Dealing with ESP competences: Creativity and collaboration in higher education

Abstract

This paper focuses on two main goals related to creating knowledge by means of collaborative tasks that imply performing various language competences in English. First, learners of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) are aimed at succeeding when performing different communicative competences in the foreign language. Second, these L2 students participate in the creation of knowledge by doing various tasks that will require independent, collaborative, and interactive IT skills. Since there are numerous approaches to learning foreign languages today, often supported by the access of “mobiquitous” learning (m-learning and u-learning) materials, this case study will show not only the individual and collaborative work of students, but also how their input in their creative tasks improved learners' engagement together with their communicative language skills in English. This study is based on a compulsory subject of ESP, English Applied to Social Work, in the Degree in Social Work at the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. These ESP participants successfully produced numerous u-learning tasks intended for individual and collaborative learning techniques that contributed to enhance both their L2 communicative competences and the specific content of this ESP course. These collaborative u-learning tasks were planned with the intention of engaging ESP participants in their reflexive and permanent learning process. Their work was delivered not only in the face-to-face classroom but especially in different Virtual Learning Environments (VLE).