian, only reading the catalogs, and
technical sheets I am using. There is no need to speak or write English now” 16

With these points of view, we can differentiate that the objective to achieve for both,
being that they have different work realities, is to understand what is communicated to
them either verbally or in writing, with this in common both prioritize the ability to read as
an important point in their day-to-day work.

Taking into account the points of view of professionals regarding the use and needs of
the English language in the workplace, a course design should be developed that
covers and is focused on ESP where a workload is added in order to improve the level
of English language so they can communicate effectively and according to the required
needs of speaking, and reading.

3. METHODOLOGY

According to the needs analysis carried out on the 2nd year students of the Oil
Engineering career English subject, it is considered that the most appropriate method
for the wants, needs and lacks is a merged method with Communicative Language
Teaching and the Grammar-translation method. Since the first method is based on the
idea that learning a language is successfully achieved by having to communicate a real
meaning, natural strategies such as debates and discussions on relevant topics can be
used and this will allow them to learn to use the language. 17 While the Grammar-
15 Fragment taken from the interview with Oil Engineer #1. Full audio recording on annex 8.2.2.1
16 Fragments taken from the interview with Oil Engineer #2. Full audio recording on annex 8.2.2.2
17 Concept according to the website https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/communicative-
approach#:~:text=The%20communicative%20approach%20is%20based,learn%20to%20use%20the
%20language

12
translation method is: “The method focuses on the literature and grammar of the target
language, with passages being translated into and from the mother tongue.
Consequently, it tends to be very much text-based. Typically, the teacher gives
instructions and grammatical explanations in the mother tongue. Little or no attempt is
made to teach pronunciation”18 Since as a result of this method, the students actually
have notions about the technical terminology in English of their area, we do not consider
it as a method to be discontinued in their learning process.

For everything mentioned above regarding this course, we would like to work together
with both methods because through using these methods, students will be able to fully
and effectively develop their communicative skills (their actual method improves reading
and writing, but with the proposed method which is CLT we will improve listening and
speaking skills) reinforcing their English employment and daily use of technical terms
that are relevant to their work area.

4. RESEARCH METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

The data collection will be obtained from class observation, survey, and audio recording
with the parties involved with ESP in the Oil Engineering major from UAGRM. With two
points of view post-university as professionals in the field.

4.1. OBSERVATION
On October 7th, we communicated with the professor in charge of the English course
for the Oil Engineering career, and we were able to obtain permission to observe a
class in her charge with the second English course, which is the most advanced one.
This course is taken for two consecutive periods on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For this
observation, we arrived at the faculty on Tuesday, October eleventh. Additionally, the
professor asked us for a letter in which we formally request the observation of the
class.19

At the beginning of the class, the teacher asks about the reading of the topic to be
developed for this day. Most students respond with short and concise words. The

18Concept according to the website https://www.tefl.net/methods/grammar-translation.php

19 Letter in annex 8.1

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professor divides the board into timely topics and asks for examples for each point. The
examples contain technical terms, and words according to the area, if they are not given
by the students, the professor says them in Spanish and the students translate them
into English, word by word, with some errors of time or person. It is evident that the
students have in their book, some page where they find a list of words and verbs
according to the topic, for which we consider that they have a good reading, since also
during the class they recognize the sentences and try to structure the sentences
(although with some help from the professor in time and person, as already mentioned).
When exchanging words and looking for appropriate examples for the topic, a not-so-
good pronunciation is evident.

The highlight of the class is that both, in the explanation and in the questions to the
students, the professor uses English and Spanish in a way that the students can
understand. It should be noted that they used technical vocabulary in the sentences
they wrote as examples in the present perfect tense. It was observed that the students
have problems with the pronunciation of some words, as well as difficulty in listening
skills when the professor asks them some questions in English.

4.2. SURVEY
On October 18th, surveys were taken from the students of the observed course. The
results of which lead us to understand the reality of the oil engineering students in this
English subject. Most of them want to practice speaking, because it opens them with
better opportunities to develop as professionals in the field, also they agree that the
majority of the equipment, papers, literature, software, and programs related to the field
are in this language. So, it would help them to achieve better job proposals.

4.3. INTERVIEWS. AUDIO RECORDING.

4.3.1. PROFESSOR AUDIO

On October thirteenth, we went again to the English class to conduct a survey of the
students and an interview with the professor. However, we had the inconvenience that
the students had activities for other subjects of the career so the class of the day could

14
 not be fully complete, and therefore the survey was not taken on this occasion.
However, we took advantage of the day to interview the professor, from whom we
obtained a pleasant predisposition to get into the reality of teaching in this career, and
how her method of teaching English in this field has been planned. 20 In the middle of the
interview the professor shows us the books that she personally designed for this course,
both English one and English two.
Off audio, she explained to us that from a subject in her ESP postgraduate course she
followed her motivation to design the material according to this major. Therefore, she
met with other professors from other subjects of the career to learn about the
terminology of the area, and thus to know and introduce their students to the topics
corresponding to the field in English.

4.3.2. OIL ENGINEER NUMBERS ONE AND TWO AUDIO.

In order to obtain the audio from Oil engineers, we contacted people known to one of
the members of the group, who agreed to collaborate with the questionnaires. 21 From
the questions we asked, we were struck by the fact that both of them consider it really
important to be able to understand English, and especially to know how to speak it.
They also both agree that the level of English in the university is not appropriate for their
field, since the literature base and the labor base of their career is in English, so they
advise that all students of this career invest in additional classes to obtain a good level
in this language, and thus get a better job source.

5. EVALUATION
The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method was chosen as an English
teaching method for the oil engineering career as a proposal to improve some aspects
that may be lacking in the current teaching method. As this is based on communication,
we have seen how it must be evaluated, therefore the activities must be focused on
communicating a real meaning, that is oral presentations and performances, such as
discussions, debates, role plays, and ted talks where the students are provided with a
purpose of communicating. Written assignments and reading activities that are currently

20 Full audio on annex 8.2

21 Questionnaires in annex 8.2.2. Audio on annexes 8.2.2.1 and 8.2.2.2

15
applied in the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) which is mainly focused on those
translating from the target language into the L1 and the use of it 22, along with Oral
presentations can be assessed by using rubrics where their performances will be taken
into account in order to measure the effectiveness of the methods, students' knowledge
and what they can understand and produce in different contexts. For that purpose, a set
of evaluation criteria should be established to be applied to any activity.

Evaluation Criteria Students’ development

Active participation Student’s involvement in class activities.

Meaningful communication To avoid ambiguity and helps to communicate

meaningful and concise messages.

Fluency To increase confidence.

Eye contact Keeping eye contact with the person projects

confidence and is associated with credibility.

Knowledge of the topic Helps in conveying the information precisely

and developing coherence.

Pronunciation To encourage them to review and improve

their pronunciation increases confidence when
speaking.

Accuracy in using the language To promote the development of arguments and

own ideas.

Correct use of the target language To develop the ability to express using the
(grammar rules and structure) grammar structures properly.

We detail the evaluation proposal activities below:

1. Pre Activities-Warm up- elicitation to encourage students' participation, to put

students in context, and to set the scene.
2. While Activities-Knowing concepts - Vocabulary, Reading or Listening activities,
and grammar rules to check students' comprehension and clarify concepts.
3. Post Activities- Production or Speaking Oral Presentation to assess how much
students have learned.

22 Own elaboration obtained from the website https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-

reading-comprehension/

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6. CONCLUSION
By way of conclusion, we will answer the questions that we posed at the beginning of
this investigation.

- What are the Oil Engineering students lack?

We consider that the main lack of students is related to the time that the degree gives to
this subject, so they are left with the feeling that they do not have a good level, nor that
they are proficient at work, so they should be looking for complementary English
classes to improve it.

- What are the Oil Engineering students’ wants?

We see that their want is to have active communication in the language. For this reason
in the survey, the skill to be developed is led by speaking and listening, and in the
majority of the related open questions, the students propose oral activities to be
developed during class.

- What are the Oil Engineering students’ needs?

We see that the students have the need to be proficient in the language, to be able to
communicate and understand it, since according to their own response, this language is
fundamental in their area because it has a literary base in English, and that the job
opportunities are better from knowing English.

- Which of the English language skills are often used by Oil engineering students?

According to the information collected by the surveys carried out, the skill of reading is
the most used by the students in the sample. We recognized that the method taught in
this class is the Grammar-translation method, so this answer was no surprise to us
since reading is the basis of this method.

Considering those answers, we note that according to our experience in this research,
the needs analysis and the data collection that results from this leads us to an
interesting perspective of the use of the English language. Although at present, English

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 is the language of exchange by excellence, the results attach us to the fact that this
language is predominantly relevant, and that in this industry it is a prevailing need. The
students of this career need a high proficiency in the language, in order to improve their
quality of life through better job opportunities, and mainly to understand the very basis
and foundations of their career, so they cannot ignore learning this language.

7. REFERENCES
References

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Communicative approach. (n.d.). The United Kingdom's international

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managers-leaders-tayeb-khetib/

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https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756810/obo-

9780199756810-0087.xml

Propia. (2022, October 13). Professor's Interview

(https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uAEGD2mWGEyS_d7vLAGsftdNGEpeMzK6/

view?usp=sharing ed.) [Interview (Audio)]. Tech Faculty UAGRM, Santa Cruz,

Bolivia.

Propia 2. (2022, 10 14). Oil Engineer #1 (Audio, Interview ed.) [Interview]. Santa

Cruz, Bolivia. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y1xfYCSE18r3oG9AIV-

nkUxphQFVOO4R/view?usp=sharing

Propia 3. (2022, Octubre 14). Oil Engineer number 2 (Audio). Santa Cruz,

Bolivia.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z3He5d18adE8tUSyzhnaUV7RXxYbfwAv/view?

usp=sharing

TEFL.net. (1998). The Grammar-Translation Method. TEFL.net, Language

Teaching methods. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from

https://www.tefl.net/methods/grammar-translation.php

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8. ANNEXES
8.1. CLASS OBSERVATION REQUEST LETTER
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, October 11th, 2022

English Professor at Oil Engineering Major

Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno

REF: Class observation request to be part of a case study of Module 5th of the
Postgraduate Course in English for Academic Purposes of the UAGRM

Present. -

Dear Professor, we are writing to you to formally request that you allow us to be part of
your English class with the students of Oil Engineering, twice, for purely investigative
purposes.

We are currently studying Module 5 of the Postgraduate Course in English for Academic
Purposes of the Facultad de Humanidades of the UAGRM, which is Research
Methodology oriented to English for Specific Purposes (ESP). So, we focus on the
search for the analysis of an English class where technicalities are handled, which allow
us to develop a final project that covers our knowledge in the area, within the methods
of research and teaching that correspond to the ESP area, and thus we can culminate
our career in this course.

We speak of two occasions, which will be divided as follows:

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1. Class observation

2. Audio Recording to you, and Student Survey

Without further ado, we deeply appreciate your approachable and friendly attitude on
this path of research in which we find ourselves.

Best Regards,

Brenda Flores

Maribel Lopez

Ana Carla Cadima

8.2. INTERVIEWS. QUESTIONNAIRES AND AUDIO RECORDING

8.2.1. Interview with the English Professor in the Oil Engineering
field and Audio Recording

Professor's point of view

First of all, we would like to thank you for your friendly willingness to respond to our
inquiry.

The purpose of our research is to learn about the ESP focused on Oil engineering.

So, we would like a general approach to the reality of the English subject oriented to the
Oil engineering career.

● What are your perceptions as a teacher of the subject, and what could you tell
us, in general, about teaching in this area specifically?
● Of the skills of Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening, which one do you
develop most frequently?

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 ● How do you see the learning process of students in this career with the English
language?

Please comment us.

Audio recording on the following link Professors Interview.mp3

8.2.2. Questionnaire to Oil Engineering professionals

The purpose of these questions is to learn about the importance of English in the
labor field of Oil Engineering.

1. Do you think it is important or necessary to study English for an Oil

Engineering career?

Yes

No

Why? ________________________________________________________

2. According to your experience, do you consider it necessary to take other

English classes in addition to those that exist in the Oil Engineering career at
the University?

Yes

No

Why? _______________________________________________________

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 3. In your field of work, considering only those activities where you use
English, what skill do you consider most important?

Writing

Reading

Listening

Speaking

4. In your current field of work, which of the skills Writing, Speaking,

Listening, or Reading do you use the most?

Writing

Reading

Listening

Speaking

We got information from two oil engineers. Both audios can be found in the links added
below each transcript and translation.

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 8.2.2.1. Translation and transcription for Oil Engineer #1 audio
recording

Well here we go then with the subject, question number one: Do you consider that it is
important or necessary to study English for an Oil engineering career? The answer is
yes. Why? Because most of the terms, many tools, come in English, that is, since this
industry began, many of the terms or operations are in English. That is, for some words
there is not even a translation into another language or Spanish, so it is very necessary
to know how to study English for this career. Let’s see with question number two. Based
on your experience, do you consider that it is necessary to take other English classes in
addition to those that exist in the Oil engineering career at the university? The answer is
also yes. Why? Because the English that is handled at the university that is taught at
the university is called Specific Oil English, it has very little focus, one or another word
or set of words that are added to a common and simple English but Specific Oil English
in itself goes much further, right? It does not have the scope, the English that is taught
at the university have a very short scope, it is very short because it only covers a few
terms and nothing more, that is why it is necessary to study English, to know a
complementary English, that is, the general English that can know anyone and add the
technicality part too. That way is the best I think.

Question number three. In your field of work, considering only the activities where the
English language is used, which skill do you consider to be the most important? And
mention the options of writing, reading, listening, or speaking. The truth is that
everything is important in the language and in the performance of functions, right?
Because based on communication is what one works for, that’s why from the outset
everything has to be known, but the order would be to listen and speak. By listening and
speaking you communicate you know what you want to say. Reading and writing is
already an addition, since if you know how to speak and listen it is much easier,
perhaps, to read and write. And, in question number four, in your current field of work,
which of the skills, be it writing, speaking, listening, or reading, do you use the most? I
use talking more. Well, practically everything is in the same order (order of options
proposed in our question): listening, speaking, reading, and knowing how to write.

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Perhaps (on a day-to-day basis) many contractions are used (which without knowing
English would not be understood) and with respect to reports and others, one has to
read it too, right? It becomes easier to write it when you have already read it before, and
the speaking and listening of the day-to-day, with which it is coordinated all the time. In
other words, from my point of view, like the previous answer, everything is important. It
is only the order in which priority has to be given, that’s it.

Full Audio recording on the following link Oil Engineer #1.ogg

8.2.2.2. Translation and transcription for Oil Engineer #2 audio

recording

(Answer to question number one) Yes, definitely I think it is very important and
necessary to study English in the Oil engineering career and in all university careers.
English is very important in the oil industry, let’s remember that most of the equipment,
tools, and materials of the industry are manufactured in the United States. So, the
technical data sheets, the catalogs come in English and basically one has to know basic
English to understand the catalogs and handle these equipment. Also in professional
life English is very important, not only in the oil industry but in all industries English is
basic.

(Answer to question number 2) I think it's necessary, it's important to take extra
classes because this is not, I imagine, I think that English is not the strong point of
universities, and it comes out (the student) understanding very little and (therefore)
reinforcing speaking, listening and understanding English is very important for his later
professional life. He will use English throughout his professional life.

(Answer to question number 3) In my professional life, in my experience, I believe

that the most important thing is to write and speak. Write it because you are sending a
letter and it has to be very well written in English, you are going to send it to another
person and the other person has to understand it very well. Then, speaking, the
interlocutor or your work, a colleague has to understand you. They have to understand

25
well what you are saying in English. That is why I suggest that the most important thing
is to write and speak English.

(Answer to question number 4) Obviously now we are using reading because we are
in Bolivia, the company is Bolivian, only read the catalogs, and technical sheets I am
using. There is no need to speak or write English by now.

Full audio recording on the following link Oil Engineer #2.mp3

8.3. SURVEY TO OIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS

The purpose of this survey is to know the needs of Oil Engineering students
regarding the technical English course they are taking at UAGRM.

Mark the answer you consider correct

1. Do you think it is important or necessary to study English for an Oil Engineering

career?

Yes

No

Why? ___________________________________________________________

Of the following questions, only mark one option as you consider correct

2. Considering skills: Writing, Reading, Listening, or Speaking. Which of these skills

should the English class focus on?

Writing

Reading

26
 Listening

Speaking

What activity do you suggest to improve this skill (Videos, Audio, Interactive/dynamic
games, Oral activities such as debate or presentations, etc.)?

___________________________________________________________

3. Considering skills: Writing, Reading, Listening, or Speaking. Which is the skill you are
lacking in developing?

Writing

Reading

Listening

Speaking

4. Considering skills: Writing, Reading, Listening, or Speaking. In which of these skills

do you think you perform best?

Writing

Reading

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 Listening

Speaking

5. Do you think it is necessary to take other English classes in addition to the ones you
have in your major?

Yes

No

Why? ___________________________________________________________

Gender

Male

Female

8.3.1. TABULATED DATA

The following file contains the information corresponding to each question transformed
into a variable, and its values, for each survey, conducted. Data tabulation and analysis
were performed with IBM SPSS software.

DATABASE- FINAL PROJECT- Group 6.pdf

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