Korea TESOL Journal

Korea TESOL Journal, Vol. 12, No. 2
in the form of socialization into the professional thinking and practices
of a community of practice. It has also been influenced by perspectives
drawn from the field of teacher cognition (Borg, 2006). The knowledge
base of teaching has been re-examined with a questioning of the
traditional positioning of the language-based disciplines as the major
foundation for SLTE. This project explores gaps between an example of
SLTE and teaching practices in secondary classrooms in Korea from the
viewpoint of English for Specific Purposes, and reveals ways to
incorporate teacher cognition into teacher training programs such as the
GIFLE program in order to better transfer learning.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This section presents the main concepts of ESP and teacher
cognition. It is important to explore learning transfer in relation to ESP
education to understand and evaluate the goals of SLTE. Through
research findings on teacher cognition, I seek to develop points of
improvement for SLTE.
SLTE as English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
ESP is divided into English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) and
English for Academic Purposes (EAP; Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998,
p. 6). This study focuses on ESP as EOP and explores the definition,
strengths, and roles of practitioners of ESP education. It also explores
learning transfer to understand ESP education. Finally, as an example of
techniques for promoting learning transfer, this study suggests using
reflective learning and connects with teacher cognition.
ESP has become popular in the field of teaching English as a foreign
or second language (TEFL/TESL) as part of a more general movement
of teaching language for specific purposes (LSP) since the 1960s. The
foundation of ESP is why learners need to learn a foreign language and
the answer to this question relates to the learners, the language required,
and the learning context, and thus establishes the primacy of need in
ESP. Robinson (1991) says that ESP courses are generally constrained
by a limited time period, in which their objectives have to be achieved,
and are taught to adults in homogeneous classes in terms of the work
Restructuring Second Language Teacher Education in South Korea 95