Specific English for medical secretaries.docx

Literature Review: The traditional approach to teaching English in Vietnamese medical schools prioritises grammar over communication skills, the effectiveness of which is increasingly under consideration. The objective of this study was to assess undergraduate medical students' satisfaction and needs with their current English training in order to evaluate the appropriateness of a training program based on CEFR. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey utilizing a self-reported structured questionnaire, a sample of 487 students was selected from the students of Hanoi Medical University. Results: Forty-two percent of students reported they were not satisfied with the existing English curriculum with 77.2% and 55.4% of students identifying a disproportionate focus on medical terminology and grammar respectively, rather than on listening and communication skills. Most (83%) preferred a CEFR-based English program with extra course focusing on medical disciplines in active manners (pair work, group work, role play). All undergraduate student groups preferred CEFR-based training (ranging from 77.92% among general medical doctors up to 94.44% among bachelor of public health). The perceived need for English language skills was high with almost 60% of students wanting English courses focusing on the communication skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the need for a review and revision of the English language curriculum as taught within Vietnamese Medical Schools with an emphasis on the design of new teaching materials that meet the needs of both medical students and society. The curriculum should prioritize the communication skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. It should cover topics related to medicine such as human anatomy, surgery and medical advances and offer learners a wide range of exercises including true/false, matching, multiple choice and gap-filling questions.

Bulletin of the Transilvania University, Series VII: Social Sciences • Law, 2014

The question of teaching English for Medical Purposes has been significantly researched over the last few years. English is today's lingua franca of medical international communication, the same as Greek and Latin were in the past; therefore, it is an essential prerequisite for a medical career, all the more so as a large number of Romanian medical professionals intend to emigrate to English-speaking countries. Consequently, teaching medical English should be adapted in order to meet the specific academic and professional needs of the Romanian students. This paper is focused on the key issues in course design and my intention is to bring forth the insights gained from my professional experience developing the curriculum for Medical English.

2021

Modern approaches such as professionally oriented, communicative and competence-based approaches in teaching a foreign language are core issues for all areas of higher education today. One of the areas of teaching English for the specialty is English for medical purposes. English for medical purposes is taught from a real-world perspective, which means teaching English is context-specific and vocabulary in many countries around the world. This article deals with issues of the teaching students of medical specialties in English for special purposes and provides a brief overview of the specific characteristics of medical English and exercises aimed at mastering at professional vocabulary acquisition in mixed-level learning groups.

The aim of this paper is to present specificities of the English language teaching necessary for successful education and professional training of medical students. In contemporary globalized world the English language has become the basic language of communication in all scientific fields including the field of medical science. It is well established that Medical English teaching should primarily focus on stable linguistic competence in English that is created by means of content and context based curriculum, thus preparing students for active use of English upon graduation. In order to achieve this it is very important that English language teaching be based on specific real situations in which the language is to be used. In addition, students should be encouraged to adapt practical skills applicable in specific future professional setting. Medical English teaching represents constant challenge for teachers because they need to be flexible, open to new approaches and methods, make decisions and adapt themselves to constant changes. In addition, long-term learning is at the core of higher education, and being equal partners, both students and teachers should be aware that education is a two-way process.

Перспективи та інновації науки

The article presents the overview of the current laws and resolutions that were adopted in Ukraine in terms of postgraduate education and requirements for teaching foreign languages to PhD students in particular. The author describes the experience of teaching Academic English for Medical Purposes to PhD students of the National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine. This paper aims to address principal practical considerations for the design and implementation of the Academic English for Medical Purposes course syllabus. The structure of the AEMP course syllabus is based on educational and professional needs of the PhD program participants as well as their need for academic excellence. The requirements for an academic physician in terms of supporting and function-specific competencies are also taken into consideration. The AEMP course syllabus addresses the formation, development and improvement of the PhD students' skills in academic reading and writing, academic listening and speaking. The AEMP course syllabus is designed in a way that ensures its relevance, feasibility and flexibility. The PhD students' involvement into the annual review of the course syllabus contributes to their greater support and their higher motivation and interest in learning. The course syllabus covers clinical topics and issues on professional ethics, integrity and emotional intelligence as well as addresses communication and team management skills. Due to the AEMP course syllabus the degree program participants become familiar with the common guidelines that should be strictly followed for a successful publication in an international peer-reviewed medical journal as well as practice their academic writing skills necessary for writing different types of papers, routine professional correspondence and official documentation. The AEMP course syllabus attempts to provide the PhD students of the NMU with an opportunity for continuous education and development.

This textbook is a logical outcome of a comprehensive research project carried out at College of Medicine and Medical Sciences(CMMS) by the author of this textbook during 2008 that determined the linguistic and non-linguistic needs, the academic level and the preferred learning styles of the students at CMMS. This textbook is designed to cater for their specific needs by considering their culturally driven preferred learning styles. The purpose of this book is not to teach medicine but its aim is to inculcate the academic ability in the students to go to a textbook, a journal or a reference book, to any oral presentation or a classroom lecture, to an interactive academic session, to online resources, on a medical topic and to prepare them to understand, extract and utilize the required information in an effective and efficient manner. To achieve this goal, this textbook ensures an integrated practice in all language skills along with emphasizing the other important language areas of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and medical terminology. Reading passages of moderate length have been carefully selected from Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta Premium (2006) about different human body organs to be exploited for achieving the above-mentioned goals. This textbook comprises of seven units. Each unit has plenty of exercises to not only give integrated practice in all the four skills but also in grammar and medical terminology. Each unit is designed to be taught in two weeks. It is ascertained that all language areas should follow a logical academic progression to achieve optimum learning. Different medical concepts, vocabulary items, medical terms, etc. are presented repeatedly in various contexts to strengthen students’ language command. A considerable variety of exercises is employed in all the units to familiarize the students with different learning situations and promote students’ interest and motivation. They include: question/answer, identifying the reference, fill in the blanks, solving crossword puzzles, word search, matching words with their meanings, synonyms or antonyms, multiple-choice questions, extracting specific items of information, matching ideas with paragraphs, true/false, correcting false statements, completing diagrams, labeling pictures, ordering sentences, joining ideas/sentences, circling correct information, writing sentences by using clues, completing outlines, splitting medical terms in their word parts, matching words parts, writing phonetic transcription, definitions and examples of medical terms, using appropriate verb forms, making questions and negatives, punctuation, error analysis, pronunciation practice, identifying and pronouncing past and plural endings, listening exercises, a variety of speaking exercises like dialogues, responding to the prompts, oral presentations etc. Every standard textbook has a main language area that acts as its foundation and other language areas are woven around it. Reading skills act as the backbone for this textbook considering its primary importance for medical students in general and the students of CMMS in particular. All the passages are meant to be read silently. The students need to scan, skim and read intensively to solve a wide variety of exercises. They need to read the passages individually, in pairs or in groups. Students of medicine have to go through a lot of reading material, i.e. textbooks, reference books, articles, journals, online resources etc. Specific reading skills are required to effectively deal with different types of materials and this section of the textbook prepares the students to employ appropriate reading strategies to handle various kinds of materials. This enables them to become efficient readers that is a sine qua non to continue their medical studies successfully. Failure to do so will adversely affect their abilities to complete their medical studies.

This textbook is a logical outcome of a comprehensive research project carried out at College of Medicine and Medical Sciences(CMMS) by the author of this textbook during 2008 that determined the linguistic and non-linguistic needs, the academic level and the preferred learning styles of the students at CMMS. This textbook is designed to cater for their specific needs by considering their culturally driven preferred learning styles. The purpose of this book is not to teach medicine but its aim is to inculcate the academic ability in the students to go to a textbook, a journal or a reference book, to any oral presentation or a classroom lecture, to an interactive academic session, to online resources, on a medical topic and to prepare them to understand, extract and utilize the required information in an effective and efficient manner. To achieve this goal, this textbook ensures an integrated practice in all language skills along with emphasizing the other important language areas of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and medical terminology. Reading passages of moderate length have been carefully selected from Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta Premium (2006) about different human body organs to be exploited for achieving the above-mentioned goals. This textbook comprises of seven units. Each unit has plenty of exercises to not only give integrated practice in all the four skills but also in grammar and medical terminology. Each unit is designed to be taught in two weeks. It is ascertained that all language areas should follow a logical academic progression to achieve optimum learning. Different medical concepts, vocabulary items, medical terms, etc. are presented repeatedly in various contexts to strengthen students’ language command. A considerable variety of exercises is employed in all the units to familiarize the students with different learning situations and promote students’ interest and motivation. They include: question/answer, identifying the reference, fill in the blanks, solving crossword puzzles, word search, matching words with their meanings, synonyms or antonyms, multiple-choice questions, extracting specific items of information, matching ideas with paragraphs, true/false, correcting false statements, completing diagrams, labeling pictures, ordering sentences, joining ideas/sentences, circling correct information, writing sentences by using clues, completing outlines, splitting medical terms in their word parts, matching words parts, writing phonetic transcription, definitions and examples of medical terms, using appropriate verb forms, making questions and negatives, punctuation, error analysis, pronunciation practice, identifying and pronouncing past and plural endings, listening exercises, a variety of speaking exercises like dialogues, responding to the prompts, oral presentations etc. Every standard textbook has a main language area that acts as its foundation and other language areas are woven around it. Reading skills act as the backbone for this textbook considering its primary importance for medical students in general and the students of CMMS in particular. All the passages are meant to be read silently. The students need to scan, skim and read intensively to solve a wide variety of exercises. They need to read the passages individually, in pairs or in groups. Students of medicine have to go through a lot of reading material, i.e. textbooks, reference books, articles, journals, online resources etc. Specific reading skills are required to effectively deal with different types of materials and this section of the textbook prepares the students to employ appropriate reading strategies to handle various kinds of materials. This enables them to become efficient readers that is a sine qua non to continue their medical studies successfully. Failure to do so will adversely affect their abilities to complete their medical studies.