Innovations in ESP Teaching Methodology at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU)

Abstract

As the labor market is becoming increasingly global, the demand for medical professionals with adequate language skills and cultural sensitivity is constantly growing. International mobility demands interculturally competent individuals who are able to move easily from one culture to another. One way to respond to this challenge is by redefining the goals of ESP. The special position of the English language as the lingua franca of Europe necessitates a different approach to the teaching of the language and inevitably brings about alterations in the teaching culture at universities. LSMU trains the next generation of medical professionals to deliver high quality, patient-centered health care. Thus, the need for well-constructed Health Care English programs is becoming more and more crucial. As a result of changes in National Health Service and the professional activity of healthcare specialists, problem-solving in the field of pharmacy is increasingly emphasized. With increasing pressure on doctors’ workload the community pharmacy is widely used as a first port of call for minor illness. Thus, a significant part of pharmacy specialists’ professional activity consists of problem situations the solution of which requires more than competence oriented towards the professional field alone. Communicative and language competence here becomes highly important. The changing attitude towards a pharmacist’s profession brings about changes in the professional education and training of pharmacy students. For this reason, the priority fields in the reformation of Lithuanian healthcare system are not only changes in pharmacists’ activity, but also their professional education and training, as well as updating and improvement of the curriculum of that training (Kirikova, Šveikauskas, Leonas, 2008). The implementation of the main principles of problem-based learning in the professional language program at the Lithuani[...].