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esp-english-course-designer

Design English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses for professions and workplaces (medical and nursing, aviation, legal, hospitality, engineering, business): needs analysis (target situation, present situation, learning needs, means analysis) with practitioner interviews, task-list surveys rating frequency, importance and difficulty, triangulation with managers, can-do outcomes for core tasks, task- or genre-based syllabuses, authentic workplace materials, genre analysis of key interactions (e.g. SBAR nursing handover), performance assessment agreed with subject experts and course evaluation. Ranks surveyed tasks by frequency x importance x difficulty into core, secondary and low bands, flags tasks respondents disagree on, and compares priorities by role. Use when a teacher or training manager plans an English course for a specific job, sector or company, or needs a needs-analysis survey.

Languages, Linguistics & Translation / Language Teachingv1.0.0Updated OCT 25 20261 reference1 script

An ESP course is only as good as its needs analysis: it teaches the tasks learners actually do, in the language those tasks need. scripts/needs_analysis.py turns a task-list survey into course priorities.

Trigger Conditions

Activate this skill when the user:

  • Plans English training for a profession, sector or company
  • Needs a needs-analysis survey or interview guide
  • Has survey results and wants course priorities
  • Wants a syllabus built around workplace tasks and genres

Academic purposes: academic-english-eap-course-planner. Task design: task-based-language-lesson-designer. Outcomes: can-do-statement-writer.

Workflow

text
1. CONTEXT  -> sector, roles, sponsor goals, hours, group, current level (references/esp-course-design.md)
2. TASKS    -> interview practitioners; draft 10-25 target tasks
3. SURVEY   -> frequency, importance, difficulty (1-5) per task; learners and managers
4. RANK     -> python scripts/needs_analysis.py survey.csv --by-role
5. ANALYSE  -> genres and interactions for core tasks; collect authentic materials
6. DESIGN   -> can-do outcomes, task/genre syllabus, sequence, materials
7. ASSESS   -> workplace-like performance tasks with criteria agreed with experts
8. EVALUATE -> learner and sponsor feedback; real-task performance

Output Format

Needs analysis summary (sources, methods, ranked task table, disagreements), course outline (outcomes, units by core task, language and genre focus, materials, hours), a sample unit, and the assessment plan.

Scripts

bash
python scripts/needs_analysis.py survey.csv [--by-role]

Columns: respondent, task, frequency, importance, difficulty (1-5), role (optional). Exit codes: 0 printed, 2 read error or values outside 1-5.

Additional Resources

FileContent
esp-course-design.mdNeeds analysis components and methods, survey design, course design steps, genre analysis example, ESP fields, teacher's role
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